Olympiacos made it two wins from two in the Greek Cup with a 3-2 victory over Volos, with José Luis Mendilibar commenting on Gustavo Puerta’s debut and the two goals scored by Armando González.
José Luis Mendilibar’s statements in detail:
If you had to take one thing from today’s match, would it be Puerta’s performance or something else from the team’s display?
The truth is that Puerta was very good today. He positioned himself well and helped us a lot in our play, creating many chances. If we have to find something negative from today’s match, it would be the two goals we conceded towards the end. Overall, though, Puerta had a very good game.
We saw Olympiacos use vertical play effectively today, as they did against AEL. How easy is it for Olympiacos to incorporate this more generally into their game?
Our intention is always to open up the opposition’s defence. That is what we try to do regardless of who we are playing against. The truth is that vertical football, vertical play, does not always help to open up the opposition’s defence. In matches where we have used it, it does not always work. For example, if we try to build from the goalkeeper by playing vertically, it is often difficult to find space. And when we start from the defenders, we also sometimes struggle because it also depends on how confident a player feels about asking for the ball and allowing us to play vertically, as you say. So, it depends on many things.
Do you believe Armando González can become a worthy replacement for El Kaabi?
González has come here to play in this position. He has come to play as a striker and to compete with Ayoub El Kaabi, who, as we already know, will be out for a long time. Today’s goals will certainly help him establish himself in this position, be competitive, gain confidence and, of course, continue competing with his teammates who also play in this position, such as Yaremchuk, Jota and Clayton.
