Speaking after the match, Olympiacos head coach José Luis Mendilibar addressed his team’s inability to find the net.
Below are the main points from the Basque coach’s press conference:
What is your plan ahead of the play-offs to solve the team’s lack of goals?
“When the top teams face each other, everyone finds it difficult. You saw tonight that PAOK also struggled to score. That’s part of football.
Of course, we’ve identified the issue and we’re working to improve it — creating more passing combinations and delivering better crosses. In the past we scored more easily; this season, for one reason or another, it hasn’t been happening. But we’ll keep working until we fix it.”
This season you have only one win in seven big matches. What is different compared to last year, and does this create extra pressure on the team?
“All teams are trying to improve and this season they’ve all strengthened. Everyone wants to win the league. In Greece, clubs have started spending more money and trying to become stronger — that’s normal and it’s not something new.
It also means that in a league, one team cannot always win everything. Another factor, as you mentioned, is that opponents may now understand better how we play. When a team defends deeper, it becomes harder to score.
Last year we did it more easily both in the league and in Europe, but football isn’t played alone — there is always an opponent. This season it’s proving more difficult, but that’s normal. We’ll keep pushing to win matches, just like the other teams will.”
Looking ahead to the play-offs, what does your team need to improve? You mentioned efficiency earlier — is that the only issue?
“It’s not just efficiency. We need to improve our overall performance — every aspect of our game has to get better.”
Have you identified any issues with players who were absent due to injuries or because of the recent Africa Cup of Nations?
“The only player who had a problem was Daniel Podence. He missed about ten days of training but has now returned and played with the team.
As for the others, at least in theory, they are all in good condition. If there is any psychological issue — if someone’s mind is elsewhere — that’s not something we can know. But in terms of fitness and health, we don’t have any problems.”
