The ball in Iliopoulos for his future is Almeida: “The question is not for me-I want to talk to me directly”

Obviously annoyed for rumors that want him finished by AEK said the Matthias Almeida at the press conference after the defeat by Panathinaikos (1-2). The Argentine coach admitted that the season was bad, but showed a willingness to build the next AEK from scratch. In fact, he announced developments and a meeting probably within the week.

“Of course I can understand what is happening in the playoffs and in some games before the end. I always make enough self -criticism, I’ve talked a little bit, I’ve worked a lot … About the circles, many of you have direct contact with the one you can ask the questions. The question is not for me“, He initially emphasized a question about whether his cycle was closed.

Asked if he wants to stay and if he wants the administration to stay, he replied: “There was no meeting between the owner, Mr Ribalta and me. My contract expires in 2028. I fully realize that the results came upside down, it is normal for some circles to get negative results. We always want to win, but we must also understand the periods. Many of you have said a lot of things, but I still didn’t talk. I am here because of my respect for you and the world, because I go forward when I win and lose. If the continuation of a coach depends on a meeting, we are not talking about a project. I have a contract, there is a game left, the situation is not clear because I haven’t been talking about a project for a long time. So if something has not been discussed before the season is over, I say you are putting this project in force 2-3 months ago. I am honest, I have made mistakes like any human being, but we as humans must have the required respect. And in good, but also in the bad ones, which I can take on part of the responsibility of bad results. I really take it. When things are good, I always give value to all those involved, from the driver to the athletic director. All projects, when there is stability the most certain is that there will be success. When there is volatility, we do not get anywhere. I have said it from the first day that Mr. Iliopoulos took over as the owner. Everything that has done with me I have told people who are responsible for the club. If there are circles that are over, they will be the ones who will finish it. I will respect the decisions and then make the ‘account’ and have a press conference to say what is happening. I was a footballer and all of this falls on the player. They see a coach that everyone says he is leaving. Obviously the result didn’t help, but always what I say is that when you are positive you are positive. When the atmosphere begins to be negative, we cause negativity. It is a team sport and a game where the player’s mentality should be clear and healthy. Everyone wants to work in a healthy environment. They come out different from one side or the other, and these situations do not like. I prefer honesty. They got out that I was picking up my stuff because I threw some shoes. I have tried to respect the whole world in the three years I have been here. We had the above and the bottom, but I was always trying to have the utmost respect. I believe that after the three years I am here, I deserve to tell me things directly. There was a bad season, I take responsibility and all the clubs are made, it doesn’t depend on me. So you have to ask the questions to those who make the decisions. You may have already done them and I don’t know that”

As for whether he thinks he was closed the cycle of this AEK replied: “I can’t talk about failure in the third year, because we had a bad end. Failure is if you don’t work all year. The project started by winning the first season, in the second we lost the championship ourselves and this year at football we didn’t play like the two previous ones. There is frustration when we lose, we all work to win. It hurts to go through these situations, because we live by it and all the people around us suffer. But there are things in life that one cannot change, all he can do is accept it and respect it”

About the choice of Odubajo as a left -back role while on the bench Hadjisafi and Pelion he said: “I have my reasons. Everyone was playing, there was no one to stand out. It is a place in which we know how we searched to strengthen. Today, because the tete is left -footed and converges inward, we have chosen Odubajo. I also make decisions with some behaviors, I see the confidence that every player has, I understand when I see a footballer and I want to give opportunities to those who are confident. I think Audubajo went well. There is always a chance to be wrong. The kids gave the best they could in the place of the left back, some tried but nervousness at times may not have helped them and I tried to protect them”

Concerning the use of Tsiloulis and the fact that Eliason came into the game slowly, he stressed: “For Eliason we had a negative pole. You ever wondered what Niklas is spiritually after what he went through. He has a lot of things on his head. I’m not here to expose football players, I won’t say if they played bad. I believe that in the previous two years he did very well and this year he had the ups and downs like everyone else. For Tsiloulis, I had no other offensive choices. He is a contract with a contract, when I see someone doing good workouts I will put him in. Today, with all the energy that Pierre spent, I knew I could use it as a center forward, we had discussed it. Lamela asked to go out because he couldn’t continue anymore. All I could do was put Vida, Simanski go ahead and at 10 Mandalos. I keep making changes to keep the tension high. We have won many games with the changes. Sometimes I can do it, it’s a period that comes out nothing. Whatever we do, it doesn’t come out”

Asked what are the conditions to continue on the AEK bench replied: “There should be an internal discussion, with closed doors. I am not here to be against neither the owner nor the athletic director. All projects do not always go on the basis of results. If they depend on the results, this may be poison for tomorrow. There are too many things in a project, it depends on how everyone works. It’s also a matter of taste, some people like it and some don’t. If it is to get out of this position, I lived here very beautiful moments and I don’t want football to get dirty. We need to find the best possible solution for the good of the club and the players. It seems strange to me to write something I haven’t said. If you want to know something, you can ask. I sit down and give you as many explanations as you want for the football track. We are open to reviews, but we can explain some things, especially for the world that reads them all. I live and give all the answers to the players. There is an environment with communication, dialogue and exchange of views, always looking for the best. There’s something that has been cut and I haven’t cut it”

Asked if he has the communication he wants with Marios Iliopoulos and the collaboration required with Javier Ribalta, he replied: “We have spoken separately, I with Mr. Ribalta, Mr. Iliopoulos with me and because of the situation in the playoffs we could not find ourselves to say if we continue or stop the project. I understand that it will be this week”

As to whether he thinks AEK in this atmosphere can win the last match with PAOK said: “All games are important and it is to win them. Unfortunately we didn’t do it in the last games. Two games here in the playoffs we were ahead and lost. I want the season to finish and the deck are re -sharing to look for a better future. It is obvious that we are not as stable as in other times. I see a blocked team that cannot make a shot to the end, which when it receives a goal feels terror for what is happening … At such times you want it to end and start from the beginning. The club will claim something for Europe, so it must be prepared for the team to be ready in European games”

On the decision to abolish open training for the media this year and limited information on injuries, he said: “Decisions are made together. It doesn’t come out who is injured, but it comes out that I have gathered my things. We all have our informants. The point is when it happens to be the same. I don’t understand Greek and I don’t know what’s writing, but they come and they tell me. Unfortunately today there is misuse on social media, you don’t know who is writing behind a computer. Behind it lies a lot of people who do bad. When the result does not help, you are at the center of what people say. So I told you that it is strange that no one asked to talk. I could give you direct information”

Finally, about what he would like to say to the AEK world for this year’s bad season, he noted: “I have always said how I feel and people appreciate how I have expressed it. I understand their frustration and anger, because I too feel. I know that people live for derby and comments because there is a lot of passion in all of this. In the first two years, the energy it was creating in the way we played was unique. This year, maybe because the football we played was not the best, there were different views, which is normal. I am grateful to God and Melissanidis who brought me here, who I was able to live in the 100th anniversary of AEK, who I met the world of AEK, which I was able to and I was with them. I was able to unite and feel that this is a football family. That’s why I have this pain now. I wish we had the championship again, but sometimes things don’t go as you want. I am grateful to this audience for still being here today, supporting, boosting the team and it is perfectly understood to be frustrated, just like us who could not reverse the situation. The team tried, with passion and dedication, perhaps not with as good football as before, but it was a mood. The mood was not missing“