Fonseca: We’re getting ready for a tough game against Olimpik
Thursday, October 13, 2016
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The head coach of Shakhtar responded to the reporters’ questions before the league round 11 game
- Paulo, what are the team’s personnel news? What about Rakitskyy and Shevchenko?
- Hello. Rakitskyy is not fully ready. He still needs a few more days, just like Shevchenko, who is also in in the final stage of recovery. Shevchuk has minor health issues – he’s got a cold.
- You have a new training venue. How did you come across this option? For how long are you planning to train there?
- The base, where we have been training, has only one field. In such weather with rain, given our daily sessions, the turf gradually becomes unusable. So we decided to spare it and found another pitch which is, incidentally, in excellent condition. If necessary, we will train here, just to preserve our pitch at the base.
- Your players are back from international duty. Tell us about the team’s fitness before the match against Olimpik. Does everyone approach the game in the same form mentally?
- Yes, the guys are ready. They had a few days to recover, and now they are involved in our training process together with everyone else. The players are fully prepared for the league games. By the way, I want to congratulate our lads on the two international meetings - the national team played very well.
- How do you like the Ukrainian autumn?
- It’s cold. The temperature has dropped very quickly all of a sudden. By the way, in Portugal, this is probably the lowest tempreture they might register. But that’s OK. We all are preparing for the fact that it will be much colder.
- Have you reviewed Olimpik’s games? What kind of game are you expecting this coming Saturday?
- We have not shown the videos to the players yet, but the coaching staff have studied Olimpik. We perfectly understand that the meeting will be difficult enough. We will met with an aggressive team who play well defensively. Plus it will be an away match for us. Therefore, we are preparing for a challenging game.
- During the international break, Mircea Lucescu often went to Turkey and other countries with the Pitmen to play some friendlies. You have a different philosophy? You give the guys more rest?
- Actually, yes. I think somewhat differently. Firstly, we have a lot of players leaving the team for international duty, with very few guys left to train with us. We should use those breaks for some kind of rest. Since we travel all the time, having busy fixture schedule and regular flights. Therefore, I believe that it’s better to stay here for those ten days or a fortnight.
- Recently, they have been talking a lot about Andrii Boriachuk, who appeared and scored in the game vs Volyn, plus he proved himself with the national team. Is he ready for the top level or one shouldn’t rush things, according to you?
- Andrii is now with us. This means that we believe in him and stake a lot on him. At the same time, one needs to understand that he is still a young guy, he’s got room for improvement. His role is very specific and tough. He should train to excellently prove himself and be among the starting XI.
- Hello. Rakitskyy is not fully ready. He still needs a few more days, just like Shevchenko, who is also in in the final stage of recovery. Shevchuk has minor health issues – he’s got a cold.
- You have a new training venue. How did you come across this option? For how long are you planning to train there?
- The base, where we have been training, has only one field. In such weather with rain, given our daily sessions, the turf gradually becomes unusable. So we decided to spare it and found another pitch which is, incidentally, in excellent condition. If necessary, we will train here, just to preserve our pitch at the base.
- Your players are back from international duty. Tell us about the team’s fitness before the match against Olimpik. Does everyone approach the game in the same form mentally?
- Yes, the guys are ready. They had a few days to recover, and now they are involved in our training process together with everyone else. The players are fully prepared for the league games. By the way, I want to congratulate our lads on the two international meetings - the national team played very well.
- How do you like the Ukrainian autumn?
- It’s cold. The temperature has dropped very quickly all of a sudden. By the way, in Portugal, this is probably the lowest tempreture they might register. But that’s OK. We all are preparing for the fact that it will be much colder.
- Have you reviewed Olimpik’s games? What kind of game are you expecting this coming Saturday?
- We have not shown the videos to the players yet, but the coaching staff have studied Olimpik. We perfectly understand that the meeting will be difficult enough. We will met with an aggressive team who play well defensively. Plus it will be an away match for us. Therefore, we are preparing for a challenging game.
- During the international break, Mircea Lucescu often went to Turkey and other countries with the Pitmen to play some friendlies. You have a different philosophy? You give the guys more rest?
- Actually, yes. I think somewhat differently. Firstly, we have a lot of players leaving the team for international duty, with very few guys left to train with us. We should use those breaks for some kind of rest. Since we travel all the time, having busy fixture schedule and regular flights. Therefore, I believe that it’s better to stay here for those ten days or a fortnight.
- Recently, they have been talking a lot about Andrii Boriachuk, who appeared and scored in the game vs Volyn, plus he proved himself with the national team. Is he ready for the top level or one shouldn’t rush things, according to you?
- Andrii is now with us. This means that we believe in him and stake a lot on him. At the same time, one needs to understand that he is still a young guy, he’s got room for improvement. His role is very specific and tough. He should train to excellently prove himself and be among the starting XI.