He was clear that PAOK has big goals in all competitions Razvan Lucescu at the press conference of the second leg match against Dinamo Zagreb. The Romanian coach pointed out that anyone who doesn’t understand this then shouldn’t play in the team.
Lucescu argued that his players should be able to get Dinamo Zagreb out of their area, stressing that it will be something extremely important for the development of the match.
His statements in detail…
For the criticism the team receives, the changes it will prepare, the qualification case:
“In Greece one day you are God and then you become the most useless, we are talking about the team with the best attack and the best defense in the league.”
How is tomorrow’s game?
“We are going to fight to qualify and reach the “8” for the second time in our history. The qualification is more difficult than when we went to Zagreb but the situation can be turned around, we have the faith and the will”.
On his recent statement that his players are “juiced”:
“Physically, we don’t have a problem, we are very well, we don’t have a physical condition problem, as was seen in Zagreb and also in Tuba with Aris. I would say that we have a psychological issue from our point of view, it was a lack of reaction and the will to take risks by getting out of positions, staying in a comfortable position, we were afraid not to make a mistake and be pointed at. It has tired our mind, but it is the last game before the void that will help the players to clear their mind and refresh their mind, their ideas. In games like tomorrow’s you have to overcome yourself in a difficult period and get the qualification in a difficult situation”.
On whether he feels there is doubt surrounding PAOK’s game plan:
“This team has been able to give 100% and the level we have been playing has been very good for so long. The problem for everyone from the outside is that they see this situation as catastrophic, for us it’s normal to have ups and downs, but the issue is how you deal with it. Yesterday in training I said to the guys that they have to understand where we started in July and where we are, we are not 10th in the league, we are in the title game, we finished first in the regular season and now we are second. In preparation things were difficult and I had to stay positive to give energy to the kids. The important thing was to get through the groups and now spring has arrived and we are still playing. Sometimes things go against you, maybe our workload was heavy, while we would have had time to prepare after the first, we had to manage difficult games and derbies. There are two teams to compare, the one before February and the one after in the derbies, but we didn’t show that we gave up. It seems we’re not at the same level we were a month and a half ago and we’re not at the same level.”
For Dinamo:
“We know how they play, all I can say is that this is a team with quality and experience. He has the patience and we know what a team from Croatia means in football.”
On whether he has any surprises in store:
“What’s the surprise?” Should I put 14 players? We have to make the opponent come out of their area to play our game against a team that knows how to set up on the field, we have to have confidence and find a way to finish the phases. There was a lack of reaction and will to go forward in Zagreb because we rarely got into the area with more than one player. It’s not the first time we’re going through difficult times, we were also behind against Aberdeen with 0-2, but we turned it around. We should definitely score two goals and not concede.”
As to whether the negativity that exists can become fuel:
“I said it can be done. There is a lot of negativity in Greece about the results, but the footballers should know this too. There are footballers who are very confident, we have big goals ahead of us and anyone who doesn’t understand this should go play in Alana. They are professionals, this is their job, they are motivated, there are the quarter-finals of the competition”.
For Petkovic:
“Petkovic is a very good striker, fortunately for him and unfortunately for us, he didn’t create anything, we left him in front of our goal unguarded. If you don’t succeed from the beginning you will have to create the conditions to score. In Greece one day you are God and then you become the most useless, we are talking about the team with the best attack and the best defense in the league”.
Source: Sport Fm
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