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Former Lithuanian national team coach Raimondas Žutautas shared his thoughts on the previous European Championship qualification cycle. As usual, after receiving a lot of criticism from football players, the specialist admitted that he would like to continue working, even though he stepped down from his position after the debacle.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the football federation made it clear that, for the sake of stability, this opportunity is very real.
The other two contenders are Valdas Ivanauskas and Liudas Rumbutis. According to unofficial information from "EuroFootball.com," it is Ivanauskas who will be offered to work with the national teams. However, on November 25, the board will decide whether Ivanauskas or Žutautas will coach the national team. The other will have to dedicate more time to the reserve team.
Among the foreign contenders, LFF general director Julius Kvedaras called them "scammers": "It seems that many foreigners want to show off and add 'national team coach' to their CV. They look like scammers who will not come here to work," said J. Kvedaras - "We need a coach like in Latvia, who worked with the national team for ten years and only then produced results."
One of the best coaches in Scotland's 2009 "Premier" league, Laszlo Csaba, Germans Bernd Storckas, were among the mentioned "scammers." Unconfirmed information also mentioned Lothar Matthäus and Dutchman Arno Pijpers.
"EuroFootball.com" presents the press release issued by the federation:
Finishing his work as the head coach of the Lithuanian national football team, Raimondas Žutautas today reported to the country's football community. During the meeting in Kaunas, the coach presented a report on the previous cycle of the national team in the European Championship qualification matches and answered questions from those present.
"We want to hear all of your opinions on the previous cycle," began the meeting Julius Kvedaras, general director of the Lithuanian Football Federation - "I also want to ask, who would be better to coach the team - a Lithuanian, a foreigner, or R. Žutautas? What would you recommend to the federation?"
Partially implemented coach program
For the country's football community, Žutautas reminded of his program, which he presented when appointed as the new national team strategist. According to the coach, many of the goals and tasks were achieved.
"Our goal was to win the Baltic Cup - we brought it back to Lithuania. I set a goal to form a reserve 'B' team - we played four matches with them. During friendly matches, we tested 45 football players. We also worked a lot with the youth (U-21) coach," named R. Žutautas, admitting that the goal of collecting 13-14 points was not achieved, and this led to his decision to step down from the national team strategist position after the last qualification cycle match.
"The turning point was in June, in Liechtenstein. Although the men seemed to be ready for battle and victory, subconsciously they were already on vacation," named R. Žutautas as one of the reasons - "In the future, when the match calendar is being drawn up, it would be better not to play in June, when many end their championships in their clubs. It's better to play in August."
According to Žutautas, during the match with Liechtenstein, the Lithuanians controlled the game and significantly exceeded the opponents in attacks, with the opponent's goalkeeper being the best player of the match.
"We shot 20 times on goal, made 300 forward passes. Meanwhile, when the Liechtenstein team shot 7 times, they hit the goal area 5 times, but scored 2 goals," said R. Žutautas - "People count points, and God laughs."
Gradual improvement in the team's game
According to Žutautas, when he took over as the team's coach, the analysis of match statistics began to highlight the main problems of the team.
"Our biggest problems were accuracy, ball control, and forward passes. If at the beginning of the cycle we made 100-150 forward passes statistically, at the end of the cycle it was already 200-300 times. Ball control also improved," said R. Žutautas - "However, one problem remained - we do not have attacking, individually capable players."
Žutautas also had to admit the deteriorating performance of the team's leaders, which the coach explained by the lack of playing practice.
"When our leaders T. Danilevičius and M. Stankevičius played in their club's first teams, they were the best in the national team. For example, when we played at home against the Spaniards," said R. Žutautas - "We also lack winners' mentality. Only a few national team members play for clubs whose goal is to win the championship. This is evident on the field - when receiving the ball, they try to get rid of it as fast as possible."
In Žutautas' opinion, more attention should be paid to Lithuanian players playing in Lithuania in the future. Young players should also be encouraged to stay in Lithuania because, in the coach's opinion, they lose their abilities abroad after leaving the National Football Academy.
"Lithuanian clubs should pay attention to our youth. Maybe it would be better to take players like Aurimas Vilkaitis or Martynas Dapkus into the A league team instead of those foreigners we hire? Maybe a rule should be introduced that there should be one or two young players on the field?" pondered Žutautas.
Drastic changes are not imminent for the national team
There were no major complaints about Žutautas' work from the football community. Once again, many agreed that the head coach should be Lithuanian. Some suggested allowing the coach to continue working.
"I think the coach should be given the opportunity to continue working. What is the point if we change coaches after every cycle?" said U-21 team coach Vitalijus Stankevičius - "We all know what players we have. Perhaps when the academy youth grow up, we will have results, but for now, we need to work with what we have."
According to Kvedaras, there are three Lithuanian coach candidates - Valdas Ivanauskas, Liudas Rumbutis, and Raimondas Žutautas. The applications of the foreigners sent according to the general director are not very serious.
"It seems that many foreigners want to show off and add 'national team coach' to their CV. They look like scammers who will not come here to work," said J. Kvedaras - "We need a coach like in Latvia, who worked with the national team for ten years and only then produced results."
The final decision on the national team coach will be made by the members of the LFF Executive Committee. The candidates are submitted by the LFF general director.
