Vitoria: “It’s not a coach’s victory, it’s a victory for the players – I’m very pleased with Siopi”

THE Panathinaikos He was greatly forced, but eventually defeated Vikingur 2-0 at the OAKA and overturned the defeat of the first match, qualifying for the Conference League ’16’ phase.

After the clash, the Rui Vitoria He stressed that victory belongs to players of him and not to himself, explained the reasons he proceeded to changes of the image of the match, praised them Manolis Siopi and Nemanja Maximovic and pointed out that the Panathinaikos He will look into the “eyes” whoever finds it in front of him.

In detail what he said at the press conference:

The picture created was that Panathinaikos was looking for a player to do more. This phase came from a player who is constantly struggling with his bad foot. Maybe a special reference is worth today by Mennovic.

“What you say is true. Of course it is a bit unfair for the rest to say only about Philip. And they helped a lot, like Maximovic who played in another position or Juricic who struggled with a problem. The whole team showed great courage. We deserved the victory and the qualification, against a team that created difficulties, it was closed near its area. It is not easy to penetrate such a harsh defense. In the first half we quickly released the ball, but we lacked details in the last third, some diagonals. In the second half the changes helped, we had clearly the initiative. We have scored the goals even in the end and I think our qualification is just fair. “

Panathinaikos faced a very well -organized team in its defender third. In the first half he showed a bit blocked and without ideas. In the second he was not threatened, he was better. What was it that changed? Suppose you no longer have anything to say to Siopi? Because before the match you had said that you are keeping a regular detail to mention it.

“I’ll try to explain. We’re talking about an opposing team that had a week to prepare only for this match. He came here early to get acclimatized in the circumstances. We had a difficult fight. The opposing team came with very defensive orientations, for us it was important not to lose the ball on 2/3 of the court that would give them counterattack opportunities. We should have a security security, players trying to have fast traffic and not give easy stages to the opponent. This created a lack of purity. We tired the opponent anyway. In the second half with some interventions we had faster circulation, more back movements to spoil their balance.

The players who came in helped a lot. They gave energy and vertical movements. A difficulty defense, with strong players, tall. Near their own area it was difficult to find the empty spaces. They also had 2-3 players who could go down quickly. In the second half we controlled the opponent very well with Maximovic, Siopi, well received the foul card. We gave the strikers the opportunity to search for goals with creative ideas. Important that TEET scored. We are very pleased with the qualification. I had talked to Siopi about his placements and overlaps with the others, we wanted him closer to our stoppers. He was very important, he did a very good game, he cut counterattacks when he needed, even with a yellow card. I am very pleased with him. “

To what extent the entrance of Vagiannidis gave Panathinaikos more width and opened the Vikingur defense? Both goals came from the sides. How much this has helped to open distances in the opposing defense. The absences and injuries, how big were they in these two matches?

“I like these questions that have to do with football issues. I like to explain my ideas and what I think. Kotsiras played a very good game, but we wanted at that time to be able to have a footballer even further so we could be faster when we can be faster to go with numerical overnight. Vagiannidis has these characteristics, he has energy, he is ready to get a ball. He could not play from the beginning, it would be a risk, it came from an injury. It was also a risk for Ingasson, who has many games on his feet. We wanted Vagiannidis to take the ball into space. So we created rifts from the right, then we did it from the left and had more variety. We could have some chances for centers or passes. We lacked the movements in the opposing area.

Of course, in Finland we had very limited choices on a very difficult stadium. We would like more options, as it is today. We have players who carry many consecutive games, such as Philip. This is fatigue and creates a risk of injuries. It’s a risks to take, since we need them. Now we will have more options on the bench, and better manage it. It is important that we did not go to the extension. We have a difficult race on Sunday, with a little recovery time. “

Whether Maximovic’s image puts him in thoughts to use him as a stepper and that Panathinaikos had the same racing identity and as he looked for two goals, if this is a victory for both his own work and the identity he has given to the team:

“As for Maximovic, what I would like to say is that in the National Serbia most of the time he plays as a huff. We had a conversation with him and saw that he was positive about playing a stopper. He told me that I can count him there, he has played in this position. Not at the level of other central defenders. For me it is of great value that the player was positively in it. A smart player who can help there too. He was very good as a stopper, most of his actions were good. We knew that the opponent would fight with big balls, he was good at that piece too. In the offensive part he helped circulate. He showed from the first moment positively in it, and I explained to him well what I was asking for and why I needed him there. Responded very well.

As for the second question, the easiest and simplest would be to let go of big balls, but we decided that we had to chase the goals with intensity, rapid release. Trying to get tired of the opponent, to force him to come to decisions that would confuse. All the moves at some point were reasonable to tire them both physically and mentally. We invested in it. It is quite normal for us, so we play. We would not change our identity. It is not the coach’s victory, it is a victory for the players. They make the decisions on the pitch, the victory belongs to them. “

As to whether he prefers rappide or fiorentina in the next phase:

“I don’t like to talk about things I can’t control. They are two good teams, Fiorentina is well known, competing in the Italian league that is extremely competitive. I saw Rapid recently, I know it’s qualitative. Whatever the opponent, if we want to reach the highest levels, which is Panathinaikos’ position in Europe, to fight as high as possible gives only positive things. We will play equal to every opponent, we will have some players available who were not ready now. We will have a clean week, more time to prepare. We are now focusing on the next game. ”