Olympiacos coach José Luis Mendilibar expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance and victory against Volos NPS at “G. Karaiskakis” Stadium.
Below follow details of the experienced coach’s press conference:
Olympiacos had 17 shots on target, while Volos had none. What does this say about your players’ focus?
When we face danger, it’s good because our defense becomes more focused. However, if we think that sitting back is beneficial for our defense, that’s a mistake. Our team operates better when defending far from our own box. When we allow the opponent to enter our area, that becomes a problem for us.
Olympiacos seems to be in great form right now. Would you say this is the best period for your team?
Indeed, we are at our best. All the players are in good condition, and we make substitutions without that affecting the team’s performance. Every player contributes, and it’s significant that, despite having a large roster, everyone feels useful. We’re in a phase where we’re utilizing all our players without compromising the team’s performance. Since we’ve achieved this, I can confidently say we are at our peak right now.
After the OFI match, you mentioned patience was needed for certain players. Do you believe there’s still more to see from some of your players?
Not all players adapt immediately to a new team, especially when they haven’t had preseason training or played summer friendlies. They need more time compared to others. Until now, they haven’t had many opportunities to show their worth. Of course, everyone can critique, including me as the coach. But now that all the players have adapted, they’re proving they deserve to be part of this team.
We’ve seen García, who didn’t have preseason, now become a starter, as well as Willian showing a different side of himself. Especially Willian seems like a completely different player. What’s changed?
It’s true I don’t like talking about players individually. However, these two examples you mentioned have played in top leagues and clubs, and they’re here for a reason. They may not be the fastest or have certain traits we’d like, but they are players who don’t play for personal glory—they’re here to contribute to the team. They’re intelligent players. We might not have seen some aspects of their abilities initially, but in football and life, it’s the smart ones who move forward.
Did El Kaabi’s early goal change your team’s game plan? Also, a comment on Kostoulas scoring his first goal at Karaiskakis.
An early goal always makes things easier, but it didn’t change our plan because we always play offensively, no matter what happens during the match. In the previous game, we conceded an early goal, but our plan didn’t change either. It’s important that all three of our forwards scored because that shows their work on the pitch is paying off. The same goes for our defenders; they see their efforts contributing to the team. Of course, it’s significant that Kostoulas scored his first goal in our stadium, and we hope there are more to come. It’s also notable that Gelson scored as soon as he came on. As a coach, I don’t ask for goals only from forwards or defense only from defenders—I ask everyone for their hard work. When this work is combined with results, it’s even better.
