Vincenzo Montella: We want to get good results from the Montenegro and Iceland matches

The A National Football Team, which will host Montenegro in Samsun tomorrow in their 3rd match in the UEFA Nations League B Group 4, has arrived in Samsun. The players and technical staff toured the 19 Mayıs Stadium and inspected the pitch. Following the inspections, Vincenzo Montella attended a press conference and answered questions.

"WE WANT TO GET GOOD RESULTS"

Stating that they will play two very important matches, Head Coach Vincenzo Montella said, "We want to get through these two matches in the best way possible. As you know, we touched on a topic in September: the physical and conditioning preparation of the players. The fact that the matches were played right after the European Championship ended was, of course, a dangerous factor for all of us. Because it was not certain how well we could perform. But despite that, we showed very good performances and got very good results in those first two matches. October will be better. I have no doubt about that. Our results in the first two matches were very good. We want to get through these 2 matches by getting good results as well," he said.

"IT MEANS A GREAT DEAL"

Touching on his views regarding star player Arda Güler's career, Montella said, "We cannot decide on Arda's future. Neither we, nor you, nor Arda. Real Madrid will decide. Of course, I wish for our players to play more in general. But as you know, playing at Real Madrid means being in the middle of a huge competition. There was also a long injury process at the beginning of the season. Despite that, he started to get more minutes compared to last season. So, when you look at it, there is so much pressure felt there; I cannot imagine if there is this much pressure at any other club. It is the biggest club in the world. Therefore, being there and developing there means a great deal," he said.

"WE HAVE A VERY LARGE POOL OF PLAYERS"

Emphasizing that they do not think they will have problems in the center-back position, Vincenzo Montella said, "I do not have any concerns about the future regarding center-backs because we have a very large pool of players. As you know, there were minor injuries this year, like Çağlar and Ozan, but we are also following Cenk, and there are younger profiles as well, so I do not have any concerns about this. There is an opinion this year that everyone is playing too much. There is talk about there being too many matches and everyone, meaning the players, being tired, but I think this is more of a mental issue. Because you can somehow recover the players physically. You need to keep them mentally sharp in the best way possible. For example, at the club level, when you have a large squad and a good bench, you can continue with a strong hand by making such rotations. That is why you can ignore those physical fatigues. But as you know, some clubs do not have such large squads. That is why the same players always have to play. Therefore, it is very important for them to recover mentally. 7 matches played in 3 weeks. I mean, of course, when you look at the numbers, it might seem a bit much, but as I said, I think it is more of a mental thing. The important thing is to be able to improve mental fatigue, and of course, when you play at the highest levels, your experience increases, and as your experience increases, this mental fatigue naturally becomes less. We will play a match tomorrow at 21:45, and then we have another match 3 days later, but there is also a 7-hour flight, and when you look at it, of course, it is very likely that we will see changes in the next match. Because fatigue, both physical and mental, increases more," he stated.

"MONTENEGRO IS A GOOD TEAM"

Underlining that one should not be deceived by the results Montenegro got in the first 2 matches of the group, Montella said, "We need different players with different characteristics for every match. Because these are matches played with different strategies. I believe that in modern football, balance is very important in both parts. In both parts of the game. It is important that we also know that we must say that Montenegro is a really good team and has talented players. Maybe the results were not what they wanted in the first 2 matches, but they have a good team. They conceded 2 goals from set pieces in the first match. They lost the match despite creating many chances. In the second match against Wales, they showed us all that they are a team that creates many chances after falling behind early in the match, and they showed that they are dangerous. They faced such results only because they could not finish. Of course, they are a dangerous opponent. We also have infinite respect for our opponent. That is why we want to prepare in the best way and get the result we want," he expressed.

"IN OUR TEAM"

Pointing out that they are one of the most productive teams in the forward line, Montella said, "I remember that there has not been an opponent that has created more chances than us since the day I arrived. It was the same in the European Championship. So, my decisions continue in this way. Since the day I came to Turkey, when I check all the statistics individually, the most productive players, they can wear number 9, they can wear number 11, they can wear number 7. I called them, and I have continued like this so far. The most productive players are with us. If I could choose, of course, I would like to choose something like this in my team: If we need to score 10 goals, let 10 different players score them. Let not just one player score 10 goals. Because when that player is missing, the continuity of all the work we have done is disrupted, and we do not want this to be disrupted. I think we are the national team that has the players most inclined and prone to scoring in this direction," he stated.

Adding that the missing players and those removed from the squad are not an excuse, Montella said:

"They are really very important players for us; they have made great contributions to us for a long time. But it must also be said. There is no need to make any excuses. We know that we can emerge from any competitive environment with our heads held high, and we trust all of our players here one by one. We all know how good players we have. That is why I am sure that we will display the football we want tomorrow and get the result we want."