Team made major progress
Saturday, February 16, 2019
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Shakhtar U21 manager Valeriy Kryventsov summed up the training camp in Turkey, told about the team’s readiness for the season and the young players’ progress
- Valeriy, three training camp weeks in Belek are over now. Are you satisfied with the pre-season preparation and the form of the team?
- We fulfilled everything we'd planned. Everyone tried to show their best, that’s why I’m satisfied with their attitude to work. Compared to the start of the season, everyone made major progress. We started the league season with a very young team, but the guys spent together the first round, improved their teamwork, and had some full-fledged training camp.
- Several players trained and played for the first team this winter, they received some positive reviews from Paulo Fonseca ...
- Right, that’s true. For example, Anatolii Trubin spent the whole training camp with the senior team, Valerii Bondar and Viktor Korniienko also joined them in Turkey and returned to Ukraine together with the main team. This is a good signal for young players, but it’s important not only to train but also to get some match practice in the first team or in the reserve team.
- On the winter training camps, your boys traditionally have many friendlies. Is this a significant aspect of preparation?
- Yes, of course. We’ve played ten friendlies, and all of them against adult opponents. In the encounters with them, the guys noticeably matured, got stronger, they felt the level of professional football. At times, they lacked consistency, but that’s due to serious workloads, with every player bearing them in his own way. Some significant progress of many players is noticeable, which is good news.
- What meetings could you mention in terms of performance quality?
- I can say that parts of all games were very good. We looked great in the friendly against the current Europa League participants FC Irtysh from Kazakhstan, I particularly liked the second half. I can also mention the encounter with Kosovo-based Flamurtari. At the same time, the problem that haunts us throughout the season has not gone away - we very often lose the ball in simple situations. This means that each player must raise their personal level. We’ve still got the room for growth.
Training camp game results
Shakhtar U21 – Ferronikeli (Kosovo) – 1-1 (Korniienko)
Shakhtar U21 - Irtysh (Kazakhstan) – 1-1 (Kaschuk)
Shakhtar U21 - Vorwarts (Austria) – 1-2 (Kulakov)
Shakhtar U21 - Prishtina (Kosovo) – 0-1
Shakhtar U21 - Flamurtari (Kosovo) – 2-0 (Mudryk, Topalov)
Shakhtar U21 - Pohang (South Korea) – 4-2 (Apanchuk, Vasylevych, Hlahola - 2)
Shakhtar U21 - Shakhtar (Kazakhstan) – 2-1 (Kaschuk, Kulakov)
Shakhtar U21 - Kyzyl Kum (Uzbekistan) – 1-0 (Kulakov)
Shakhtar U21 - Arda (Bulgaria) – 3-5 (Kryskiv, Kaschuk, Kuzmenko)
Shakhtar U21 have returned to Ukraine and will spend the final phase of preparation for the first competitive game in Schaslyve. On February 24, Shakhtar U21 will take on their Oleksandriia counterparts in the U21 League round 19.
- We fulfilled everything we'd planned. Everyone tried to show their best, that’s why I’m satisfied with their attitude to work. Compared to the start of the season, everyone made major progress. We started the league season with a very young team, but the guys spent together the first round, improved their teamwork, and had some full-fledged training camp.
- Several players trained and played for the first team this winter, they received some positive reviews from Paulo Fonseca ...
- Right, that’s true. For example, Anatolii Trubin spent the whole training camp with the senior team, Valerii Bondar and Viktor Korniienko also joined them in Turkey and returned to Ukraine together with the main team. This is a good signal for young players, but it’s important not only to train but also to get some match practice in the first team or in the reserve team.
- On the winter training camps, your boys traditionally have many friendlies. Is this a significant aspect of preparation?
- Yes, of course. We’ve played ten friendlies, and all of them against adult opponents. In the encounters with them, the guys noticeably matured, got stronger, they felt the level of professional football. At times, they lacked consistency, but that’s due to serious workloads, with every player bearing them in his own way. Some significant progress of many players is noticeable, which is good news.
- What meetings could you mention in terms of performance quality?
- I can say that parts of all games were very good. We looked great in the friendly against the current Europa League participants FC Irtysh from Kazakhstan, I particularly liked the second half. I can also mention the encounter with Kosovo-based Flamurtari. At the same time, the problem that haunts us throughout the season has not gone away - we very often lose the ball in simple situations. This means that each player must raise their personal level. We’ve still got the room for growth.
Training camp game results
Shakhtar U21 – Ferronikeli (Kosovo) – 1-1 (Korniienko)
Shakhtar U21 - Irtysh (Kazakhstan) – 1-1 (Kaschuk)
Shakhtar U21 - Vorwarts (Austria) – 1-2 (Kulakov)
Shakhtar U21 - Prishtina (Kosovo) – 0-1
Shakhtar U21 - Flamurtari (Kosovo) – 2-0 (Mudryk, Topalov)
Shakhtar U21 - Pohang (South Korea) – 4-2 (Apanchuk, Vasylevych, Hlahola - 2)
Shakhtar U21 - Shakhtar (Kazakhstan) – 2-1 (Kaschuk, Kulakov)
Shakhtar U21 - Kyzyl Kum (Uzbekistan) – 1-0 (Kulakov)
Shakhtar U21 - Arda (Bulgaria) – 3-5 (Kryskiv, Kaschuk, Kuzmenko)
Shakhtar U21 have returned to Ukraine and will spend the final phase of preparation for the first competitive game in Schaslyve. On February 24, Shakhtar U21 will take on their Oleksandriia counterparts in the U21 League round 19.