Jovanovic: “It’s not a total deformation, we pay for the many individual mistakes”

Ivan Jovanovic does not believe that his team is going through a deformation phase, but rather is paying for the many individual mistakes made by his players during this time.

This was supported by the Serbian Panathinaikos coach at the press conference following the game and the 3-2 defeat against Atromitos, who also explained why Cerin and Aitor were left out of the squad.

“You know, such mistakes are difficult to explain. We are in a phase where we make individual mistakes and it costs us dearly. We concede goals after mistakes, but we don’t risk much. This is a reason, something that worries us. Why is individual. There are definitely a lot of issues we need to address. Many mistakes prevent us from achieving results. It causes us a lot of trouble and it’s not easy to explain.

I wouldn’t call it a total deformation. It wasn’t a good game today. I think the mistakes were enough and they were serious and hindered us in terms of the way we acted on the pitch and the final outcome of the game. The games and time frames are not such that one can say that the team was deformed. I wouldn’t say that’s a main reason. I would focus more on serious individual errors.

For the absence of Cerin – Aitor:

“Cherin has been having some discomfort for about ten days. He played 30 minutes in the European Cup game. He definitely has some ailments that don’t allow him to play at full speed. Aitor was also incriminated.”

Verbich was sick for 7-8 days. We try to field as many willing players as possible. We have a good squad to be able to react properly in the games. We’re not even on the pitch like we should be.

We have some losses, but we also have a squad that is good enough to be able to react properly. We’re not even on the pitch like we should be. As a team that has its difficulties, it should understand and overcome them.”

On the question of whether the European blockade played a role:

“The ban from Europe was an issue on all of our minds, but it is by no means an excuse for today’s game. We know our responsibilities and the expectations we place on this team. As long as there are no results, it will be difficult.

“The most important thing is to get back into the rhythm needed to be efficient during the game and try to minimize the mistakes that have been common lately.”