Following the international break, the Prva liga Telemach returns to the pitch. Olimpija first face a home clash with Mura on Saturday (8:15 PM), ahead of which Dragons’ head coach Jugoslav Trenchovski shared his thoughts.<\/p>\n
You used the international break for a mini training camp in Preddvor and at Kodeljevo, as well as a friendly against Slaven Belupo. What did you focus on most during these two weeks, and what have you seen that pleases you?<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the first time we’ve faced such a long international break, and I’ll say it again – it’s a new experience for all of us. I imagine it’s a new experience for the national teams too, since they also have four matches in this cycle. We tried to fix a few things. We had some difficulties because nine of our players were away with their national teams: four with senior sides, three with the U21s, and two with the U19s. So we brought in some young players, had a solid training block, and tried to work on things that I feel we’re not yet satisfied with. Mainly our positioning in possession, then our setup in the high block, and the transition between a mid block and a high block. We worked quite effectively. I’m very pleased with the young players who trained with the first team. We had two good microcycles. The only thing I can regret is that we were missing the players who were away on international duty.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the break, you said you’d been \u201ctoo focused on results\u201d. How did you address that with the team – what do you expect from the boys now when they step onto the pitch?<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, everyone knows what Olimpija’s goal is. For Olimpija, the result always matters most. Sometimes you don’t play well, but when you win, nobody notices. That’s just how it is. Our goal is the top of the table, and that brings a particular kind of pressure. We talked a bit more about mental stability, and about trying to improve our style of play – the idea we want to bring to life on the pitch. Since we have certain principles we insist on, we want to build the structure we’re after and execute the return phase, meaning the defensive, negative transition, better. So the goal over these two or three microcycles was to work on exactly that. When I said that, I meant we need to fix certain things. In football, you can reach a result the easy way or the hard way. The coach is the one who chooses the approach, along with the players – or rather the type of players – you have at your disposal. Of course we want to play well and win at the same time. But sometimes it happens that you don’t play with quality, and it’s not pretty for the fans, yet you still win the match. So we need to find the right balance. We need to look for progress, for our better sides, and improve certain situations, especially during the game itself. But of course, the basic goal remains the points. That’s why we keep attacking, always, and try to collect every point we can right until the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quite a few of the boys are returning from international duty. What kind of shape are they in, how’s the squad’s fitness, and will the full squad be available on Saturday?<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m not happy about that. I can only thank our medical staff, who are working extremely hard, and I hope we’ll get all our players back, especially those who were away with their national teams. Cuni has an injury, Kobouri is also slightly injured. Mitrovski has an issue, and I hope he’ll be back by tomorrow as well. Koji\u0107 and Risti\u0107 also played two tough matches, so there’s a certain amount of fatigue with them too. But that’s just how it is. We have nothing to complain about. We’re here to work and to try to play as well as we can. And of course, players are happy when they get to play. So we need to manage them well, treat them well, and find the best starting eleven based on physical, technical and tactical readiness, tailored to each opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mura come to Sto\u017eice on Saturday. What do you expect from them, and where do you see the key to the match?<\/p>\n
\u201cI have huge respect and appreciation for Mura. We’ve done our internal analysis. I can see they have very good, quality players. They started the season with a new coach and new ideas that I really like. They’ve played some really good matches, especially against Celje and Maribor. They also beat us in round two. Mura have a recognisable style of play and a clear structure. They know what they want, and they have quality individuals. We’re facing a very demanding, high-quality match against a quality opponent. We’ve worked hard and tried to find a counter-system and a way to play against them. But I think the key to success should be patience, having more possession, keeping the ball at our feet, and building our own attacking structure. Or rather, trusting ourselves, doing our job, and going all the way, right to the last minute, trying to beat the next opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n
A busy schedule awaits you before winter, with an away trip to Kidri\u010devo just a week after Mura. What does the team need to show differently going forward compared to the first part of the season – what’s the first thing you want to see on the pitch?<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, we’ve got a packed schedule ahead. After Aluminij there’ll be a shorter break due to the cup matches, but we’ll use that time too for a slightly intensified programme and try to fix certain situations. I’ll say it again – our goal and focus are the points, but I’ll stress once more: I want to develop our structure and our play, I want to develop the style of play we’re nurturing and working on in training. I think we still need to dedicate a bit more time to this – after all, we have to keep repeating it until it becomes automatic. We’re still lacking in efficiency, in creating chances, and in link-up play in the final third – that’s what we need to work on. And I believe that behind all of this is the mental stability we need, and that will only come with positive results.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Following the international break, the Prva liga Telemach returns to the pitch. Olimpija first face a home clash with Mura on Saturday (8:15 PM), ahead of which Dragons’ head coach Jugoslav Trenchovski shared his thoughts. You used the international break for a mini training camp in Preddvor and at Kodeljevo, as well as a friendly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":135840,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[496],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-first-team-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t