The discussion between Martinez and the players at Rentis and the following day

Diego Martinez was not satisfied with the speech to the players in the dressing room of the Karaiskakis stadium after the heavy defeat of Olympiakos by PAOK, about which he made extensive reference in SPORT24, but he also spoke to the players yesterday. In fact, there was an open discussion between the coach and the players, as after the 42-year-old coach, the team captain Kostas Fortounis, Rodiney, Vitente Ibora and Youssef El Arabi took the floor.

Speaking to the footballers, Martinez argued:

“It was a heavy defeat which should be a lesson for us going 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 . Like we stopped playing. We did everything wrong. We have to remember that a game lasts 90 minutes. If we are not serious, focused and determined throughout the match, we will have problems. It was a hard 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 must constantly prove what a team we are. We have the match against West Ham ahead of us and we have to show that we have left the game with PAOK behind. It is the most difficult game to date against the English team and we have to do our duty.”

Fortounis, for his part, when he took the floor, said:

“We all understand that this result is tough. We’re not a team to lose like this. But there’s no point in bowing our heads. We were hurt and upset. Now we have to react. That’s what the big teams do. Let’s go get the next games all together, as a team”.

Rodiney, for his part, emphasized:

“I felt that we are not the same team as the last three games. I feel bad, because neither I played well nor all of us as a team. But the most important thing is to accept that you did not play well, understand how and why we lost and move on . We lost a match. It shouldn’t have happened, but it happened. That doesn’t mean we should lose our minds and faith in ourselves. We are a big team, with good players and I’m sure we will react.”

Also, at some point the experienced Ibora 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 been through a lot. We are a good team, we have done a lot of good things, okay we didn’t play well in the match against PAOK, but that shouldn’t make us lose our way. We have to work even harder in training.

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

In addition, one of the leaders of Olympiakos, El Arabi was a unifier:

“These things happen in life and in football all the time. It’s good to be upset and to do our self-criticism all of us. But we have other games ahead of us. We are here to win many battles. Losing one is not a disaster. We will let’s fight and we will win the next ones.¨

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