Sanzhar: Our task is getting into European competitions zone
Friday, March 17, 2017
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The head coach of Olimpik commented on his team’s display
- I liked the match in terms of dedication, my players’ attitude towards the game. I was worried that after the match with Vorskla we would not be able to accumulate enough emotions to oppose Shakhtar today. And when playing the Pitmen, you need to produce more than 100 per cent performance to achieve a positive result, probably. Therefore, I am very pleased with the result. As I said before the match, when meeting with Shakhtar, it is necessary to showcase discipline and character, with some fortune smiling on our team. In the first half, we scored a goal, but allowed the opponents to create quite a lot of clear-cut efforts near gates of ours. Not without having a stroke of luck, we played out a 1-1 draw after all. During the break, we asked the guys to be extremely concentrated, self-disciplined to the maximum and keep on enduring. In the second half, one or two moments of danger came near our goal. It means that they were much more disciplined. It was great of them to grin and bear it. I was worried that in the closing stages, my players will run down and just run out of stamina at some point. But my lads bit the bullet, tried hardest and, in my view, earned a very important point to us.
- What tasks will Olimpik face in the second stage of the domestic league?
- Our task, and we have already talked about this, is to gain a foothold in the European competitions zone.
- Are you going to strengthen the team ahead of the European competitions?
- We need to have our team strengthened by all means, since we do not have a long bench. I would like to see rivalry in each position. But due to the fact that we lose key players every six months, we have to build up a team yet in course of the championship. Why have we signed Zhurahivskyi, why do we intend to keep on trying out and signing the guys? Because we lack the squad depth, and we realize that we really need to gain in strength. We will certainly try out players in the course of the season and, of course, actively work on this during mid-season break.
- An early replacement of Anton Posturalenko was caused by injury. How serious is the injury?
- First, they need to conduct an examination. Yesterday we practiced on a soft pitch ahead of the game, while in Kyiv we were training on the synthetic turf. And this transition has taken its toll. Anton had myospasm yesterday; however, he assumed responsibility, emerged on the pitch and could score. However, the pain sharpened, and he said that he was just not able to continue the game any further. Therefore, this replacement was forced.
- What tasks will Olimpik face in the second stage of the domestic league?
- Our task, and we have already talked about this, is to gain a foothold in the European competitions zone.
- Are you going to strengthen the team ahead of the European competitions?
- We need to have our team strengthened by all means, since we do not have a long bench. I would like to see rivalry in each position. But due to the fact that we lose key players every six months, we have to build up a team yet in course of the championship. Why have we signed Zhurahivskyi, why do we intend to keep on trying out and signing the guys? Because we lack the squad depth, and we realize that we really need to gain in strength. We will certainly try out players in the course of the season and, of course, actively work on this during mid-season break.
- An early replacement of Anton Posturalenko was caused by injury. How serious is the injury?
- First, they need to conduct an examination. Yesterday we practiced on a soft pitch ahead of the game, while in Kyiv we were training on the synthetic turf. And this transition has taken its toll. Anton had myospasm yesterday; however, he assumed responsibility, emerged on the pitch and could score. However, the pain sharpened, and he said that he was just not able to continue the game any further. Therefore, this replacement was forced.