The team is united, and everyone is working towards the same goal
Sunday, December 29, 2024
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Head coach of Shakhtar youth team Oleksii Bielik about the results of the first part of the season, the team’s progress and goals for the second stage
– Shakhtar U19 finished the first stage of the championship as the sole leaders, surpassed their nearest pursuer by 5 points, advanced to the UEFA Youth League Round of 32. Are you happy with the results?
– Yes, I am very happy! Basically, we did everything we planned, starting with the summer training camp and ending with the last game of the year. This is an intermediate result, and it is really great. I hope we can continue working in the same rhythm in the second part of the season. We reached the Round of 32 in the UEFA Youth League, and in the domestic league we played a draw in only one match where we were a little unlucky. I think this is a very good result.
– The autumn part of the season can be considered one of the most difficult periods for your team, because Shakhtar U19 had a busy fixture schedule and little time to recover due to long travels. How do such workloads affect young players and how do they manage to deal with it?
– It is clear that travelling and workloads affect a young body, but there are advantages: such circumstances form character, help to grow up faster, and footballers have better understanding of what they will have to face in senior football. As for how we deal with these challenges, the coaching staff is focused on building proper discipline and a positive atmosphere in the team. Our main task is to unite football players with the common goal of winning every match. When the team is united and everyone is working towards the same goal, it is much easier to overcome difficulties.
– This year UEFA Youth League started in a new format – did you like it? And what role does this tournament play in the development of players?
– I liked the new format, and not only because we reached the UEFA Youth League Round of 32. I like that it is hard to predict anything, now you must not only enter the field with the intention to win, but also think about the goal difference. It makes you play with more focus because every goal matters. With the previous format, the top teams already understood the tournament situation a few rounds before the end of the group stage, and now everything is much more complicated, there is no time for calculations – you need to give your best in every match. A good example is our last game against Bayern U19: we lost 0-2, and they beat us in the table with the same number of points. If the score had been 0-1, we would have stayed ahead. Such nuances make you act at your limits. The advantage of the new format is that teams play against six different opponents, which gives young footballers the opportunity to face opponents with different playing styles. This is an invaluable experience that helps to shorten the distance between youth and senior football to some extent thanks to UEFA Youth League.
– The leading players left Shakhtar U19 during the summer pre-season, younger ones took their place. Who has shown the most progress and who is currently the leader of the team?
– I do not want to single anyone out, not because there is no one to single out, on the contrary, in fact, someone took responsibility and was a leader in every game. There is a high turnover in Shakhtar U19: younger players constantly replace the more experienced ones. I am satisfied with all young footballers who joined Shakhtar U19, in my opinion, they have all made progress. However, we only played half of the championship, and I hope that, like last year when the leading players left the team, young players will be able to adequately replace them. My goal as a coach is to build a training process in such a way that every young footballer gets his chance, progresses and can adequately replace the player who will leave the team in the future.
– Who has the biggest potential to become the next leader in the near future?
– All Shakhtar U19 performers have the potential for this. It is necessary to understand that youth football is distinguished from senior football by the fact that there is not always stability. I want the players to progress as much as possible, but in youth football there are many factors that affect the development of each performer. Sometimes a boy shows significant progress, and at other time he does not, so I try to create conditions for players to show maximum progress. Obviously, every team has those who are unhappy with their playing time, and Shakhtar U19 is replenished with young performers replacing more experienced ones, so I constantly emphasise that football players must be patient and fight for their place in the squad. Actually, everything changes very quickly in youth football, and there comes a moment when a young footballer starts getting his chance and must become a leader. I do not think it is right to single out anyone, so I hope that the young players who joined our team in the summer will take responsibility during the second stage of the championship and will adequately replace the current leaders. It is no secret that we have performers for whom the next year is final, they are already close to senior football. Those are Yushchenko, Oharkov, Bashmarin, Drozd and Tsukanov, who is a little younger. They are leaders who are the backbone of the game and help the younger ones progress by taking responsibility. I repeat once again: the young players must be patient, give their best, and they will get their playing time.
– Which match of the first stage was exemplary in terms of the quality of the game and which, on the contrary, was a failure?
– In the domestic league, we won all matches except one. However, I will single out three meetings that took place after the confrontations in the UEFA Youth League – with Zorya U19 (3-2) after the game against Young Boys U19, with Dynamo U19 (1-0) after the game against Arsenal U19 and with Polissia U19 (1-0) after the match against Bayern U19. I singled them out because after the UEFA Youth League matches, where you give a lot of energy, emotions and resources, it is very difficult to switch to the Ukrainian League, but we managed to do it. We defeated Zorya U19 (6-1) which is a very tough opponent and which has young players of the Dynamo Kyiv Academy, which gives the opponents motivation in the game against us. We also beat Dynamo U19 (1-0) despite the fact that we did not demonstrate spectacular game, but we showed character, organisation and discipline, considering that we had a difficult match against Arsenal U19 (1-0) in the UEFA Youth League. In the end, we defeated Polissia U19 (1-0) after a long travel, bad weather conditions and artificial turf. We played a great game in Uzhhorod, and I am sure if the weather conditions and pitch had been better we would have won by three or four goals. As for the failed match, we lost to Atalanta U19 (0-3) and Bayern U19 (0-2). I cannot say that we failed in the match against Atalanta U19 because in the UEFA Youth League there are no opponents against whom you can play without making every effort. The European Cups have many factors that affect the result, and it is clear that the meeting with Atalanta U19 was unpleasant considering the result, but we tried to create chances and control the ball, even though the opponent was physically stronger. I cannot say that any match was a failure, but we probably showed weak football in the first half against Bayern U19, because after the break we made adjustments and we had opportunities to change the course of the match in the second half, but according to the results of the first half we did not deserve it, although we tried very hard.
– What goals do you set for the team in the second part of the season?
– As for the goals, it is difficult to give a definite answer. There are many factors for their formation that allow us to understand what to strive for. If we manage to keep the team that performed in the first part of the season, we will certainly aim to win the title in the domestic league and pass Hoffenheim U19 in the UEFA Youth League. However, if the line-up of the team changes, it does not mean that we will pause or stop working. On the contrary, we will make every effort to achieve the desired result. Shakhtar always strives for the highest goals, but it is still too early to formulate clear tasks. They will be determined during training camp and before the UEFA Youth League match against Hoffenheim U19. Many factors affect the formation of goals, such as changes in the line-up or unforeseen injuries, which are reflected in the pattern of play. However, it is necessary to understood that the main task of Shakhtar youth team is still to train young talents who will be able to join the first team in the future.
– Yes, I am very happy! Basically, we did everything we planned, starting with the summer training camp and ending with the last game of the year. This is an intermediate result, and it is really great. I hope we can continue working in the same rhythm in the second part of the season. We reached the Round of 32 in the UEFA Youth League, and in the domestic league we played a draw in only one match where we were a little unlucky. I think this is a very good result.
– The autumn part of the season can be considered one of the most difficult periods for your team, because Shakhtar U19 had a busy fixture schedule and little time to recover due to long travels. How do such workloads affect young players and how do they manage to deal with it?
– It is clear that travelling and workloads affect a young body, but there are advantages: such circumstances form character, help to grow up faster, and footballers have better understanding of what they will have to face in senior football. As for how we deal with these challenges, the coaching staff is focused on building proper discipline and a positive atmosphere in the team. Our main task is to unite football players with the common goal of winning every match. When the team is united and everyone is working towards the same goal, it is much easier to overcome difficulties.
– This year UEFA Youth League started in a new format – did you like it? And what role does this tournament play in the development of players?
– I liked the new format, and not only because we reached the UEFA Youth League Round of 32. I like that it is hard to predict anything, now you must not only enter the field with the intention to win, but also think about the goal difference. It makes you play with more focus because every goal matters. With the previous format, the top teams already understood the tournament situation a few rounds before the end of the group stage, and now everything is much more complicated, there is no time for calculations – you need to give your best in every match. A good example is our last game against Bayern U19: we lost 0-2, and they beat us in the table with the same number of points. If the score had been 0-1, we would have stayed ahead. Such nuances make you act at your limits. The advantage of the new format is that teams play against six different opponents, which gives young footballers the opportunity to face opponents with different playing styles. This is an invaluable experience that helps to shorten the distance between youth and senior football to some extent thanks to UEFA Youth League.
– The leading players left Shakhtar U19 during the summer pre-season, younger ones took their place. Who has shown the most progress and who is currently the leader of the team?
– I do not want to single anyone out, not because there is no one to single out, on the contrary, in fact, someone took responsibility and was a leader in every game. There is a high turnover in Shakhtar U19: younger players constantly replace the more experienced ones. I am satisfied with all young footballers who joined Shakhtar U19, in my opinion, they have all made progress. However, we only played half of the championship, and I hope that, like last year when the leading players left the team, young players will be able to adequately replace them. My goal as a coach is to build a training process in such a way that every young footballer gets his chance, progresses and can adequately replace the player who will leave the team in the future.
– Who has the biggest potential to become the next leader in the near future?
– All Shakhtar U19 performers have the potential for this. It is necessary to understand that youth football is distinguished from senior football by the fact that there is not always stability. I want the players to progress as much as possible, but in youth football there are many factors that affect the development of each performer. Sometimes a boy shows significant progress, and at other time he does not, so I try to create conditions for players to show maximum progress. Obviously, every team has those who are unhappy with their playing time, and Shakhtar U19 is replenished with young performers replacing more experienced ones, so I constantly emphasise that football players must be patient and fight for their place in the squad. Actually, everything changes very quickly in youth football, and there comes a moment when a young footballer starts getting his chance and must become a leader. I do not think it is right to single out anyone, so I hope that the young players who joined our team in the summer will take responsibility during the second stage of the championship and will adequately replace the current leaders. It is no secret that we have performers for whom the next year is final, they are already close to senior football. Those are Yushchenko, Oharkov, Bashmarin, Drozd and Tsukanov, who is a little younger. They are leaders who are the backbone of the game and help the younger ones progress by taking responsibility. I repeat once again: the young players must be patient, give their best, and they will get their playing time.
– Which match of the first stage was exemplary in terms of the quality of the game and which, on the contrary, was a failure?
– In the domestic league, we won all matches except one. However, I will single out three meetings that took place after the confrontations in the UEFA Youth League – with Zorya U19 (3-2) after the game against Young Boys U19, with Dynamo U19 (1-0) after the game against Arsenal U19 and with Polissia U19 (1-0) after the match against Bayern U19. I singled them out because after the UEFA Youth League matches, where you give a lot of energy, emotions and resources, it is very difficult to switch to the Ukrainian League, but we managed to do it. We defeated Zorya U19 (6-1) which is a very tough opponent and which has young players of the Dynamo Kyiv Academy, which gives the opponents motivation in the game against us. We also beat Dynamo U19 (1-0) despite the fact that we did not demonstrate spectacular game, but we showed character, organisation and discipline, considering that we had a difficult match against Arsenal U19 (1-0) in the UEFA Youth League. In the end, we defeated Polissia U19 (1-0) after a long travel, bad weather conditions and artificial turf. We played a great game in Uzhhorod, and I am sure if the weather conditions and pitch had been better we would have won by three or four goals. As for the failed match, we lost to Atalanta U19 (0-3) and Bayern U19 (0-2). I cannot say that we failed in the match against Atalanta U19 because in the UEFA Youth League there are no opponents against whom you can play without making every effort. The European Cups have many factors that affect the result, and it is clear that the meeting with Atalanta U19 was unpleasant considering the result, but we tried to create chances and control the ball, even though the opponent was physically stronger. I cannot say that any match was a failure, but we probably showed weak football in the first half against Bayern U19, because after the break we made adjustments and we had opportunities to change the course of the match in the second half, but according to the results of the first half we did not deserve it, although we tried very hard.
– What goals do you set for the team in the second part of the season?
– As for the goals, it is difficult to give a definite answer. There are many factors for their formation that allow us to understand what to strive for. If we manage to keep the team that performed in the first part of the season, we will certainly aim to win the title in the domestic league and pass Hoffenheim U19 in the UEFA Youth League. However, if the line-up of the team changes, it does not mean that we will pause or stop working. On the contrary, we will make every effort to achieve the desired result. Shakhtar always strives for the highest goals, but it is still too early to formulate clear tasks. They will be determined during training camp and before the UEFA Youth League match against Hoffenheim U19. Many factors affect the formation of goals, such as changes in the line-up or unforeseen injuries, which are reflected in the pattern of play. However, it is necessary to understood that the main task of Shakhtar youth team is still to train young talents who will be able to join the first team in the future.