Kontis: “Optimistic that we will manage to get Panathinaikos out of the difficult situation”

THE Christos Kontis took on a very difficult task, succeeding him Fatih Terim on his bench Panathinaikouso as to lead him to the two games against Olympic in the league but also Marsin the Betsson Greek Cup final.

Speaking to the COSMOTE TV camera ahead of the match with the “red and whites”, the Greek coach referred to the reasons that led him to take over the challenge of the “greens”, in what will be needed so that the team recovers in these two games, but also in what it expects from the Olympic on the playing field.

What Christos Kontis said in detail:

For the great responsibility he assumes in this period of time:

“I accept this responsibility with great joy and I accept it because I have experienced this team, I know what it has been through, I know that it is a difficult moment and I think that all of us together in this difficult moment we can do something. We can do what this team needs to get out of this difficult situation.”

How difficult is it for a coach to have only a few hours before a game with a lot at stake?

“It’s not easy, obviously. All of us coaches want time with our players, it’s just that for me it’s a little bit easier because I’ve worked with this team, I know most of the guys, but also the ones I don’t know, I know them, I’ve watched them. So this is definitely a plus for me. We will try to do some things today (ie Friday), we will say some things, we will see some others on the video. It’s a big game we have on Sunday, which I think we need to be more mentally prepared for and that’s what we’ll try to achieve.”

For the spiritual level in the last matches which seems not to be the highest and what is it that he will try to do in the hours before the game either as a whole, or individually with the footballers to change this?

“I think that this is mainly done by the way you talk to them, with the goals we will set together, what we will say in the meeting we will have with the players, what we will say tomorrow (Saturday). I think it’s more about things that we will discuss, than where we will work on the field and what we will show them. I think the children are aware, they are professionals, it is not the first time they go through a difficult situation. Both they and we, everyone in the Panathinaikos organization, must find a way to overcome this obstacle and I am very optimistic that we will succeed.”

How much has Olympiacos changed in the last period of time and what is it waiting for?

“We are expecting the same Olympiakos, who press very well up high, who create chances, who have good players, especially in midfield, who score goals and have a good mentality. It has all these elements of an attacking team, which also has a big goal because the game is very important for their European participation. So I think it will be a difficult match for both of them. We should be very well prepared to face Olympiakos and the weapons they have.”