The coach of Elche explains the substitution of Lucas Cepeda: “We know that adaptation takes time.”

Lucas Cepeda has lost prominence at Elche. The Chilean achieved his first starting position in the resounding defeat against Real Madrid, in a match where he did not perform well, along with the rest of the team. This meant he watched from the bench during the important comeback against Mallorca, which was a true relegation final.

After that came the break for the FIFA date, and the left-footer joined Nicolás Córdova's training with the national team. He played minutes in both the victory over Cape Verde and the tough setback against New Zealand. In this regard, coach Eder Sarabia explained the absence of the player trained at Santiago Wanderers: “We know that adaptation is difficult because the player comes from a different type of football, a different game model and training; but we also know that Lucas will give us great performance and he has already shown us interesting things over several matches,” he began, referring to the Chilean.

“It is true that against Real Madrid, Lucas did not have his best game, with some actions a bit imprecise for what he is, but he did have great defensive work. This does not worry me; I understand that it is part of the process. ” “To play against Mallorca, we chose other players because we changed the formation.

I understood that we had to set up differently. Surely for Lucas, returning to the Chilean national team is a recharge of energy, but he may come back tired from so much travel,” he added. Sarabia referred to the possibility of Cepeda playing again against Rayo Vallecano this Friday, March 3, in another crucial match at the bottom of LaLiga: “We will see if he has been able to rest.

We sent him a training plan for him to do on his own so he could be in the best possible shape. It is unlikely he will start, but I think Lucas can be important in this match, especially if we need a spark in the second half,” he indicated. Finally, the coach valued the presence of the Chilean at Elche: “We are happy with Lucas.

He has a long-term contract and we know he has the perfect conditions for this football. He is adapting, learning, and we are getting to know him better. I am calm with him,” he concluded.