In his statements following the end of the match against Volos at “G. Karaiskakis,” the coach of the team from Piraeus, José Luis Mendilibar, highlighted the continuous improvement of Olympiacos.
In detail, what the Basque coach said at the press conference of the match against Volos:
You have six wins in six games, after joining the bench of Olympiacos. Do you own a magic wand?
There is no such thing. Oftentimes it is about good football, while others it’s about the accuracy. We are satisfied with our achievement, because that was my goal joining the team; to win as many games as possible and to make a comeback in the championship. It is also our first time in such a big club, where we always need to win every match.
The number of victories is impressive, as well as the fact that you have used all the players at your disposal. Are you reducing the rotation in the playoffs?
I don’t have an answer for you at the moment, we’ll see how it goes during the games. However, everyone must play so that the footballers rest. It’s challenging for the same footballers to play every three days. I can’t tell you whether I’ll be using 26 or 27 players in the playoffs, but I will use several, because we will need to give our players some time to rest.
How far is Olympiacos from what you are looking to see from the team on the pitch?
Every time, we get closer to what we are looking for. We saw it again in the second half of this match, especially when we forced the opponent to play in the halfcourt. Our players need to constantly believe in themselves, but also to be able to prove themselves. We improve every time, we are a good team, and we demonstrate it in all our matches.
Are you already reflecting on the match against Maccabi, and have you made plans for this match? Also, how did you feel when you saw people applauding you, when you walked into the stadium?
It is important to bring the fans back into the stadium and it is important to have them by our side when we play. Thus, the players feel that they need to find a rhythm faster and when their pace slackens, the fans are there to encourage them; this is important. If you think that Thursday’s match is more important than tonight’s, on the contrary, we considered this match more crucial because we wanted to reduce the score and we succeeded. Every time we achieve this, we draw closer to our goal. It’s too early to tell you whether we will win or lose on Thursday, but I can definitely tell you that we will play good ball.
A comment on the fact that you used all the strikers at your disposal, as well as that Olympiacos reduced the score and entered the playoffs in third position.
I haven’t felt the pressure yet, I feel calm and well. But when the draw takes place and the playoffs begin, I may feel the need to win the matches. As far as strikers are concerned, I took the opportunity to use them all by changing player positions as well, such as that of Jovetić and Fran Navarro. Without upsetting the balance in the team, however, we continued to play well, and I believe that our moves on the pitch ware successful.
