Bibars Natcho: When the going gets tough…

Partizan won Macva at home in a LInglong Tire SSL round 13 fixture with goals from Natcho and Lazar Markovic. We spoke to penalty spot scorer Bibars Natcho after the game:

– I said times before boss has trust in me when it comes to penalty taking and I`m there to give my best to help our team win. We are having tough time, not playing as we want and we are under a lot of pressure as a result.  Therefore, it was very important we win tonight and regain winning mentality, to say to ourselves “guys, we know how to win and play football”. There are lots of new players and injuries, new boss has new demands and we know he`ll get the best of us so that we can play better football game in the future – said Natcho.

The goal you scored is dedicated to your spouse Talia?

– It`s her birthday on Sunday and when we spoke prior to the game she said I must score and you know how it goes when your wife tells you how you need to do something (laughs).

With all the injuries – Bahebeck the latest casualty – Partizan is actually playing without a classic number 9.

– As I said earlier, we are having tough time, lots of injuries and players jumping into roles they are not accustomed to. All that causes problems when you need to form a team shape. On the other hand, it`s an opportunity for some players to show they are good enough to play in a starting line-up. That`s the football game and I hope they`ll all show their characters and play good football, for themselves and for the team.

It seems Partizan creates opportunities at will but team lacks finishing touch?

– It`s true, there`s lots of opportunities missed. This is a testing time, things don`t go the way you want it and there`s lots of obstacles and pain. But, we have experienced players within the team and we`ll find the way to get over it together. I`m sure things will be easier, better and prettier in the future, when we will play better football game with lots of goals scored. We are creating and goals will come. Unfortunately, this is all a part of the package.

New boss, new demands?

– When you have a new boss you need time to implement new ideas and style of play as every boss has it`s own vision of a football game. We didn`t have much time, lots of new players coming in, some of them off the rhytm, injuries and recovery and finally, lots of players away on international duty. We really didn`t have normal time to train together and adapt new ideas. But, I believe things will be better in the future, we are going forward step by step and I`m sure this will be one strong team. We really work hard and boss is paying attention to every detail, there are lots of analysis and he tries to get the best out of everyone at each training session. If we follow his words, Partizan will be quite strong in the future.

Can Partizan get back into the title race?

– We have to. Football is dynamic game and things can change totally within one or two weeks. I honestly hope you see the start of the new Partizan soon, maybe this win is a hint of better days. This team is going through tough times and when the going gets tough the tough get going. When times are such, you can clearly see how good individual or team is. We can get back where we belong with faith and strength. If we are good enough, we`ll be back. If not, we are not good enough for this team, simple enough.