Fonseca: Team showed their mettle
Sunday, November 6, 2016
|
Press conference by Shakhtar coach after the game vs Oleksandriya
- Why did you team display two different halves?
- Hello. It was a difficult match against good opponents - we always experience some difficulties at their stadium. We know that Oleksandriya did not lose in six consecutive games, there was a huge difference between the halves. We dominated in the first one, playing well, creating many chances and being able to score even more. We went to the dressing room with an advantage of two goals. Early in the second half, after scoring a goal, Oleksandriya believed that they could create more chances near our goal and they started to do so. There were a great many long balls, which forced us to drop deeper. Because of that, we had a lot more difficulties with winning the ball. The game was just like a war. But I'm glad that the guys managed to get their act together and work as a team. Basically, I can say that today's victory is a deserved one, against very good opponents who play very well, especially on their home pitch.
- You’ve been to many places. How do you like the conditions in Oleksandriya?
- To be honest, we did not have much time to see the city. We spent most of the time at the hotel. I can only speak about what I saw - about the game. The atmosphere in the stadium was good. Many fans. The spectators supporting their team is exactly what we like. It was very nice.
- In the first half, your opponents stayed in their half of the pitch most of the time. Once they put pressure, creating a great chance. And in the second half, Oleksandriya did it a lot more often. Is it difficult for you to play under pressure?
- In the first half, there also were the situations when Oleksandriya were trying to immediately put pressure on us up front. Then they stopped, because they seemed to have noticed that it didn’t work. To be honest, I like it even more when they put pressure up front - so we get more space for our lads. You know, when we encounter the teams who just park the bus, it gets much more difficult for us to find the much needed space. In the second half, Oleksandriya’s performance somewhat changed. Again, this forced us to get back closer to our penalty area. However, I believe that we managed to adapt well to that. Clearly, we didn’t dominate possession like in the first half. But there were numerous challenges for the ball, individual actions and aerial play. The team showed their mettle.
- Hello. It was a difficult match against good opponents - we always experience some difficulties at their stadium. We know that Oleksandriya did not lose in six consecutive games, there was a huge difference between the halves. We dominated in the first one, playing well, creating many chances and being able to score even more. We went to the dressing room with an advantage of two goals. Early in the second half, after scoring a goal, Oleksandriya believed that they could create more chances near our goal and they started to do so. There were a great many long balls, which forced us to drop deeper. Because of that, we had a lot more difficulties with winning the ball. The game was just like a war. But I'm glad that the guys managed to get their act together and work as a team. Basically, I can say that today's victory is a deserved one, against very good opponents who play very well, especially on their home pitch.
- You’ve been to many places. How do you like the conditions in Oleksandriya?
- To be honest, we did not have much time to see the city. We spent most of the time at the hotel. I can only speak about what I saw - about the game. The atmosphere in the stadium was good. Many fans. The spectators supporting their team is exactly what we like. It was very nice.
- In the first half, your opponents stayed in their half of the pitch most of the time. Once they put pressure, creating a great chance. And in the second half, Oleksandriya did it a lot more often. Is it difficult for you to play under pressure?
- In the first half, there also were the situations when Oleksandriya were trying to immediately put pressure on us up front. Then they stopped, because they seemed to have noticed that it didn’t work. To be honest, I like it even more when they put pressure up front - so we get more space for our lads. You know, when we encounter the teams who just park the bus, it gets much more difficult for us to find the much needed space. In the second half, Oleksandriya’s performance somewhat changed. Again, this forced us to get back closer to our penalty area. However, I believe that we managed to adapt well to that. Clearly, we didn’t dominate possession like in the first half. But there were numerous challenges for the ball, individual actions and aerial play. The team showed their mettle.
