Cluj’s Dani mystified by champions’ poor start

“Opponents view us differently now”

CFR Cluj midfielder Dani says he is at a loss to understand the team’s slow start to the new Romanian season, but hopes that the champions can get back on track this weekend against FC Vaslui.

Having won their first ever league championship last season, Cluj have taken a modest seven points from their opening four matches this term, with a defeat to Rapid Bucharest followed by last weekend’s 1-1 home draw with Universitatea Craiova.

“This is football!” former Pacos de Ferreira man Dani told the press earlier this week. “Last year we went fourteen matches without losing, now we are going through a bad period.

“I don’t know where the problem is coming from, every player tries to be focused for each game, but sometimes they can’t reach their optimum level. Also, the opponents view us differently now, they know what to expect.”

“I think we played well in the first half last week against Craiova, but we could not repeat that performance in the second period. There was no pressure and you could see there was a lack of attitude in our side, which lead to the draw. I hope we can recover for the game against Vaslui.”

Cluj’s situation is far from severe, with just a three-point gap between themselves and early leaders Dinamo Bucharest. Currently in 7th place in Liga 1, Cluj’s title winning campaign last year means they are also preparing for a first ever appearance in the draw for the group phase of the Champions League later this month.