National team manager John Toshack held a press conference today in which he took responsibility for the defeat against Luxembourg, warned players to stay away if they are not motivated to play for Macedonia, and added that he expects the national team to exemplify better discipline in the future.

“I saw 33 players (with 3 goalkeepers) in the past period and now I will have to make some cuts and select the best players for the friendlies that follow.  We played some good games, like those against Russia, Andorra and Slovakia, but also some disappointing ones like Armenia and Luxembourg.  I must say that in every new match, 5-6 players were missing, while in the last friendly against Luxembourg, we were without 7 players that featured in Moscow for the Russia game.  That’s not an excuse because in the last match, I saw several players who can play much better than what they showed in the Luxembourg game.  Of course, being the manager, I feel responsible for the defeat.  I’m aware that we made some mistakes that surely won’t have occurred if it was an important qualification game.  But, the basic idea of these games is to give a chance to more players so you could see their potential.”

Toshack was also asked if there was distance between some of the players on the national team.  “It’s normal that players who feature for some clubs, or play the same position can be better friends between themselves as opposed to the others.  That happens even in the big clubs.  What is most important for us is motivation, the desire to play for the national team.  Macedonia is not a football power like Italy, Spain, England.  We know that the selection of players from which we can choose from is limited so for us to achieve good results, the players must give a minimum of 100% of their potential for us to become competitive.  We are in a tough group and without that approach and motivation, we can’t expect positive results.  Anyone who has no motivation to play for the national team should not bother arriving for preparations.  It is better that they stay with their club teams.”

Toshack then talked about his motive for guiding Macedonia after the shameful defeat against Luxembourg, and for the bad discipline in the squad.  “Every team, every player can have  a bad day.  That has happened to me when I was player, for example with Liverpool I drew 0:0 against Luxembourg.  As manager of Wales, I beat them twice.  So, what should we do? Change coaches every week?  That’s very easy.  It’s true that I was disappointed with several of the players, their attitude towards the game.  The responsibility falls to everyone, but in the end the blame is always directed at the coach.  I said I’m taking the blame for the Luxembourg defeat, but I’m hoping that we can all learn positive lessons that will help us in the future.  I’m expecting much better performance in the upcoming friendlies.  I already have a picture not only about which players I will select, but also about the formation that we will play in the qualifying cycle.  Macedonia is among the top 5 undisciplined national teams in Europe when it comes to picking up cards, and I’m expecting that to get better so the key players are not missing important games due to suspensions which affect how we play.”