Mendiliber: “Our goal is to win the championship – From now on mistakes will cost”

On Saturday night (16/8), Olympiacos will enter the battle for the title, facing Volos at Panthessalikos in the 1st round of the Stoiximan Super League.

The “red and white” will play their first official match for this season and the Jose Luis Mendiliberwith statements he gave to Cosmote TV, highlighted the importance for his team of a good start in the league with absolute victories until the stoppage.

The Basque coach, among other things, made it clear that the ultimate goal is to win the title, for the 100 years of the club, to improve the way of the game, the changes he wants to pass in the mentality of the football players.

Among other things, he also mentioned the additions to the roster, but also what is imminent in the transfer planning.

In detail, the statements of José Luis Mendilibar to Cosmote:

For his thoughts a few days before the first official match of the season: “The truth is that the work we have done so far serves us to prepare. To see our mistakes and be able to correct them. We had the opportunity to see mistakes and work on them. However, until the official games start you never know if you are well prepared or not. From now on mistakes will be costly and we may not have the opportunity to correct them. So hopefully we’ve prepared well, played our first official game well and not made any mistakes that we’ll need to analyze and fix. But surely the psychology and mentality of the players plays a big role.”

For the goals:“Our goal is to win the championship. We want to win the title in the 100 years of the club and celebrate it twice. It is very important to win all three games before the break and that way we will also gain psychology. I believe that in all sports the mentality with which you approach a game is just as important as tactics and physical condition. So if you start well you get more power, but if you make the mistake and underestimate the opponent and things go wrong then you have all the ingredients to lose your target.”

On what he wants to improve compared to last year’s team image: “I want to improve the image of Olympiakos compared to last season. I know we played some very good games, had great performances, scored goals and won a European title. However there are things we can improve about the game concept. How I want us to play, how we approach games. You know some things have changed. Some players have left, new ones have come in, and we want everyone to digest the concept of our game and go even deeper into that concept.”

On whether the gaps left by the departures of important players have been filled: “We are open to everything in the coming weeks. Until the end of August there may be arrivals and departures. After all, they are connected. For someone to come, someone else has to leave. Certainly, as you said, players who were important last year and helped us a lot have left, but everyone who has come in can fill those gaps. The base of the team is here, it has been created and if we expect any results in these three games it is from those who are already here and not from those who will come.”