What do you think of the match against Johor?
“I think it was a decent match, especially the first half, we started off very well and scored three good goals. In the second half the intensity was a bit lower and we had not many chances as well. To sum everything up, we played a good match and nobody got injured, so we’re going to start getting ready for the next match.”
You had two matches planned for today. What was the reason for such tight schedule?
“We want all of our players to get more playing time, and it’s important for us to let all of our footballers play at least a few full matches. Today we were able to achieve that, almost everyone played for the whole 90 minutes, and we’re happy about it.”
Douglas Santos was absent today. What is his current condition?
“He is training individually for now, and I hope that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow he will join the team. Then we will see how ready he would be to participate in the next matches.”
The first match day in Dubai is over. What is next in the plans for the training camp? Improving fitness levels through playing?
“There will be less intense training and more tactical exercises. The schedule is pretty tight, we have many matches ahead, so everyone has to improve their condition and feel the rhythm of the game in order to get ready for the league and the Cup to resume.”
A whole group of young players joined the team in Dubai. What do you think of this reinforcement?
“The guys didn’t have much time to show what they’re capable of. It’s obvious that the 20-21 players we have, if we don’t include Douglas, that we've had since the start of the training camp wouldn’t be enough to play two matches a day. That’s why we called them up, to help us if needed and to give them a chance to feel the atmosphere of working in the first team. Some of them were able to make their debuts, so we’re happy for them and we’re going to watch them during training sessions to give them more playing practice.”
Could you say a few words on the morning's match please?
“The morning match was decent, we had many good chances, especially in the first 30-40 minutes of the first half, though in the second half the intensity dropped and the amount of chances decreased as well. I think in the second half we played equally. It was a good match in terms of intensity, but unfortunately we conceded a goal. These matches exist to show us our mistakes and we understand what we have to work on, so we’re going to focus on those moments that didn’t go well for us in the first match.”
What was the forming of today’s lineups based on?
“We tried to let the guys play on their positions except for Vladislav Saus who had to play in defence today. The other players were on their positions for the most part. We also tried to form the lineups based on the interactions between players on the pitch and their positions, we tried not to have too many young players on the pitch at the same time in both matches. Today we decided to play this way and in the next games we might try other options.”
You said that there were no injuries, but medics spent some time helping Mantuan in the first match. Is he alright?
“Yes, as for now there is nothing serious. Obviously it wasn’t a pleasant moment, but nobody got seriously injured.”
How would you rate the level of the champion of Malaysia?
“It’s hard to say, every match is different and Johor are also getting ready for the season. We don’t know how many matches they’ve had, what their training schedule is like. They do have players from Argentina and Spain, players who played in many leagues on high level and they’re capable of working with the ball.
Today we were able to score two goals and take the lead in the first half, so after that everything was easier for us, we had more free space and our speed was good. Judging by today’s match we looked better, but Johor are not an easy team to play against if we look at their previous matches.”
