The former director and general manager of Levski Andrey Zheljazkov gave an interview to „Tema Sport“, in which he commented on the battle for the title and whether the Blues can feel confident about winning it. The Slavia legend shared his expectations for the upcoming playoffs. He also pointed out the main problem in Bulgarian football.
Mr. Zheljazkov, Ludogorets lost to Arda and the gap with Levski remains ten points. Is there anything to turn things around for the Blues on the way to the title?
I think there's nothing to go wrong for Levski anymore. The ten-point gap is very big. There are still six games to go in the playoffs and in my opinion, there is no team in this four that will win all of its matches. Considering that Ludogorets and CSKA are also facing each other in the cup semifinals. This cannot but have an impact and will be a plus for Levski.
How did you see the past eternal derby, in which no winner was announced?
Nothing impressive was seen. Even after the first half, no goals were expected, but at the end of the match there was drama. The goals were even of the same type. A natural draw. This match offered us a lot of fight.
Julio Velasquez is accused of a cowardly approach in the derby. How would you comment on this statement?
He had closed the approaches to Vutsov's goal. Many teams approach this way. Levski was on the verge of winning the derby if it weren't for this falling asleep of several players in the last minutes. They thought the match was over and were sure they were winners. I think Velasquez played the match well based on what he had. Now we expect new matches and I'm sure they will be more interesting. Plus, Maicon is back after the two-match suspension.
Everton is the player who stood out this season for Levski, but it seems like he hides in the matches against stronger teams. Do you agree with that?
My view is that Everton is more of a hidden striker. He is best when he is behind the striker. Especially when Mustafa Sangare is on the field and opens up spaces for him. The most accurate example is the match with Lokomotiv Sofia at “Gerena“. Bala is a fine footballer and is not very effective when the opposing players act closed and more rigid. There are few of those in the Bulgarian championship. I would also point out Petar Stanic from Ludogorets. The Serb is a European-class player. Hopefully, when he goes abroad, he will become a world-class player, as happened with Igor Thiago (laughs). But let's get back to Levski. With a striker, Everton will be much more useful, because he has a flair for the goal. But he doesn't have that power. And when spaces open up for him, he is in his own waters. It's no coincidence that he scored so many goals this season. You see how many matches he decided. Let's not criticize him so much.
In Bulgaria, we are still used to criticizing...
We are very good at it and sometimes we even kill the coaches. When a match is lost and we start over. That's football. In the end, the line is drawn and conclusions are drawn. Ilian Iliev was criticized so much, but you see how many youth national teams and such for the men's team he gave. Excuse me very much, but we need more respect for Bulgarian coaches. The material they have is not very large and for me they get the most out of it. It depends on what is required of the coaches. Because you cannot expect results with a high turnover of players. Managers must soberly assess what they have and how the coach works.
Is Levski missing Mustafa Sangare?
He is missing a lot. He is a typical central striker, a fighter. Yes, his technique is not excellent, but he finds a lot of space. He works constantly in both phases, as long as he has strength. This is the modern footballer. An important player for Levski. As I said, Sangare will release Bala and then the team will play differently. There is more power up front, and now they rely more on combinations.
How do you see the situation in the second playoff four?
There are also many interesting matches ahead. There will still be two more Plovdiv derbies. I am impressed by the good selection in Botev. If they keep the team, they will climb up the table next season. Lokomotiv also has strong performances. Cherno More should not be written off either. There are good teams in this group, but we need to think about something else - the bases and the children.
How can this problem be solved, after it has been talked about for a long time, but there is no real action?
What will we do to attract the children to train? Right now, with nothing.
We even disgust them with the atmosphere and the condition of the stadiums. We need to fix our facilities. Excuse me, but there's nowhere to go to the toilet. We need small stadiums, not grandiose ones. Who will fill them? The Plovdiv ones are done, Ludogorets is wonderful, CSKA's is about to open, Stara Zagora needs to improve a little and things will happen. At the time, the 30-35,000 people in the stands shrank to 4-5,000 now. But it is also necessary to attract people with a game. Go to the stadium with pleasure, not by force.
What went wrong for Slavia that it didn't make it into the second four?
The thing that went wrong was that it didn't beat Montana. First of all, it should be noted that Slavia started the championship very badly. Then there was a coaching change and five or six matches saw progress. But after that things more or less went back to the old ways, even though the team performed well. Simply by winning the match against Montana, the Whites would have entered the second four. Now for several teams the playoffs will be a field for playing their teams for next season, and Slavia has many talented players who can grow in these matches.
Author: Martin Vladimirov