Incredible impressions

- Just yesterday you returned from the Ukraine national team and joined the roster, and today you’ve joined the starting lineup. Did you feel tired? Have you already understood Roberto De Zerbi's ideas?

- We didn’t play much, but stayed with the national team for two months, so the fatigue, I think, was more of a mental nature. The coach asked me if I was ready, I replied that I wanted to, I was eager to play. The formation is similar to the one of the national team because they are also Italians, making transitions from defence to attack ... I partially learnt that and was prepared in a way. But still, we had a short theory session yesterday - I learned many new things. Very interesting. I spent only a day at the training camp, but this one match alone gave me some incredible impressions. I would like to develop in the first place. The coach is very interesting: I want to get the maximum from him. Everything is done through passing, through ball control, transitions from defence to attack, build-up play - I really like it.

- Did you have a personal conversation with Roberto De Zerbi? What did you talk about?

- Yes, we talked last night. He asked me about the way I felt and my availability. I replied that I wanted to play and train. We talked about tactics. The coach asked me where I can play and showed me where I should play and how I should move into space. We had a tactical session this morning. Of course, it’s difficult to understand everything in one day because there is a lot of information and you need to ingest it gradually. But even based on this game, I guess, the fans can already see the difference. Yesterday I watched the first half against Rakow and smiled almost all the time because I liked the way the guys were acting and our play structure in general.

- Will the fans see Shakhtar’s completely new football this new season?

- Well ... Shakhtar have always played positional football, probably for twenty years now. But this very tactic, I suppose, will be new for all fans. The new way of switching from defence, the new kind of build-up play. That’s something new for Ukrainian football in general. At least I haven’t personally seen anything like that in modern football. It's very interesting how everything will happen and how our performance will improve. I’m even more than sure that everything will be fine by the season start.

- In the first half, there were lots of movements in midfield, possession, but it seemed that there were just few passes into the opposing box. Is it right? Was this the coach's plan?