FURIA’s run to the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 24 did not contain an explosion back into the trophy-winning form, but it can be considered a success considering the weight of travel on the team in recent months.
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KSCERATO: “We’re playing a lot of tournaments; when you see frustration, you can’t handle it like you used to because you’re so tired mentally”
Mental exhaustion is taking its toll, and Sid “sidde” Macedo admitted the team had a “low point” during Katowice’s group stage. Recovering from that, and making the playoffs, was enough to make their coach proud.
“My job is finding the right things for us to focus on because everyone has a lot on their minds,” sidde added, speaking after elimination. “Everything is happening at the same time for us. We need to deal with frustrations better, and we need to find motivation.”
Knowing what sometimes we go through, I’m proud of how we finished here
Before the Major, which will be Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo’s final event, FURIA have three more events, which means a true break from their hectic schedule is no time soon.
Whatever break they do get, they need to make the most of. “We need to value these days that we have between now and Thunderpick,” sidde added. “Every small time that we have to add things to the playbook or to just improving something, we need to actually make good use of it.
“That’s the plan right now, and we need to find a good balance to not get to the Major feeling 100% burned out.”
Listen to the interview here.
Okay, unfortunately, elimination. What’s your first thoughts on that?
I’m proud of how we played the first map. I think we showed good times in this tournament. For me, being inside the team and knowing what sometimes we go through, I’m proud of how we finished here. We had a very low point during the group stage, but after that, we recovered well, and we came together as a team, and we put up a good fight today. Of course, we couldn’t win, but still, as a coach, it makes me proud.
Knowing what sometimes we go through, I’m proud of how we finished here
And how tough has that been as your job? Because we know there’s so much uncertainty around the team and everything, but trying to get people focused for this, these last few events of the year.
Well, right now, my job is finding the right things for us to focus on because everyone has a lot on their minds. Everything is happening at the same time for us. So we need to understand where we need to focus, where our mentality has to be in terms of we’re not going to win everything. We’re not going to be winning every game we play. We need to deal with frustrations better, and we need to find motivation even though it feels like, okay, we are getting to the end of the year, and we still haven’t reached the same level that we played last year. How do we stay motivated? How do we keep pushing hard even after all these frustrations? Right now, a big part of my job is managing frustrations, I would say.
And is part of that just getting some energy back? Will the team have enough time off? You’re going to Thunder Pick, but after that, is it just about recharging batteries almost, it seems like from the outside.
No, it really is. The first part of the season was crazy with how many tournaments we played, different regions and a lot of flights. We didn’t have enough time to reset or to update our playbook, so whenever we have some spare time between tournaments, for us it’s something very valuable. We need to value these days that we have between now and Thunderpick, and also after Thunderpick going to Bucharest. So every small time that we have to add things to the playbook or to just improving something, we need to actually make good use of it. So that’s the plan right now, and we need to find a good balance to not get to the Major feeling 100% burned out. We need to find a good balance to go through all this and still have some energy left for the Major.
I understand his frustration because we actually have some plans for the game, and we cannot put them together
Yes. And I also wanted to ask about Yekindar had a timeout that they played on the audio, and I think he basically said, “Guys, we’re playing FACEIT here. We’re not playing properly.” Can you give your thoughts on that? Is it the tiredness causing this or what?
First of all, if it was my FACEIT games, we would be playing very good because I try so hard on FACEIT. No, but honestly, at this point, we are getting entry on every part of the map. So I understand his frustration because we actually have some plans for the game, and we cannot put them together because we are just giving entry kills or we’re not picking things together. And we’re just playing maybe a bit without the focus that the game requires or just, I don’t know, skipping steps, like we play FACEIT. So he’s right in that. He helps a lot with this part of keeping people accountable for the things that sometimes we should be doing but we’re not doing. So yeah, he means it in the sense of let’s play more serious. That’s his way of putting it out.
