Anigo: “Proud of the team, Mathieu is like my son. For Victory on the Avenue”

THE Jose Anigo expressed his satisfaction with the appearance of Olympiakos against PAOK and stood by the plan he had for the match.

THE French technician he declared his pride for the “red and whites”, while he described Valbuena as his football son, while he gave a slogan of victory on the Avenue against Panathinaikos on Sunday (9/4, 21:00).

In detail what he said:

-On the enthusiasm of Olympiakos, the restraint they showed and the fact that they are still alive for the title: “It’s true, it was important that we changed our mood and showed character after what happened in the fight with Mars. We had to bring excitement to our game. This was important, we had a plan. We started the game well, it was important that we held on after 0-1. I am proud of the team. The plan was to be solid and push high. It was important to keep pushing high and have the same belief».

-On what he said to the players and the mood changed: “I am new as a coach at Olympiakos, but I have 26 years of experience in Marseille, they are a team with European experience and high demands. I was prepared. I believed and told the players that we can manage to change our mood and that there must be faith. I am a confident person and I believe that we should fight until the end. Teams take cues from their coach’s character and that’s what I wanted to get across. What we had to do was stay calm and we had to do that even when we missed chances in the first half. We have been preparing the team professionally for two days now».

-For the surprise of using Valpuena in the original scheme: “I met him many years ago in Marseille, they had given him his first professional contract. I was the one who convinced him to come to Olympiakos, at first he didn’t want to, but I convinced him. He is like my son. Mathieu is a teenager and will never grow up. he is really like a teenager and always likes to win, while he is also devoted to Olympiakos. When I called him one day before the match and asked him if he is ready to play and give 100% of his potential and he said yes then I decided to give him the place in the starting line-up».

-For the derby with Panathinaikos “The match is very important, we will have a chance to get the three points of victory. The most important thing will then be to win the game against AEK. As important as it was to beat PAOK today, the match against Panathinaikos is just as important, as well as the one against AEK. I understand what a derby means, I have experienced a derby. It’s like the matches between Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain. It’s not a normal game, but we want to get three points. We can play really bad and get the win».

-For the atmosphere experienced by the world: “I had the discussion with the referees and they mentioned this particular thing to me. I was told that the fans created a special atmosphere, with great energy. We know the atmosphere they can create, especially when the team is winning. We knew it beforehand, we experienced it against PAOK».