Tactically… you have to look at the sequence. On Wednesday night, Fenerbahçe went down 6-0 at Aston Villa. On Saturday, the same Fenerbahçe win 3-0, with Romelu Lukaku starting and scoring his first goal for the club. Three days between the two. I read it on Sunday morning in the DH (a Belgian daily), at the club canteen with my mug of coffee, and I got my folder out.
Because bouncing back after a hammering, that I know. Lukaku put it simply: “We needed to react after the last match, and we did it in the best possible way.” That’s exactly the sentence I prepare for my team talks. Except that at my place, between the hammering and the reaction there’s a week, a Tuesday session with eight players, and a Thursday where it’s pouring.
He had three days. Three. In three days, I haven’t even got the bibs back yet.
He also said: “When I arrived here, I needed playing time. But my adaptation is over.” I find that a very clean announcement. In my dressing room, nobody declares their adaptation finished. My left back arrived four seasons ago, and he’s still looking for the side of pitch 2 where the slope helps.
A reaction like that, three days later, that’s character. I’m weighing my words.
What interests me is the order. First playing time, then adaptation, then the goal. I wrote it in red in the folder, next to the 4-4-2. I tried applying the order to my team: playing time for everybody, fine, but I only have five substitutions, two of them to go and pick up the kids.
On Tuesday night, Fenerbahçe host Slavia Prague. Me, Tuesday night, I’ve got training. We’ll work on the reaction. A flat pitch away, mind you.
It’s true, we checked: DH Les Sports+.
