The coach of Vojvodina, Slavoljub Đorđević, congratulated his team on the brave betrayal against Red Star.
The Old Lady lost today at its Karađorđe to Red Star with the result 1-2, but Đorđević saw many positive things in the performance of his team.
– This was one of the better games in the Super League this year. I am especially glad that my guys came out bravely today, they knew what they wanted and did their best. And if we scored another goal, drew or won, it would be deserved too. Congratulations to Red Star, which has the best team in the last 10 years, which had a series of 50 games without defeat, returned after losing in Europe and showed its greatness. They scored a goal from the free kick, from which they are the strongest and with the experience they have from Europe and the quality of the team, we could not cope and return to the match. Congratulations to my guys on a great fight, they won three of the four games at home, and I want Red Star to play in Europe in the spring, because that would be very good for Serbian football – said Đorđević.
He also underlined that Vojvodina has a young team this season and that these are the right matches for his players to gain the necessary experience.
– Vojvodina has undergone great changes, we have a young team that has quality and it should be noted that they have played more matches this season than in the past two or three years. In games like this, they can mature, where they fight to beat the champions, and they have to give their best and play beyond their means. We are in a good position on the table, we will try to rise to that third place, but the goal is to finish at the end of the season in the place that leads to Europe – the coach of the Old Lady pointed out.
Đorđević also revealed what he asked of his players before the start of the match.
– I emphasized to my players not to concede a stupid goal from our individual mistakes, to be disciplined and to keep the risk to a minimum. We knew that Red Star had a certain pressure and that is why we wanted to attack immediately and try to score a goal, which we succeeded in and that makes me very happy. Our championship is extremely even, except for Red Star and Partizan, the rest of us are fighting for every point and that is why I can only congratulate my guys after a game like this – Đorđević added.
In his opinion, the turning point was at the end of the first half, when Vojvodina had the advantage and could score the second goal.
– The match was broken at 1-0 in the first half. We could have scored another goal, Red Star was “on the razor”. At the beginning of the second half, Mića Vukadinović was able to shoot three times, but he did not, while Red Star started to take more risks and use more Rodić, who has a phenomenal cross. They started playing long balls, searching for Pavkov on the second post, in which he is the best. We could have had 2-0, but then, we could lost 3-1. I am very sorry that we did not manage to take a point, but that is football. We were also disturbed by the injury of Bjeković, who cooperates very well with Mića. They are a dangerous tandem on that side and with his exit we lost a lot in the offensive. I had to insert Kabić, because Vukadinović got tired – Đorđević emphasized.
The question about Vladimir Kovačević, who was temporarily removed from the team until recently, followed, but also about the cards of Nemanja Čović, who missed the match due to suspension.
– Kovačević did not play for two years until I came. He was a starter from the very beginning, then he played all the games in the preparation period, because we didn’t have a central back, and he got tired and started to get injured. We replaced him in two or three games at half time, he made a few mistakes, then he stayed on the bench and on one occasion he commented on something for which I punished him. I don’t see what the problem is. Every player in Vojvodina has quality and I count on him. Mrkaić played at the beginning of the season, and then he didn’t, so he came back again. I don’t play with 12, 13 players, I use a maximum of 17, 18 players. You can keep records, take out the statistics to see how many of these guys played before my arrival and then you will see how many minutes each of them had. Yes, Čović got a card, what’s the problem with that? Well, Proleter was a derby for us too, every game is a derby for us – Đorđević concluded.
