“Romanian footballers are too chubby! Everyone is surprised that they don’t succeed abroad, but how do you overtake with a car kept only at idle?”. Manifest speech of the atypical coach who made an explosive return to the Superliga

Beyond the Romanian players who confirm abroad at a high level, many even from a young age, see the cases of Radu Drăgușin or Dennis Man, we have a wide list of local talents who left for good money from our football and who were late to confirm . From Andrei Ivan, without success in the Krasnodar and Rapid Vienna experiences, to the younger Adrian Mazilu (Brighton), Cătălin Cîrjan (Arsenal) or Alexi Pitu (Bordeaux).

A self-described “atypical” coach is back in the Super League this winter and, explosive as we all know him, he doesn’t shy away from tackling the sensitive subject with a manifesto that tries to shed light on the causes!

“Romanian footballers are too chubby!”. Leo Grozavu’s manifesto speech

In an interview exclusively for ProSportLeo Grozavu (57 years old), appointed coach at FC Botoșani during this competitive break instead of Liviu Ciobotariu, he started from the situation of preparation for different conditions of a team, going through the justifications of the footballers:

A good team must adapt anywhere, a well-prepared team plays well anywhere. The football player? Sir, my ball bounced! The ball does not bounce, if you are well prepared, if you are mentally well, there is no way it will bounce. It may jump to the best prepared, but to you, there is no way. Or that it was mud… You have to adapt!”

Leo Grozavu’s position on the decisive errors that he believes our technicians make in the training of domestic talents is firm:

I have some opinions that I would not necessarily want to express, so as not to upset people (laugh). But I still consider that the Romanian footballer has a preparation, with the rhythm, with the mentality in the first place. This starts from a small child. You form your mentality as a small child, then you constantly have to educate it. It is not enough to be born a certain way. But back to the rhythm, we have a problem! Everyone wonders why Romanian players do not succeed abroad. Because, in Romania, they are too fancy, too chubby, that’s the best word. Lord, let’s not bother them, let’s tire them, let’s not… And then, normally, when you come across the outsiders, who only do this day in and day out, it’s clear that you have a problem”

In addition, of course, when the Romanians arrive there, the competition is different. Because the people there take you from another country to be better! Sure they have a problem, they give up quickly, it’s a mentality thing, but generally they give up because they can’t handle the pace! I wouldn’t want someone to say now – ooo, the clever Grozavu woke up, only he does! The vast majority, that doesn’t mean everyone, but there are a lot of people who hump the players”

Leo the Terrible he also makes an interesting comparison between the aspects he highlights and the way a car reacts:

Children have these problems from a young age. They are taught a certain way. After that… any car, if you only keep it at idle, there’s no way, when you want to start, to overtake… It’s hard! Because you learned that engine in a certain way. Even more so the man. You have to push its limits a bit so it can perform. Because otherwise it remains at a mediocre level”

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Andrei Preotu’s adventure began as early as 1996, when he was Ovidiu Ioanițoaia’s guest at the “European Process”. In 2006 he arrived at Fanatik, his first job. Then, he signed with NewsIn. After the adventure at OnlineSport, there followed a period of almost ten years in which … read more

Over 25 years of experience in sports media. He made his debut as a journalist in 1997, in his first year of college, being the editor of the newspaper ZIUA which, at that time, had a 4-page supplement dedicated to sports. Then he transferred to Romanian Sport, Evenimentul Zilei, ProSport (special reporter … read more

The press officer of the Romanian National Football Team (2014-2022) and the creator of content dedicated to the tricolors. He created and developed the Communication Department of the FRF, being for almost 8 years the Communication Manager, Special Projects or the Head of the Press Office of the FRF. In parallel, he activated… read more

Source: www.prosport.ro