G2 GrabbZ: "We trust each other, we will win, and if we finally fail, I will take all the responsibility"

The LEC 2020 Summer Split is being absolutely crazy. Some of the teams that were not even able to qualify to Playoffs in the Spring Split are now some of the contenders to the first positions in the qualification board, and the typically-strongest teams in Europe (Fnatic, Origen and G2 Esports) are struggling to get the victories that will take them to the next stage.

For G2 Esports, this split is being a big challenge. Not only competitively, but also mentally. That is why in an interview with LVP, G2 Esports’ Head Coach, Fabian “GrabbZ” Lohmann has explained how they are managing to deal with all the internal problems and their bad results in the competition.

Since the interview is in Spanish, we have translated it for you:

This weekend you had a win against Rogue and a loss against Schalke 04. What feelings do you have about your performance and results?

We know that we didn’t play very well, and if Rogue played better we would have lost. We were far behind in the game, but we won a fight and the comms were very positive, that is why I am happy. I love to see that because we are in a very tough situation, and we are not used to it anymore.

To see that everybody wants to win and no one surrenders is something great… that is why I am very confident for the next two weeks.

We are still unhappy about our drafts and our knowledge about the metagame… especially in the bot lane, there are some questions we need to answer next week in Scrims.

You talk about a very tough situation in the team. Could you explain to us why the team is like that?

Is a mix of things: the situation with COVID-19, we are playing online, it is true that every team has the same situation, but this is very different for teams like G2 Esports or Fnatic that are used to win and qualify for the finals, to be with the fans every week… the motivation is not the same.

It is very different for us. We arrive at the gaming house, play a best of one, and go home. It is very hard to be motivated… and also there is this situation with Perkz…

We lost two weeks of training with him. Last week we faced Origen and Mad Lions, and we had only played 8 games in three weeks with Perkz, so the preparation wasn’t there.

I don’t want to use it all as an excuse. A team like ours has to win, no matter what, but this is the situation. We try to improve every week and we really hope to qualify and get to show what can we actually do in a “best of five”.

You have always said that you don’t train as much as other teams do since you are already very good and your players are so talented. With this situation, have you changed your schedules and modify your attitude to train more and take it even more seriously?

For now, we keep it that way since the last week of scrims went very well, not perfect, but productive, and I don’t want to make my players panic saying things like “we are losing, we have to change everything”.

We talk a lot to each other, and the important thing is to trust and to be comfortable here. Of course, we will change our problems in the games, mechanically and so… but this is not the time to change everything, because my team would stop trusting me.

We are 6-7 now, and I have to make them believe that we are going to win. And if we finally fail, I will take all the responsibility.

Despite all the problems, what feelings do you have about this Summer Split?

It is hard to say. I think that the situation with Perkz took us a lot of time… we all understand that G2 Esports need to win, but if your captain loses his father… these three weeks nobody was thinking about winning the split.

Despite we are professionals, we are also good friends, family, and the first thing we did was to give him time to think, to be calm, and to grief. We took P1noy until Perkz told us that he was ready to come back, so we gave him our trust.

We did that because we really trust each other. If at any moment we think that we are not good anymore, or that we can’t be the best team, then things will change. But we still play well in scrims and we know why we are losing.

Some weeks ago we had this announcement from G2 where all the players were being renovated for two more years. With this situation, have you thought about bringing fresh blood and hire new players?

Nobody in G2 earns as much as they could. If someone renovated his contract here, it is because he wants to win. Nobody stays here to spend his last two years chilling… if you want that you go to North America and join a team there.

Each of our players decided to stay here, with this Coaching Staff. Yeah, Jankos turns 26 next year and he might don’t want to play anymore, and if he feels like that he won’t stay here and we will find a solution, that’s for sure.

Some days ago, Ocelote wrote this tweet about a meeting you had and the things he said, like “Hakuna Matata”. Why was this meeting? Was it because of the bad results or because of the situation you are living in?

I actually don’t give a fuck whether we qualify for worlds or not, and I made that very clear today with the guys.

Now it is time to Hakuna Matata the shit out of what’s left of this season.

Hakuna Matata. pic.twitter.com/qCcXEPHxi7

— ocelote CarlosR (@CarlosR) July 21, 2020

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Well, we had a team meeting, we were having lunch and Caps just said “Hakuna Matata”, we liked it and we did the meme. But this is as I was saying, it is about not panicking, about trust and knowing that, if we play as we know how to play, we will win.

He wanted us to get rid of some pressure, in case anyone thinks that we may not qualify for Worlds. That is something that an owner must do. If they play bad, give them your trust. If they play well, motivate them to play better… that is why he wrote that tweet.

What kind of things does G2 Esports do to avoid a mental breakdown in the players and keep them “fresh” for Worlds?

I think that this season we have made it very clear. We have been very transparent on what things we do to avoid burn out. I think we were very transparent in the time we spent without playing, the breaks we have done, how much time we spend in scrims… our players have a lot of time to be… humans.

People don’t see that, if you are Caps, Rekkles, Perkz… you normally don’t see your family, you don’t have any other hobbies, and you just play League of Legends. And this has been like this for 3 or 4 years, and at the end of the day, I must think about them as players but also as humans.

If we get to Worlds at the expense of their mental health… I don’t want to win like that. I value them very much like humans, as people. We must find a way to combine the maximum level players and the joy of the path we take, that is my job.

Is there anything you want to say to your fans?

Thank you very much for your support, especially in these difficult moments, when the team is not playing very well. It is nice to see your comments supporting us. Keep doing it, every victory we take is for you, and we want to enjoy them together.

Thank you very much, keep being the best Esports community: G2 Army.

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