A really tight calendar
Friday, December 4, 2020
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Shakhtar head coach Luis Castro told Shakhtar News about the team's preparation for the game vs Minaj
- Mister, you have repeatedly said that the main problem is mental state. How to psych the players up after the victory over Real for the match against Minaj, the opponents sitting in the bottom part of the table?
- The mental component is not a football or team problem, but the world’s problem. You know perfectly well what we are going through at the moment. The instability is great. How do footballers get motivated? We are professionals and want to win all the time. Whoever wants to always win will definitely be motivated to do so. But sometimes the conditions are so bad that it gets difficult. However, everyone knows our priority of becoming the champions of Ukraine. That's why every league match is like a final game for us - that's how we approach every encounter, including our Saturday's match against Minaj. We want to win, as usual, respecting the opponents. We don't check whether they are a second tier side or if they were champions a few years ago – it doesn’t matter as we always have respect for them. We take our business seriously. People might blame us for not being prepared well enough mentally or physically, for being tired, for anything else, but there’s one thing that cannot be questioned - it’s the sincerity in our work. We always give our all to football, being very well set up for it. Sometimes, as in anyone else’s case, it doesn't work out in the best way, but that's our life, we're all human. We want to win and we are ready for it.
- Do you believe that the victory over Real Madrid will give confidence to the team and charge them with extra energy for the next three games?
- I believe that we must always have a great will to win. I believe that when we have more players and when we can work together for longer, everything improves. I consider the next matches from this perspective. Specifically, at the moment I'm considering just one upcoming match against Minaj because I always move step by step. I think that there will really be some good energy on the field. At the same time, we will be opposed by an energetic team. We are facing an interesting match, and we will try our best to win it.
- Could you briefly describe Minaj? And what is the personnel situation at Shakhtar?
- You know very well that most often teams cause us many difficulties by parking the bus and making quick transitions from defence to counterattack. I think that's what will happen. In the league, we are used to that kind of rivals. As for the personnel: Moraes, Korniienko, Ismaily and Konoplyanka are injured. Viunnyk has joined the team just recently. Plus Kryvtsov, Khocholava, Taison … There are always difficulties with forming the lineup. In any case, unfortunately, we’ve got used to them. And everyone who prepares for the game works with a great desire of performing well! We mustn’t forget that we had a match just two days ago. We’ve got a really tight calendar, but we will do well, I think.
- The mental component is not a football or team problem, but the world’s problem. You know perfectly well what we are going through at the moment. The instability is great. How do footballers get motivated? We are professionals and want to win all the time. Whoever wants to always win will definitely be motivated to do so. But sometimes the conditions are so bad that it gets difficult. However, everyone knows our priority of becoming the champions of Ukraine. That's why every league match is like a final game for us - that's how we approach every encounter, including our Saturday's match against Minaj. We want to win, as usual, respecting the opponents. We don't check whether they are a second tier side or if they were champions a few years ago – it doesn’t matter as we always have respect for them. We take our business seriously. People might blame us for not being prepared well enough mentally or physically, for being tired, for anything else, but there’s one thing that cannot be questioned - it’s the sincerity in our work. We always give our all to football, being very well set up for it. Sometimes, as in anyone else’s case, it doesn't work out in the best way, but that's our life, we're all human. We want to win and we are ready for it.
- Do you believe that the victory over Real Madrid will give confidence to the team and charge them with extra energy for the next three games?
- I believe that we must always have a great will to win. I believe that when we have more players and when we can work together for longer, everything improves. I consider the next matches from this perspective. Specifically, at the moment I'm considering just one upcoming match against Minaj because I always move step by step. I think that there will really be some good energy on the field. At the same time, we will be opposed by an energetic team. We are facing an interesting match, and we will try our best to win it.
- Could you briefly describe Minaj? And what is the personnel situation at Shakhtar?
- You know very well that most often teams cause us many difficulties by parking the bus and making quick transitions from defence to counterattack. I think that's what will happen. In the league, we are used to that kind of rivals. As for the personnel: Moraes, Korniienko, Ismaily and Konoplyanka are injured. Viunnyk has joined the team just recently. Plus Kryvtsov, Khocholava, Taison … There are always difficulties with forming the lineup. In any case, unfortunately, we’ve got used to them. And everyone who prepares for the game works with a great desire of performing well! We mustn’t forget that we had a match just two days ago. We’ve got a really tight calendar, but we will do well, I think.