Until the official announcement of the start date of the season, CSM Bucharest continues preparations without training matches. Coach Adrian Vasile admits that this period is getting harder and he did not hide the fact that frustrations are gathering due to information coming from outside, such as the fact that their opponents in the Champions League have started to play.
Adrian Vasile is eager to „rehearse“, to see the level of CSM Bucharest today. During an interview with ProSport, Adrian Vasile, CSM coach from Bucharest, spoke about the current situation in the team.
Adi, how was this period for the women’s handball team CSM Bucharest?
- Going through the first part, which was like the joy of a small child who can’t wait to play with his favorite toy, I would say that I am very happy with the girls as they prepare. Although they were without activity for a long time and you might have thought that it would leave traces in their preparation, on the contrary, they came even at a much better level than they have returned so far after the summer breaks. And that really makes me happy and actually serves everyone to see the level of professionalism they have. We have been planning training sessions since then, hoping to be able to play some friendly matches at some point. Unfortunately, we have not succeeded so far, so we are in a continuous adjustment of the training process, hoping that we will return to normal.
When you talk about it, how do you feel when you see that your rivals in the Champions League have started to play, and in Romania that is not possible?
- It is very difficult not to test against other teams after the first part of the training. At some point, no matter how well we train, the question arises: „But where is our level compared to other competitors?“ And that in itself is very frustrating. But we find ourselves in a situation where each country has its own rules and ways of managing this situation. Unfortunately, we are still not allowed to play friendly matches. As the weeks go by, it gets more stressful.
However, it is not excluded that the official matches will start on August 20, at least in the Romanian Cup …
- This is a great hope, because in that way we could continue our activity from a concrete point of view. I am convinced that there are many steps that the authorities are taking to restore our everyday life, I know that it is not easy at all. But I am very happy that we could have our first games at the end of August.
For the league, the Federation has proposed organizing a tour of one or more closed tournaments. How do you like the idea?
- I have seen that there are several suggested options. One was organizing a 4-5 day tour. But, it is quite difficult to look at such a tournament possible from several angles. First, it means that the Champions League will not be able to be played and no other European competition. Then the problem and having so many games (e.g. 15 games) it’s pretty dangerous. But the second option, with the possibility of several tournaments in which several matches are played, where there is a break between them, may be more realistic. It remains to be seen how these tournaments can be integrated into the competition calendar, including international ones. All teams playing in the European Cups will find it difficult to participate in these tournaments. I don’t know yet if anything has been established about that.
Last year you had a number of medical problems since the beginning of the preparations. Are all the girls training now?
- Everything is fine, we train great. Carmen was the only player to have an injury from last season, but recently recovered and is training with the rest of the team. We are ready, we can’t wait to start.
Suppose you have already done tests on Covid19?
- We did tests on Covid-19, we didn’t have a positive case. We also did physical tests, but we didn’t do them at the beginning of the preparations. Then, the first week of training was a test for ourselves, to see what level the girls are at, including themselves, to observe what it is like to prepare after such a long break.
Has anything changed in the status of Linnaeus Torstensson (the Swedish handball player announced her departure from handball last season)?
- Unfortunately there is no! Linnaeus decided to retire, she had a very long and very nice career, now there are other priorities in her life. We have her here, because she lives in Romania. We can enjoy her presence from time to time, but she withdrew from the field, concluded Romanian coach Vasile
