Vouros: “I owe a lot to Mitchell, there is a winning mentality with Dabrauskas”

Vouros for OFI, Dabrauskas, Olympiakos and Mitchell.

The leader of the Cretans referred to the recent game of the Cretans against Piraeus, the Dabrauskas project, but also about their presence in the “red and whites”.

“Mr Mitchell was the first to promote me from the second team to the first team, he gave me the opportunity to play my first match in the Cup and the league.

He worked especially with young players, I certainly owe him a lot, at least at the beginning of my football career.

We have a very good friendly relationship, we talked a little, it’s human and I think it’s very good to have such relations with such people, a legend of football in Spain, really a gentleman on and off the pitch,” the 27-year-old defender said on the show “Match Time” and Chrysa Zervou of the “Creta” channel.

What he said in detail

“The equalizer changed the balance…”

Regarding the match against Olympiakos, he emphasized that OFI did very well in the first half, but the tie changed the balance:

“I think in the first half we stood very well on the field, against a very good team, we looked them in the eye and I think we deservedly took the lead in the score. I think the crucial point was that we conceded the equalizer before the end of the first half and that changed the balance a bit.

In the second half, Olympiacos started better and had a twenty minute period in which it created phases. Olympiacos found the space in order to press and then the second goal came, which was decisive for the continuation.”

“In football everything comes in and everything is lost…”

“When you play against Olympiakos and in general against a big team, you have to transform the chances that are created into goals because after the equalizer we had two chances that we could have scored but in the end they didn’t happen. In football, everything comes and everything is lost…

When facing such teams you have to be careful, so that you don’t give the opponent room to create opportunities. There is quality, there are players who can with a personal action determine the outcome of the game.”

“The best are yet to come”

The 27-year-old footballer of the Cretan team appeared optimistic for the future, given the good competitive image of OFI, while he also spoke about the elevated psychology of him and his teammates:

“I think after the restart of the league our team has shown a different face, we worked quite hard with the new coach, he had the necessary time to pass on his ideas to us and teach us better. He had the time to see what weaknesses there were so he could try to improve the team…

Every day we work hard, we try to implement what the coach asks. I see most players have a better psychological mood because the player definitely improves psychologically with the results. When you win, when you don’t concede goals, you get homogeneity, psychology.

We faced big teams and Panathinaikos and PAOK, Olympiacos. I think the team has shown a very serious face, a stable competitive image and I am sure that the best is coming for us as well as for the team, to reach where it deserves and deserves”.

“The team is growing its image”

As for whether the one-month break was good for OFI, he responded positively since he believes that the team will slowly find its way:

“We are a team that has helped us because we see other teams facing a “belly”, which is logical. We were unlucky I think because we also had a lot of injuries. I don’t want to make excuses but certainly when some players who are good are not good, it affects the team.

The team is growing its image, it shows that the jersey is heavy and I think it will slowly find its way to even bigger steps and more victories, because lies are bad, performance is good, appearance is also good but a team is growing with such victories. If we got the double, we’d be having a completely different conversation.”

“It was the people who pulled the oar”

With the best words, he commented on the presence of the OFI crowd, not only at the home games but also at “Karaiskakis”, where he described them as shocking:

“First of all I want to thank the people and me and my teammates, it’s the least we can say for those who came to the stadium… They sang for 90 minutes, it was something that has been going on for years.

I think in “Karaiskakis” there are very few teams that bring their own people, I hope and wish that we will see our own fans again because lies are bad and let’s not laugh, in OFI’s difficult moments the people were the ones who pulled the oar, put back and was always by the side of the team.

And with Tripoli the people were close to us and helped us get the victory, but with Olympiakos what I saw with my own eyes, it was really shocking because it is very difficult to take the boat and make an excursion. It’s not like you’re taking the bus. The guys who went out of their way to help out the team are to be congratulated.

This bond that is created will give us the extra strength to give it our all on the field. This world wants to see, passion, the football player giving everything.”

“Especially the match against PAS, we will win”

OFI welcomes PAS Yannenas on Saturday at 17.00 and Praxitelis Vouros appeared confident that with the help of the crowd, the black and whites will win:

“Definitely this match a bit special for what happened a long time ago. I am sure that people will show up. He sees coming to the field with a more positive eye, he likes the team more, he sees the passion that all the kids have and we are waiting for him on the field to help us so that we can get the victory.

PAS was slow to find its footing at the beginning, then we see that they got a very good result and beat the AEK team, then with Panathinaikos they lost in the last minutes… It shows that they are a solid team but I think that if we show the seriousness that we showed in the previous games we will take the three points of victory.”

“May God claim me to wear the national team jersey”

There has been a lot of talk for a long time about the non-call of Vouros to our National team.

“The coach is the one who chooses who he will take, I have said it many times before and I think every kid in my position would answer the same, it is the highest honor for someone to be called to the National Team. Everyone is doing what they can on the field so as to convince the Federal coach that they deserve a place in our National team. I hope that I will have the opportunity, first of all that God will claim me, to wear the shirt with the national emblem because it is the biggest thing that I can achieve in my football career, to represent my country.

But for all this the team helps you, you can’t do anything alone if you don’t have your teammates, if we don’t all get along well…

“I wish from the bottom of my heart that Mandas will be called up to the national team”

I want to say something personally about Christos Mandas, I sincerely wish him to be called to the National team because he really deserves it, he is having a terrible year.

I’m very happy that we play together because he’s a low-key kid who works every day, he deserves the best and we all always try to keep him grounded because when you start and play there’s a lot of noise, it’s very easy to change your path but Christos is low-key tons, he works hard and I hope he gets called up because he really deserves it.”

“I owe a lot to Mitchell”

Olympiakos coach Mitchell Gonzalez was the one who gave the Mytilene defender the opportunity to debut in the Greek Cup and the Super League. He revealed that they have a good relationship and they spoke before the match between them:

“Mr Mitchell was the first to bring me up from the second team to the first team, he gave me the opportunity to play my first match in the Cup and the league.

He worked especially with young players, I certainly owe him a lot, at least at the beginning of my football career.

We have a very good friendly relationship, we talked a little, it’s human and I think it’s very good to have such relations with such people, a legend of football in Spain, really a gentleman on and off the pitch.”

“With Dabrauskas there is a winning mentality”

Valdas Dabrauskas drastically changed the image of OFI, while Praxitelis Vouros emphasizes that he is quite demanding and has brought a winner’s mentality:

“It is easy to see that he is a very intelligent person, in the previous teams he was in he achieved great success. With Heidug he won the Croatian Cup after years, with Ludogorets he passed through the groups, eliminated big teams. That is, it has the fabric of championships, which helps us a lot because there is a winning mentality.

In every match he is very demanding and this can be seen in our performance, we do not go into any game to close behind. Let’s go and claim the best for the team because that’s what we’ve been preparing for all week.

He reads a lot about football, new tactics, we do a lot of analysis, he helps each player individually. We may have beaten Panaitolikos 4-0, but again he had some higher demands, he was not happy and when you are not happy, growth is constantly coming and you don’t put limits on yourself, you are constantly evolving. He is a coach, very fair.”

“The hardest moment in my career”

He also referred to the most difficult moment of his career, when he ended his partnership with Olympiakos and was looking for a new team:

“Every footballer in Greece, up and down, has problems which, unfortunately, instead of being solved over the years, always remain unsolved and make the life of footballers more and more difficult.

When I left Olympiakos, for a while I trained for three months at Rentis, I didn’t renew my contract because I wasn’t playing and I wanted to go to a team to have playing time. There were some difficulties in terms of my release, I couldn’t find a team easily and I started to worry a bit about what my football future would be.

And the first year I came to the team here, I had an injury, two and two months and it was very difficult for me.

The team after January we had a negative streak of ten matches, we couldn’t win… We were difficult in terms of points and the team didn’t deserve what they were going through. Through difficulties we become stronger. I think that we footballers are luckier because we make our hobby a profession.

I think any difficulty that arises is a fault in front of other people who are doing other jobs and dealing with much more serious issues in their lives.”