We are through the spring season and the group matches of the Champions League, where we finished in the top spot, qualifying for the main round with 5 points. Taking these into consideration, how can we evaluate this period?
As far as the qualifying teams of the group are concerned, we can see that all three teams lost points against each another. At present, we don’t know whether it is because this was the strongest and most balanced group, or the other undefeated teams are stronger than us. This is something that only time will tell.
Half of the team was replaced with new players during the summer, how do you see the rebuilding of the team?
Our team is constantly improving, but not exacly as way we anticipated. We still have a lot to do to put the team together, after the World Championship we will continue with the building.
Some of our players have returned to the team from injury or maternity leave, what were you expecting in relation to their form?
It’s always hard to estimate the time when a player can return to form. Every player and every situation is different, but the mental aspect is also very important. Additonally, let’s not forget that we are talking about top players, and we'd like to see their top form again. We are patient, and we are very happy that they can now work with full effort, everybody is playing and improving nicely.
We will have very important matches in January. When will the team start work again after the World Championship?
Fourteen of our players out of the sixteen are training in their respective national teams; most of them will surely be at the World Championship in Denmark. After the championship they will be given one week off for sure, so according to how they finish the competition, the players will probably return to Győr in different times. Between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the team will already be together so we can definitely train together for one week before the second part of the season.
Podgorica, Savenhof and Bucharest will be our opponents in the main round. You must have followed the results of these teams and how they played during the group matches. What do you think of our opponents? Who is the strongest, how can we prepare against them?
The current form and condition of the opponents are less important. It is more interesting how far they will have gotten by January and February after they are through a really tough World Championship, which has extra importance since it’s also a chance for qualification for the Olympics in 2016. Of course, if we take a look at the teams and the players, the toughest opponents will be Buduconst and Bucharest, everything will be clear in January.
