Olympiacos coach Carlos Corberan spoke to the Press following the end of the Freiburg match and our side’s 3-0 defeat for MD2 of the UEFA Europa League group stage.
Below follow words by the Spanish coach during the press conference:
What is the hardest part since you took on Olympiacos?
Apparently, we all saw that our team was outperformed by our opponent sin all aspects and they managed to impose themselves on us. When something like that happens, then it is the coach’s responsibility because he is the one to come up with solutions for the team to duly deliver. So, Freiburg were better than us and our defeat was a fair result since they were superior to us and we failed to stand up to what it would take to turn the match around. We performed below the requirements of the match, the club and our fans; of course, I assume full responsibility for all these.
We watched Olympiacos both in France and against Freiburg to fall back and wait for the opponents in their own half. Why does this happen? Is it a matter of state of mind?
No, it has to do with how one may prevail on his opponent. We failed to win individual battles in both matches. The team failed to break down our opponent’s build-up. When we try to move forward, we are in risk. And when we play defense, we cannot stop our opponents; and this is due to that fact we cannot win these battles against our opponents. Therefore, all these have to do with the fact our opponents were better than us. In both set pieces, we were disorganized and, at this level, no such mistakes are allowed.
We would like you to comment on the future of this group with Olympiacos having zero points won so far and two critical matches against Qarabag to come. Also, Olympiacos is to play a very crucial match against Aris on Sunday. So, do you feel some added pressure following these last results?
About the Europa League, we are a team with zero points and should we want to earn points in the coming fixtures, then we must step up our performance. As for Sunday’s match, it is very important for us. In both last matches, we failed to earn points, so it is imperative that we earn them in this match. Since I joined Olympiacos, I never stopped feeling the requirement for the club to win. When the club fails to win, then the pressure is huge. The pressure is the same in all matches because we have to win and, most importantly, when our opponents are Aris.
