Our representative Fenerbahçe lost 3-0 at home to the English Premier League team Nottingham Forest in the first match of the UEFA Europa League play-off match. After the match, Vitor Pereira, the coach of the opposing team and a former coach of the yellow-dark blue team, made remarkable statements. Here are those words…
“WE DESERVE THE RESULT”
“What I liked most was the quality of the players. I asked them to express themselves on the field and they did that.
We had the chance to score two more goals. It was a very good result. We are only in the first half, we have to be consistent, the fixtures are intense and challenging. Everyone should be ready to help the team. That’s what I want from them. It was a consistent match for us. We deserved the result.
Before I came, I knew that the players were very high quality. They need results, but they also need to enjoy the game. If they enjoy the game they play, they can reach high levels. They just need organization and self-confidence.”
“WE NEED TO BE CONSISTENT”
“Of course, I am confident that I can keep the team in the Premier League. We will try to win every match. It will be very difficult. It is not easy to come to Kadıköy and score three goals and keep a clean sheet. The next match will be different and we need to be consistent.”
“REMATCH WILL ALSO BE DIFFICULT”
“Especially in the first half, they showed their talent and quality. They showed that they were organized. As you know, I accepted the job after analyzing the team of players. I believed in the talent of the players and the club. Same with the president, the fans… It’s about trust. I told them, ‘Football is about winning at the end of the day and being proud of ourselves, what you do, what you say. It’s about going there and saying ‘This is who I am’. You can’t control the result, but we can control what we do on the field. That was the difference. The way we started the match was tactical.” “It was not a mental situation. I asked the team to be mentally ready. We had to send a message to the fans from the first minute. The team had to be ready for this. We have played the first match now, we have to be mentally ready.”
“THE VICTORY BELONGED TO MY PLAYERS”
“Murillo is very strong, very fast. He plays very well with the ball. I liked the game very much in the first half. It was a great first half for me. I have no doubt about the quality of the players. This was their victory, not mine. The next matches, the coming weeks are important, of course, but everyone needs to be ready. We cannot always play with the same players, we lose energy, we cannot press. It is also necessary to determine the card penalties. There were players on the yellow card limit, we removed them too. This match is different from the next match, but what I want from my team is like in this match. I expect them to play a different kind of game. What I expect from them is to be consistent, to play tactically and mentally, but also to express their skills, to shoot, to score goals, to fight, to move, to play creatively, to enjoy the game…”
“I KNOW F.BAHÇE VERY WELL”
“I think we played confidently and smartly. To play in Kadıköy, to play in this stadium, you have to be brave. We had to give a message from the first minute. I know Fenerbahçe fans and the team very well. I said to my team, ‘Let’s give a message to everyone, show that you have enough passion’ before the match.”
ANSWER TO THE TEDESCO QUESTION
(Answer to the question “Did Tedesco’s tactic make your job easier?”)
“I am not Tedesco, you have to ask him. When we look at the first 11, Fenerbahçe had many talented players on the field. However, when analyzing a match, you should look at the team. Today we played a consistent game. Especially mentally… Of course it is not easy to play in this stadium, but we were confident, we played organized and we played at a good level. We got a good result, but the first match is over. I know Fenerbahçe well too. The second match will be difficult, too.”
“FENERBAHÇE IS STILL IN MY HEART”
“When you win, your self-confidence increases. If you score and concede a goal, your self-confidence increases. It gives energy. It creates an identity in the team. I also want to create a playing style. We will play the next match against Liverpool. We need to rest. We need to recover mentally so that we can play against Liverpool. Then there will be Fenerbahçe and Brighton. It is a tight and difficult fixture. But this is pleasure for me. Coming to a stadium like Kadıköy, to be honest, I carry Fenerbahçe and its fans in my heart. “It was special for me because it was a mess of emotions. I am now representing a historic club and I am very happy for them.”
DOES HE WANT TO RETURN TO FENERBAHÇE?
“I’m in the Premier League now, the best league in the world. Of course you never know. When I was in Fenerbahçe, I felt like a Turk, in a family. Because I had the same passion and fire, I was crazy like the Turks. That’s why I still have so many friends, I carry these people in my heart.”