Luis Miguel Ramis: 'Tomorrow, We Have to Take Three Steps Forward'

Osasuna head coach Ramis addressed the areas where the team has been focusing to overcome its current streak and outlined what he wants to see from his players. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. CET (1 p.m. BST, 8 a.m. ET) at El Sadar.

"We have to take three steps forward; we cannot just take one," Ramis said. "We have taken three steps back, and yes, we have been punished by things out of our control. I want the team to be bold and show intensity in those situations. That was not us."

We have conceded situations that we shouldn’t have, even though we get many things right. After the results we have had, anything we do right is easily forgotten. We have given up points and situations that we seemed to take for granted," Ramis said.

Ramis expressed his desire to see a confident team, noting that Osasuna tends to grow and build momentum when playing with confidence.

"What I want to see tomorrow is a response to this situation. I want the team to be settled on the field, confident—something that can be seen—not afraid to make a mistake, even if you miss your first pass wide. That’s just one example," Ramis said.

"I don't want the team to feel small or hold themselves back. I want them to be confident, because that will allow us to play our game. I want to see the team I know we are, where we can recognize ourselves more than we have in the last few games. That’s what I want," he said.

"Rayo has its qualities, and we will have to stop them. It will be a tough match. We are facing a team with good timing, physicality and speed, and we will have to adjust our pressing and play well with the ball. But what I want most is for us to be ourselves, show what we have worked on, what we have watched on film. If errors come up, we can fix them, and from there we can grow and become stronger than we have been in recent games," Ramis said.

'We Have Been Focusing on Correcting Defensive Mistakes'

Ramis also assessed the mistakes the team has made in previous games and what they have been doing to address them. He discussed both the defensive and attacking errors that have cost the team.

"Since the Alaves matches, we have made a lot of defensive mistakes. Since then, we have been focusing on that. We haven’t been able to do much on-field work to fix those mistakes, but we have seen them and know we need to address them. Those issues are not about attitude; they're about positioning. It's about staying ahead by knowing where to go and when, when to close in, what zone to stay in, and when to step out. Mostly, it’s about being more solid at the back and having the system in place each match, while recognizing that last inch we are missing. You can’t let the opponent have a second to think, because in La Liga, when you give space, you get punished. We have to improve as a defensive unit," Ramis said.

"I like to have different attacking options. We cannot focus our attacks only on crossing, even though we are good at it. We have to create chances to put ourselves in shooting range, as that’s when rebounds and loose balls happen in the box. It’s a process. We can’t expect to see change overnight. We have to change our mentality, structure, positioning and intentions. Sometimes it seems like an easy job, but it isn’t. However, we will keep working on it," Ramis said.