The perfect game against the strongest team in the group is looking for Olympic against West Ham, according to Diego Martinez and what he said at the press conference.
At the same time, the Spanish coach mentioned that his team is creating an identity on the field and to play intelligently in the grass of “G. Karaiskakis”, finally reaching victory.
If the team is prepared for the match and if they have decided on the eleven of the match: “Really the team knows that it is constantly evolving and constantly improving, we are always ready for the next game. We are playing the most difficult game against the strongest team in the group, it is very demanding, we are confident and believe that we are ready and the best. We have one more training session, but I think we are already ready for everything.”
If Porosso will play and if he is troubled by the team’s defensive gaps-mistakes: “We are certainly concerned with the mistakes as well as the right ones which we use as examples to take psychology and to keep improving. They concern us and we try to correct them, all teams make mistakes, all the players in the world, you also saw yesterday that millions of footballers in the Champions League make mistakes. What we have managed so far as a team is to play with identity, we are improving, we are a new team. We have experienced players as well as youngsters on the roster. All coaches have to play the perfect game if we want to beat a high level opponent. We believe in ourselves, we are confident. I don’t like to talk about names, because there are 24 hours before the game and you don’t know what will happen, but you all know that for the stoppers we have two options.”
On the fact that West Ham are expected to line up with changes and whether that makes their job easier or harder: “For sure, tomorrow’s match is special, we are playing against the team that won the Conference League last year and we have seen that depending on the competition, they make a lot of changes. What concerns me is how we will play, to have an identity, to be smart. We need to play smart. In the summer we wanted to create an ensemble with confidence, soul and identity, which we think we have done. We have to give it all together with our world. We, the team and the world, everyone wants to play such matches. Let’s give our best, both the players and the world.”
On how a team prepares for such a high-level game: “We would have loved to win 4-1, 4-2 or 3-1 and it would be very nice but also very difficult. We make mistakes and we need to improve, not individually but as a team. There are many statistics, there are various scenarios and results in the matches but these analyzes are superficial. The team must increase its successes, correct its mistakes and gain experiences that make us better. The ideal would be not to concede a goal and to score. All together with a team spirit to get a good result in the race. We are very demanding in training, we push them and let them understand that we can give even more on the field. We believe very much in the process of evolution we are in. Sorry if I’m taking too long, but tomorrow we play a team that has five players over 1.90 height. But we stand on our own merits, we have our own abilities and we believe in them. As well as Paschalakis and Porosos who are tall children (ss. concluded laughing)”.
On whether it is easy for the team to turn the page after what happened with Panathinaikos: “I will stick to something that Del Bosque said. Whatever happens, comes and goes and it’s for the best. We focus on our next goal and use every difficulty for good. We want to play football and win obviously.”
For the fact that in the most demanding matches of this season, apart from the first match against Genk, Olympiacos found itself behind in the score and did not win: “Certainly a lot can happen in a year, don’t look at the tree but at the forest. We don’t want to concede goals, we want to score and we create a lot of chances. We are an attacking team, we want to score a lot of goals and not give chances to the opponents. We must manage the games, we must not be obsessed with not conceding goals but with winning. We have to endure, regardless of what happens in the match and manage it however it develops, because in the end it’s all about winning”
Source: Sport Fm
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