Mendiliber: “We have formed a very good team, with players full of quality”

Olympiacos will host Panaitolikos at G. Karaiskakis (15/09, 18:30), with Jose Luis Mendiliber to speak before the match.

The Basque technician showed his satisfaction with the translational movements that took place, while he also referred to the words of praise towards him from Rooster and him Rakitic.

His statements in detail:

To prepare the team:

The players who stayed here and did not have obligations with the National teams are very good because they had the time to rest and train very well. Last week we had four training sessions and had three days of rest. This week we had five training sessions and I think a very good job has been done. In terms of those who played in their national teams, we have everything. There are players who played a few days ago and have now rejoined our team without having time to rest. There are others who may have played earlier but had long journeys which also left them no time to rest. We have to see how to get them all back into the rhythm of the team, looking at each case individually.

For the match with Panaitolikos:

We have won three games and we want to win the fourth game, but to do that we have to take the match seriously. Panaitolikos may not have the ultimate in wins, but they have fought hard in all their games so far. In one of them he even did it playing with a player less than the first minutes. He is not an easy opponent. I am sure they will fight again with all their strength. To win we will have to be serious, impose our tempo and play most of the match in their own half.

For the transfer fee of the summer:

I think we have formed a very good team with a very satisfactory number of players. I don’t think we need anything else. We have a very good and complete team and we have players full of quality who can help us a lot.

On what stood out in last year’s U19 five and kept them on the roster:

I saw very high quality. They are all good players with very good technique and have all the specifications to be able to develop even more. That’s what I see in these kids and I really want to give them opportunities to be able to play. But in a team, the more players you have, the less opportunities you can give to the new kids. What we want and what we strive for every day is to have a good team that will win the games and in the end the championship, but at the same time to be able to give as many opportunities as possible to these children. Certainly with the number of games we have, I think there will be opportunities for everyone. Everyone will get their time and opportunity at some point.

On the words of praise spoken about him by Rakitic and Koukoreja in the previous days:

Yes I have been told about the words that were said. These are two amazing players and professionals that I have worked with. I admire them for their seriousness and value. We had a confrontation with Rakitic at the beginning and we had to have some very serious discussions to be able to find it and continue working together. Koukoreja is a player I had when I was first in the first division with Eibar and he helped the team a lot, but he also helped himself with his value. Ivan and I were together for six months in Seville and from the moment we managed to get along there is a huge appreciation for each other. They are also amazing personalities and I thank him for their kind words.