© EuroFootball.com
Last season, Vilnius finished in 4th place in the A league and this season started very successfully, finding themselves among the leaders. Only a loss at the end of Round 1 pushed the team to 3rd place. EuroFootball.com spoke with Vilnius club president and head coach Arminas Narbekovas about the successful start of the season.
- At the beginning of this season, "Žalgiris" unexpectedly found themselves among the leaders. Did you expect such a start?
- I'm not interested in what others say. I always believe in my team and know what it is capable of, while the opinions of others come in one ear and go out the other.
- Do you expect to maintain these positions in the future?
- Of course, I hope so. If I didn't believe, I would probably be doing another job...
- Last season Eimantas Poderis was one of the team's leaders, but this season he appears on the field quite rarely. What happened to him?
- Eimantas is a very important and necessary player for our team. At the moment, his form has dropped a bit, but I hope that Poderis will regain it soon and be able to play at full capacity again.
- Assessing the first round of the season, what is the team lacking?
- We lack strength in attack. As we can see, many goals were scored by defenders or midfielders. We need a strong attacker who can capitalize on the chances created and consistently score goals.
- Are you already thinking about strengthening the team?
- We think about strengthening the team all the time...
- You took over at the helm of "Žalgiris" last autumn. Since then, until the match this week with "Vilnius," the team had not lost 14 consecutive A league matches. What is the recipe for success?
- The recipe is the team itself. It is a pleasure to work with such a collective. All players know their place, understand what they can and must do. The atmosphere is great. We have at least 15 equally skilled footballers. For now, the biggest concern is just injuries. Currently, Aleksejus Dubina and Virmantas Lemežis are injured. However, the injuries are not serious and they will soon be able to play again.
