CSKA assistant coach Konstantin Mirchev summarized the first days of the camp in Turkey in an interview for the club television and shared the coaching staff’s expectations for the development of the team until the start of the spring part of the championship. Shortly before the first test of the “army” against the participant in the Champions League “Shakhtar” (Donetsk), Mirchev is confident that the team will conduct quality training and enter the official matches at speed. The former midfielder spoke on various topics, among which was the presence of the legend of Bulgarian football and CSKA Dimitar Berbatov at the camp.
“We feel good here. The grounds are in excellent condition, the weather is also favorable. It is not by chance that most of the leading Bulgarian teams choose this destination – mainly because of the grounds that allow a normal training process to be conducted. In Sofia, the conditions did not allow such a thing. We hope to prepare in the way we have set ourselves the goal of coming to Antalya,” said Mirchev in an interview for CSKA’s media channels.
Traditionally, the first days are reserved for serious physical exertion, and this is exactly what the coaching staff is focusing on at the moment. “The condition of the team as a whole is good. The footballers had individual programs during the break and almost all of them had behaved professionally. The functional studies they went through confirmed it. We have a solid foundation to stand on. Now we have to train hard to prepare in the best possible way”.
“Besides the physical training, we will also focus on the things we think we need to improve in terms of playing. We will try to clear the errors that we have already analyzed, we will emphasize the details. Our aim is to shape the style of play according to our views and the expectations of our supporters – to show attacking and aggressive football. We will also focus on the gaps in the defense phase, referring to the game of the whole team in defensive terms,” he also revealed.
The former army midfielder also clarified the situation with the injury of captain Liam Cooper. “Even while we were in Bulgaria – most likely because of the icy terrain – he got pains in the calf area. Initial tests have already been done on him, but they are due again so that our medical team can determine the extent of the injury. I hope it’s not too serious. Initial projections are for him to recover in 2 to 4 weeks at most. But let the additional studies pass anyway. Cooper had a similar problem before the match with Levski. Over the years, he has proven himself to be an outstanding professional and leader. Then it was confirmed – although the prognosis for his recovery was longer-term, with his responsible attitude he made it so that he returned to the field sooner than expected. I think it will be like that now too,” Mirchev is confident.
“There are no other health problems in the team. The boys took it seriously over winter break. They are in good condition. You can feel the charge and enthusiasm. Our initial impressions of their work are quite positive”, reports the coach of the Reds.
He also commented on the topic of the players who left – how much their absence will affect the team. “Koyalipu’s stats – 15 goals in 17 games – were really impressive. But at the end of the day, football is a team sport. Behind his achievements are the efforts of many other football players. He utilized the work of the entire team. Koya is a very hardworking and ambitious player and that’s why he was rewarded – for his own work and that of his teammates. This is also the reason why he made a transfer to a club from the championships in the top 5 of Europe, which last campaign played in the Champions League. We couldn’t stop it. His personal desire was to move to “Lance”, reveals Mirchev, who has an extremely serious personal contribution to Koyalipu’s growth with the CSKA team.
“Our supporters should be calm. Work is being done extremely actively to find quality football players in the positions we need. But there should be no rush – that’s why we carefully analyze the characteristics of the players we have targeted. And the people from the scout unit help in this direction. Let us be patient. CSKA will look the way it should look. Let’s not forget that we have a striker like Aaron Iseka who has a lot of potential and can now unleash it. We also have Georgi Chorbadzhiyski in this position,” adds the coach.
“Both Chorbadjiyski and Martin Stoychev are returning after a long period of recovery. They are currently in good condition. Of course, we both have to be more patient with them and not force them into play. There are other young guys who are with us – both from the second and third teams of CSKA. They have the potential, and CSKA is a club that has always relied on its personnel. A lot also depends on them themselves – we can only support them. Because of the problem with Cooper, we immediately reacted and called the youth international Rosen Marinov, who is also our boy”, says Mirchev regarding the development prospects for the youth in the team.
Very soon, CSKA will play its first match of the new year, against a serious opponent in the form of “Shakhtar” (Donetsk). “Even when we were preparing the program, we set ourselves the goal of playing opponents at the highest possible level. Shakhtar and the other teams we will face are serious names. In these matches we will try to clean up the things that I already mentioned – we will work on the details, we will build a slightly different style. The results are not so important, the main thing is the attitude of the players,” he added.
Konstantin Mirchev does not pass up the topic of the presence of his former teammate Dimitar Berbatov at the camp in Turkey and the positive experience he imparts to the players. “He is helpful not only in training but outside of it too – with the advice and attitude he has towards football in general and towards the club. Of course everyone wants to learn something from him. His presence here is a big plus for CSKA at the moment,” Mirchev is sure.