Long interview with Loucheskos: The stolen championship, the connection with Savvidis, Mirceas’ father and the political weight in Greece

Razvan Lucescu gave a long interview in Italy and talked about his father Mircea, Italian football, but also his path with PAOK in Greek football.

Once again, Razvan Loucescu referred to the “stolen championship” of 2018, the undefeated double of the following year, but also the match between Athens and Thessaloniki and the football of Greece.

Lucescu’s statements

For Mircea’s father: “I always followed him and especially when he was preparing training sessions and matches. Many times I also went to the dressing rooms of his teams, it was fundamental for me to breathe these environments in order to understand how to create a strong team and how to manage everything that happens.

I always had a great relationship with dad. Whether it was home or away, he always got me. I remember out of 34 Seria A games I only lost one in a season. I would go with him to the hotel or the restaurant, even before the match. Seeing players, coaches, staff at lunch and dinner was a dream come true for me.

I had no problems at school my father forced me to go. Every week he would say to me: “Manage your school and training well and then I’ll take you with me on the weekend” and I just expected that. From then on I got into the habit of reading and being informed.

I’ve always felt the weight of my last name. Already at school, my classmates used to say “Oh, you’re only good because you’re Lucescu’s son”. The same happened with my first girlfriends or those I thought were my girlfriends. He was with me only out of interest in the name. It wasn’t easy, believe me. The burden of carrying such an important surname has had an impact on both my private and professional life. Even in football, every goal I scored was only because I was Mircea’s son. Both when I was a goalkeeper and when I started coaching.

Over the years, I was often told from the stands: “Call your father! It’s your father who trains them. All my life I had to hear these things. Now I consider myself stronger: it was the motivation to overcome so many disappointments. I said to myself, “I have to have my own career.” I never thought I could beat him, but I wanted to show people that I was capable of something too.

It is clear that my football is very much based on my father’s playing philosophy. I like attacking football, being in control of the game with the ball. But football evolves and I had to learn to pay attention to other details, today we work more on the organization of the departments and the phase of non-possession. My father was very strong in attack, he pressed a lot. I have the same mentality, but I also take care of the pressing phase without the ball, I try to give balance.

However, now the roles are reversed. Now he is the one who comes to see me. He often comes to see me. He has come to almost every European match. He loves to fill me with advice, even after games. I respect him, but when I’m under pressure it’s hard to listen to him. He tells me “you should have done it this way or that way with this player”. I try to stay calm and think: Listen to Razvan, listen to what he has to say.

At PAOK, I train two former players, Kenziora and Tyson. When they see him on the field during the warm-up, they always say to me: “Today we will win, the coach is here. It brings us good luck. At the end of the match he catches them and tells them various things. There I take him by the arm and say: “Come on dad, leave them alone, they’re tired. Let’s go.”

On his relationship with Tyson: “Tyson considers Mircea a second father. When Brazilian footballers feel appreciated and respected, they give you a lot. They almost love you. He is a sensitive boy, very attached to his family and to the image of his father. When he arrived last winter he was halfway through the league.

I felt a bit embarrassed for him because I couldn’t use him and start him straight away because he was coming from a period where he had trained alone in Brazil. It took time, but then he realized how much I appreciate him. Now it’s like I’m his older brother.”

For titles and derbies: “You play under tremendous pressure. You can’t imagine it if you don’t experience it. Everything is a derby. It’s a matter of pride, it’s something that goes beyond football. In 2017-18 they stole the league from us, penalizing us with 9 points. In Greece you can feel the political weight of a club.

The Athens teams go to this area first and then all the others. Even the year we won the championship, we started from -2. PAOK really had a terrible group. At the end of the year we bonded even more with the owner. We wanted to make history.

We were simply the strongest of the others and of course there was the motivation of the people. I remember that for the first two months, I couldn’t leave the house. I felt negative pressure. Everyone would stop me on the street and say: “You have to win this year. We can’t take it anymore. There have been entire generations that have not seen PAOK win a championship. Grandparents have died without seeing another title.”

For the match between Athens and Thessaloniki: “Football in Greece is special. The feeling for PAOK is very strong, but the match between Thessaloniki and Athens is even bigger. You can perceive competition on an economic and political level that leads to frustration. And from here the love for PAOK was born. In 2019 we won the double without any defeat. 26 wins and 4 draws was our record. In addition, in the last three years we have twice reached the quarter-finals of a European competition. We are writing our own history.”

For Italian football: “I always watch Italian football. I watch a lot of Serie A matches and relax. Italian football school is the best. I have always had various Italian partners in my staff: in 2005, I met Diego Longo who followed me to Romania and has been with me for 15 years. Thanks to him, I met Batsi, Spataforas and Kastorina.”

For his preparations before each game: “I am someone who wants to have his players fully motivated. I am proactive as well. I think all coaches are. I think that comes from wanting to make sure I’ve done everything, absolutely everything, to prepare for the race. I don’t want to leave anything to chance. And so, I think: I have to wear these shoes because they brought me luck last time, so to speak.”