Ouzounidis: “We need work to become a top team – The president knows what I want in terms of transfers”

One Mars who will make a reaction after the defeat in the last game before the break wants to see in the match with OFI the Marinos Ouzounidis.

In the usual statements to NOVA before the Stoiximan Super League match, the Greek coach emphasized that he needs work in spiritual piece to include the group in the top.

At the same time, he emphasized that he has already agreed on the transfers with him Theodore Karipides and he knows his wants in January.

What Ouzounidis said in detail

On whether Ares benefited from the holiday break, especially after the loss to Asteras Tripoli AKTOR: “First of all, I wish health to the whole world! I hope 2025 will be a very good year for us, with successes! To give joy to our world and try to bring it even closer to us. He is always close to us, but he can come closer to us if we play better football and if we have successes. That will be our goal this year. This week was difficult for us, mainly because of the viruses we had.

We had a lot of players absent for two or three days in a row, so we couldn’t work as we wanted. But this is a situation that you cannot control. I will wait until the last minute to see how the kids will be. Not only to see who will be able to start, but also how long they will be able to play, because if you are two or three days with a fever you lose strength and it is not easy. It is a situation that exists and we have to deal with it. And especially since in the last game we didn’t have the result we wanted, regardless of who will play, we have to show a reaction”.

On whether Aris has recovered mentally and on how he sees his footballers: “A defeat is a defeat, however we do it… However it came, in whatever circumstances it came. But it was a game that showed me some things that we have as a team, in this style of play or with these pitch conditions. You can make a good team.

In order to become a top team, however, we still need work, mainly in the mental part, in how we have to manage the adversities that a game will have or the difficult situations that will exist in it. When we achieve this, we will be able to ask for more things.”

For the positions in which the biggest problems appear, due to the absences of the last few days: “There were problems in all positions, but we can’t dwell on them. We have to find the solutions. That’s why I have to talk to the guys, see how they feel and mainly how much time they can help, so I can look to manage it accordingly, either starting some players, or making some changes a little faster. It’s something I’ll discuss with the kids and then I’ll make my decisions.”.

As for OFI being a team that performs better away from home than at home: “Indeed, it is. OFI is a balanced team. He has very dangerous midfielders. And the Brigadier (Foutas) and Sengelia and the striker (Yung) and Nous are very dangerous players, so he needs attention. Not only when we have the ball to create, but especially in the defensive transition we have to be very careful.

We have to be very focused when we have the ball so that we don’t allow the opponent to create situations. I expect a difficult game, in which we must have patience and calmness in our minds. I understand that people want a quick goal and hopefully things will go well for us from the start. However, we must have peace of mind in order to play what we can, with patience and confidence as a team.”

For the current transfer period, even if he has locked the positions, in which he considers that Aris needs reinforcement: “Of course. Although, with all these problems we are facing I haven’t seen much of some players, due to injuries or these viruses, but watching the previous games we have settled down. We have talked with the president about which positions we will prioritize. A team always wants to get better. Of course, the winter transfer window is not easy. I won’t say what those positions are, but the president clearly knows what I want.”