Discussion between Martinez and the players at Reentes and the following day

Diego Martinez was not satisfied with the speech he addressed to the players in the dressing room at Karaiskakis Stadium after the heavy defeat suffered by Olympiacos at the hands of PAOK, which he referred to extensively in Sport24But he also spoke to the players yesterday. In fact, there was an open discussion between the coach and the players. After the 42-year-old, team captain Kostas Fortounis, Rodini, Vitente Iborra and Youssef El-Arabi spoke.

Speaking to the footballers, Martinez said:

“It was a heavy defeat and it should be a lesson for us moving forward. It was a bad night for all of us but we have to put it behind us. We started the game well. We had chances to score and take the lead but then we lost our minds. It was like we stopped playing. We did everything Something went wrong. We have to remember that the match lasts 90 minutes. If we are not serious, focused and determined throughout the match, we will have problems. It was a harsh lesson but we have to learn from our mistakes.

I trust the team and you, we have built a good team and you are all excellent players. These bad times happen in football. But they don’t have to destroy you. We have to get a reaction. To show that it was a bad time. We are Olympiacos and we have to constantly prove that we are a team. We have the match against West Ham and we have to show that we have left the match with PAOK behind us. “It is the most difficult match so far against the English team and we have to do our duty.”

For his part, Fortunis said when he took the floor:

“We all realize that this result is difficult. We are not a team that loses like this. But there is no point in bowing our heads. We were hurt and upset. Now we have to respond. That’s what big teams do. Let’s go to the next matches together, as one team.”

For his part, Rodini confirmed:

“I felt like we weren’t the same team we were in the last three games. I feel bad, because I didn’t play well and neither did we all as a team. But the most important thing is to accept that you didn’t play well, understand how and why we lost and move on. We lost a game. It wasn’t “It’s supposed to happen, but it happened. It doesn’t mean we should lose our minds and our confidence in ourselves. We are a big team, we have good players and I’m sure we will respond.”

Also, at some point, the experienced Iborra took the floor, who wanted to boost the psychology of his teammates:

“Since the beginning of the year, a lot has happened and we have gone through a lot. We are a good team, we did a lot of good things. Well, we did not play well in the match against PAOK, but that should not make us lose our way. We have to work harder in training.

Because with work you correct mistakes. When we lose we all lose together and when we win we all win together. We have a lot of matches ahead of us. Let’s come back strong and do our best to reach the top again.”

In addition, El-Arabi was one of the leaders of a united Olympiacos:

“These things happen in life and in football all the time. It’s good to be upset and be self-critical for all of us. But we have other matches ahead of us. We are here to win many battles. Losing one match is not.” Disaster. We will fight and we will defeat those who come.¨

Forget what happened. Don’t let it make you think negatively. You saw how people supported us in the end. The fans believe in us, they are with us, so we must do what we are here to do. Calm down, self-criticize and let’s move forward. “We have a long way to go.”