The result and level of play are fantastic

– I am happy with how we started the season. Not only in terms of result, but also the game that we demonstrated. I am fully satisfied with how we acted as a team on and off the football field. Like I said to my players before the match, the team, not only those who will appear in the starting line-up, but all of you for me, is 11 main players. And I am sure that we as a team proved it completely today. I am fully satisfied with how we showed ourselves from the first minutes in terms of high pressing, our dedication and how we played the entire match. Of course, there were a couple of moments that could be improved. I tell my players all the time: there is always room for improvement. But the result and level of play that my players demonstrated today are fantastic. We created several great moments that we were able to convert into scored goals as well, so I can only give the biggest compliments to my team.

– The team has internationals who have recently returned from the Olympic Games. To what extent will their physical condition allow them to play full 90 minutes in the near future?
– Yes, as you noted, this pre-season was full of departures of our players to the national team and other teams, which, of course, affected their physical shape. Also, after that we let several players go to the Olympic team, which was absolutely necessary considering the situation your country is currently in. And, of course, it affected their shape: they may be somewhat tired, not fully ready. But I note that they have established themselves as professionals after returning, they are making up for the missed period that they did not have time to use for practice, while the rest of the team was at the pre-season training camp. I am sure that they will have time to catch up after one or two weeks of persistent hard work.

– What mistakes did you notice in your team’s defence today (and there were mistakes and you just got lucky)? And what kind of training session you had after the game? Have your players been working additionally?
– As for the mistakes in defence, there were indeed some unpleasant moments, but it is a part of the game. Football is a game of mistakes, and unfortunately, there are probably no perfect matches, but the most important thing is to know how to draw correct conclusions from these mistakes. And I am sure that my team will work on this with me already during the new training cycle. As for the players who ran after the match, it is important for us. If you noticed during the pre-season training camp and during the previous training camp, we always end up playing the same team two days in a row so that our players can fully show themselves on the football field in terms of physical fitness. And these runs are also used to improve their physical conditions and reach optimal shape already at the beginning of the season, in the first rounds, because we try to develop and improve all our players. This is done both to develop the physical conditions of the footballers and so that we can see in what condition they are in at a particular stage of the season.