Maribor coach Ante Šimundža has already set his sights on the 2024/25 season and sent a resounding message to his competitors: “The goal is the double crown!”
Photo credit: YouTube (NK Maribor) - screenshot
Ante Šimundža has drawn a line under the 2023/24 season, which he initially entered as an unemployed coach before returning to Ljudski vrt in October last year. Initially, it took some time for him to get Maribor back on track, but once he succeeded, the violets became almost unbeatable. Maribor finished the season in second place in the Prva Liga Telemach, and Ante Šimundža is heading into the next competitive year with a clear goal.
“The goal is the double crown!” he made clear to the club’s official website and then touched upon the preparations for the upcoming challenges: “We will analyze what was good and what was bad that we can improve. We need to be ready for the start of preparations and set guidelines so that we can be competitive and consistent, which I often emphasize, in the coming season as well. We can be positive about recent achievements, but it all depends on us. The season is over, history is forgotten. We live in the present and the future. And in the future, you will live as you work now. It is important that the players come back hungry to prove themselves, motivated. They have shown that they know and want to think in this direction, which makes them better and more collective. I hope and believe that we will continue in this way.”
Ante Šimundža: “A good, solid step forward”
Regarding the work done in the recently concluded season, the former coach of Mura and Bulgarian Ludogorets said: “I would highlight the transformation of the team, especially in terms of mentality. In the autumn part, we started setting guidelines on how to work on and off the pitch at Maribor. Then we continued in the preparations with the shared goal we set, that we want to progress in all segments, as players and as people. We made a good, solid step forward, but that doesn’t mean we are satisfied.”
The 52-year-old also touched on the fact that Maribor has been unbeaten in the league for a long time. “The last game we lost was against Celje, 0:1, then we managed a series of 20 games without a loss. Unfortunately, we were eliminated from the cup competition, which has its reasons. That was one of the goals we did not achieve. However, it is important that the spectators recognized our work in the meantime, that they are returning and giving us a lot of support. The realization that personally pleases me greatly is that fans understand that not everything can always be optimal. Joy even at a draw means that they recognize the importance of competitiveness and pragmatism even in matches where many would want a different result,” concluded Ante Šimundža.
This text was automatically translated using AI.
Author: editorial Football Planet
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