Shakhtar took part in UEFA Youth League Coaches Forum

The main topics of discussion were the transformations, which the tournament can be exposed to shortly. This concerns the rules, the participants entry list, the competition regulations and other things. UEFA wished to consult about the issues with the club managers and coaches –the people who know youth football from inside.

- Such forums are very useful and absolutely important both for each of its participants and for the development of European football as a whole, - the Shakhtar Academy Director Oleksandr Funderat shares his impressions. - Representatives of the top 50 clubs of our continent gathered to discuss numerous pressing issues. In the near future, UEFA seeks to develop youth football through pan-European tournaments and joint projects, where the academies of all clubs could exchange experience and recent solutions, because youth football is getting increasingly closer to adult football both in terms of organizing competitions and in terms of performance. Through participation in competitive tournaments, the young players will be able to better prepare for this transition.

The conference also discussed modern refereeing and innovations in the rules of the game, the psychology of team building, some progressive trends in football tactics. And the most attention was attracted by the lecture of the renowned Italian specialist Fabio Capello, who told about his coaching path: once he started working with children, subsequently winning the Champions League and coaching the top clubs.

- Everything was interesting at the forum: both the speakers' speeches and communication with the peers from different countries, - says the head coach of Shakhtar U21 Valeriy Kryventsov. - During the breaks between the lectures we managed to talk, to exchange opinions with the coaches of different teams: Chelsea, Benfica and others. We discussed the subtleties of working with young players and how to improve the UEFA Youth League, as well as to increase competition in the tournament. Of course, participation in international matches helps the guys grow and progress. And one of the problems of modern youth football is the lack of top-level games. There was an active discussion on those issues, but we agreed that we should develop such tournaments, increase the number of participants and the number of matches. The international experience is very important for players, as it helps to enter the adult sport more quickly and easily.

Interestingly, within the framework of the Forum they held a mini tournament. All the participants were divided into four teams and played against one another. The coach of Shakhtar U21 team Valeriy Kryventsov has become the top scorer with five goals.