“Is there a method to this madness? Slovenian coach: “One compliment a month”

Slovenian volleyball players show again that neither the great turmoil and difficulties within the team, nor the pressure and strength of their rivals can easily break them. A year ago, just before the world championships co-organized in their country, there was a change of coach. They finished the performance in fourth place, the best in history. Now they are playing with a “false” attacker in the European Championship and are already in the semi-finals. Both starts are connected by Gheorghe Cretu. The coach, hired just before the World Championships, emphasizes his players’ readiness to sacrifice. Although there are more coaches who go beyond focusing solely on volleyball in their work, probably no one has pushed this boundary as much as him.

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Cretu wants to be a coach, father, friend and teacher.

In the volleyball community, you can hear that Cretu is very active on social media. Apparently he comments and reacts to entries not only from his current players, but also from those he has not worked with for a long time. It’s impossible to find another trainer like him at this level. For him, however, it is something completely obvious.

– I still have good relationships with my former players. I also have contact with their families. When I work with a team, I become part of their life. It’s not like I show up at the gym five minutes before training and run home five minutes after it. I do my job in the way I would like to be treated as a player, he explains to a small group of Polish journalists in Rome.

He adds that he also involved his loved ones. – Even my family is involved in all this – my wife and daughter. What I do as a coach applies not only to volleyball. In clubs and in the national team, we spend long months together, we travel around the world, so my role cannot be limited to just telling them how to play volleyball. There are young players who also need support from me as a coach, father, friend or teacher. – argues the 55-year-old.

And after a while he explains why he attaches so much importance to being interested in the private lives of his players. It turns out that he missed it very much at the beginning of his career, when the focus was on the tough upbringing of young players.

– I was taught to be like a soldier – come to training and perform my duties without blinking an eye. I received a maximum of one praise a month. Times have changed. Education and awareness of how to create players and build their position in the team are also different today, the Romanian points out.

It’s hard to say whether all volleyball players like this style of work, but many appreciate it. One of them is Łukasz Kaczmarek. They worked together in two PlusLiga clubs – first in Cuprum Lubin, and then in Zaks Kędzierzyn-Koźle. At the second attempt they won, among others: Champions League.

– If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be where I am today. He changed my position and directed me to the right tracks. I owe him a lot. He is a great trainer, an excellent psychologist. He has a great approach to players – said the Polish national team attacker.

When we mention to Cretu that the volleyball player is very grateful to him for all the support he has received, he jokingly says that he doesn’t remember anything like that.

In recent years, Kaczmarek has always been a substitute for Bartosz Kurek in the national team. There have also been many opinions in recent years that it would be worth giving other players a chance to play the role of a reserve in this position. This season, however, Kaczmarek has fully confirmed his value, which is even more valuable considering Kurek’s previous health problems and his current problems with getting back into shape.

– If I remember correctly, this guy won the Champions League three times while on the pitch. That’s why it’s no surprise to me that he is now the first attacker of the Polish team. He deserved to be in this place because he worked hard for it for years. His achievements speak for themselves. He was always ready to take the field whenever the team needed him. After Thursday’s match, we can hug each other, but before we go on the field, I will look at him as a rival and I will want to kick his ass – adds the coach with a smile.

Madness and challenge. “Slovenians? It’s actually impossible to break them at all.”

He is in the Slovenian national team this summer – due to Toncek Stern’s injury – he has a problem with the attacker’s position. As a substitute, nominal hosts are sent there.

– What was their reaction? There wasn’t any. If I decide to put a setter or a libero there, the reaction of a professional player is to give his all. That’s what my players did too. They know they are doing it for Slovenia. They want to go to the Olympics and will do everything to take advantage of all opportunities to play volleyball at a high level. And so far they are doing it well – emphasizes the coach of the Poles’ semi-final rival in the European Championship.

The beginnings of his work with this team can hardly be considered quite typical. He took over the team just two weeks before the World Championships, which Slovenians organized together with Poland. A few weeks later, they enjoyed fourth place, their highest in history.

– I don’t think they were in crisis when I joined them. In fact, they had a difficult time because several important players had problems and joined a little later. It was difficult to deal with. When you host the World Championships at home, everyone expects you to be in great shape before the tournament. At some point, the activists decided that enough was enough and decided to call me. I was curious. I like challenges. I knew it was crazy to do this before the World Championships and take responsibility for what would happen, but I love my job and I knew I would meet amazing personalities – says the 55-year-old.

He adds that Slovenians have become known to him as people ready to make great sacrifices. He also believes that the bond between the volleyball players and the coaching staff has been strengthened in recent months.

– We are fighting for the same goal. They understand that we are there every day to help them. To strengthen each other. Especially if you have guys who have had injuries or surgeries. Some people have to accept playing in a different position. We see this dedication and everything is moving forward, he says.

His team’s path to the European Championship semi-finals was not easy, but they reached this stage for the third time in a row. Cretu says it straight – there is no way to justify it only with a worse game. It requires competitors to continue fighting until the end despite all inconveniences. It seems that with good results, because the statistician of the Polish national team, Marcin Nowakowski, describes them as a rival that provides a great test of patience.

– Their trademark is primarily block play, safety, few mistakes, repeated actions and great patience. They are a truly inconvenient opponent precisely because they cannot be easily broken. In fact, they can’t be broken at all. Even when they lose, they still fight the same way. They also play very well in defense and knock the ball out of their hands so that nothing can be done. We found out about this recently during the Hubert Wagner Memorial – explains a member of the White and Reds’ training staff in an interview with Sport.pl.

He also draws attention to the accuracy of the move, which was to replace the “false” attacker in the position. Klemen Cebulja was replaced by Rok Mowiedź. And although Nowakowski assures that the Polish national team does not believe in the curse of Slovenia in the European Championship, cited by some journalists and fans, he is aware of the quality of the opponent. Cretu does not attach any importance to the fact that in recent years the Slovenians had the advantage over the White and Reds in this event.

– It doesn’t matter to me and Nikola Grbic (Poles’ coach – ed.). The same players will not be on the pitch, some players are no longer in the squad at all. These are two completely different teams, with different coaches, different playing styles. History is history. In this case she’s nice, but it’s just a story. It has nothing to do with our game now and this semi-final – he assures.

The words of the Slovenian coach will be verified in the evening.