Ladislau Boloni, unpopular speech before Hagi's installation at the national team! Other name requested: “Disrespect”

Ladislau Boloni migrates these days between Tg. Mureș, Budapest and Nice, the three locations where he feels equally at home.

The former selector agreed to speak to the GSP audience about the installation of Hagi at the head of the “national”and his speech, with direct and less diplomatic touches, in his unmistakable style, already raises some sensitive topics for debate on the very day of Hagi's return to the bench of the first representative team.

Ladislau Boloni: “The strategy so far has been bad”

– Mr. Boloni, the appointment of Hagi to the position of selector is only a matter of days. What should we expect from Gică's return to the national team bench?
– Hagi's choice is good. He knows Romanian football, he is an ambitious boy who commands respect in the dressing room. But he cannot solve the problems of Romanian football by himself. In order to progress, you must first accept that you missed most of the fights and it was bad what you did. Because the strategy so far has been bad. And, in order to succeed in war, you need to change your vision and not get caught up in an amateurish enthusiasm if you have won one or two fights. Keep your feet on the ground and do an honest analysis. These are matters that do not depend on Gica.

– Give me an example, please?
– We should have a too long discussion here, but I am thinking, for example, about the fact that there are too many injuries in the domestic championship, which should provide important solutions for the national team. I am also referring to the training of the players, to the Academies program, to the incomprehensible phenomenon of funding from public money in the sense that some town halls can sponsor, others not. And there are quite a few other topics that are not under the control of the selector.

“I don't think Ianis Hagi will be a pole of tension”

– Do you think that Hagi should give up from the start some players who have not confirmed and give a chance to others?
– I don't know the players well enough to say that Gheorghe should be exchanged for Vasile, and things will evolve. These are technical details, under the selector's responsibility. The problem is whether the flowers you pick from the garden are beautiful? Are they durable? Do you have something to replace them with if they get sick? This must be ensured to Hagi.

– It has already been circulated in the public space that players such as Bancu and Stanciu could already withdraw from the team after failing to qualify for the World Cup. Would their age and Hagi's probable temptation to come up with new names merit such radical decisions?
– I don't know Bancu, but I can say about Stanciu that he is a player who knows football. But I would prefer not to get into such approaches. We are not helping Hagi at all if I say now that X must be replaced by Boloni! That is strictly his job, not the public's or the journalists'. I know there are waves of proposals everywhere, especially after misses. I consider Stanciu an interesting player, I met him at Anderlecht, a footballer capable of winning a match.

– But a long time has passed since his experience at Anderlecht!
– Indeed! I don't know if in the meantime he has kept this ability, if he has developed further, if he is a leader. But if a more effective player is found, I would use the competition to be a useful process for the team.

I don't believe in the scenario that Ianis Hagi will be a pole of tension in the locker room through the prism of the father-son relationship. It is an artificial matter. I am convinced that Gica will want, first of all, to win the match, with or without his boy. The rest are just theories used by those who hang around the locker rooms

– Ladislau Boloni, former Romania selector

“I am totally with Hagi, but it is childish to think that he will do miracles by himself”

– There will certainly be voices that will encourage the idea that, by the arrival of Hagi to the national team, we will have future European or World Cup qualifications in our pockets. How would you respond to such theories?
– They are not acceptable at all! Are people naive to think that Hagi comes and does magic by himself? Of course, Gică is capable of winning a match from the bench, but we cannot be so amateurs, at the level of the FRF president, staff, journalists, public, that we think that Hagi will do miracles. I am totally in favor of him coming to the national team, but will Gica somehow come to play? Rejuvenates overnight and will be on the lawn?

– It would be wonderful, but impossible!
– That would be great, yes! Excuse me for criticizing you, but let's use this theory, that we are strong and Hagi will solve everything, it's childish. Especially in a place where we lost wars one after another! I don't want to be misunderstood. I repeat that Hagi is a logical decision now, but the idea that we have found the unique and gigantic miracle is an exaggeration. An annoying approach for those who do this job of coaching and hear such amateurism. Forgive me for being so harsh!

“It's a great injustice not to consider Pițurcă”

– By the way, how are you doing? Do you still maintain the rule of a daily jogging session?
– I just came back from a run. However, I would like to ask you one more question.

– Please!
– I emphasize for the third time that it is normal for Hagi to come. He won trophies in Romania, he knows all the Academies in the country, he is a character who can make order around him. I talked with him a few days ago, and his plan calmed me down. I don't want my speech to be interpreted differently, to look for scandal, because that sells the best, but who is the coach who qualified us for the most Europeans?

Victor Pițurcă qualified the national team for two European Championships, 2000 and 2008

– Are you thinking about Pițurca?
– Here is the answer! I haven't seen a word about him. It is a great injustice towards Pițurcă. Oh, it's only natural that you choose Hagi! But considering what this man has done for the national team, it's already disrespectful not to even consider him. And from the federation, and from the media! This while all kinds of characters that I avoid characterizing navigate the aisles of FRF. That is why I say that things there are not quite as clear as we are led to believe.

“I'm skeptical if things won't change”

– Well, they introduced Edi Iordănescu to “witchcraft”, on paper, and the man found himself put there to “competition”, without anyone having discussed with him!
– I don't want to open another discussion now. I referred to Pițurcă because he brought us so many qualifications. What do we want to do now? Do we really know what we want to do? Let's qualify, let's win the World Cup, right?

– Stoichiță will remain technical director, according to President Burleanu. Do you think that a couple will be able to work with Hagi?
– I don't care what he says. If things will remain, in fact, as they have been so far, I am skeptical about the future. In order to move forward, you have to accept the idea that the strategy you have been working with so far has not been good. And, no!, it wasn't good! That's what the facts tell us in the long run, not my words!