On Monday evening (18/09), Jesper Jansson, the sports director of Omonia, was a guest on the Omonia show “Total Green”, who spoke about the team’s progress so far, the planning that has been done, the latest transfers, the topic Mario Ilias and several others.
In detail, the placements of…
For the match against AEL: “Thank you for the invitation. I’m used to communicating more with people. I think the first 15-20 minutes were very satisfying, we created a lot of chances, we had three clear chances, we had complete control. Very positive period. It would be nice to play a game with 11 players for 90 minutes, we haven’t managed it yet.”
On how he rates the team’s performance after the first nine official games: “It is very difficult to evaluate some games because in many we played with ten players for a long time. Overall it’s hard to rate. The first 15-20 minutes with AEL we played very well. Marquinios was alone and had a bad reaction but we should have covered him much better in that situation. In the second half we showed character, we can’t complain, they fought with ten players. The coach is trying to instill in the players how we want to play, there is improvement.”
Because he had said that it was not urgent to make transfers and since then there have been four: “We have a football team, they play, they train, there is a constant need for development. We are building our game, confidence, getting the players to fit into the system. I am very satisfied with the players. There is a lot of talk about the need for a striker, we are giving Kakoullis the chance to play and he is fantastic. We needed one-two-three transfers to set the standard. It’s the contracts, the finances, that’s how we build the team. Some players came to us without having played recently and need time. As a sports director, I believe that the result will be seen in two or three transfer periods. I want to give time to the footballers. Remember the Bezos case.”
About Allium and when we will see Amo-Franson: “Alium came in the middle of the year (in Sweden) so he was 100% ready, he is a great talent, he has a great mentality. I know he will fit the way Sofronis wants to play. We all made the decision for Alium together, it was a great opportunity. For Amos, we all know the high level he was at, he was held back by his injury, I am impressed with Tim’s effort and the progress he is making, the result is starting to show, he is picking up pace. In the last few weeks he started to get closer to where he was. It’s a project. Franson is all set. He needs to play games to catch up. When that happens we know he will help us, he is an international footballer but he has competition in his position. It is ready but it depends on Sofronis when he will put it on. Also, because we are not Cyprus the most attractive destination, it is one reason why we are chasing such players, players who have not played for some reason and need some time to restart. That’s where we are as a football country. The expectation to get a player of this level and be able to play immediately, sorry… if in some years Cypriot football is higher in the ranking that we can get players from this shelf, but now we are not. So that’s always one reason we attract such players. Franson is a really good player.”
For Mario Ilias: “It is clear that our strategy and ambition is to have the best Cypriots and so far I believe we have them. For the long-term strategy he is an interesting player. Whether it’s for now or in six months or in a year… I’m working on the balance of the team, it’s key for us to be the best in this field in Cyprus. I believe there are many good Cypriot footballers. We take players from abroad and players from Cyprus to develop them. I didn’t know about Ilias before I came. We were watching him now but nothing more than that. I am satisfied with our Cypriots. I am very happy that Loizou joined AEL promoted, we have to raise him to the level we know he can go. We have several young people, I was impressed with Andreas Christou who went on loan to MEAP, we have a very good cooperation with them. That’s the balance we have to find.”
Clarifying question whether Ilias signed or not: “No, we didn’t sign Ilias. We would announce it.”
On whether the transfer plan would be different if Omonia entered a European group: “Yes, obviously, if we went to the groups we would have more matches and therefore we would need a bigger roster. We now have 12 games until Christmas. I believe that Omonia scouting should be proactive. Let’s see long-term players. To have footballers scanned at all times. We know the contracts that are expiring, we know how we will move in the next transfer periods.”
For the expiring contracts, even if he will soon enter into discussions with some (Matthews, Leciaks, Miletic, Basiro, Ansarifard, Bezos, Koussoulos, Psaltis and the special case, Fabiano): “About 1/3 of contracts expire. We know what we need. Fabiano is obviously a fantastic goalkeeper and character, we know what he means to the team. We also renewed with Francis (s.s. Uzoho). First time I see so much quality in a quartet of goalkeepers. With Fabiano the dialogue is already there and we will continue. There is a lot of love on both sides and it is nothing to worry about. The dialogue is going very well.”
His message to the world: “To believe in the process, in the team. We are on the same side. I believe there is a huge prospect. We have expanded the scouting team, we will be more proactive, we will set standards. We want to show attacking football for the world. I see Sofroni’s ideas on how to play. Let the world believe the players, we have several players in development. Yes, the ambition is to win the championship. I saw the opponents, I am not afraid of anyone. We are Omonia, we will fight for the championship every year. But to add something, we have to fight for the championship every year, but it doesn’t say anything to win the championship once and then have a fall.”
