The boss feels all of the playing staff are aware of their responsibilities over the close season and also stressed he would like to return with the squad to Hong Kong in the future.
“I was a football player and, when you are a football player, you can disconnect,” he said. “They know we underperformed badly this season.
“The important thing for me is the body composition, the weight. They need to be ready. We have to use every minute in every week of pre-season. We need to be in shape and these small things, they have all the measures, we had a briefing about that. It’s the only way to take action to be better next season. They know and everybody knows next year is going to be massive for everybody.
“I have been sending the message every week. They know next year, and I think that is clear, that we need to be so much better.”
In terms of coming back to the country again at some point in the future, Ruben was clear with his thoughts on that matter.
“I think it would be so much fun [here] if we have good results, if we win titles,” he explained. “I’d like to come here as we really enjoy the people, they’re really lovely and really respectful. We are really grateful to everybody. We want to return with more time but with more titles and better results and more people watching the games.”