I have every confidence in my players
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
|
At the pre-match press conference, Shakhtar manager Luis Castro shared his take on Wolfsburg, the team's European club cup season and also answered questions about the draw tendency and the squad
- What do you think is Wolfsburg's strongest attribute?
- We should regard the opponents as a team on the whole. They are strong offensively. I especially want to note this: when the opponents reach the last third of the field, they deliver the ball into the penalty area, with lots of players present in the finishing area. This might cause us certain issues. Any clubs that carry out some lightning attacks, try to quickly reach the opposing goal, make an all-out attack and deliver it in the penalty area, being able to cause us problems. We know the strengths of Wolfsburg, but we also tried to explore their weaknesses. It’s clear that any squad have some players who stand out, but we must view the opponents as a team in general. We were preparing in the best possible way and tomorrow we’ll try to show some quality football.
- The Wolfsburg coach said that Shakhtar will have an advantage, because the Ukrainian league ended not so long ago as the German one, and that they lack some game practice. On the other end of the spectrum, they played a friendly match against Leipzig at a fairly high level. Will the factor that the Miners have had a shorter period without any game practice be decisive?
- Nope. This is by no means an advantage for us. Let me remind you this: when we flew to Lisbon for the match against Benfica, the opponents’ league campaign was well underway, while we had a winter break - just training camps and friendly matches. Wolfsburg are a big team. We all know in what league the opponents play and what kind of football they might display tomorrow. I’m sure that there will indeed be a big battle on the field, the fight for reaching the quarter-finals. Therefore, in no case should you think and regard this as an advantage - there’s no such thing. The fact that Benfica finished the league campaign a few days earlier doesn’t mean anything. Both teams have enough game practice.
- Shakhtar developed an interesting tendency: Mircea Lucescu had five home games against German clubs at the helm of Shakhtar - all of them ended in draws, under Paulo Fonseca - just two out of two. How do you feel about this trend continuing tomorrow?
- We want to win and will try to do our best to achieve this very result. Of course, we are not hiding the fact that a draw will also bring us further, and this is our major goal. However, the team are determined only to win tomorrow. It can’t be otherwise at Shakhtar. We always set up our players only for a positive result, for a victory. It’s important to show some quality football. The main goal is to make it further. If we get to the quarter-finals displaying quality performance, but the match ends in a draw, it's okay. The main thing is to advance to the next round. Regardless of the outcome of tomorrow's clash.
- The only serious personnel issue for Shakhtar has been losing Ismaily. You provided Matviienko, Cipriano and Bolbat with the opportunity of trying that role. Thus, one might say, you complicated Wolfsburg’s preparation, because it’s much more difficult for the Germans to predict the one to have that role. Can you show your cards already? And how is Ismaily's recovery going?
- Right, Ismaily has a quite severe injury, so we are not counting on him now. We just wish him a speedy recovery and quick return. Tomorrow, this position will be occupied by a player who, in my opinion, will make the team play more consistent. That player knows how to properly adapt to the team dynamics and bring in something of his own, to benefit the team at different times. I can only say that we feel very comfortable in every playing aspect. I have every confidence in my players. The team dominate everything related to playing offensively, defending, transitions, different dynamics, formations. I’m confident that our team will be very successful. Well, it’s not always possible to achieve great success as we all would like, but this doesn’t happen to everyone. However, I can say for sure that I fully trust and count on my every player. I think that tomorrow we’ll have quite an interesting lineup, as well as the game.
- A lot of time has passed since the end of the Ukrainian league season. How satisfied are you with the team’s current form? What do you make of the past friendly matches? What’s the players’ run of form?
- This whole year has been very atypical. During the season, we held three training camps, including a recent mini-training camp that lasted two and a half weeks. We had to somehow adapt so that now, when we are to play in the Europa League again, we could feel our top form. That is, we often had to react to what was happening instead of planning what we wanted. The team are doing very well, everyone is in excellent form. Even the GPS readings that we collect after each training day are better now than those we had when the Championship resumed after a long break. We are confident in our work and I suppose that we prepared the team very well. Technical and tactical components? The guys also prove themselves at a fairly high level in this regard. Mentally? Sure. Even after such a difficult moment, which, in principle, was experienced by the whole world, the guys managed to return to work and to completely immerse themselves in it. Yes, we know about every difficulty we are facing ahead, but everyone feels really confident. Not because there’s an easy match ahead or because we’ve got some advantage - no. We know perfectly well that we are opposed by very strong, qualified opponents who will cause us certain difficulties on the field. It's just that if we talk about every condition of our team, they are at a fairly high level.
- This is your first season at Shakhtar, and the team may well advance to the quarter-finals now. What do you make of the way you’ve already covered in European competitions? Maybe you’ll mention your best successful games?
- This season is memorable. There were many positive and many negative things. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about our European campaign is the most recent Champions League game in Kharkiv. And this is a very negative, really negative memory. In the closing match, we were so close to making it to the Champions League Round of 16, but, unfortunately, we failed. However, this made us view ourselves as onlookers and understand what exactly we were missing. It seems like a paradox, a contradiction, but if we recall what kind of performance we delivered against Atalanta in Milan ... It was a great battle and victory. In Zagreb we tied. At Etihad against City we also drew. These are very strong clubs, nevertheless we had the opportunity to show ourselves in the best possible way, not to hide away from play, but to approach our opponents with all our courage. There was a big fight. Unfortunately, we missed the Round of 16 just by a whisker. This is a huge challenge for us. As well as the fact that we moved to the Europa League. I can remember that in Zagreb we were losing 1-3, but in the 90’+7 we managed to level the score. Just memorable moments, and there were many of them that season. We have come a great, interesting way. We wanted to be in the Champions League. If it happened that we are now in the Europa League, we should try to do our best here. The second half against Benfica at the Estadio da Luz was just great! And I can’t hide the fact that I also well remember the match against Wolfsburg. Despite the fact that there was no one present at the stadium, just no audience, we managed to deliver some very and very high-quality performance. I can't say that our European path this season is perfect, but it makes us rejoice.
- You said that there was no one present at the stadium in Wolfsburg, but at the same time the absence of spectators deprived your opponents of support.
- When there is no audience at the stadiums, it is generally a loss for football. Why do we play for in the first place, or rather, for whom? For the fans. We produce a kind of show, a spectacle that people watch either in the stadium or on TV. I think that even watching a video you can feel the atmosphere reigning in the stadium in front of the crowded stands. Currently, the matches are held in very cold, frozen way, amid of silence. Of course, the players have their own emotions in the match, so they try to abstract themselves from everything around them and psych up only for the play. However, something is always missing anyway. We understand that the world is going through a force majeure situation. Unfortunately, this affected every activity area, not just football. Hopefully this will end as soon as possible, fans will be able to return to the stadiums, crowd them and support the teams. So far, football just gets worse due to this. I have said more than once, and now I’m going to repeat it again: it's like actors in a theatre. Does it make any sense to perform on stage when the room is empty? Who will you play for if no one just looks at you? It gets absolutely boring. We understand that this is a sad thing, so we want the fans to be present at the stadiums. As I said, this European season has seen different results: victories, draws and defeats, nevertheless, everything happened in front of the fans. We want audiences to return as soon as possible and us to play the normal football everyone’s used to. Our profession now requires us to continue doing the things we were doing, but something is always missing. Everything might be better. When the fans return, it will be good for football in general.
- We should regard the opponents as a team on the whole. They are strong offensively. I especially want to note this: when the opponents reach the last third of the field, they deliver the ball into the penalty area, with lots of players present in the finishing area. This might cause us certain issues. Any clubs that carry out some lightning attacks, try to quickly reach the opposing goal, make an all-out attack and deliver it in the penalty area, being able to cause us problems. We know the strengths of Wolfsburg, but we also tried to explore their weaknesses. It’s clear that any squad have some players who stand out, but we must view the opponents as a team in general. We were preparing in the best possible way and tomorrow we’ll try to show some quality football.
- The Wolfsburg coach said that Shakhtar will have an advantage, because the Ukrainian league ended not so long ago as the German one, and that they lack some game practice. On the other end of the spectrum, they played a friendly match against Leipzig at a fairly high level. Will the factor that the Miners have had a shorter period without any game practice be decisive?
- Nope. This is by no means an advantage for us. Let me remind you this: when we flew to Lisbon for the match against Benfica, the opponents’ league campaign was well underway, while we had a winter break - just training camps and friendly matches. Wolfsburg are a big team. We all know in what league the opponents play and what kind of football they might display tomorrow. I’m sure that there will indeed be a big battle on the field, the fight for reaching the quarter-finals. Therefore, in no case should you think and regard this as an advantage - there’s no such thing. The fact that Benfica finished the league campaign a few days earlier doesn’t mean anything. Both teams have enough game practice.
- Shakhtar developed an interesting tendency: Mircea Lucescu had five home games against German clubs at the helm of Shakhtar - all of them ended in draws, under Paulo Fonseca - just two out of two. How do you feel about this trend continuing tomorrow?
- We want to win and will try to do our best to achieve this very result. Of course, we are not hiding the fact that a draw will also bring us further, and this is our major goal. However, the team are determined only to win tomorrow. It can’t be otherwise at Shakhtar. We always set up our players only for a positive result, for a victory. It’s important to show some quality football. The main goal is to make it further. If we get to the quarter-finals displaying quality performance, but the match ends in a draw, it's okay. The main thing is to advance to the next round. Regardless of the outcome of tomorrow's clash.
- The only serious personnel issue for Shakhtar has been losing Ismaily. You provided Matviienko, Cipriano and Bolbat with the opportunity of trying that role. Thus, one might say, you complicated Wolfsburg’s preparation, because it’s much more difficult for the Germans to predict the one to have that role. Can you show your cards already? And how is Ismaily's recovery going?
- Right, Ismaily has a quite severe injury, so we are not counting on him now. We just wish him a speedy recovery and quick return. Tomorrow, this position will be occupied by a player who, in my opinion, will make the team play more consistent. That player knows how to properly adapt to the team dynamics and bring in something of his own, to benefit the team at different times. I can only say that we feel very comfortable in every playing aspect. I have every confidence in my players. The team dominate everything related to playing offensively, defending, transitions, different dynamics, formations. I’m confident that our team will be very successful. Well, it’s not always possible to achieve great success as we all would like, but this doesn’t happen to everyone. However, I can say for sure that I fully trust and count on my every player. I think that tomorrow we’ll have quite an interesting lineup, as well as the game.
- A lot of time has passed since the end of the Ukrainian league season. How satisfied are you with the team’s current form? What do you make of the past friendly matches? What’s the players’ run of form?
- This whole year has been very atypical. During the season, we held three training camps, including a recent mini-training camp that lasted two and a half weeks. We had to somehow adapt so that now, when we are to play in the Europa League again, we could feel our top form. That is, we often had to react to what was happening instead of planning what we wanted. The team are doing very well, everyone is in excellent form. Even the GPS readings that we collect after each training day are better now than those we had when the Championship resumed after a long break. We are confident in our work and I suppose that we prepared the team very well. Technical and tactical components? The guys also prove themselves at a fairly high level in this regard. Mentally? Sure. Even after such a difficult moment, which, in principle, was experienced by the whole world, the guys managed to return to work and to completely immerse themselves in it. Yes, we know about every difficulty we are facing ahead, but everyone feels really confident. Not because there’s an easy match ahead or because we’ve got some advantage - no. We know perfectly well that we are opposed by very strong, qualified opponents who will cause us certain difficulties on the field. It's just that if we talk about every condition of our team, they are at a fairly high level.
- This is your first season at Shakhtar, and the team may well advance to the quarter-finals now. What do you make of the way you’ve already covered in European competitions? Maybe you’ll mention your best successful games?
- This season is memorable. There were many positive and many negative things. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about our European campaign is the most recent Champions League game in Kharkiv. And this is a very negative, really negative memory. In the closing match, we were so close to making it to the Champions League Round of 16, but, unfortunately, we failed. However, this made us view ourselves as onlookers and understand what exactly we were missing. It seems like a paradox, a contradiction, but if we recall what kind of performance we delivered against Atalanta in Milan ... It was a great battle and victory. In Zagreb we tied. At Etihad against City we also drew. These are very strong clubs, nevertheless we had the opportunity to show ourselves in the best possible way, not to hide away from play, but to approach our opponents with all our courage. There was a big fight. Unfortunately, we missed the Round of 16 just by a whisker. This is a huge challenge for us. As well as the fact that we moved to the Europa League. I can remember that in Zagreb we were losing 1-3, but in the 90’+7 we managed to level the score. Just memorable moments, and there were many of them that season. We have come a great, interesting way. We wanted to be in the Champions League. If it happened that we are now in the Europa League, we should try to do our best here. The second half against Benfica at the Estadio da Luz was just great! And I can’t hide the fact that I also well remember the match against Wolfsburg. Despite the fact that there was no one present at the stadium, just no audience, we managed to deliver some very and very high-quality performance. I can't say that our European path this season is perfect, but it makes us rejoice.
- You said that there was no one present at the stadium in Wolfsburg, but at the same time the absence of spectators deprived your opponents of support.
- When there is no audience at the stadiums, it is generally a loss for football. Why do we play for in the first place, or rather, for whom? For the fans. We produce a kind of show, a spectacle that people watch either in the stadium or on TV. I think that even watching a video you can feel the atmosphere reigning in the stadium in front of the crowded stands. Currently, the matches are held in very cold, frozen way, amid of silence. Of course, the players have their own emotions in the match, so they try to abstract themselves from everything around them and psych up only for the play. However, something is always missing anyway. We understand that the world is going through a force majeure situation. Unfortunately, this affected every activity area, not just football. Hopefully this will end as soon as possible, fans will be able to return to the stadiums, crowd them and support the teams. So far, football just gets worse due to this. I have said more than once, and now I’m going to repeat it again: it's like actors in a theatre. Does it make any sense to perform on stage when the room is empty? Who will you play for if no one just looks at you? It gets absolutely boring. We understand that this is a sad thing, so we want the fans to be present at the stadiums. As I said, this European season has seen different results: victories, draws and defeats, nevertheless, everything happened in front of the fans. We want audiences to return as soon as possible and us to play the normal football everyone’s used to. Our profession now requires us to continue doing the things we were doing, but something is always missing. Everything might be better. When the fans return, it will be good for football in general.
Start Slideshow
