YEKINDAR: My game is not worthy of my team and myself
Latvian Team Liquid star Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis recently expressed his dissatisfaction with his own performance on the North American team during a candid podcast interview.
Team Liquid is currently undergoing a roster reshuffle following a disappointing first half of 2024. Casper "cadiaN" Møller has already departed, and there are persistent rumors about Felipe "skullz" Medeiros' potential exit as well. Despite strong performances from Keith "NAF" Markovic and Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken, YEKINDAR has faced criticism for his subpar play. His 2024 performance has been particularly weak, with his rating dropping to 1.03 against the top 50 teams.
In a podcast with Georgian YouTuber Erik "shoke" Shokov, YEKINDAR openly discussed his struggles this year, as translated from Russian by HLTV.
- I understand why fans are frustrated with my performance. My game is not worthy of my team and myself, YEKINDAR admitted before delving into the reasons behind his lack of impact on the server. "I started playing a lot of FACEIT matches because I saw players like m0NESY and donk doing the same. It felt great on FACEIT, but in tournaments, I tend to overthink. When you perform poorly for a while, you start doubting yourself. These micro-moments, where you decide to make a move or not, are crucial, especially in my roles. Overthinking leads to a loss of confidence, which causes you to play worse, creating a vicious cycle of self-doubt."
YEKINDAR made a name for himself as an aggressive rifler with Virtus.pro from 2020 to 2022, earning a spot among the world's best players in HLTV's top 20 rankings in 2021 and 2022.
Team Liquid is set to compete in the BLAST Premier Fall Groups in 20 days, where fans will see what the new iteration of the former No. 1 team in the world can achieve.
