zonic on joining Falcons: "We're here to work as hard as we did in Vitality and Astralis"

Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen and Mossad "Msdossary" Aldossary, Falcons' coach and CEO, respectively, appeared on the latest episode of HLTV Confirmed to talk about the organization's ambitions.

The Falcons duo joined HLTV Confirmed on Tuesday to discuss the organization's plans for Counter-Strike as it begins the process of overhauling its Counter-Strike team, with several top players reportedly on its radar.

The legendary Danish coach left Vitality for Falcons after contract negotiations between the Dane and the organization stalled following the Paris Major victory, which opened the door for Falcons to secure his signing.

"We won the Major, and then it was time for negotiations. I told Vitality I was really interested in re-signing. I got an initial offer that was below my conditions [at the time] and below my expectations," said zonic. "Vitality encouraged me to look elsewhere, and I had three really good offers in the end. One of them was Vitality, but I decided to go with Falcons because of the responsibility and the ambitions. I got the keys to the whole CS2 division."

Mossad "Msdossary" Aldossary also chimed in about the signings of zonic and sports psychologist Lars Robl from Vitality, which signaled a new era for their CS team. "People forget we've been in CS for about two years. We always want to do more, and sometimes you need the best people that you can believe in," he said of their new duo.

The new has been marked by Falcons' aggressive strategy when it came to going for the biggest names in the scene. zonic admitted that his new organization enables him to do that but insisted he wants to do things the right way. "Of course, we're going to go aggressive and try to win the Copenhagen Major. If we see an opportunity, we're going to go for it," he began.

"I want to put together a roster that makes sense, and do it the right way. We're here for the long run. I don't want to get a team together for the Copenhagen Major for any price. If the amounts that were reported were true, I would be sitting here with five players, and that is not the case."

One of the signings that fell through was that of Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač, who opted to remain in G2. Msdossary shed some light on how negotiations with the Bosnian superstar went. "NiKo approached us first, that he wants to make the move and he's exploring his options. And why not sign him when you get a chance? But we couldn't agree on personal terms in the end." When asked about the size of the buyout, the Falcons CEO said that they "weren't going to pay G2 more than G2 did to get him out of FaZe."

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Both guests were adamant that this is a long-term project, with zonic even drawing parallels with his previous teams. "We needed over a year in Astralis and Vitality before we won the Major, and we're here to work as hard as we did in those teams."

"This is a three-year project for zonic," added Msdossary. "We don't want to have any opinions or pressure in the first year. The Falcons project is to have a Major in the next three years."

Despite all the talk, the only official announcement so far was the benching of Falcons' entire roster bar Mohammad "⁠BOROS⁠" Malhas. zonic explained the reasons why he didn't make good on his promise to give every player a fair chance.

"Some of the things I heard gave me a red alarm about the current roster not performing and socially not being there as a team. I had talks with the previous coach and the players, and one player said to me that if we kept the roster as it is, he would bench himself, which is a rough starting point.

"It's not fun because its about player's careers, but I came in to make changes, the thing was just how many. There's a chance to call some of them back if they can't find a home, though," the Danish coach added.

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In other parts of the show, the panel touched on the concerns about Falcons' ownership in terms of their connection with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and the organization's history. There was also a discussion about the recent news with the help of Harry "NER0" Richards.