Lucescu: “PAOK played much better, transfers are finally over”

Razvan Lucescu pointed out that PAOK was better than Panathinaikos, he explained why he didn’t manage to beat them, while at the same time he expressed his satisfaction with the fact that the transfers have ended, asking for everyone’s patience regarding the new players of the “two-headed team of the North” !

In detail what the Romanian coach said at the press conference:

About PAOK not scoring a goal in the derby: “These things happen in the game. What more can I say? We played much better, we pressured them. We didn’t let them pressure us. They have a very good team. But I think we could have won as we missed three chances. I’m crazy about two phases, one in each half where we could work better. We couldn’t win a game like that. We didn’t let the opposing team develop. We needed the mental level where we needed to have the right player in the right position. I should also mention that we should have been smarter. If some endings are made, that’s different. We had discussed that Panathinaikos would operate in the way it did. But I am happy with the response of my players. We played a good game. But the negative of the evening is that we did not manage to beat Panathinaikos, which was in our hands”.

On Tisundali’s situation and whether Chalov is feeling a lot of pressure due to the fact that he hasn’t scored: “Tisundali had a problem after the last training session. It would be a big risk to use it. But it’s nothing special. His availability, for this game would be for 10 – 15 minutes. As for Chalov, he needs a longer period. He plays in a different League, he needs to have more confidence. He needs to be more calm. It’s a matter of adaptation. We have to think about how he fought and where they fought.”

For the update he can give on some players like Koley, Bakayoko and Gomes: “Finally the transfers are over. You must have patience. To wait for the best results. It’s a matter of adjustment for each player who came. We’ll see along the way. We will go from game to game, as we mentioned. Coley trained for the first time last Thursday. We will see how he will gradually play with the team. However, they are players with personality and quality. Maybe with Volos some players will get participation minutes. For Bakayoko, we might not have had him in the squad. But I saw some evidence in the last practice that convinced me to use him in the mission. As for Gomes, he has the least experience compared to the others. But we have Baba with the very great experience. We will go from game to game to get the maximum for each individual player. We should go as hard as we can.”