Interview of Azerbaijani national team player Elvin Jafarguliyev to Offsideplus.az
- Our team drew with Latvia in a friendly match. What are your impressions of the game?
- We didn't play badly. We fought as a team. We promised ourselves that we wouldn't concede goals first of all. At the same time, we tried to take advantage of the opportunities we had. We had a lot of chances to stand out. We created 2 real goal episodes in front of the opponent's goal. I think if we had taken advantage of these chances, we could have won. We really wanted to make our people happy with the victory. Our coach is new. He shows us certain tactical moves, problems in the game. He explains what kind of football he expects from us. We play with the "5" tactic (5-3-2 scheme - ed.). This can be called a novelty. Because before, there were 4 defenders in the back line, not 5.
- How did you feel about this tactical scheme?
- I used to play according to the 5-3-2 tactical scheme. There were no problems for me. True, this is different from the scheme with 4 defenders. It's just that in the "5" tactic, you get more balls in defense, most of the attacks are built from the wings. In general, there were no obstacles for me personally, this is the tactic I'm used to.
- You said that the main task in this game was not to concede goals. Can we say that the team members are also tired of defeats?
- Our goal was not to sit back and keep the score. But if you don't want to lose, you have to keep the goal intact. Our only intention was to give the opponent few scoring opportunities, create a majority in the forward during counterattacks and stand out.
- It seemed as if the players of Qarabag in the national team looked tired. You had a hard season, you fought for 120 minutes in the final of the country's cup a week ago and immediately came to the national team's camp. Were you satisfied with your match?
- It could be fatigue. Moreover, the weather conditions were unfavorable. It was cloudy, the weather changed several times during the day: it rained, then the sun came out. The grass of the stadium was also dry. I felt tired after about the 70th minute. This is normal. Because in the 5-3-2 tactical system, most of the power falls on the wingers. You have to deliver in the back and front line. That's why I was tired towards the end of the match.
- In two days, a friendly match against Hungary will be held in Baku. This time the opponent is many times stronger than Latvia, there are even star players in the squad. What can we expect from this match?
- We need to go through a good recovery process so that we are ready for the game with Hungary. Our opponent is very strong. We have watched their games. We will do our best to perform well in front of our home crowd. We will try to create as many scoring opportunities as we can. We need to close some gaps in defense. If we play reliably in the back line, we will not give the Hungarians a chance to score and will make things difficult for them.
- Our national team has not been able to win for 9 games now. The fans are impatiently waiting for this unsuccessful streak to end. As one of the leading players of the team, what do you have to say to the fans?
- I understand the fans very well. They want us to win at the national team level. This is their right. I just want the fans to understand that we also want to win. But sometimes not everything is in our hands. We also want victory and success. The fans should be patient and optimistic about the future. Hopefully, in the future the national team will find its own style of play and achieve success. Let them be a little patient.
Idman.biz
