Igor Tolic Reveals Persib’s Evaluation After Preseason
Persib coach Igor Tolic has revealed the coaching staff’s evaluation of the team following their training camp in Bali, which lasted nearly two weeks. Tolic explained that Persib experienced a number of challenges and dynamics throughout their preseason preparations.
During their stay on the Island of the Gods, Persib showed promising progress. However, despite the positive developments, the Croatian coach also identified several weaknesses that still need to be addressed by his squad.
“After the training camp, yes, we got many answers, as well as questions that we need to solve after the match against Bali. And after that, we actually didn’t have enough time to fix the weaknesses we identified,” Igor said.
Igor Tolic also explained that Persib’s time in Bali did not exactly constitute a traditional training camp. Ideally, a training camp would involve a more structured and measured program, whereas Persib mainly spent their time resting and playing matches in the Dewata Challenge Series.
“We have gone through the last 24 days with seven matches. And now we have seven or eight training sessions to complete. Basically, that’s how it is. We didn’t really have a training camp there; we were just playing matches. So, it was basically just rest and matches,” he added.
Although Persib’s training camp did not run as optimally as expected, the 48-year-old coach admitted that there was little he could do about the situation. Together with his coaching staff, Igor will make the most of the remaining time to prepare the team for their upcoming match against Manila Digger.
“This had already been agreed upon beforehand. We couldn’t avoid it, just as we couldn’t avoid the President’s Cup. So now we have eight days of preseason, until the 31st. All the players have now gathered, except those who are injured,” Igor said.
Ahead of the match against Manila Digger, Igor Tolic confirmed that his squad is still incomplete due to several injured players. He considers the injuries to be one of the consequences of the demanding preseason schedule. Nevertheless, he believes the situation can be fully addressed once the team returns to Bandung.
“We have several injured players. I don’t think they will be ready for the upcoming match. So, this is the price we have to pay for a preseason like this. But it’s okay. We have to solve the problems we have in our game, that’s clear.
“We have to recover the players and work together until the 31st to field the best possible team. But as I said, we’ll see. We don’t know yet; we’re taking it day by day,” Igor concluded.
