Personally, it was always a special feeling to play against Barcelona. A long and important period of my life is associated with the Catalan capital. Barcelona is the place where my life evolved, both as a player and a man; this is where I grew from a young teenager to a grown man. A match like this is always special. Playing in an atmosphere this emotionally heightened, is so motivating and unique.

 

 

 

 

 
You arrived in Veszprém together with Carlos Ortega. Now two close friends, have to go head-to-head. How do you look back on this nostalgic relationship, when once your mutual goal was the success of Veszprém?

At Barcelona we were teammates for years, then he became my coach in Veszprém. This professional relationship was paired with a great friendship as well. We have a lot of wonderful memories together, for example, there is a 'tapas bar' in Barcelona. Carlos showed me this place, and it's my favorite to this very day. We have lot of nostalgic memories indeed.

Now on to the upcoming challenge, on Wednesday we are meeting as opponents, which can be a bit weird, but it's not uncommon in the world of sports, to play against your friends. I always have to mention that as a coach, Carlos is always very thorough and prepared when it comes to getting his team ready for a match. He is a great man and professional sportsman as well, not to mention he worked and lived in Veszprém for years.
 
In which part of the game, do you think we can improve to beat Barcelona?

I am positive, that both teams will place a huge emphasis on their defense, goalkeeper saving percentage and fast breaks. Forced technical errors will play a huge part in the upcoming game, so if we can stay solid in defense and force Barcelona to play against our established 6-man defense, we will have a chance. We will definitely have to stop their quick counterattacks; the quick reorganization of our defense will be key. If we can stay disciplined in these areas and our substitutions, we will have a chance against Barcelona.
 
How does it feel to "only" spectate these games as a sporting director? We always regarded "Nagy László" as an essential part of the game. Are you getting used to your new role?

Perhaps in the beginning I didn't really miss playing after all I had a very long active career as a player. Recently, I found myself more and more willing to run onto the pitch to help the boys out in defense. Joking aside, of course the coaching staff and I, as a sporting director, have a huge responsibility as we're all working together to put together the squad, the tactics and the gametime of each player. I would like to help as much as I can and as calmly as I can, even though it's not always that easy from the sidelines.

 

 

 

 

 
This summer there was a sort of "regime change" at the club. As a sporting director, what do you think about the process and progress so far, and in what area could we still show improvement?

We can always perform better, on and off the pitch as well. The “profile change” in July deeply affected the framework and the structure of the club. The two young and talented coaches who were appointed this summer, Momo and Gulyi, both value and ask for my input, in order to stay organized within the club. Naturally, every new beginning is hard, but I still try to offer as much help as I can, for example during a video analysis session or tactical training session, in order for the club to stay successful. It happens that I have to help out a player mentally and offer them support; as a sporting director and ex-player, it is my duty help out in this regard as well.

It is also my duty to provide and maintain a mutually beneficial connection and relationship between the coaching staff and the leaders of the club. We are always evaluating where we are and where we want to end up, regarding our goals. As I said, we would always like to perform better, on and off the pitch as well; this is why we grind and fight hard.

As the face of the club, a sporting director is always under scrutiny and is subject to attacks as well. This is a difficult position… whose advice and opinions do you trust and what inspires you?

I am still a “newbie” in this position, as I was an ex-player who became sporting director. I try to learn from my mistakes, like I always had as a player. I receive a lot of help and support from the ranking officers at the club. Last season I even made mistakes, which I do not intend to repeat this season. Something I deem really important is the tactical side of the game, a sense of direction that we set out from the very beginning, and this is the path that we have to follow in the future, no matter what. It is still a little bit early to talk about the progress and results, as it has only been two months. It will be much more beneficial to analyze the past and see where we are, which we will do very thoroughly. We would like to improve our transfer policy as well; we would like to have a more determined transfer agenda and we don’t want to make the same transfer mistakes like in previous seasons.
 
How would you assess the past 2 months?

The most important thing is stability. For instance, in the left back position, we started the season with only one established player, Patrik Ligetvári. This deficit of the club is slowly but surely disappearing, as he has been performing very well in recent weeks. I’d say we’re making good progress but still have a lot to work on as well. Regarding our matches, of course it doesn’t only happen with us, that we have to climb back from a big disadvantage, or that we don’t start the game off as well as we’d like; however, the fact that we only have to focus on our own game and performance, we cannot allow this to happen. We cannot allow our opponent a 3-4 or even 5 goal lead in the early stages of a match because then we’ll always be fighting an uphill battle, trying to turn the game around, therefore we cannot focus on consciously improving our game. We’ll have to find an “above average” standard, a level at which we’ll always be able to perform, no matter the circumstances.
We are eager to see Lauge coming back to play and we’re trying to improve the performance of all players in every position, and to better integrate them into the style of the team. Giving all of them specific role and duty within the team, will surely improve the overall performance as well.

 

 

 

Talking about Patrik Ligetvári; it is obvious that the trust invested in him is paying dividends. How were you able to help Patrik perform?

We tried to improve on Patrik’s confidence; I talked to him a lot and assured him of his powerful and accurate shots, and I tried to instill the idea in him, that it is much better if he dares to score, rather than not even looking in the direction of the goal. Furthermore, we have use and integrate all of Patrik’s abilities, the team needs him to perform at his best. It would be even better if this method could work on all of our players, but of course we have just as many personalities as we have players, so we have to treat all of them a little differently. I can see similarly great potential for improvement in many players, this is what we’re trying to achieve; we’re trying to work hard, motivate, inspire. Meanwhile we’re also working hard to keep up the good team spirit and the cohesion of the squad.

We have a lot of tasks and responsibilities in and around the squad, but we’re always trying to improve the standard day-by-day, both on and off the pitch.
Hajrá Veszprém!

 

 

If you would like to learn more about László Nagy’s wishes and predictions from the game against Barcelona, feel free to browse through the EHF Champions League matchday brochure, to find out more about the fixture, the teams, the players, etc. Of course, this matchday brochure will also be available online, so pay close attention to our social media platforms.

Very soon, we’ll be checking with a rather exclusive interview with non-other than Carlos Ortega, as we have managed to exchange a few words with him before the match on Wednesday. Pay attention to our website on Wednesday, to find out what Carlos has to say about the upcoming match and his years in Veszprém!

Hajrá Veszprém!

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