Read below words by Olympiacos coach, Michel, after the end of the AEK tie in Filadelfeia for the Stoiximan Super League campaign.
Details of the Press conference held by the Spanish coach:
Alexandros Paschalakis, in his presser, said that you changed your plans during the break. What exactly did you change in your side?
Firstly, I would like to thank and congratulate my players for beating a strong opponent; and in order to do that, one has to make a top-level performance. I also thank them for believing in us, and this they have proven. AEK are a quality team, so if one cannot keep ball possession, then you get what happened in the first half; after the break, we changed that. In the first half, we stayed low, we suffered no major threats but we did stay really deep. So, we had to win possession and counter-attack, which we actually did in the second half. We played great and beat a top team, which adds value to our victory.
What is the message sent by this Olympiacos win ahead of the play-offs?
We have already said, 2 weeks ago, since that match against Levadeiakos, that -for us- the play-offs started at that day. We still have plenty of matches to play and many matches to witness like the one tonight. But what you will surely see is a team giving its 200%.
Do you believe that the Cup match will develop in the same way and will we see any upsets?
My experience has taught me that in football one should never say never; for instance, we came tonight in AEK home ground, they have played 14 matches and won all 14 of them. However, we came here and smashed said statistics and these are things that may happen in football.
What kind of mental boost does this win give to you ahead of the play-offs and the fight for the championship title?
I think that, for quite some time, we have shown that our team believes in itself, and that we have watched matches like the one we played against AEK. Just like against Panathinaikos whom we didn’t beat, yet our performance then has been very comprehensive. We are still far away from the top of the table; we have to cut our deficit even more. We have many play-offs matches to play, there will be upsets and surprises, but what fills us with satisfaction is our belief in our capabilities.
After AEK’s win, you had talked about respect towards you. Has this win been reply to that issue?
In football, I have learnt that a coach always received criticism. What I know is to mind my own business and improving my side, and not said criticism which always has to be addressed to the coach. Let me repeat what I believe in: it’s the players who win if the team wins; but it’s the coach who loses if the team is beaten. With all due respect and humbleness towards all those who had criticized me, I will turn 60 this month. I have spent my entire lifetime in football in which both praise and criticism do exist. However, I hate going to the extremes, like being always praised or always criticized. When one is a coach, then one’s job looks like the referee’s or a landlady’: one can never keep everybody satisfied.
Do you think that the distance to the top of the table may be reversed?
This distance is purely mathematical, and I don’t believe it’s a substantial distance and this will try to prove later on. What is important is to believe in our own capabilities.
