Olympiacos coach José Luis Mendilibar, speaking in the press conference after the away match against Asteras Aktor, focused on his team’s lack of sharpness.
The press conference of our experienced coach in detail:
What’s causing Olympiacos to miss out on points in recent games, and what went wrong that made your team trail behind early on?
This happens because our opponents are also fighting on the pitch, and we’re playing against eleven skilled players. We haven’t won in the last league matches, and we’ve dropped points, but we’re still close to the top. So, even the leading team finds it difficult to win. The opponents have quality, and it’s challenging for everyone. I believe we started well, but we lacked sharpness. In the second half, we were in a rush to win, playing with great intensity but without a clear mind.
Have you identified any common issues in the matches where points were lost?
Today’s match is not similar to previous ones because I think we were better compared to past matches. I believe we could have scored, and although we used intelligence and speed, we missed a goal. We can’t compare this game to the previous ones where we lost points, because it’s not that we did something wrong; the opponent really challenged us.
Indeed, Olympiacos started well, but in the second half, despite the changes, there were very few good chances. In Europe, your team also finds goals more easily compared to Greece. Do you also have any updates on the status of Yazici?
As mentioned, it’s because the opponents are also there to defend, and it’s challenging against teams like these to maintain the required level and achieve what we want. We went in with all our strength in the first half, but the opponent scored a goal in the fastbreak and troubled us with other counterattacks. We take risks when we push forward, playing with heart rather than mind, and it’s not easy to achieve our goal in such situations against these opponents. Yazici’s injury may be serious; we’ll see.
