We’ll be ready
Saturday, November 7, 2020
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In an interview to Shakhtar News, Shakhtar manager Luis Castro told about the team having analysed the game against Gladbach and how they are preparing for the Ukrainian league game vs Dynamo
- Mister, the match against Dynamo is ahead. Do you consider it as one of the most important games in the autumn part of the season?
- Of course I do. In the league table, we are not actually in the spot we’d like to sit. We fought a lot to rise to the top, but, unfortunately, many things have happened, and we’re not in the top spot now. That’s due to the fact that we switched from last season to the present one in just three days, plus the coronavirus has affected our team and the way some of our players are recovering from it, experiencing certain restrictions ... Maybe that's why we haven’t performed so well in the Championship until now. We want to improve, but since we are not in the top position at the moment, we will approach the match very energetically, knowing how important it is for us. Nothing will be decided yet in this encounter, but we understand its significance. In this meeting we want to be really strong. We know very well that the strong Dynamo will oppose us. But Dynamo also know perfectly well that they will face great Shakhtar.
- After suffering a major Europa League semifinal defeat at the hands of Inter, you said several times that the players experienced some mental issues. How to prevent a similar situation this time?
- We can’t escape the psychological pressure, and no one else can. Very often we think that the most important is our physical form, technical or tactical sides. But we forget that the most important thing is our head. I’ve already spoken about this many times, but when we try to find an explanation for the things happening ... Just yesterday, Milan very unexpectedly suffered a 0-3 home defeat. Why is this happening? There’s no explanation. The mental side is under huge pressure now. We sometimes think that only our body needs some rest, but that’s not true – our head needs it too. I want to repeat that we didn’t rest after last season, plus the coronavirus, we’ve self-isolated at home for several months. All this led to the imbalance in the world and in our heads. But we are professionals, and our profession requires us to meet high standards. And we must help each other. Presently, there is no team in the world whose way is not bumpy. Some are a little more consistent, some others are less, but there’s no complete stability these days. We try finding some people who feel stable in this world, but there’re none. Why? Because we are human beings, we make mistakes, we have the right to err. Due to the tremendous pressure present in the world nowadays, this is happening. Is someone resting now? No one. And we also can’t rest. Of course, it’s really difficult to raise the mental component to a decent level. How are we feeling after encountering Gladbach? Not well. We were humiliated, we felt disgraced, knowing that we didn’t play up to the mark. But that's over now, the game vs Gladbach is over for me now. I’ve already discussed with the players everything that needed to be discussed about this clash. We’ve analyzed and discussed everything, that’s history now as, by the way, all the good things that we did earlier. That’s of no interest to us. We are interested in the present, and the present is our match against Dynamo.
- What can you say about the personnel? In what form are the team approaching the encounter with Dynamo?
- We’ve got some players who will not be able to play. Not everyone’s ready.
- Recently, Shakhtar experienced some personnel issues in the squad due to the coronavirus, now Dynamo have a similar situation, with many sick players there. How can this affect this Sunday’s duel?
- Those who watched the Barcelona vs Dynamo match as attentively as we did - they understands that there are no problems in the Dynamo team. Maybe just some minor issues, but there are no big problems. Instead, they’ve got great attacking and defensive dynamics and a well-developed strategy. We know perfectly well what awaits us. Let's not deceive ourselves. We are facing a tricky context on Sunday, but we'll be ready.
- Are you expecting attacking football or will it still be a tactical battle?
- I think it's gonna be a tactical clash.
Watch exclusive comments of the players and coaches in the news videos on Shakhtar Club and on Shakhtar TV. The Shakhtar News bulletin is aired at 19:36 on weekdays. The club channel is also available on the VOLIA network, satellite Xtra TV, as well as on the platforms of MEGOGO, OLL.TV, Sweet.tv and Divan.TV.