Almeida: “My heart is broken – I have already made the decisions for AEK in the new season”

Statements at the press conference after her… bitter victory AEK against Lamia for the last matchday of the playoffs did o Matias Almeidaexpressing his great disappointment at missing out on the title, but making it clear that he has already made his decisions for next season’s Union.

What the AEK coach said in detail:



On whether he thinks there was one match or moment that cost him the title or there were little things throughout the season: “I would first like to congratulate PAOK for the championship, its players and the technical staff. I have seen everything these days, all the mistakes we made, the kilometers we ran, all the games and how we played. There were some key moments. I have learned in my life to accept. Anything can happen in football. The important thing is to look deep within. We have a lot to look at. In these two years, AEK has shown that it is competitive until the last second and will continue to do so. It’s a year that serves as a big lesson”.

On whether AEK is losing a championship of its own because of the many goals it conceded in the last minutes: “If my father had not contracted covid, he would be alive. Unfortunately. It’s football. There are many goals you score because of your skills. When we finished the matches here, questions were asked about us creating chances and not scoring goals. That was not the fault because we scored more goals than last year. But it was a reality. That we conceded more than twice as many goals as last year. A little because the opponents succeeded and a lot from our own mistakes. When in football you make so many mistakes it is difficult to reach the last match like we did. This will serve as a lesson. For those of us who like to win, we want perfection. There are others who want to win once in their life. I get sick when I lose. When we see continuous mistakes being made, there is nothing left but to see what will happen in the last matchday. Many mistakes resulted in goals, many matches that turned the result around while we were ahead and many goals in the last minutes. A lot of mistakes. But still we got to the end with a lot of chances. If the opponent who won today had a draw we would be champions. That’s how football is. Now time does not turn back. We have to think about what we are going to do from now on. We have to accept the defeat, but at the same time I say that it was a good year in many areas. It is not easy to have a group that is competitive two years in a row. There are players out of contract now. Both the management and I gave the opportunity to all the players”.

On how it felt to wait for the result of another match to celebrate and if it’s happened to him before: “This has never happened to me before. As a footballer it had happened to me with Lazio while waiting for the result of Juventus with Perugia. But not as a coach. I was watching the game and I had told the staff that we should be able to observe its development. But we had given many chances. That’s how hard it is. The team played today as usual and the two games they were supposed to play so they didn’t play. At this point in time it is very important to have a lot of points before the playoffs. We got important points in all the derbies but we gave away a lot of draws too easily”.

On how easy it is to make quick decisions about the new season, and in purely football terms how tough those decisions can be: “I have already made the decisions. It wouldn’t change anything if we won the championship. I am here for a goal and a project. I have a clear idea of ​​where I want to go. A result does not change the future we will try to have”.

On what he told the footballers: “I rarely go into the locker room after games. Because it’s their place. And the leaders should be talking in there. I used to be a football player and it used to bother me when a member of the staff came in to listen to what the players were saying. I don’t go into the locker room where they train. It is a holy place. There they must create a set where they will also criticize the coach. I have given them the space and I have let them understand how I live football. This is my way. Doesn’t mean he’s the best either. Every AEK player had the opportunity every day to come and tell me how he felt in my office. I’ve been in the locker room a few times. I had spoken before. On the first day of training I said what was going to happen this year and every day I talked to the players about what I saw and felt. We had daily contact. There is one who understands and interprets. The one who wants to listen and the one who doesn’t care. As in life. I do not stop insisting on dialogue. We have said this since the first day of preparation”.

On whether his relationship with the world of AEK grew even stronger this year: “I am grateful to the world. In football you lose more than you win. For a few, the opposite happens. We enjoy the victories and in the victories you have to keep your cool. It’s about the humility to keep improving. Defeats show the human misery of those who wait for the moment. I’m happy for this team so my heart is broken. I knew it was coming and we were going to lose it. And although I need the vacation, I’m ready to start tomorrow. For next year from now I can say that we will be competitive for the championship again. And our world has a unique energy and I won’t get tired of saying it. That’s why I wanted and wished we could win the championship again this year for the people, for the staff, for the management, for the players and for every employee of the club. We have managed to create a family and this will make us stronger. I am convinced”.

On when he will talk to management about planning the new season: “We had many meetings during the year. We were talking. We were waiting for the championship to end. These days we will meet again to talk a little more calmly to see how we will plan the future. Another thing I like about the club is the dialogue we have. We build together and you don’t find that in modern football”.

On Ljubicic not getting as much playing time in previous games: “I spoke with him two days ago. When someone talks about the future, it’s a player who came here. A player who was part of a region that has many football players. It came when the team was first. He is a player who had to adapt to our system. He took part in various games as a substitute. In the last matches, the changes made were more aggressive. I talked to him about being calm and quiet. I told him to come. Today’s game was to show the future. It’s not that we didn’t win the championship because Ljubisic didn’t play. He is a very big player, he will get a lot of playing time next season. There is nothing strange. Otherwise I would say so myself. If there was anything strange the players could always talk to me. Part of football is for players to take advantage of moments. The results don’t change my mind. Otherwise they won’t stay here. If the opposition ended in a draw now we would be celebrating and nobody would be talking about Robert. Those who want to poison our own pages better write on others”.

On whether next year Europe will be the main target: “It’s a goal, but also to be competitive in both the league and the Cup. A coach comes when things are not going well. When I came I came with the 5th team. AEK has won the most points in these two years. In general we have done well, if we had won the title it would have been even better. It’s hard to reconcile everything. There are three outcomes. And sometimes what we want doesn’t come”.

Regarding the fact that Pelios did not get time to participate: “I wanted to protect him from the pressure. He is a kid who has been at the club for months and the decision was to try to put the players with the most experience. Of course, as a coach, I also make mistakes. But I also think that Hadjisafi did well”.

On whether he would approach a game differently: “During the playoffs there was the intention to play in a different way but there wasn’t the time. There were a lot of layoffs, the playoffs were weird. Then when we played in Europe we didn’t have time for training. We started the preparation with 14 players, the first year I did it with the whole roster. I need to have the whole roster in preparation, I believe in work and the truth is that all this with the Nationals and competitions made us change the way we train. I would have said the same even if we had won the title. We also had a lot of injuries. A preparation is the basis, it is fundamental, it is important that everyone is present in the preparation. In January, players also left for their national teams. At one point when Levi came back, I thought about using him with Ponce but I would have to change the back of the team, take one of the midfielders out. But sometimes you make a change and it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But I had thought about it at some point”.

For the positions that the team will try to strengthen: “Not yet. We have to analyze it well and see in which positions we will need reinforcement”.

On whether he’s considering an alternate game plan next season: “Last year when the league ended some people told me that if I chose to keep the team playing in the same way that the opponents would have analyzed us. You always have to be flexible. To be flexible we should know which players we count on, what characteristics we have and there we will see what style of play we will have. AEK has a distinctive style. When we’re wrong it shows. It was seen in the previous game that we did not see an AEK striker. We haven’t seen an AEK where everyone runs and plays. Then when they mention a system, Menotti had said that these are phone numbers. Today football has changed. What style does Anceldotti play? You do not know it. There may be a system, but I believe in passion, energy, love and passion. This is the best strategy. This is the strategy that gives you the strength to fight any team. To play against Brighton in the same way. This is AEK’s style and there were few games where it didn’t show”.

On whether there was a match that would sacrifice AEK’s style this year as Ancelotti did recently: “Of course if I had Vinicius and others. You would throw the ball forward and they would find the solution. They are one of the best teams in the world. All coaches have different ways and we play in different leagues”.

On whether the team planning will be done with priority on a good European course: “It’s a lesson. We in Europe were competitive and paid dearly for the mistakes we made. Europe was also reflected in the championship. I can say that it was a year that serves as a lesson in all areas for all of us”.