Palma, Mar 11 (EFE).- Javier Aguirre, Mallorca’s Mexican coach, has confirmed that the Zimbabwean center forward Tino Kadewere will replace the Kosovar Vedat Muriqi, who is out due to suspension, in this Sunday’s match against Real Sociedad at the Son Moix.
“Kadewere will play, he is the closest thing to Muriqi that we find on the squad due to his passing game and mobility,” Aguirre announced at the press conference prior to the visit to the island of the ‘txuri-urdin’ team led by Imanol Alguacil.
The “Pirate” Muriqui has captained the vermilion attack all season, with the exception of the matches against Sevilla and Real Sociedad, also due to suspension; Mallorca lost on both occasions. When asked if the Mallorcan players depended excessively on the Balkan striker -the team’s top scorer with 10 goals- Aguirre answered no.
“Muriqi is a footballer with a specific weight for us. He helps us a lot in both areas and his spirit, his way of life is contagious and we miss him because he has scored important goals. But that we lost without him is random. No single player sustains a team, it is a global job. Against Real, it is possible that we will change the drawing (defense of five), even during the game, since we have trained with one and two forwards”, replied the “Vasco”.
Regarding Real Sociedad and if he was going to notice the physical effort due to having played last Thursday against Roma in the Europa League, Aguirre said that the people from San Sebastian would arrive at the game “recovered”.
“They came (from Rome) directly to Mallorca and they will be recovered. I am more concerned about the fact that we have played nine games at two in the afternoon. It seems to me an excess and the heat will worsen tomorrow. We have also played on Fridays and we have not had any luck, ”he explained.
Aguirre also analyzed Real Socieda’s game, announced that the Slovak central defender Martin Valjent will be out due to muscular discomfort and praised his colleague Imanol Alguacil at length.
“They have great players and any of them can score goals. He has worked very well this season, although his latest results have not been so good. Imanol is a luxury for Real, I respect him a lot. I love him, he is a Pacheta type (Osasuna coach), a fan of his team, humble, he is someone with whom you would go to have a beer because he must be a lot of fun off the pitch ”, remarked Javier Aguirre.