Really strong team
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
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Ahead of the game vs Roma, the Shakhtar head coach Paulo Fonseca answered the questions from the media
- Why did the open training take place in Kyiv, which is quite a distance from Kharkiv?
- Good evening. An absolutely normal situation. That’s our home stadium - we don’t need to come in advance to test the pitch and practise. We play our every home game here, so we decided, as usual, to hold the session in Kyiv. In the Champions League, that’s not new for us - we always do so.
- At the press conference of Roma there were many questions about the encounter seven years ago. Back then, the Miners claimed two wins at the Romans. Don’t you think that in terms of the names your current team is still inferior to that Shakhtar, featuring Willian, Adriano, Mkhitaryan, Srna and Costa?
- It's hard for me to talk about that time, because I wasn’t here. However, I can say for sure: Shakhtar are completely different presently. I think, for tomorrow's meeting, the results of past matches don’t really mean anything. Many of those playing these days weren’t present on the field back then. Now the guys already practise my ideas. During this period, great changes have occurred: Shakhtar defend and attack differently, they deliver a different kind of football. I can’t judge whether that’s better or worse. The current team are mine, and I bear full responsibility for them.
- Is Bernard ready?
- Yes, he has recovered and is likely to be fielded.
- Probably, the Romans will prefer the familiar 4-2-3-1 formation. What do you expect from the opponents?
- Over the last three meetings, they have changed some of the nuances in their play, inverting the pyramid in midfield. However, generally speaking, I don’t think that those minor things will radically change their tactic. Roma is a really strong club with the top players and an excellent coach. We are facing a very difficult match, we’ve been preparing for it all this time.
- At the training camp, Dodo played as a regular. What are his chances of making his Champions League debut?
- That's quite a difficult question from the child ... I don’t want to lie or hide anything from you. As you can see, Bohdan Butko is next to me at the moment, therefore, tomorrow he will appear in that role. To my great regret, Dodo will not feature tomorrow, though he trains perfectly. He’s only 19 - he is very young, he’s found himself in a new reality, but he adapted excellently, so he’ll be successful in every aspect. Dodo doesn’t play only because Butko currently enjoys a great run of form.
- Do you keep Zorro's outfit just in case? Is it possible to see you wear it again if you make it past Roma?
- I don’t keep it, it’s at the club. Honestly, I wasn’t going to put on any fancy dress, but who knows if something extraordinary might happen?
- Is there any news about Darijo Srna and the time of his return?
- According to my information, the organisations dealing with this issue, probably, will pass a decision shortly. I hope he returns as soon as possible. That’s a huge loss for us in every sense. Darijo is the strongest and most important player.
- At their press conference, Di Francesco and De Rossi said that the opponents’ chances are fifty-fifty. What do you make of it? Has the Ukrainian Premier League break caused you any extra difficulties?
- If you take the statistics on the teams from the leagues having the winter break, we will see that the results are not quite comforting. In any case, that’s rather a weakness. Nevertheless, we had enough time, we were preparing. I'm sure we’re facing a very difficult match. Knowing Shakhtar and Roma, I believe that tomorrow's meeting will be tactically rich. It's about the two opponents who don’t fear their own play and try to stick to their style. This will be a really spectacular and interesting match, which should please any fan.
- Good evening. An absolutely normal situation. That’s our home stadium - we don’t need to come in advance to test the pitch and practise. We play our every home game here, so we decided, as usual, to hold the session in Kyiv. In the Champions League, that’s not new for us - we always do so.
- At the press conference of Roma there were many questions about the encounter seven years ago. Back then, the Miners claimed two wins at the Romans. Don’t you think that in terms of the names your current team is still inferior to that Shakhtar, featuring Willian, Adriano, Mkhitaryan, Srna and Costa?
- It's hard for me to talk about that time, because I wasn’t here. However, I can say for sure: Shakhtar are completely different presently. I think, for tomorrow's meeting, the results of past matches don’t really mean anything. Many of those playing these days weren’t present on the field back then. Now the guys already practise my ideas. During this period, great changes have occurred: Shakhtar defend and attack differently, they deliver a different kind of football. I can’t judge whether that’s better or worse. The current team are mine, and I bear full responsibility for them.
- Is Bernard ready?
- Yes, he has recovered and is likely to be fielded.
- Probably, the Romans will prefer the familiar 4-2-3-1 formation. What do you expect from the opponents?
- Over the last three meetings, they have changed some of the nuances in their play, inverting the pyramid in midfield. However, generally speaking, I don’t think that those minor things will radically change their tactic. Roma is a really strong club with the top players and an excellent coach. We are facing a very difficult match, we’ve been preparing for it all this time.
- At the training camp, Dodo played as a regular. What are his chances of making his Champions League debut?
- That's quite a difficult question from the child ... I don’t want to lie or hide anything from you. As you can see, Bohdan Butko is next to me at the moment, therefore, tomorrow he will appear in that role. To my great regret, Dodo will not feature tomorrow, though he trains perfectly. He’s only 19 - he is very young, he’s found himself in a new reality, but he adapted excellently, so he’ll be successful in every aspect. Dodo doesn’t play only because Butko currently enjoys a great run of form.
- Do you keep Zorro's outfit just in case? Is it possible to see you wear it again if you make it past Roma?
- I don’t keep it, it’s at the club. Honestly, I wasn’t going to put on any fancy dress, but who knows if something extraordinary might happen?
- Is there any news about Darijo Srna and the time of his return?
- According to my information, the organisations dealing with this issue, probably, will pass a decision shortly. I hope he returns as soon as possible. That’s a huge loss for us in every sense. Darijo is the strongest and most important player.
- At their press conference, Di Francesco and De Rossi said that the opponents’ chances are fifty-fifty. What do you make of it? Has the Ukrainian Premier League break caused you any extra difficulties?
- If you take the statistics on the teams from the leagues having the winter break, we will see that the results are not quite comforting. In any case, that’s rather a weakness. Nevertheless, we had enough time, we were preparing. I'm sure we’re facing a very difficult match. Knowing Shakhtar and Roma, I believe that tomorrow's meeting will be tactically rich. It's about the two opponents who don’t fear their own play and try to stick to their style. This will be a really spectacular and interesting match, which should please any fan.
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