The coach of Olympiacos, Diego Martínez, stressed that he was satisfied with the performance but not the result, following the end of the match against West Ham for the UEFA Europa League.
In detail, the press conference of the Spanish coach of the “red-and-whites”:
Share with us what you told your players after the match and how you feel about the result.
I felt hurt after the match. We believe we could have gotten something more; it was a fairly balanced game and we could have had a better result. I congratulated my players for their effort – we were a well-organised team on the pitch and one that looked into the eyes of one of the best teams in the Premier League, one of the three best leagues in Europe, and the holder of the Conference League. The team demonstrated that they are constantly improving and we are satisfied, not with the result but with our appearance. It was a quite demanding game against an opponent who plays at a high level and in these games it’s the details that determine the result, such as Camara’s goalpost hit or other actions in the last part of the pitch where we could have had better options and scored. When you play this kind of game against such an opponent, you are filled with confidence and faith in your team – because we improve.
Do you think that you are left with a beef that in all four European matches so far, the team has been competitive and that you respected your opponent more? If you could go back in time, would you change anything?
I agree with what you’re saying – that one could feel that we would have deserved more points by now in our group. So far, we have conceded two goals after revising the VAR. Also, in the match against Freiburg we had the opportunity to make the 3–3 with Jovetić, if I remember correctly. Therefore, one could feel that Olympiacos could have gained more points and has been wronged in relation to the team’s performances. But we taking with us the performances and the fact that we fought in every game in order to win. This fills us with confidence and we can say that in the last three months the team has improved a lot. Three months ago the team could not have come to England and played this way. I am proud of our appearance in a game that required maximum concentration and organisation. The result is often judged on the details. I believe that Olympiacos is constantly showing improvement and I have reason to feel proud of the team’s performance, and this is something to take with us. We fight in every game with the goal to win and this is encouraging for the future. I am certain that in football, when you are deprived of something, it comes around later and you get what you are entitled to.
