Lucescu: “It is important that every player shows this right mentality”

Statements after PAOK’s victory over Atromitos for the 8th matchday of the Stoiximan Super League, made by Razvan Lucescu.

The Romanian coach focused on the right mentality shown by his players, while he also spoke about Ozdoev, about Despodov, about the 11 different scorers that PAOK has in its first 16 games this season, but also about the difficult schedule that is coming for his team.

What the PAOK coach said in detail:



On Ozdoev’s goals and his team’s image: “We’ve improved in set-piece situations, it’s part of our progress as a team. We play this way, we want one of the midfielders to both execute and create, sometimes he succeeds sometimes not. For Despodov, if we have a good strike it is 80% goals and today he had good strikes. I’m probably exaggerating the percentage a bit, but when there’s a good hit it’s definitely a problem for defenders.

We lost some balls because we didn’t show responsibility in the last 25 meters. We did not handle well and as I would have liked in the last minutes of the match. Making some decisions that are not appropriate creates a risk. We scored a goal that was disallowed, a penalty that might have been might not have been. I am not satisfied with the management of the team in the last part”.

For the 11 different scorers in the first 16 matches of the season: “For me and for us, for the whole team, it is important that each player shows this right mentality. We saw today that Sastre came close to scoring, when we lose the ball we have to be aggressive and win possession quickly. I want the team to score one more goal than the opponent, I don’t care who scores it. The work we ask of our strikers is very big, not only in development but in all areas and in the defensive part. To cover players who are not in the right position for example. I will not say Kotarski but I will say the defenders, the midfielders or the forwards. It doesn’t matter who puts it, but put it. A 3-0 in the 20th minute would definitely be better so that we don’t have problems with our… heart”.

On whether this span is the most important with tough game streaks: “There’s a game against Aberdeen on Thursday, we don’t have to go that far. From one game to another there are differences. They are two important pieces of player choice. The first is the confidence they have themselves, through the matches and through training. If the trainings are good then there is the improvement of the team. We make changes from match to match to keep the freshness levels high in the team, this means better reactions and evaluations on the pitch. This benefits the group in the long run of everyone playing and everyone becoming important.”.

About changing the armband four times and whether there is a protocol: “We have these four leaders, plus Tsingara. There is a hierarchy in the team, as far as leaders are concerned. Depending on who is on the field gets the armband. First up is Vieirania, then Andria, Schwab and Tyson. Tsingaras represents the Greek players as a captain and the players who came out of the team’s academy who show so much professionalism”.