Ball possession will help Las Palmas stay up – new coach

Published 10/20/2015, 5:32 PM EDT

MADRID (Reuters) – New Las Palmas coach Quique Setien is confident his possession-based philosophy will help the Canary Islands club protect their top-flight status this season.

The 57-year-old, a former Racing Santander, Logrones and Lugo coach who also had a stint in charge of Equatorial Guinea, was appointed on Monday to replace Paco Herrera.

Herrera, who led Las Palmas to promotion last season, became the first La Liga coach to be sacked this term after Sunday’s 4-0 thrashing at Getafe left the club second from bottom with five points from eight matches.

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“I hope to count on the help of the players to develop my footballing style which is to try to keep the ball,” Setien told a news conference on Tuesday. “That is non-negotiable.

“I don’t mean to say it’s a suicidal tactic but I will never change my way of playing. Perhaps at the beginning it will be tough for us but I am sure it will bear fruit.”

As a player, Setien had spells at Santander, Atletico Madrid and Logrones. He won three caps for Spain in the mid-1980s and was part of the squad at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

Las Palmas have not had a sustained run in the top flight since the 1980s and were playing in the third tier of Spanish football a decade ago.

(Reporting by Iain Rogers, editing by Tony Jimenez)

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