Jofre Carreras: Espanyol know they must flip the script in a defining month
Espanyol midfielder Jofre Carreras speaks ahead of Sunday's trip to Elche, admitting the squad are in a crucial run of fixtures that could define their season.
Jofre Carreras stepped up to the mic after training this week, and the Espanyol man didn’t shy away from the reality facing Manolo González’s side right now.
The situation in a nutshell
Espanyol head to the Martínez Valero on Sunday to face Elche, and let’s be honest — it’s a game they absolutely need to win. The second half of the season has been rough. Results have dried up, the defensive solidity that made them so hard to beat in the first half of the campaign has gone walkabout, and confidence has taken a knock. Jofre, who grabbed his first goal of the season against Atlético de Madrid recently and is arguably one of the brighter sparks in the squad at the moment, was refreshingly straight about all of it.
A month that matters
The midfielder was pretty clear that the coming weeks are make or break:
- He described the next month as “quite decisive” — a run where picking up points is non-negotiable
- The priority is staying up first, then being ambitious. First things first, as he put it
- He stressed the importance of winning at home and taking maximum points wherever possible
There’s no sugarcoating it. Espanyol are in a spot where they can’t afford to keep dropping points, and Jofre knows it.
The defensive problem
One of the more interesting bits of the presser was when Jofre talked about how different the team feels defensively compared to the first half of the season. He referenced a trip to San Mamés earlier in the campaign — when he was on the bench — and said he genuinely felt Athletic could’ve whipped in 25 crosses and not scored. That kind of defensive confidence has evaporated, and getting it back is clearly central to everything.
The bones of a good side are still there. The first half of the season proved that. It’s about rediscovering that shape and that belief at the back.
Mental strength front and centre
Jofre spent a fair bit of time talking about the psychological side of things, which tells you something about where the squad’s head is at:
- Manolo González has been telling the players to stay calm and trust themselves
- Jofre’s message to himself and his teammates is essentially: we’ve done it before, we can do it again
- He talked about accepting things outside your control and focusing on what you can give when you’re on the pitch
It’s the kind of dressing room chat you’d expect when a team is going through a sticky patch. Whether the words translate into a result at Elche is another matter.
Jofre’s own form
On a personal level, the lad’s in a decent place. He’s feeling sharp in training, comfortable on the pitch, and not too bothered whether he starts or comes off the bench — he just wants to contribute. That goal against Atleti clearly gave him a lift, and you’d hope that confidence is contagious.
The bigger picture
The fans have stuck by them, home and away, and Jofre acknowledged that. The support is there — but the players know better than anyone that winning makes everything easier and quiets the doubts. Elche away is the first chance to start turning this around. No pressure, lads.