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After the last home game of the season where they suffered a 0-2 defeat, the coach of "Šiauliai", Saulius Vertelis, admitted that the team is in a slump.
"The team is in a slump. In the third game in a row we fail to score a goal, and without scoring it is difficult to win," said the coach. "The team played well until the first goal was conceded. In the second half, the "Vilnius" team played significantly better - their substitutions were full value, unlike ours."
"As we approach the end of the season, the team has lost its balance - there is no spirit, discipline, or order. After conceding a goal, we need to play - there is still plenty of time," the coach said. "There is no fight."
Vertelis mentioned that the team's crisis was also compounded by player injuries: "When key midfielders are out, it is difficult to pull the team together. Three foreign players suffered injuries, which disrupted the game. We have to swap positions during the matches, we can't play, we can't score."
"The team spirit has disappeared, there is no longer a collective effort, everyone is fighting for themselves," echoed the top scorer of "Šiauliai", Ilja Galiūza. "When we lost the chance to fight for fourth place, something happened, but we still had remaining games not to lose our reputation. We really wanted to please the fans in today's final home game... but we couldn't."
Leading "Vilnius" after the departure of Brazilian Caio Zanardi, the club's sports director Ivan Švabovičius was pleased with the three points that allow them to fight for fourth place in the standings.
"We still hope to fight. I have said before that as long as there is at least a theoretical possibility, we will fight," said the coach.
"I won't say that today's game was very beautiful - the players were tired, the field was heavy," the coach spoke about the match. "I can emphasize that we have confidence in our abilities and it pays off: we score goals, we win games. I rate my team's game positively, and I don't want to talk about "Šiauliai" - there are coaches, they will speak for themselves."
