Notes from Diego Alonso's first press conference

Here are the highlights from Diego Alonso’s first press conference as the new Panathinaikos manager. The bullets are presented in chronological order as they appeared in the press conference.

Overall, I was pleased with what I heard. Alonso said all the right things, very presentable and very well spoken. In some ways reminded of Jovanovic (solely referring to the spoken aspect). The Uruguayan seems extremely motivated for this challenge and this level of motivation is something he values in his players also. Further, he looks for this motivation in the players he wishes to bring into the club. 

• Instilled confidence but not arrogance

• More similar to Jova in this sense, dissimilar to Terim

• Team will be heavily reliant on being tactically ready by the time of UEL qualifiers. The final picture is to be expected on August 31 when the transfer window closes.

• “High intensity, high press, high workrate with ample vertical movement on the pitch” -This was repeated many times and if there is one takeaway from the presser, it may be this

• Looking for pacey players in conjuncture to the aforementioned 

• Alonso has watched all the recent Panathinaikos games, even going as far back as the Jovanovic era. He’s familiarized himself with the team and league and likes what he sees in both. 

• Handled the Sarri question well: “Big clubs go after big coaches” 

• Didn’t linger on it too long, answered it professionally and cordially and wasn’t phased by Papadimitriou’s outburst when the question was asked

• Ioannidis is key to his plans and winning the league. He can’t say what will happen in the transfer window as of right now, but he rates Foti highly and is a crucial player if we are to challenge for title. We need all the good players we have/can get, and Foti is one of those.

• Showed that he’s motivated and also emphasized the motivation and ambition necessary in the players he looks for

• Sites Luis Aragones (Alonso’s coach while at Atletico Madrid) as the most complete coach he’s played under and the coach he’s learned the most from  

• Motivated to succeed after a short and underwhelming time at Sevilla (his only other European job as a coach)

• Called for unity amongst everyone, both within the team but especially the fan base

• He favors 4-3-3. However, formations aren’t that important, he says. What’s important is what you do/how you execute any given formation. The same formation can be executed differently; you have to know what your objectives are when implementing a certain formation. It goes beyond saying ‘I play 4-3-3’, because the other team might play the same formation but when implemented on the pitch they aren’t the same at all. 

• What appealed to him greatly was the motivation to do what hasn’t been done at the club in the last 14 years (win the title), and also the project that he sees within the club

• What appealed to him the most, however, are the players he’s already seen in the team and the fans 

• He already sees a solid base present within the club

• Looking to keep a strong Greek contingent in the team

• Will also use to his benefit the fact that he knows various markets (ie. Mexico, South America) 

• “I was asked to give a message to the fans, that message will be given on the pitch”

• Doesn’t want to comment yet on individual players, but said that Maksimovic has the specific characteristics he’s looking for in a player 

• The amount of players that come in depend on the amount of players that leave 

• “4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 fit best with the players we currently have in the squad and also fits with what I personally like”

• “At Uruguay, if you have Cavani and Suarez, you play with two strikers, regardless of what formation you prefer”

• He’s open to altering formations and selections based on player styles and in-forms 

- @alexcv08