AIK fell on Saturday afternoon against BK Häcken with 1-2 at home at Friends Arena. AIK led at halftime, but then slipped to a loss in new coach Henning Berg’s debut on the sidelines in the Allsvenskan.
AIK midfielder Jimmy Durmaz, who came on in the 81st minute, thinks it was a good first and bad second half.
– I think we have had good weeks, fantastic weeks after the break. We got a win against BP and it has felt great in training after that. The first ten minutes today were fantastic. We created three or four chances and then continued to make a good first half straight through, he says.
– In the second half it was too bad. I think from the side that it was terribly bad. We fell back two steps, and became afraid to play football. We weren’t where we were in the first half. Then hats off to Häcken. It’s a good football team.
Durmaz joined AIK as a prestige signing, but was mainly benched under Andreas Brännström’s management and thus also had to start on the sidelines in Berg’s first match in the Allsvenskan.
– I feel that I am good enough to start, it is nothing more than that, he says.
When asked if Durmaz received an explanation for the benching, the answer is:
– We haven’t talked about anything. There is nothing to talk about. He’s been here such a short time. He went in and drove what he thought was best for today. He’s been very clear about that, so there haven’t been any problems that way.
Berg patterned a 4-4-2 formation on Saturday, and Durmaz believes he can play as one of two central midfielders in the new system.
– There are still two central midfielders. I’ve played there before, and then it’s just numbers. It’s a different matter when you go into detail about how our 4-4-2 system looks too.
Furthermore, he is positive that new reinforcements will come in, such as central midfielder Anton Salétros, who was presented at half-time at the Friends Arena.
– The better players we get, the better it is, says Durmaz.
Durmaz now looks ahead and believes in a lift for AIK going forward in the table.
– We absolutely believe in it. Otherwise, we have nothing to do here. If we don’t have a faith or something, we can go home and eat chips and watch movies instead, he says.
This year, Durmaz is listed for eleven matches, four of which from the start in the Allsvenskan. AIK, which is in the qualifying spot, will next face Varbergs Bois away from home in the Allsvenskan.
2023-07-08 19:14:00
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