Ramos: Perhaps we have more to give

 MADRID, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid defender¹ Sergio Ramos admitted Thursday that he was disappointed at the way his side's season has developed.

Ramos is the third Madrid player to give a press conference in three days, after almost five months of players not speaking following their early training session. He was asked about the club's current position, 16 points behind FC Barcelona in the Primera Liga, as well as other issues such as the decision to leave Iker Casillas on the substitution bench for the last game of 2012, which saw Madrid lose 3-2 in Malaga.

"I think that if you were to ask any Real Madrid member, they would say we were obliged to fight for every title," admitted Ramos. "It's true that the league is difficult, but it is not impossible for us. While there is a lot of affection for the Champions League and we will try and win it to give them reasons to be happy."

Real Madrid have largely been disappointing since winning last season's league title in Spain, but Ramos said nerves were not a problem.

"I don't think it is that," he said. "You have good and bad runs in football and maybe things have not worked as we would have wanted in recent games. We have not been as effective in front of goal as last season, but maybe the holidays will have helped us to reflect."

"We all have to demand more of ourselves and I am the first who needs to do that, because maybe we can all give a bit more, but we are on track and we have always had a good attitude," insisted the defender, who added that things had not changed much between this season and last.

Ramos was also asked about Iker Casillas' relegation² to the bench in the defeat to Malaga, a move which surprised almost everyone in Spain and which even led to Barca keeper Victor Valdes to wish Casillas all the best for the future.

"Madrid teaches you every day. They are technical decisions and we have nothing to do with them, but as Iker said, we are not machines and we have good and bad moments, but it was a technical decision and there is nothing more to say about it," he commented.

Ramos also said there was no division of opinion in the dressing³ room over Casillas and added the club was as motivated as ever before lamenting⁴ the ankle injury which will keep his usual defensive⁵ partner, Pepe sidelined for a month.

1 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

2 relegation   

n.驱逐，贬黜；降级

参考例句：

• Liaoning team lost this game, is still deeply avoid relegation zone. 辽宁队本场失利后，仍然深陷保级区。 来自互联网
• In society, relegation is based on your income. 社会上的规类是以你的收入为基准。 来自互联网

3 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

4 lamenting   

adj.悲伤的，悲哀的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Katydids were lamenting fall's approach. 蝈蝈儿正为秋天临近而哀鸣。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Lamenting because the papers hadn't been destroyed and the money kept. 她正在吃后悔药呢，后悔自己没有毁了那张字条，把钱昧下来！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

5 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。