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After the crushing 3-0 defeat in the LFF Cup round of 16 against the FBK "Kaunas" team, FK "Šiauliai" coach Saulius Vertelis was in a bad mood, but he said that the team has not given up.
Coach, is everything lost already?, - EuroFootball.com asked S. Vertelis
It's never all lost. "Kaunas" gave us a bit of a hard time, because we were supposed to play on Saturday, not Friday (this match was supposed to take place in Kaunas on an artificial turf, but the Kaunas team changed the time and location motivated by a frozen pitch - ed. note). Also, the "Sportima" artificial turf is not favorable for us either.
How do you evaluate today's match?
In the first half, everything looked good: the team had the task of defending and trying to counterattack.
Do you think the team collapsed after the first goal?
It shouldn't have collapsed, but it did. Before the match, we talked about how in a cup competition there are two matches and one goal, or 2-0, is not too scary. However, we conceded the second goal very quickly. We will talk about it with the team after the match, during training. You shouldn't concede the second goal so quickly, it should be a good lesson for the players.
Before the match, you decided to start the younger but more experienced Giedrius Arlauskis in goal, instead of the new goalkeeper Ingus Lukovičs from Latvia. Do you not consider that a mistake?
I definitely don't think it was a mistake. I wouldn't say Arlauskis made any mistakes. Before the match, we decided who should start in goal, but for now, I trust Arlauskis more. Also, our players are not very tall, so we wanted a taller player in goal who could clear high balls from the opponents' attackers. In the second half, our game became wider, the opponents started to counterattack because they noticed many gaps. There was no need to do that.
Were you surprised by the "Kaunas" tactic of playing with five defenders after scoring the second goal?
Yes, there was a moment when almost all of their players tried to attack, so we could have punished them - Viktoras Afanasenka had a good opportunity. The course of the match would have completely changed. When they scored the second goal, they started playing with five defenders. We tried to penetrate between them, weakened the defense, and conceded the third goal on the counterattack. They played as we should have played - on the counter.
Would you highlight any player or aspect in these matches?
I can't praise or criticize anyone. Our defensive midfielders didn't intercept the ball. We didn't support the ball upfront. There is still a lack of coordination, it didn't seem like the players felt each other, as there were moments when a good pass could have been made, or a one-two played.
Would you agree that these matches highlight the lack of a good striker in the "Šiauliai" team?
Yes. But we are planning to strengthen and improve.
Why didn't Amaro Atigbiolaye play today?
He is sick. He got sick during the camp in Palanga, didn't participate in training, but it's still unclear whether he will play in the return match against "Kaunas". However, it's unlikely that he would have been very helpful today - it's very difficult for him to play on artificial turf or snow.
How do you evaluate the new players in the team: Ukrainian brothers Galiuzas, Tarasovas, and the new goalkeeper?
Well, I. Lukovičs has played very few matches. Tarasovas is not very used to the artificial turf, he looks much better "on the ground". Both Galiuzas brothers played well.
