We look into Shakhtar’s future
Sunday, August 4, 2019
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Shakhtar manager Luis Castro reflects on the second Championship victory, fans, young players, the Champions League, leisure time, and his family
- We didn’t start the game in the best way. Yes, we controlled the ball, but rather slowly, and for 20 minutes we failed to rip open the opposition defence. Karpaty simply moved left and right and didn’t allow us to carry out any good attacks down both flanks. About midway through the first half, we changed certain things: the central defenders advanced the ball more so that the opponents would meet us, with the wingers and insides being able to use the spaces behind them more often. After that, we began to pierce through Karpaty’s defence. We made our attacks more diverse both in the middle and down the wings, having 12 clear-cut scoring opportunities, and converting three of them. I expected that out of 12 corners we would have at least one more chance for netting a goal, but this didn’t happen. In any case, that’s a good victory. I want to congratulate my players on the performance they displayed on the field. I also want to mention the opponents and the difficulties they managed to cause us in the opening 20 minutes. Karpaty tried to launch counterattacks, but we coped with them well every time.
- Around the middle of the first half, you began to actively prompt Dodo so that he wouldn’t join in the attacks any more. Are you happy with the way he played in the match?
- Yes. Dodo showed his best side, just like the whole team did. Indeed, he received the ball far too deep, he could control it a bit higher but feared something. Perhaps this is due to the fact that it was his first appearance this season. Then, he began to attack more often and added some excellent dynamics down the right wing. It’s more correct to talk about the play collectively and not individually, and I want to point out that the more active linkup play of Dodo benefited the whole team. But it’s also important to mention that Kryvtsov advanced the ball more often: they met him, leaving some space for the insides and the winger - I mean Marlos in this case. Those things helped us control the play and attack better.
- Have you thought about the way you’ll operate in the next round against Dynamo?
- No, at the moment we think only about having some rest because we’ve had three games this week. A really tight calendar. During a week, we will be able to prepare for the match against Dynamo. All the opponents deserve respect, and when you think of only one of them, on the most occasions it all goes wrong. At this stage, our thoughts have been about Karpaty.
- How do you like the stadium?
- Nice atmosphere. They often say that for a team to feel good, stadiums must be packed. On the other hand, it’s like our houses – there, you don’t need too many people to feel good. It’s important to have some cool atmosphere there. I guess that all the blocks that should be occupied, have been filled today. I felt comfortable here even yesterday. This is our current home, we feel good. Here are our fans. We understand that all of them, unfortunately, cannot be by our side, and this raises our responsibility. We know why they cannot be here. Thank you very much for supporting us like that. We want to give joy not only to those who are near us, but also to those who are far away at the moment.
- You mentioned having some rest ... How do you like to spend your leisure time?
- I like reading. I do not want to promote or advertise it, but I also really like Netflix. I like to spend my evenings at home: I read, watch TV shows and documentaries. Thank God, my family are arriving tomorrow! I’m happy that I can spend time with my family.
- How do you like the performance of Pikhalyonok and Sikan?
- In this case, we look into Shakhtar’s future. At the moment, the club has a really fantastic project. Trubin, Dodo, Cipriano, Marcos Antonio, Pikhalyonok, Tete, Solomon, Sikan, Fernando ... All those guys are under 23 years old, they are at Shakhtar, and that’s great! That’s a great challenge for us. Not everyone can play in the games of Champions League level at the same time, but we prepare them for that. It’s always very nice to talk about the players available in the team, I really like them all, including those who haven’t played today. Sometimes, I hear people explaining the defeats due to certain individuals, but in my case that’s impossible. Because it’s all about Shakhtar’s future. It's no secret that the more experienced players will leave one day, and the young guys should be ready to replace them.
- Do you want to play against a Portuguese team in the Champions League?
- I wouldn’t want to. The emotional component of that kind of match would be huge, it would be discussed too much. I’m glad that we are in the second pot. What does it mean? The level of Shakhtar is high and they respect us. The Champions League is a great opportunity to show our qualities to Europe, just as the club did in previous seasons. We’ll try to advance as far as possible. However, we’ll still have time to talk about this tournament.
- You are facing a match against Dynamo now. On Tuesday, the Kyiv side will play in Belgium against Club Brugge. How informative will this encounter be for you?
- It's no secret that Dynamo are a very good team. They always try to bring an opponent to one wing, then quickly change it and deliver the ball into the box. At the edge of the last third, that makes us move and defend without a ball. They are not perfect, just like us, like anybody else. It will be a great match.
- Could you talk a little bit about your private stuff? How do you like living in Kharkiv? Tell us about your family.
- We live in Kyiv. Today, you’ve asked me about my family for the first time in a press conference. Thank you! I have two daughters: one works as an architect in Berlin, the second one is about to graduate from the Faculty of Architecture in Porto. I believe that they didn’t choose the best path because architecture is not that simple. My wife is a teacher. I work abroad at Shakhtar, there are big requirements here, so we cannot stay here alone. Now they are coming to join me and support me in this beautiful country. There are fantastic people here. I want to sincerely thank you for the way you received me, for your respect. It’s very important to me. I am one of those coaches who live not only rational things but emotions as well. In Ukraine, I met many great people, and now I feel happy. I’m very pleased with the choice I made, it was right. Today is the right day to discuss all this because we have won. When you lose, this is the most terrible profession in the world, and you don’t want to talk to anyone at all.
- You use the formation with one striker, but there are four of them in the team. Have you decided which of them will remain, and who will be loaned out or sold?
- Yes, I am constantly in touch with the club administration, we are discussing those issues. You are right, presently we have the formation with one forward. In Oleksandriia, we started it with two defensive midfielders, then switched to one. Today, we’ve operated with one holding midfielder and insides, but on some occasions, they changed roles: Taison played just behind the striker, and we switched to deploying two holding midfielders again. But we never fielded two strikers at once. We control this situation and will solve it in the best way without causing the players any issues.
- Around the middle of the first half, you began to actively prompt Dodo so that he wouldn’t join in the attacks any more. Are you happy with the way he played in the match?
- Yes. Dodo showed his best side, just like the whole team did. Indeed, he received the ball far too deep, he could control it a bit higher but feared something. Perhaps this is due to the fact that it was his first appearance this season. Then, he began to attack more often and added some excellent dynamics down the right wing. It’s more correct to talk about the play collectively and not individually, and I want to point out that the more active linkup play of Dodo benefited the whole team. But it’s also important to mention that Kryvtsov advanced the ball more often: they met him, leaving some space for the insides and the winger - I mean Marlos in this case. Those things helped us control the play and attack better.
- Have you thought about the way you’ll operate in the next round against Dynamo?
- No, at the moment we think only about having some rest because we’ve had three games this week. A really tight calendar. During a week, we will be able to prepare for the match against Dynamo. All the opponents deserve respect, and when you think of only one of them, on the most occasions it all goes wrong. At this stage, our thoughts have been about Karpaty.
- How do you like the stadium?
- Nice atmosphere. They often say that for a team to feel good, stadiums must be packed. On the other hand, it’s like our houses – there, you don’t need too many people to feel good. It’s important to have some cool atmosphere there. I guess that all the blocks that should be occupied, have been filled today. I felt comfortable here even yesterday. This is our current home, we feel good. Here are our fans. We understand that all of them, unfortunately, cannot be by our side, and this raises our responsibility. We know why they cannot be here. Thank you very much for supporting us like that. We want to give joy not only to those who are near us, but also to those who are far away at the moment.
- You mentioned having some rest ... How do you like to spend your leisure time?
- I like reading. I do not want to promote or advertise it, but I also really like Netflix. I like to spend my evenings at home: I read, watch TV shows and documentaries. Thank God, my family are arriving tomorrow! I’m happy that I can spend time with my family.
- How do you like the performance of Pikhalyonok and Sikan?
- In this case, we look into Shakhtar’s future. At the moment, the club has a really fantastic project. Trubin, Dodo, Cipriano, Marcos Antonio, Pikhalyonok, Tete, Solomon, Sikan, Fernando ... All those guys are under 23 years old, they are at Shakhtar, and that’s great! That’s a great challenge for us. Not everyone can play in the games of Champions League level at the same time, but we prepare them for that. It’s always very nice to talk about the players available in the team, I really like them all, including those who haven’t played today. Sometimes, I hear people explaining the defeats due to certain individuals, but in my case that’s impossible. Because it’s all about Shakhtar’s future. It's no secret that the more experienced players will leave one day, and the young guys should be ready to replace them.
- Do you want to play against a Portuguese team in the Champions League?
- I wouldn’t want to. The emotional component of that kind of match would be huge, it would be discussed too much. I’m glad that we are in the second pot. What does it mean? The level of Shakhtar is high and they respect us. The Champions League is a great opportunity to show our qualities to Europe, just as the club did in previous seasons. We’ll try to advance as far as possible. However, we’ll still have time to talk about this tournament.
- You are facing a match against Dynamo now. On Tuesday, the Kyiv side will play in Belgium against Club Brugge. How informative will this encounter be for you?
- It's no secret that Dynamo are a very good team. They always try to bring an opponent to one wing, then quickly change it and deliver the ball into the box. At the edge of the last third, that makes us move and defend without a ball. They are not perfect, just like us, like anybody else. It will be a great match.
- Could you talk a little bit about your private stuff? How do you like living in Kharkiv? Tell us about your family.
- We live in Kyiv. Today, you’ve asked me about my family for the first time in a press conference. Thank you! I have two daughters: one works as an architect in Berlin, the second one is about to graduate from the Faculty of Architecture in Porto. I believe that they didn’t choose the best path because architecture is not that simple. My wife is a teacher. I work abroad at Shakhtar, there are big requirements here, so we cannot stay here alone. Now they are coming to join me and support me in this beautiful country. There are fantastic people here. I want to sincerely thank you for the way you received me, for your respect. It’s very important to me. I am one of those coaches who live not only rational things but emotions as well. In Ukraine, I met many great people, and now I feel happy. I’m very pleased with the choice I made, it was right. Today is the right day to discuss all this because we have won. When you lose, this is the most terrible profession in the world, and you don’t want to talk to anyone at all.
- You use the formation with one striker, but there are four of them in the team. Have you decided which of them will remain, and who will be loaned out or sold?
- Yes, I am constantly in touch with the club administration, we are discussing those issues. You are right, presently we have the formation with one forward. In Oleksandriia, we started it with two defensive midfielders, then switched to one. Today, we’ve operated with one holding midfielder and insides, but on some occasions, they changed roles: Taison played just behind the striker, and we switched to deploying two holding midfielders again. But we never fielded two strikers at once. We control this situation and will solve it in the best way without causing the players any issues.