Ekitic: No giants will rely on a single striker, I can learn from Isaac

Hupu September 30th: At 3 am tomorrow, in the second round of the Champions League, Liverpool will play against Galatasaray away. Before the game, Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitic attended the press conference.

I'm glad to see you. After joining the team, you have played in 8 games and contributed 5 goals and 1 assist. How do you feel you adapt? What aspects can be further improved in the future?

I feel that adapting well and the transition period is very smooth. Teammates, coaching staff, and everyone in the club have given me a lot of help, allowing me to quickly integrate into this new environment. So everything is going well at the moment, but football needs to continue to work hard and maintain a stable state, and I will continue to stick to it.

When you joined, Alexander Isaac had not arrived yet, and now he is here. How does this affect you? How do you view the competition in the forward position? If you two want to play together, what kind of cooperation do you think is the most suitable way to cooperate?

This is a good question. You know, we play for a big club, and no giant family will rely on only one striker, so his arrival is a good thing. For players of my age, there are still many things to improve and learn. With him by my side, I can learn more.

As for whether to play with a partner, it depends on the coach, not that I can tell. However, I have experience in playing single forwards and double forwards and can adapt to different tactics. If the coach arranges us to play together, I will be able to do it.

Record So far, have you felt regretful during your time at Liverpool? I guess it might be the second yellow card I got against Southampton - that card made you miss the weekend's game against Crystal Palace. Looking back at that incident now, what do you think?

I was really irrational enough at the time. To put it bluntly, it was me who caused the suspension. I was disappointed that I could only watch my teammates’ games at home last weekend. But I have apologized to all my teammates, and this kind of thing will not happen again in the future. Now I just want to look forward, focus on the next game, and focus all my energy on football. What is Coach Slot's core requirement for you? We noticed that you often look for positions between opponents’ defenses. Has the coach particularly emphasized anything in terms of your playing style or position? The coach did not specifically talk about how I should play and where to stand. Instead, he gave me a lot of freedom. Whether it was connecting with teammates or running forward, he could do it according to his own judgment. I can do a lot of things, he just hopes that I can incorporate my style into the team's tactics, so he didn't make too many requirements in terms of position and style of play.

There are many clubs interested in you this summer, such as Newcastle and Manchester United. Why did they finally choose Liverpool?

because this is the best choice. Liverpool is the English champion team, with excellent players and a brilliant history, which is exactly in line with the goals I want to pursue after leaving Frankfurt. So for me, it was the right decision and I have always wanted to come here.

Last season, your shooting rate was very high, about 50%. What is the reason behind this? Is it because of excellent skills or has been trained specifically for shooting?

At the beginning of last season, I started almost every game in Frankfurt, and I was more like a organizer at the time, with few shots in the game. Later I realized that I needed to be more threatening - now I am still trying to become more threatening than I am now, creating constant pressure on my opponent's defense line, which is why I increased my shots.

Actually, I don’t have any special shooting skills, just to try my best to improve my threat on the offensive end.

Compared with last season, Liverpool seems to have more space to give opponents this season, such as the game against Crystal Palace. Do you think this will cause trouble tomorrow’s game against Galatasaray?

Each game is different, and the pace of the Premier League and Champions League is also different. It will definitely be difficult to play tomorrow's away game, and it is very difficult to play at home in Galatasaray. But I can't say much - the season has just begun, and the team is still working hard and adapting, and it takes time to find a tacit understanding. I believe it will get better and better in the future, and now I am very confident.

Including the previous games, you have scored 5 goals in 10 games. Did you expect such a good start? In addition, regarding the Champions League, I know you played in the Champions League before at Paris Saint-Germain, but now you can compete in a Champions League season as the main player. Is this an important step to achieving your goal?

It would be a lie to say that I had known that I could perform like this long ago, but this is indeed the result I am looking forward to - I have put in a lot of effort for it. So I am very happy to be able to perform like this now and I want to continue to contribute more to the team. Sorry, your second question is about the Champions League, right?

Know that you played in Paris before, but now you want to start every game and play steadily in this level of competition. How do you feel?

It is obvious that when I played in Paris for the first time, I was still young, mostly as a substitute, and more as an observation on the sidelines. It's different now. I can be a member of the team and help the team strive for good results in the Champions League. This is "my moment" for me. I cherish this opportunity very much and will put in 100% of my efforts.

You mentioned Paris. Given that you started so well at Liverpool, did the environment in PSG - with players like Neymar and Messi - lay the foundation for you to adapt to Liverpool's high-intensity games now?

Of course. The experience at PSG has taught me a lot, and it is valuable experience for me to be able to play with the best players in history. I am very happy to be able to play at Liverpool now and want to prove that I have learned a lot from that experience and now I have the ability to bring changes to the team.