At the start of the season, Standard was widely criticized for its “too defensive” play. Les Rouches moved higher, against Westerlo, but were punished. And Ivan Leko did not fail to emphasize this.
Frustrating Saturday evening for Standard, beaten on home turf by Timmy Simons’ Westerlo. A meeting analyzed by Ivan Leko, at a press conference, who had a special message for his former teammate.
“Congratulations to my colleague and friend as well as his team. They were intelligent and won the match with good organization and transitions. They got what they didn’t have in recent weeks, against Antwerp and Anderlecht, where they deserved to win the match.”
“My team didn’t deserve to lose, but that’s football. We played pretty well, the performance wasn’t bad. We didn’t create a lot of clear chances, but a lot of dangerous situations, corners ,… For the rest, it’s a question of timing, of decision-making.”
Ivan Leko did not appreciate the criticism of Standard’s game, and points it out
In great difficulty in providing offensive solutions since the start of the season, Standard was positioned a notch higher against the Campinois, and started the meeting with great pressure on the opposing defense.
But on Westerlo’s first counter, Bos already found Frigan for the 0-1. Ivan Leko almost insinuated that it was the criticism of Rouches’ play that pushed his players to play higher, with, as a result, the two goals conceded.
The important thing is to win matches, not to play ‘beautifully’
“It’s a shame for the two goals. That’s what sometimes happens when you want to push too much, to play offensively. We weren’t hard enough in transition and we were punished. It’s not easy for my players in recent weeks, we read that Standard only defended, that they never attacked.”
“But there is not a coach in Europe who does not start a match by saying to himself that he first wants good stability. My team is the youngest in the championship, it is not always easy to say how we should play and that everything should be beautiful. No. The important thing is to win matches and improve, not to play ‘beautifully’.
And Ivan Leko had examples. “Inter were Italian champions by defending with almost all their players in the box, that’s also how they defended at Manchester City this season. And no one blames the Inter coach to defend with ten players in your rectangle.”
Nathan Ngoy relapsed, small injury, too, for Viktor Djukanovic
During this meeting, Ivan Leko was unable to bring Nathan Ngoy back for the second half. The central defender, already back from injury, was replaced by Alexandro Calut, while Viktor Djukanovic did not appear on the scoresheet.
“Nathan already felt something from the start of the match, he wasn’t comfortable. I don’t think it’s a mental problem, he’s a solid boy. Three days of training after his aborted transfer , he was already ready to play two or three matches in a row Unfortunately, we know that he cannot yet string together 20 matches, so he must reach this level. For Djukanovic, it was a problem. ankle,” concluded Ivan Leko.
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