We’ll field the best ones
Friday, April 5, 2019
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Paulo Fonseca answered the reporters' questions ahead of the Cup quarterfinal vs Dynamo
- Paulo, how are Shakhtar conducting the training microcycle?
- The most important thing is to recover our guys, as even 48 hours have not yet passed since the previous game. We start getting tactically prepared for a challenging game, with absolutely every game against Dynamo being like that, and with only one side making it further in the Cup competition.
- Unlike many other Ukrainian coaches, you openly share the personnel news. Could you reveal some secrets now: how will Shakhtar squad change over a few days?
- Marlos wasn’t in his best form for the match against Oleksandriia, and we decided to leave him on the bench. During this season, he had certain issues, unfortunately, they got more complicated after the international duty. We make every effort to help him recover by the game against Dynamo. We’ll see if we succeed at that. As for the rest of the players, nearly all of them are available. It’s no secret that our line-up will not be much different from what you’ve normally seen this year. We are aware that it will be a difficult encounter, and we want to field the best ones.
- The trend in the recent meetings with Dynamo is as follows: Shakhtar have much control of the ball and create chances, however, you’ve got some finishing issues. What conclusions have the coaching staff and team made?
- Yes, you are right, the games really prove the trend of our domination on the field. We conducted that analysis. Often, the outcome depends on our mistakes in the situations created by Dynamo against us, and they are not that numerous. We mustn’t make any defensive mistakes, endangering our safety. Attacking wise, we always dominate it, creating multiple chances. Against Dynamo, we need to be a little more secure defensively, plus we need to believe that we can create offensive chances and convert them. The encounters with Dynamo are tough, since the opponents very quickly drop deep, and sometimes it’s extremely difficult to rip open their zones. However, we’ll try to prepare the team in the best way possible to do that anyway.
- Please comment on the media news about the possible departure of Wellington Nem.
- In fact, that’s just news. At the moment, I know that Nem is in our team. He works very well. Precisely because of that, he had the opportunity to play against Oleksandriia, where he became one of the decisive players. For me, only the work on the training pitch and in the games is important, and not what they post on the Internet. While the players are here, I count on absolutely everyone.
- And on the young guys - Tete, Marcos Antonio? On Fernando who played against Dynamo only once? Are they mentally ready for such games?
- I have to admit that Fernando has played quite a lot this season. Now, the newcomers have come, we need to prepare them well, and they must be fielded in the best possible circumstance - when there is no risk. But the encounters with Dynamo are very demanding. We need to find the best context so that the guys could enter the field and feel the Ukrainian championship. Someone is more experienced than the rest, but they are all young. We will analyse each match and try to understand which newcomer is best to be integrated at a certain point. The age is their advantage, they have time. The club’s major goal is winning. And my choice is always aimed towards the team’s winning, no matter who takes the pitch. And the young players still need to mature, and for that they need the right context.
The Ukrainian Cup quarterfinal Shakhtar vs Dynamo will be held in Kharkiv on April 7. The match kicks off at 17:00. You can purchase the tickets at the OSK Metalist ticket office and on shakhtar.com.
- The most important thing is to recover our guys, as even 48 hours have not yet passed since the previous game. We start getting tactically prepared for a challenging game, with absolutely every game against Dynamo being like that, and with only one side making it further in the Cup competition.
- Unlike many other Ukrainian coaches, you openly share the personnel news. Could you reveal some secrets now: how will Shakhtar squad change over a few days?
- Marlos wasn’t in his best form for the match against Oleksandriia, and we decided to leave him on the bench. During this season, he had certain issues, unfortunately, they got more complicated after the international duty. We make every effort to help him recover by the game against Dynamo. We’ll see if we succeed at that. As for the rest of the players, nearly all of them are available. It’s no secret that our line-up will not be much different from what you’ve normally seen this year. We are aware that it will be a difficult encounter, and we want to field the best ones.
- The trend in the recent meetings with Dynamo is as follows: Shakhtar have much control of the ball and create chances, however, you’ve got some finishing issues. What conclusions have the coaching staff and team made?
- Yes, you are right, the games really prove the trend of our domination on the field. We conducted that analysis. Often, the outcome depends on our mistakes in the situations created by Dynamo against us, and they are not that numerous. We mustn’t make any defensive mistakes, endangering our safety. Attacking wise, we always dominate it, creating multiple chances. Against Dynamo, we need to be a little more secure defensively, plus we need to believe that we can create offensive chances and convert them. The encounters with Dynamo are tough, since the opponents very quickly drop deep, and sometimes it’s extremely difficult to rip open their zones. However, we’ll try to prepare the team in the best way possible to do that anyway.
- Please comment on the media news about the possible departure of Wellington Nem.
- In fact, that’s just news. At the moment, I know that Nem is in our team. He works very well. Precisely because of that, he had the opportunity to play against Oleksandriia, where he became one of the decisive players. For me, only the work on the training pitch and in the games is important, and not what they post on the Internet. While the players are here, I count on absolutely everyone.
- And on the young guys - Tete, Marcos Antonio? On Fernando who played against Dynamo only once? Are they mentally ready for such games?
- I have to admit that Fernando has played quite a lot this season. Now, the newcomers have come, we need to prepare them well, and they must be fielded in the best possible circumstance - when there is no risk. But the encounters with Dynamo are very demanding. We need to find the best context so that the guys could enter the field and feel the Ukrainian championship. Someone is more experienced than the rest, but they are all young. We will analyse each match and try to understand which newcomer is best to be integrated at a certain point. The age is their advantage, they have time. The club’s major goal is winning. And my choice is always aimed towards the team’s winning, no matter who takes the pitch. And the young players still need to mature, and for that they need the right context.
The Ukrainian Cup quarterfinal Shakhtar vs Dynamo will be held in Kharkiv on April 7. The match kicks off at 17:00. You can purchase the tickets at the OSK Metalist ticket office and on shakhtar.com.