"When I came to Ludogorets, I immediately understood why this club is a champion. Why we are champions. Our ambitions have always been and will be high. We must think in the same way," said the new senior coach of Ludogorets Igor Jovicevic at his official presentation. "I want to thank the club for believing in me. I will work hard every day to repay the respect they have shown me. I am proud to be the coach of Ludogorets."
"I watched the last match of Ludogorets live, I have also watched other matches on tape. I know what needs to be improved. I have a clear idea as a coach. I have to make the players understand it. But every big team, like Ludogorets, has no time ," Jovicevic is emphatic.
Igor Jovicevic shared his first impressions of the team as a whole. "We have already done two training sessions. Yesterday was the first touch on my views on tactics. We had a good practice. I said what reaction I wanted to see after losing the ball. It is important to always play compactly," added the Croatian.
He shared his expectations from working in Bulgaria. "It is a challenge for me to adapt to Bulgarian football. It's part of our job as coaches. I have to get used to the environment and the coaches in Bulgaria, but the first step is to build my own style. This is a normal step for me. I'm coming back from Saudi Arabia, where I didn't know anyone except Neymar, Roberto Firmino and Aleksandar Mitrovic... Other players you may not know, but now I'll do the same in Bulgaria."
Igor Jovicevic admitted that he likes to work with young players and would count on them. "I have a lot of experience with young players. It was a big challenge for me to develop a whole generation of young talent. Among them is Josko Guardiol, who now plays for Manchester City, and Josip Schutalo, who is at Ajax. All these players are now valued at a total of €150 million. That was the goal at Dinamo Zagreb – to give young players a chance. All young players have to earn their chance, take it and show it on the pitch if they want to find a place in the first team," Jovicevic is emphatic.
Meanwhile, sports director Georgi Karamandzukov explained how Igor Jovicevic was brought in. "After the previous senior coach Mr. Georgi Dermendzhiev was released, the Ludogorets sports and technical staff took on the task of finding a suitable and sufficiently authoritative coach. The loss to Slavia Prague was not the reason for the appointment of Igor Jovicevic. I want to thank Zahari Sirakov, who led the representative team during these 45 days," explained Karamandzhukov. “There were many candidates and many names were discussed and proposed to the owners. We are glad that Mr. Jovicević's name was not mentioned in the press. This shows that the conversations with him and his team were confidential. We chose it for many reasons. He is the right person who demonstrates a good knowledge of the team in terms of qualities and potential. His ambitions and goals coincide with those of Ludogorets," he added.
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