I’m happy with everyone’s play
Saturday, July 4, 2020
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Shakhtar manager Luis Castro reflects on the fourth league victory over Dynamo, Bolbat's play down the left flank and Vitao's debut
- Luis, how would you comment on the debutants’ peformance? What did you tell Trubin after the match?
- It’s very important for us that the young players of Shakhtar appear in such matches. The games against Dynamo are tough, and that’s a good experience for the guys. They are the future of the club, we must prepare them, and I’m happy with their performance.
- In your very first season with Shakhtar, you claimed four wins in four games vs Dynamo. How important is that to you in this grudge match?
- The games against Dynamo are always really important, that’s the Clasico anyway. Both our opponents and we are motivated for such encounters. First of all, the interests of Shakhtar and my players are important to me, not my personal ones. We have always been very motivated in all matches of the Premier League and other competitions. But, of course, the league meetings with the likes of Dynamo is always something special. All four victories were very difficult, because they are strong opponents. Fortunately, we managed to achieve the best result in our Championship matches. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out in the Ukrainian Cup. But we fulfilled the major goal, and this happened thanks to the excellent performance of our players in every league game, including the four meetings with Dynamo.
- After the break, Shakhtar allowed Dynamo to make more deliveries. Why?
- We knew that after changing positions (Verbic moved to the centre of attack) the opponents would make more deliveries and have more players in our box. At that moment, Dynamo were losing 0-2. It’s normal that they made such changes. Based on the developments, we lowered Stepanenko to the central defenders, while Marcos Antonio and Alan Patrick controlled the entrance to the penalty area. We did this, but, unfortunately, we failed to control everything. Just as we failed to prevent deliveries and neutralize the players in our penalty area. This also happened because the opponents operated very well at that moment, while we weren’t that effective.
- Bolbat played well at left-back. Will you continue to field him as part of the pairing with Dodo?
- Bolbat can play both on the right and on the left. This is a good alternative, he’s a great player. Yes, we will deploy him in the same way as we use Dodo, Cipriano and Vakula. These guys can operate at both defensive ends. We will field them depending on the team benefit.
- What do you make of Vitao's debut?
- That’s another young player whom we prepared for the matches. I always say that I field footballers only when I feel that they are fully ready to get their match time. Today it happened to Vitao. We decided that he was ready to appear in this game. We are delighted with his play, just like with everyone else’s. Congratulations to the team on their victory!
- It’s very important for us that the young players of Shakhtar appear in such matches. The games against Dynamo are tough, and that’s a good experience for the guys. They are the future of the club, we must prepare them, and I’m happy with their performance.
- In your very first season with Shakhtar, you claimed four wins in four games vs Dynamo. How important is that to you in this grudge match?
- The games against Dynamo are always really important, that’s the Clasico anyway. Both our opponents and we are motivated for such encounters. First of all, the interests of Shakhtar and my players are important to me, not my personal ones. We have always been very motivated in all matches of the Premier League and other competitions. But, of course, the league meetings with the likes of Dynamo is always something special. All four victories were very difficult, because they are strong opponents. Fortunately, we managed to achieve the best result in our Championship matches. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out in the Ukrainian Cup. But we fulfilled the major goal, and this happened thanks to the excellent performance of our players in every league game, including the four meetings with Dynamo.
- After the break, Shakhtar allowed Dynamo to make more deliveries. Why?
- We knew that after changing positions (Verbic moved to the centre of attack) the opponents would make more deliveries and have more players in our box. At that moment, Dynamo were losing 0-2. It’s normal that they made such changes. Based on the developments, we lowered Stepanenko to the central defenders, while Marcos Antonio and Alan Patrick controlled the entrance to the penalty area. We did this, but, unfortunately, we failed to control everything. Just as we failed to prevent deliveries and neutralize the players in our penalty area. This also happened because the opponents operated very well at that moment, while we weren’t that effective.
- Bolbat played well at left-back. Will you continue to field him as part of the pairing with Dodo?
- Bolbat can play both on the right and on the left. This is a good alternative, he’s a great player. Yes, we will deploy him in the same way as we use Dodo, Cipriano and Vakula. These guys can operate at both defensive ends. We will field them depending on the team benefit.
- What do you make of Vitao's debut?
- That’s another young player whom we prepared for the matches. I always say that I field footballers only when I feel that they are fully ready to get their match time. Today it happened to Vitao. We decided that he was ready to appear in this game. We are delighted with his play, just like with everyone else’s. Congratulations to the team on their victory!