Nikitscher: Nothing just falls into my lap

The captain said after the European Championship and then the Nations League games in September that serious changes are expected in the squad and even in the starting team. Ádám Lang and Attila Szalai have not been selected since the European Championship, and after the match against the Germans in September – actually from the 82nd minute of the defeat in Düsseldorf – they took the place of another unexploited player, Ádám Nagy.

Lang and Nagy are among the few who were already there at the 2016 tournament, and the Spezia midfielder was a particularly important person for Rossi. Ádám Nagy became a victim of the somewhat modified playing system, in which a dedicated six, i.e. a defensive midfielder who collides a lot and is strong in the air, became the partner of András Schäfer in the middle of the field. Perhaps many people were surprised that this player Tamás Nikitscher lett.

“The captain has been watching for a long time, we talked before, and even in the spring he told me that he was curious to see how I would return from my injury,” the 25-year-old defender, who returned from a torn cruciate ligament in the spring, told the MOL Team. “Somehow it turned out that nothing comes easily to me either on the football field or in life. I had to work hard for everything.”

We got our team back

The European Championship, which also brought good moments, but ended with an overall disappointing result, and the first two Nations League matches caused a minor crisis for the team, and since this was the first serious ups and downs for Marco Rossi, who is constantly performing above his strength, we were curious to see the captain handles the situation. We already know this:

“The atmosphere in the dressing room is such that you immediately feel: only one hundred percent is acceptable here in every match. The cohesion within the team is very strong, and whatever happened at the European Championship, which I followed as an outside observer, the community overcame the problems. I think our matches in October clearly showed this,” he recalled the home draw against the Dutch and the more confident than expected victory in Bosnia.

In front of the Hungarian defense, in the Puskás Arena and in the match in Zenica, Marco Rossi started with Nikitscher, the Kecskemét midfielder was our best against the Dutch in tackles and ball possession, and against the Bosniaks you can’t give him the man of the match title just because Zsolt Nagy and Dominik Szoboszlai, who doubled, played an extra.

“The praise is very nice, I am very happy that the first matches went well, and even more so that the results turned out well.”

“We managed to implement the tactics well against the Netherlands, we were aggressive and organized, we didn’t leave much space for the opponent’s classics. It was important that we were able to remain disciplined throughout, because that was the only way we could close the passing lanes well, and even a faltering against such an opponent could be fatal,” explained the midfielder.

Without wavering (photo: MLSZ)

“The team demonstrated all its virtues in the match, the bravura result is really nice because we earned a deserved point from the Netherlands. Even if we didn’t manage to win, the fans also really appreciated the draw, I feel a little missing because we only got that goal with a man advantage.”

Between heaven and hell

Nikitscher’s burst into the national team is another serious praise for Marco Rossi, as he stuck the player out in Kecskemét, which was in an extremely difficult situation. The lilacs are in last place in the NB I, they also went through a change of coach, but for now it doesn’t look like they have the thread, since, for example, a third division team, Karcag, eliminated KTE from the MOL Hungarian Cup.

“I will visit both heaven and hell in these weeks. I hold the fate of KTE very close to my heart, I have a lot to thank the club for, since I became a national team player from here, and I am doing my best to help the team in a difficult situation.“But this does not affect my participation in the national team, I can absolutely choose between the two things. I take this burden off myself in the national team, because I cannot lose focus even for a moment.”

You have to be able to play well against the good ones (photo: Kecskeméti TE)

Nikitscher’s excellent performance will be needed in the days ahead, as two extremely difficult matches await us; the team will first play in the Netherlands, then host Germany in the last round of the Nations League. In the match in Holland, the player from Kecskemét should keep Tijjani Reijnders, one of the best-form midfielders of the continent’s top leagues in check, if Marco Rossi starts with him in Amsterdam.

“I have to be ready for everything, and I have a habit of preparing for such important matches by imagining all possible situations in advance. “Milan’s midfielder has been playing brilliantly throughout the autumn, but I don’t have time to think about who my opponent is, where they play and how. I will only focus on my own task if the captain gives me a vote of confidence.”

Not just any task awaits the Nikitschers (photo: Kecskeméti TE)

“Even so, I learn a lot in every national team match and even in every training session, but what I need to improve the most in cannot be practiced in training: among football players of this quality, the speed of thinking is paramount, and this can be developed under such pressure. I’m excited, I’m really looking forward to the matches.”

We might even get into trouble

In the two games in October, the team ensured that they will almost certainly not be eliminated from the Nations League, but if they want to finish higher than the third place in the classification, they will probably have to beat the Netherlands away from home.

“We don’t need to explain the odds to anyone, but we don’t care much about that. Every match is different, no one foresees the dynamics of the game, luck, form, many unexpected circumstances can shape a match.”

It could easily happen, or even more likely on paper, that we won’t win in the Netherlands, and if that happens, we won’t have a chance for second place, we’ll be playing a classifier to stay in the A league.

You have to leave the pitch with pride (photo: MLSZ)

“I think it’s worth just focusing on ourselves now and just focusing on playing football against the Dutch like we did in the Puskás Arena.”If we play well, we hope the result will come” – he stated.