Football
Adriana Garcia 8y

Valencia's Alvaro Medran backs coach Pako Ayestaran despite slow start

Valencia midfielder Alvaro Medran has shrugged off speculation that coach Pako Ayestaran will be sacked if the team loses at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

Los Che have fallen in their first three La Liga games of the season and travel to the San Mames stadium having scored just four goals while giving away eight.

Valencia-based sports newspaper Superdeporte believes that Ayestaran faces his first final on Sunday and "if the team does not stand up and be counted against Athletic, Valencia CF will begin to plan his dismissal."

Medran told the club website: "I see it as stupid suggestions that his job is on the line. We are delighted to work with him and we continue to believe in him and in his ideas.

"We are all the way behind him. We are well aware that our start to the campaign has not been good at all but our enthusiasm remains intact. We are looking to turn the situation around and we hope to give another image in Bilbao."

Valencia missed out on European football after a 12th-placed finish in Spain's top flight last season. From the 2009-10 campaign through the 2014-15 season, Valencia had finished in the top four of La Liga on four occasions.

Ayestaran, 53, was an assistant to Gary Neville and replaced the Englishman in March.

He has won three, drawn one and lost seven of his 11 matches in charge.

"We need to continue to work, correct mistakes and try to get to where our coach wants us to be," Medran said.

"The season is long and I'm confident we are going to have a good year.

"We need to be more efficient and be a little bit more aggressive on defence."

Medran was one of seven reinforcements made by Valencia this summer.

The 22-year-old midfielder, who played last season on loan from Real Madrid at Getafe, signed a four-year contract with the Mestalla outfit after failing to break into Madrid's first team.

Valencia also brought in defenders Eliaquim Mangala, Ezequiel Garay and Martin Montoya, midfielder Mario Suarez and strikers Nani and Munir El Haddadi.

"We have a lot of new players that have to adapt to the concepts of the coach," Medran said.

The club lost three star players this summer.

Valencia sold German defender Shkodran Mustafi to Arsenal and both Portuguese midfielder Andre Gomes and Spanish forward Paco Alcacer to Barcelona.

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