In the post-match press conference, Vincenzo Italiano explained that he made late substitutions because the team was playing well, stating, "At that moment, we had possession. We were doing good work. Perhaps we were giving Trabzon few chances. At the same time, we were entering the opponent's penalty area a lot, and I think we were good. That is why I did not make changes. But then we conceded the second goal. We should not have conceded that goal. Therefore, you do not always have to make a change. You are not forced to do so."
When asked about the absence of Orkun Kökçü, the Italian manager said:
"I think my boys played a really good match. If we hadn't conceded that goal and had continued, I think things could have been different. Let me say this about Orkun: he is a real leader, a real captain, a real champion. Of course, we felt his absence today. I think we entered the final 20 meters a lot today. We entered the opponent's penalty area a lot. I think we were a little bit lacking in his final shots, his final passes, and his vision. If he had been there, maybe it could have been different. But I repeat, I am very satisfied with today's performances. We just need to be more careful. If we are more careful, these are things that can be solved. We can do better work."
"I generally get angry, in quotes, after defeats," said Italiano, adding, "But I also told my players that I am very satisfied with the performances today. I did not see any negative performances. It is just that the result was negative for us today. But these are things that can be fixed by working. Because I really think we have great potential, and I believe we can do much better work by working and improving these things."
The Italian manager stated that he considers himself a very open and honest person, and continued:
"We need to fix some things away from home, we need to make some touches, and we need to find a solution immediately. Because when you don't have your fans with you, not being able to win is, in my opinion, not acceptable. If you are a big team, you should play away from home the same way you play at home; you should play the same way everywhere. You must always show yourself in the same way. There is a problem. What is the problem? I think the problem is a character problem. We can have problems with some final touches. We have problems with final passes. I think we make mistakes in those decision-making moments, and we are not focused enough."
Stating that they can do better away from home, Italiano assessed, "Unfortunately, we do these things away from home. We are quite good at these things at home, but unfortunately, one must be careful with concentration; we lower it a bit. Maybe we struggle a bit to read the game; we can do this better. But unfortunately, we experience these problems away from home. After that, the defeats come, and this issue of losing away games has really started to make me angry now. I can say it is starting to tire me out. This is unacceptable. However, we need to find a solution here, we need to find a solution immediately. The people who will find the solution are me and our staff. Because this is really not acceptable. It is really never acceptable for a team to play in one way at home and in a different way away."
Touching upon the fact that Andre Onana made many very good saves, Italiano said, "Onana, especially today, really made many, very good saves. You know, in a football match, you find chances, and you give chances. But I say again, we need to do this less away from home. We need to get better results. I will talk to my staff and try to find a solution for this. We have received 0 points so far in the Alanya match, the Amed match, and this match. I am not very happy about this either, but I think we could have gotten more points than 0 so far."
Thomas Reis: We must keep our feet on the ground
Trabzonspor manager Thomas Reis, who beat Beşiktaş 2-0 in the closing match of the 8th week of the Süper Lig, said that they have had many victories but that they must keep their feet on the ground and remain humble.
In the press conference held after the match played at Papara Park, Reis stated that they played a very interesting match against a strong opponent like Beşiktaş, saying, "There were important opportunities for both sides. Evaluating it for ourselves, we found opportunities to finish the match earlier. But evaluating our opponent, they could have found a goal too."
Stating that they have achieved their third consecutive victory in the league, Reis continued:
"We have many victories, but we must keep our feet on the ground, we must be humble. Because getting points is very difficult in every match. A few days ago, we played a match in Finland, and immediately after that match, we played another match. We can actually call it an English week. Because you play too many matches in very short times. One of the points we need to thank today is our fans. They gave incredible support. We will always need our fans in difficult moments; there was incredible support. There was a wonderful atmosphere, and we thank them too. It was a victory we all achieved together, and we all feel very proud after this victory."
Explaining that they are on the right track, Reis said, "Our final passes perhaps did not come very well, but we actually found positions where we could find goals, where we could score more goals. When I first arrived, I said, 'we need to be like a family on the pitch.' Today, we actually saw this in the team. Because there was a team on the pitch fighting for each other. Beşiktaş was actually good today, they played quite well. We need to evaluate this too. Sometimes there will be such matches. Your opponent may also put on a better performance. But you can play transition football here. Today, we actually found two goals. We could have scored more. But actually, perhaps we were lacking in the final touches."
Reis stated that they will work on this, saying, "Of course, we will work on this, we will try to fix these. One of the beautiful aspects today was this: of course, we had missing players, but all of the players who played in place of our missing players performed very well. Of course, there will be issues we need to work on. This is not our best level; we are trying to rise above our best level. We will work on final passes, on defense, on offense. But I think it is not bad at all to get many consecutive victories and finish matches without conceding goals today."
News Source: 12punto
