Gheorghe Hagi: Post-Malatyaspor Match
At a press conference held following the match with Malatyaspor, Technical Director Gheorghe Hagi evaluated the 90-minute match which ended in a 1-1 draw.
"Malatyaspor came into this match very focused; they played with discipline and gave a good game. I am very upset and angry. I can’t even explain to myself at this stage what has been happening recently."
Stating that it was impossible for a team like Galatasaray to play badly in the first half, Gheorghe Hagi went on to say “Some players were not even on the field. I told them this directly in the dressing room. Something happened, and I have to get to the bottom of it, then we will think about what to do. Something really weird happened after the Trabzon match and I have to discover what it was. Lets see what happens this week.”
“Some of the players are satiated, they are happy with themselves. It’s already November, and the holidays are nearly here. That’s what I see, although I may be wrong. I see them in training every day and they are totally different. It’s impossible to explain this away in my opinion. Never mind the last 20 minutes of the match, they were unable to run by the end of the first 15 minutes, unable to implement tactics; I saw players out of breath. This is not acceptable. Nobody can explain to me their being unfit to run within the first 15 minutes. They were actually walking on the field.”
There are 23 players in our squad, so we’ll see what happens. A 17 year old player may be able to play better than the others”
Saying that they had started the second half of the match well, but had been unable to capitalise on the positions they had gotten into after their goal, Hagi indicated that they had not won due to being down 3-4 players in the match.
As to whether he wanted reinforcements for the team, Gheorghe Hagi said “It’s much too early to start talking about that; we still have 4 matches ahead of us. Transfers will only become an issue in January.
Saying that he trusted the team and recalling that they had played good football for 11 weeks, Gheorghe Hagi said that they had shown what they were capable of, adding “I think I have made a mistake also. There are 23 players in the squad, and I should have realised this earlier.”
With regard to the wish of Romanian President Iordenescu that Gheorghe Hagi become coach of the national team, he said “Everyone loves their own country, and I would like to thank the President. If this is what he is thinking, if this is true, I can only say one thing; I have a lot of work to do here, and I can only think about that now.”