MADRID, July 13 -- New Athletic Bilbao coach Marcelo Bielsa on Wednesday took his first training session at the club and spoke to the press for the first time since his arrival.

Bielsa took the helm at Athletic at the hand of new club President Josu Urrutia and the former Argentina and Chile national team coach will be working hard to prepare for the new season, which kicks off on August 21 away to Real Madrid.

"I would have signed for the club just for the first game of the season for the chance to face Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium," admitted Bielsa, who was not worried about the lack of time to get the squad into shape for the big kick off.

"I have time enough to think that I will be able to achieve my aims before the first game. I can't think of any excuses for why we shouldn't try and win from the very start," said the coach, who has carried out an exhaustive study of videos of his new players in preparation for his move to Bilbao.

Bielsa showed his optimism and made a promise to the club's fans.

"We have no excuses for not going out to try and win, I feel the obligation to do that in every game. I like my players to be protagonists, to have presence in the opponents' half and to have the ball rather than be able to win it back," he said.

He also said that he would not rule out making any new signings, but admitted that he had not thought of anyone in particular to bring to the club.

Wednesday night saw Bielsa and his players travel to the east coast of Spain to continue pre-season training.

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