The coach of Vojvodina FC, Nemanja Krtolica, believes that his team will overcome the crisis after the last two matches at Karađorđe.
After a series of good results, Vojvodina wasted the victory against Radnički, and then in front of their fans lost to Novi Pazar. On Sunday, they are playing against the team of Spartak in the 11th round of MozzarBet Supeleague of Serbia.
- I can say with certainty that no one will give up, as long as this last, neither the staff, nor the players. We are looking towards the next match. We thought that we had left some issues behind us, like those goals in the 20th second or the 95th minute, but in these three matches some things happened to us, which happen to someone only once in the entire season – Krtolica began.
He still feels the support of the team, and underlines that there is unity among the players.
- I don’t have the impression that someone boycotted me, nor do I think in that direciton. You will see on Sunday what we will do. There are no problems in the dressing room. However, when you look at those goals in the 20th second, or the 95th minute, you cannot practice for that. It is evident that such things happend due to focus. It is a process, and it takes time to fix such issues, you cannot just press a button and solve that. Perhaps I am mistaken, but I don’t see how Radnički or Novi Pazar surprised us. I can only be angry that in the next 10 minutes we wanted to score sever goals, we rushed things and left a lot of space for their transition. We have a problem with the mobility of three players in the offence, when the opponent goes low. When someone makes a low block to Manchester City, they also face problems. It is hard when the attackers have to make that mobility. We possess the ball 70%, we kicked the ball 20 times, but it probably wasn’t dangerous enough – Krtolica said.
He also answered the question about the rotation in the last line of defense, where Korać, Sichenje and Crnomarković are fighting to play, and he added that focus during 90 minutes is a bigger problem than the choice of players.
- I talked to all three of them, and explained and they understand the situation. However, you can prepare everything, do everything, but it doesn’t stay in the players’ heads. I can see the problem, it’s focus and concentration, and that hasn’t changed since Ajax. In both matches, we receive the goals after 85 minutes, again against Maribor, and then the penalties. And those things repeated themselves with Radnički, and the same thing happened. If you think that this could be easily fixed, it is impossible. Those things also happen in the attack, we took 26 balls from Novi Pazar in their 30 meters, there are good things as well. We didn’t have to rush so much after the goal, because by doing that we allowed them two counter-attacks – Krtolica highlighted.
He is still not sure whether he can count on all the players for the match on Sunday.
- The expectations are always high, we are going for the win. Crnomarković is receiving infusion, Poletanović received a kick, and didn’t train, and we will see who will be ready. We could have won these two matches, it is a thin line when you measure someone’s work or laziness. To me, each game is a qualifying one. I will always defend the players, the dressing room is something else. Let’s see how they will respond to all this.
I don’t have an issue in terms of work, organization, we will do everything to change, to change the team, no one is irreplacable. They should respond to all this on the pitch. We first have to correct those things, and deal with what we already have, and we will overcome this crisis, with or without me. I deeply believe that this team will get where they deserve to be. I believe that I do my job well, but whether we have enough time, that is a different thing – Krtolica concluded.
The match between Spartak and Vojvodina is scheduled for Sunday at 7 pm with the live broadcast on Arena sport 4.