Luis Miguel Ramis: “We have to accept it, grit our teeth, accept the criticism and correct our mistakes”

Osasuna head coach Luis Miguel Ramis addressed the media after his team's defeat at Mendizorrotza, acknowledging that a series of costly mistakes had contributed to the result. Ramis said the scoreline may have been harsher than his team deserved, but he accepted that Osasuna had given its opponent too many opportunities in areas where mistakes are especially costly in LaLiga.

“Perhaps the punishment was a little excessive, but when you look at where all the goals came from, I think the result is deserved because we made too many mistakes in areas of the field where we have to be much more decisive, and those mistakes are punished in the first division,” Ramis said.

Ramis said Osasuna must take responsibility for the performance and use the criticism as motivation to improve. He acknowledged that some of the individual errors were difficult to prevent but stressed that the team must learn from them rather than dwell on the defeat.

“I don't know if it's fair or not, but it is what it is, and we have to accept it, grit our teeth, accept the criticism and correct our mistakes. The first goal comes from a very simple action by the opposing team that takes us out of position, a coverage situation. The second is an error that can happen. Normally, Catena doesn't make that mistake, but that's it, it happens, you have to support him. We were 2-0 down.

“Then we go into the second half and the third goal, yes, it's a great goal, but where does it come from? A throw-in. We don't press, we leave a player unmarked, and on top of that, he's a forward who should have had more pressure on him. They score the third, we get back into it and then we concede two poor goals from crosses from the flanks, where we don't make contact, where we don't pick up our men. The opponent takes advantage of it. That's how it is. We gave too many concessions to an opponent that is strong in those types of situations. We knew that, and we weren't able to counteract them,” Ramis said.

Asked about Osasuna's lack of defensive solidity, Ramis expressed confidence that the team will regain its form. He said the club has traditionally gotten strong results from its defensive organization and suggested that an unusual concentration of mistakes had contributed to the performance.

“We'll get it back. I'm convinced of that. We have always gotten very good results from all of that, but perhaps all the mistakes we were supposed to make over 15 matches came together in one game. Normally, these situations don't appear so often, and we are much more rigorous,” Ramis said.

Looking ahead, Ramis said the defeat should serve as a reality check for the squad and emphasized that success in the division requires consistency and discipline. He also said his priority now is helping the players recover mentally and prepare for the upcoming match against Espanyol.

“You have to take the hit, stand firm. You have to do a lot of things right and make very few mistakes to earn points in this division. This serves as a reality check, in case anyone had taken their feet off the ground, and it reminds us that tomorrow we have to keep working to prepare for the Espanyol game.

 “Mentally, the team has to recover. I'll take care of that. We have to turn the page and learn that when you give the opponent opportunities, normally you don't get rewarded afterward,” Ramis said.