We’ve got 26 players, not just 11
Friday, October 18, 2019
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Shakhtar manager Luis Castro reflects on the crushing victory over Kolos, the squad, and the upcoming Champions League game
- We got off to the best possible start and scored early. Then some slight inconsistency followed, but that was happening just until the second goal. After that, we played consistently and achieved a big score thanks to a great job of absolutely the whole team.
- Do such results before crucial Champions League games inspire you or lull your vigilance?
- There is one decisive thing – that’s conscience. The league is in no way connected with the Champions League. We focus on every match as if it’s the most important one in our lives. At the moment, this was the league game, now it’s gonna be the Champions League one. We always have the responsibility, therefore we won’t rejoice and relax too much at all. And we won’t get upset if the results are not that big either. Today, we’ve held the game to the league standards. On Tuesday, we’ll need to perform to the Champions League standards. We take each game very seriously. In football, everything that happened yesterday does not interest anyone any longer, so we won’t think about today's meeting. This match is over and done with. It’s important what comes ahead, and not what has already happened.
- For what reason did Stepanenko and Ismaily not take part in the match?
- Today, Bolbat, Stepanenko, Kryvtsov, Ismaily, Marlos haven’t played ... We decided that we needed to field some other guys, taking into account their daily dedication and effort. Life is based around merits. We, as team leaders, must be attentive to the work of every player. Whenever possible, everyone gets some match time. Still, we’ve got 26 players, not just 11 or 13. During the season, we prove that. The guys take the field and add quality to our play. Thanks to everyone’s great desire to play to high standards and to benefit Shakhtar, we will be getting stronger.
- Do such results before crucial Champions League games inspire you or lull your vigilance?
- There is one decisive thing – that’s conscience. The league is in no way connected with the Champions League. We focus on every match as if it’s the most important one in our lives. At the moment, this was the league game, now it’s gonna be the Champions League one. We always have the responsibility, therefore we won’t rejoice and relax too much at all. And we won’t get upset if the results are not that big either. Today, we’ve held the game to the league standards. On Tuesday, we’ll need to perform to the Champions League standards. We take each game very seriously. In football, everything that happened yesterday does not interest anyone any longer, so we won’t think about today's meeting. This match is over and done with. It’s important what comes ahead, and not what has already happened.
- For what reason did Stepanenko and Ismaily not take part in the match?
- Today, Bolbat, Stepanenko, Kryvtsov, Ismaily, Marlos haven’t played ... We decided that we needed to field some other guys, taking into account their daily dedication and effort. Life is based around merits. We, as team leaders, must be attentive to the work of every player. Whenever possible, everyone gets some match time. Still, we’ve got 26 players, not just 11 or 13. During the season, we prove that. The guys take the field and add quality to our play. Thanks to everyone’s great desire to play to high standards and to benefit Shakhtar, we will be getting stronger.