Our goal is to get maximum result and titles
Saturday, July 15, 2023
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Assistant head coach of Shakhtar Oleksandr Chyzhov talked about his return to the club, his role in the coaching staff and expectations for the season
– Oleksandr, you returned to Shakhtar, but now as a coach. How do you feel as a person who played for the team?
– Yes, I signed a contract with Shakhtar in 2008 and spent 5 years in the club. These were very bright 5 years during which we won the UEFA Cup, won the Ukrainian League, the Ukrainian Cup and the Ukrainian Super Cup. I was a player then, and now I am an assistant head coach. There are a lot of things to work on. Our goal is to get the maximum result in every tournament which Shakhtar Donetsk participate in.
– What emotions did you feel when you were invited to join Shakhtar?
– I had positive emotions, because I knew where I was going – they are the national champions, a top team. Therefore, the emotions were fantastic, and I accepted this invitation with pleasure.
– What will your duties include?
– I am more responsible for working with defenders – this is my direct duty. I also perform all other tasks of the head coach.
– What are your personal goals and ambitions as a coach?
– Every coach seeks to get maximum positive results and to win titles.
– How long have you known Patrick van Leeuwen and how did your joint work begin?
– I have known Patrick for a long time, because when I was at Shakhtar as a player, he was the Academy director. Then we crossed paths in Kazakhstan – I played there, and he was the sports director of Kairat. And when he accepted Zorya's invitation, he called me, and we worked with him for a year in Luhansk team – he was the head coach, and I held the position of assistant head coach.
– Recently, Andrii Piatov joined the coaching staff. You had a very warm meeting with him. What did you talk about?
– I have known Andrii for a long time – we went to school together, we also played for Vorskla, where we started our professional football career, then we played for Shakhtar. And now we have become colleagues.
– You have gone through this path of transition from player to coach too. Did you give any advice to Piatov?
– In this case advice is not as important as personal experience. Every week you start to work better, because when you just switched from player's career to coaching, there is much you do not understand yet. Being a coach and being a player are completely different things, not at all similar. Yes, it is a difficult transition, but I think that everything will work out for Andrii. He was a top player, and he is a great person. I believe that he will do well as a coach.
– What is the most difficult thing about coaching?
– That is a good question. If the player came on, practised and went to rest, then the coach should think about what kind of training to give him, when and why, take into account how each player feels. All this is actually very complicated.
– Tell us how the training camp is going and what is the current physical condition of the team?
– You see, we have a lot of young players from U19 team now, because some members of the first team arrived earlier, some later. Today's training session is probably the first one when the guys got together. So, there is a certain imbalance in the physical form of the players. But I believe that they will reach the level of readiness that we want to see in a week and a half.
– What are your staff's main requirements for the players?
– They include maximum focus and doing everything that the head coach says. We have our own philosophy of football, which you could see in Zorya, and we want to convey this philosophy to the players. Our philosophy is high pressing, so that the team play more in front and do it as aggressively as possible. Therefore, the boys should be physically well prepared for this work. The work is very hard, not everyone likes it, but it will pay off.
– Yes, I signed a contract with Shakhtar in 2008 and spent 5 years in the club. These were very bright 5 years during which we won the UEFA Cup, won the Ukrainian League, the Ukrainian Cup and the Ukrainian Super Cup. I was a player then, and now I am an assistant head coach. There are a lot of things to work on. Our goal is to get the maximum result in every tournament which Shakhtar Donetsk participate in.
– What emotions did you feel when you were invited to join Shakhtar?
– I had positive emotions, because I knew where I was going – they are the national champions, a top team. Therefore, the emotions were fantastic, and I accepted this invitation with pleasure.
– What will your duties include?
– I am more responsible for working with defenders – this is my direct duty. I also perform all other tasks of the head coach.
– What are your personal goals and ambitions as a coach?
– Every coach seeks to get maximum positive results and to win titles.
– How long have you known Patrick van Leeuwen and how did your joint work begin?
– I have known Patrick for a long time, because when I was at Shakhtar as a player, he was the Academy director. Then we crossed paths in Kazakhstan – I played there, and he was the sports director of Kairat. And when he accepted Zorya's invitation, he called me, and we worked with him for a year in Luhansk team – he was the head coach, and I held the position of assistant head coach.
– Recently, Andrii Piatov joined the coaching staff. You had a very warm meeting with him. What did you talk about?
– I have known Andrii for a long time – we went to school together, we also played for Vorskla, where we started our professional football career, then we played for Shakhtar. And now we have become colleagues.
– You have gone through this path of transition from player to coach too. Did you give any advice to Piatov?
– In this case advice is not as important as personal experience. Every week you start to work better, because when you just switched from player's career to coaching, there is much you do not understand yet. Being a coach and being a player are completely different things, not at all similar. Yes, it is a difficult transition, but I think that everything will work out for Andrii. He was a top player, and he is a great person. I believe that he will do well as a coach.
– What is the most difficult thing about coaching?
– That is a good question. If the player came on, practised and went to rest, then the coach should think about what kind of training to give him, when and why, take into account how each player feels. All this is actually very complicated.
– Tell us how the training camp is going and what is the current physical condition of the team?
– You see, we have a lot of young players from U19 team now, because some members of the first team arrived earlier, some later. Today's training session is probably the first one when the guys got together. So, there is a certain imbalance in the physical form of the players. But I believe that they will reach the level of readiness that we want to see in a week and a half.
– What are your staff's main requirements for the players?
– They include maximum focus and doing everything that the head coach says. We have our own philosophy of football, which you could see in Zorya, and we want to convey this philosophy to the players. Our philosophy is high pressing, so that the team play more in front and do it as aggressively as possible. Therefore, the boys should be physically well prepared for this work. The work is very hard, not everyone likes it, but it will pay off.