Quick goals after the break were a relief for the team
Tuesday, September 26, 2023
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Press conference of head coach of Shakhtar Patrick van Leeuwen after the cup match against Veres (3-0)
– It seemed that in the first half your team played rather slowly, not many opportunities were created. What did you tell your players at half-time for them to pick up the pace and play faster?
– That was exactly what we said. We did not like the pace in the first half. I think that we should have started at a higher pace to make it difficult for Veres. We corrected it at half-time and showed the players some situations that they had to improve. They played at a higher pace, they were running into the space more often, and that is why we scored the goals.
– What is Marian Shved's condition after recovery and how satisfied are you with his actions?
– I am happy that he played. That was an intention today to give Marian practice, if we get that opportunity, because he needs to get used to the game again after a long absence due to injury. This is the most important thing. Now we have to continue working with him to bring him to the physical condition that he was in before.
– If we compare the halves, in the second half you had much more opportunities, but not all of them were converted. How do you explain that?
– As I have said already, the pace of the game in the first half was too low, but I still think that thanks to Dmytro Kryskiv we got some chances with shots from the penalty area. But again, we were not fast enough to surprise Veres. And in the second half, we played at a higher pace, we had Artem Bondarenko, who started to play well and not only provided an assist, but also scored a beautiful second goal himself. Quick goals were a relief for the team. For us it was an opportunity to make some substitutions and give minutes to Marian Shved and Oleh Ocheretko, who also scored a good goal and made efforts to bring the energy into the game.
– Shakhtar got no red cards today. Are you working on it?
– We will open the champagne on this occasion. We are not working on it because I think you have all seen the moments and you know there is a big discussion about whether there was a red card. So, I think that is enough said. The players always show discipline on the field, and I have not seen any rough behaviour by Shakhtar players that would deserve a treatment like this.
– Maybe there was no send-off because Shakhtar were not charged-up enough to fight today? Don't you think so?
– This is a strange question. I think that in the case of the last red card we got, we played fair and technically it was a good tackle, it was absolutely not a red card. We always give 100 percent, we play the way we need to and we want to do it technically – depending on what the game needs, for example, in duels with the opponent. So, I do not think there is ever an intention to play roughly. We would like to play fast and aggressively in our defence, but it does not have to lead to red cards. It is never the case.
– That was exactly what we said. We did not like the pace in the first half. I think that we should have started at a higher pace to make it difficult for Veres. We corrected it at half-time and showed the players some situations that they had to improve. They played at a higher pace, they were running into the space more often, and that is why we scored the goals.
– What is Marian Shved's condition after recovery and how satisfied are you with his actions?
– I am happy that he played. That was an intention today to give Marian practice, if we get that opportunity, because he needs to get used to the game again after a long absence due to injury. This is the most important thing. Now we have to continue working with him to bring him to the physical condition that he was in before.
– If we compare the halves, in the second half you had much more opportunities, but not all of them were converted. How do you explain that?
– As I have said already, the pace of the game in the first half was too low, but I still think that thanks to Dmytro Kryskiv we got some chances with shots from the penalty area. But again, we were not fast enough to surprise Veres. And in the second half, we played at a higher pace, we had Artem Bondarenko, who started to play well and not only provided an assist, but also scored a beautiful second goal himself. Quick goals were a relief for the team. For us it was an opportunity to make some substitutions and give minutes to Marian Shved and Oleh Ocheretko, who also scored a good goal and made efforts to bring the energy into the game.
– Shakhtar got no red cards today. Are you working on it?
– We will open the champagne on this occasion. We are not working on it because I think you have all seen the moments and you know there is a big discussion about whether there was a red card. So, I think that is enough said. The players always show discipline on the field, and I have not seen any rough behaviour by Shakhtar players that would deserve a treatment like this.
– Maybe there was no send-off because Shakhtar were not charged-up enough to fight today? Don't you think so?
– This is a strange question. I think that in the case of the last red card we got, we played fair and technically it was a good tackle, it was absolutely not a red card. We always give 100 percent, we play the way we need to and we want to do it technically – depending on what the game needs, for example, in duels with the opponent. So, I do not think there is ever an intention to play roughly. We would like to play fast and aggressively in our defence, but it does not have to lead to red cards. It is never the case.