How content are you with the preparation, what kind of difficulties did you have to face?
On the one hand, I am very satisfied, because I could see huge concentration and desperation in the players. I was happy that those young talents who were substituting the Olympians and those who were in the national team’s training camp could catch up with the others and improved a lot and contributed to the team’s play. I am also happy that our Olympians got back to Győr healthily. On the other hand, we had little time to train together, however our national opponents had much more. Moreover, the injured could not be with us so we had to go through some struggles, but that’s life.
There were hardly some adult players in the Arena in August because of the absence of the Olympians and those taking part in the training camp of the national team. Considering this, is an advantage or a disadvantage that the Hungarian national team didn’t qualify to the Olypmpics?
I am very sorry for the athletes, because you can’t compare the atmosphere of the Olympics to anything. It’s an honor to represent your country and fight for victory. I would have been happier if Hungary could have qualified to the Olympics in Rio.
Were you surprised by the Russian victory?
Not at all, they are a strong team, I think their time is coming at the national level.
What goals do you have for this season?
My goal is to be better a little bit than last year. It means that we have to focus on ourselves both individually and as a team.
Our group in the Champions League seems quite hard. What do you think of this?
Yes that’s true, these four teams are really strong in the beginning, but we can’t do anything we have to fight. We have to prepare the best we can to get into the semi final. We know it well that all the 4 teams want to advance to the next round, so I expect tight matches. Rosztov has great players, Bucharest is the last year’s champion, and Midtjylland is the only team we couldn’t defeat last year.
There is a new system in the Hungarian Championship. What changes does it mean to the team?
It’s strange to me that in the past years there were always changes. I don’t understand this, because I can safely say that Hungarian is the strongest championship in the world. Fortunately every ingredient is at hand: great teams and players, big interest, great supporters and the sponsors. If these are there what else do we need? According to me, if something has to be changed, it should be for a long time otherwise there will be misunderstandings. Of course, our goal is that the team should perform the best they can no matter there is a play off or not.
The opponents go stronger in the championship…
There are great teams in this season. There a serious opponents and I don’t think only of Ferencváros. There are more teams against whom anybody can get into trouble if they don’t play focused enough. The hardest will be to play Hungarian Championship matches during the Champions League.
Presently, there are 17 players in the starting team. Is it enough?
I think this year’s team is balanced. The most important for me is that these players should be healthy so that we can get ready for the tasks ahead. I am also happy that our youth can help us if needed.
In what condition did the players get back from the Olympics?
Everybody was in good condition however they were tired. The mood was different, because not every one of them could reach the goal they had set. It is normal, but it is special for us because all the 6 players are winner type and they can’t deal with not reaching their goals.
The new member is Nora Mörk. What is your impression about her? When can she adapt the playing style of ETO?
I think we have to tell our opinion about the players and the team at the end of the season. She, as a newcomer, got the maximum support from the players as well as the supporters and the staff. This atmosphere shortens the time needed to fit in.
Are you looking forward the first match?
I am preparing for the next match. In the training matches we wanted to get back to the competition mode and take the pace of the championship matches. We can only see the match against Kisvárda.
What would make you satisfied in this season?
It is not about being satisfied in the first place, It mainly depends on the results and the achievements. I approach it differently. I claim that we are imperfect, and we accept it just like the results of the last 4 years. We were better than all our opponents in May and we didn’t win the Champions League, and this has only one reason: we weren’t better than the best ETO. This is our goal this year, to be better. Not only do we have to be best, but better than we were yesterday. It is up to us if can be happy and satisfied on this read and of course luck is needed too.
