The coach of Olympiacos, José Luis Mendilibar, was particularly satisfied following the victory and qualification against Ferencváros in Hungary.
In detail, what the Spanish coach said at the press conference of the match in Budapest:
A lot of people wonder how you have managed to transform the team to such an extent compared to the previous period.
I don’t know what was happening before and how the team played, I know what I want to do; to get the team to play well and for each player to do their best. Olympiacos has good players in their roster. The self-confidence you gain when you win games is an important element, thus, when footballers gain self-confidence they win games, and this is demonstrated on the pitch.
Do you plan to use social media to communicate with the people of Olympiacos who want to thank you?
It’s only my third game; it’s just been a few games. I know the fans are going crazy, but let’s take it easy, we have a lot of matches ahead of us. However, know that no matter how many games we win, I will never use social media.
Tell us a little bit about the tactical aspect of Olympiacos, especially during the first half, as well about the fact that Ferencváros chose to start the game with two strikers.
Every time we are facing an opponent, I observe and study them and I know each player’s potential. But, I pay more attention to my team. I have a style of play that I don’t want to change, regardless of the opponent. I’ve paid dearly for this in my career, but I’m a little stubborn, I like this way of playing. I know we’re going to be dealing with a lot of different teams, but my style of play is not going to change.
Before the game, you said that you wanted your team to play a high line and they basically did exactly that. How did your feel about it while on the bench? Also, a good friend of yours, Mr. Valverde, has qualified in the past with the same scores in the same European competition phase. Do you believe in coincidences?
I will answer the second question first. It would be nice to succeed like Ernesto Valverde did in Olympiacos, because this will mean that we will earn titles and I will be with Olympiacos for a long time. Regarding the first question, when you see that your instructions are working, you feel satisfied, but I am also satisfied because the players realise that when they follow your instructions it works for them as well. This leads to the players following these instructions not because you asked them, but because they see that they work. I am equally satisfied that the players have quickly grasped what we are asking for and they execute it on the pitch.
