I chose Shakhtar with my heart
Friday, January 17, 2025
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Head coach of Shakhtar Marino Pusic gave an extensive interview to Shakhtar TV. Below is the text version of this conversation
– Hello, Mister! We have never recorded an extensive interview with you before. Now we are in Turkey where Shakhtar are holding the winter training camp and preparing for the second part of the season. What are your emotions and thoughts before this second stretch? Do you feel excited or worried before the upcoming challenges?
– Hello! Well, if we talk about that, there is a part of emotions and a part of rational thinking. And it is logical that fans have emotions when they watch the games or the end results – this is also normal. But my role and task is to look rationally and to make good decisions. So, when I analyse this situation, I see it more as an upcoming challenge for the second half of the season and a kind of ambition to be better than in the first half of the season. Telling you about this, I have to mention that I make conclusions considering all statistics, although I do not focus blindly on the statistic only, but I also rely on what I saw and felt during the matches. Actually, we could get results in all games, we could win these games, but the fact is that we lost many points in these games, at the end of the match in most of them. And, of course, it is very painful and it is not very good on our part, so we need to improve that. But the way we played, what we showed until now – it was actually a very good way to win. And now it is a very important for me to analyse everything – logically and without emotions, rationally, because all statistical data is showing me, showing us that, actually, with an expected amount of points we should be at the top of the table as well, but the fact is that we are not there. So I have to look at that very critically and see it as a great challenge for the second part of the season – to improve things, to win a lot of games in a row, to try to catch the train again. Because it is possible, as there are 14 matches to play, except for the cup games. So all energy, all focus will be on that part. One more time, I am a very positive guy, I have always been, and also now I am very positive about our development, how we work now in the pre-season, preparing not only for the Champions League but also for the national competition, and how hard we work altogether. It is very good, so let’s proceed like that, and I hope we will achieve that in the second part of the season.
– If we talk about football philosophy, what principles define your football philosophy and how do you use them in the game process of the team?
– Actually, my football philosophy is to play attacking and dominant football, like you could see until now during the year. But it is a very demanding game, it asks a lot of the players, but I also think that it is good for the individual development of the players. So I try to play football to score one more goal than the opponent. Therefore, we will always try to attack, to be dominant, to be interesting for the people who watch us. And when we talk about philosophy, this is its general description. Of course, there are also two separate parts in this philosophy. It is developing continuously, as is my view of it, and it is closely connected with a game plan. But maybe I will explain it later.
– You just talked about the development of football philosophy, so how has your football philosophy changed during the last decade and what factors influenced these changes?
– Like I said, the philosophy is to be dominant with an attacking style of play, but you can act like that, in my opinion, only when you are very good in defence. But it does not mean that you defend low in front of your own goal, except when the opponent is so good that they push you to defend in the low block. For me attacking philosophy is connected with high pressure, with the speed of reaction when you lose the ball in the opponent’s half. This is a basic detail of the attacking style. I always say to my players: you cannot show attractive and attacking football if you do not defend well. But one more time, there are specifics of defence, and for me it is important to defend as high on the pitch as possible and to be dominant in that part as well. There is always room for improvement, of course, and it is a very demanding thing, because it is not so easy to do it all the time. But to be interesting and to be dominant on the ball you have to be very good without the ball.
– In 1991, you won the Champions League with Crvena zvezda, and the assistants, who also had great triumphs in many European tournaments, are working with you. If we analyse the last 20 years, how do you think football developed and is developing in terms of tactics, physics and preparedness?
– Like everything, football evolves and improves every year. You cannot compare the past and the present. Maybe you can predict the future a little bit, how it will look like, but there is one thing in common, an important thing – it is the philosophy and the character of the teams. The winning character of the team is very decisive in whether they are going to win the prizes. Especially when we talk about the top level in Europe, the Champions League, the difference between some teams is very small. Like I always say, if you are not 20 percent better than the opponent, then the games will always be decided by individual details, individual mistakes, set pieces, transitions, but most of all – individual mistakes. So the difference is very small, football develops very fast, the game becomes much faster and more tactical, in my opinion, And with this speed of the game you need to think very fast to make good decisions. Football becomes more demanding for the players in terms of this dynamic quality of the game. It takes a lot of work, quality and character to reach this level and to stay at this level, to develop at this level.
– And how do you balance democratic decision-making and a certain level of autocracy, which is necessary for discipline and unity?
– Interesting question. I think in modern football there is always a kind of balance of these two things: are you autocratic or democratic? Or are you more of a leader who just says “that is it”, and nobody can do anything? I think the players learn the most when I give them some space. And although I always give space for development, but I will lead you on this path of development. So it is a kind of balance. I will say this: when we do not have the ball – this is an autocratic approach, then everything has to happen like I want. And of course, it is always an individual decision of the player during the game, for which I also give them freedom, but there is structure, there must be discipline, you need to be compact. Of course, if you are higher on the pitch, there will be less compactness than when you are lower, but it all starts with discipline. When we do not have the ball, I always require one hundred percent discipline in everything. When we have the ball and try to attack there is more democracy, but until the certain point. So my task is to bring the team to a certain level, to release the players who can make a difference for us in certain positions, and the last thing – in the final third, although all of us coaches want to have influence on this aspect, I realised that here it is all about individuality, personal qualities of the player: whether he can make decisions, whether he is dominant in one-on-one situations, But my task is to bring them to this level with good football based on opposition, with build-up from the back, because for me it starts with the goalkeeper. And in the last part there is democracy, more freedom – actually, complete freedom. All I want to see here is intense movement and individual actions, so everybody has the freedom to act and explore their talents. I do not have much influence on it, because it is about the individuality of the player.
– When you analyse the previous matches, how often do you make certain tactical adjustments and see that they could lead to a better result in a particular game? And can you give some examples of such situations?
– When I analyse the game, I always re-watch it very quickly after the end, and, of course, I try to watch it without emotions because, like I said, it is very important to be rational to make a good analysis and see what really happened in a particular situation. For me, the situation always starts somewhere and ends somewhere. Most people see where it ends, and the players who are involved in such an episode get blamed for mistakes. But I look at it generally: where the situation started, whether we could defend or play better and get involved in the last stage. This is an important detail that I consider. Like I said, we lost points in the very late stages of matches – and it is very painful, because we did not have enough time to come back anymore. And we missed our chances to maybe decide the game earlier or get a better result. In my opinion, the team that want and need to win a lot have to play their best football during the last 15 minutes of the first half and the last 15 minutes of the second half – this is when the fate of the matches is mostly decided. And when I analyse these stretches, I see that we were not on top. We scored a lot, that is good, but we also conceded some goals, which I would say were completely unnecessary. Even when we had many players near the ball, we were not sharp enough in the last duels, we just did not run out earlier to be in a certain spot on time, and we did not feel the danger. A team and an individual player have to feel the danger in certain parts of the game and what the game needs at that moment. So this is a big and very important aim. Of course, we will try to improve in the second half of the season. And I can give a couple of examples. After the European match, we played against Rukh at home and showed a pretty decent game, leading 1-0, maybe we had opportunities to score the second goal, but if you do not score the second goal, you do not create a difference and do not make it mentally difficult for the opponent to come back. By that we kept the opponent in the game. Once the opponent is in the game, a one-goal difference in football does not mean much, because everybody these days can score or create chances. Therefore, although we had enough players then, we conceded a goal in the last seconds and lost two points. So, maybe this is one of the examples. Or when we played against Dynamo Kyiv, showing a fantastic game, leading 1-0, missing a couple of chances to make it 2-0 or 3-0, and all of a sudden, we got a red card. All these elements affect the end result a lot. And the end results always evoke emotions in people, and it is logical, it is normal, I understand that. But as a coach, I need to think and I think differently after the matches, and I analyse them like this: how many times we created good situations to decide a game, how many times the opponent did that – this ratio must be in our favour. We have to decide the fate of the game earlier and play our best football during the last 15 minutes of the second half. Okay, maybe it happened only two times, we are not that kind of a team that tends to get a lot of red cards, we were a little unlucky, but you still need to keep a positive result until the end. And this is for sure what I pay attention when I look back at the first half of the season and what we need to improve. I would call it “determination”, absolute willingness not to concede. And it applies not only to one player or line, but to the whole team. These are the examples. Actually, all examples of how we lost points are almost the same.
– I would like to talk a little more about your coaching approach. Is there any historic team or specific style of play that once inspired you and significantly influenced your coaching approach?
– I have been really following football already from 1982, since the World Cup. As a player I watched a lot of matches of other teams, I have always been interested in the development of football. My colleague once told me, maybe very on point: “You have always been more of a coach than a player”. This is because I have always been very interested in the game. And if we talk about inspiration and teams and determine a certain moment or years, I can single out Johan Cruyff from Barcelona and Arrigo Sacchi from Milan. And of course I can emphasise “total football” in the Netherlands which Louis van Gaal played, and recently of course Pep Guardiola – I think he made a lot of effort for the development of football to the next level. I mentioned several coaches who influenced the game, but such a big winner like Mourinho also has a lot of influence thanks to his style of play. A lot of people influenced me, and I have always been interested in this topic. I should also mention Jurgen Klopp with Liverpool, Arsene Wenger with Arsenal – these are teams and managers who are very interesting to watch and see how they develop the game to the next level. But I would like to end with Johan Cruyff: for me he is the number one inspiration of all time, because his influence on the game during that period was on another level.
– If we talk about Shakhtar, over the past 20 years the team has used mainly two formations: 4–2–3–1 and 4–1–4–1. And now the team plays using the 4–1–4–1 formation. Why do you prefer it?
– For me the formations you mentioned are kind of “telephone numbers”, they do not tell me anything. I see football as a game of space and time – and this is an important detail. Those who master space and time will always have an advantage over the other team or a bigger chance to win. So I focus not only on formations, because you can play attacking football and be dominant with any formation. I always talk about these two elements. I like to play with four players behind, but it does not mean that there are always four of them, sometimes there are three or two of them, and maybe only one, it depends on how the match develops. In my opinion, football is a fluid game: everything happens, formations are changing constantly, free space must always be occupied, and there is a certain dynamic in the game. I think that with dynamic you become less predictable for the opponent, and I try to bring it to my team. That is all I can say about formations, I do not like to mention them. Yes, I have a basic one because then the positioning of players on the pitch is good for me. To call it a kind of “telephone number”, it is 4–3–3…
– Or 4–1–4–1.
– No, it is 4–3–3, but it is not about that at all. It is just a “telephone number”, it does not tells me anything. I like to change the formation all the time, it depends on the situation, because you can have a vision of your formation, but it is also about what the opponent is doing at that moment and how you adapt to that, how you predict their movements, where the lines should be, how you bring the best players and footballers who can decide the game in good positions to do that. This is what I think about a lot, not about the numbers.
– Do you believe that every team has a natural lifespan? For example, a four- or five-year cycle? And what is your opinion on certain restructuring and renewal of the squad?
– Maybe in the past it was more common that the team stayed together for a long time, but the dynamic of football has changed a lot these days. I think about it like this: actually, when you are on top and doing well, you need to refresh all the time, because once you are on top you can be satisfied with everything, and I am never satisfied, and I am very honest about that. Then you need to improve constantly, and it is possible not only through work and development on the pitch, which I really believe in, but also by strengthening your team with transfers to change the team dynamics, etc. So I think that it is very necessary for every modern team, not only for us. If you see how fast the teams are changing and how fast the clubs need to act, I think we are in this game as well. So you should always become better even by one percent – not only on the pitch, but also in terms of strategy, change of the team dynamics and other aspects, you should strengthen the team all the time. This does not mean changing ten players, but you need to strengthen your team constantly. I think this is the only way to stay at a certain level and compete at a certain level.
– If we talk about the tournament standings in the UPL, Shakhtar are currently 10 points behind Dynamo and 5 points behind Oleksandriia, but they also have a game in hand. How do these factors affect the team? Do they add significant pressure or perhaps motivate you instead?
– It is a fact, we cannot deny it, but I explained earlier how it happens. It is more of a challenge and motivation than pressure. In general, I do not believe in pressure. I will explain it: I think that a soldier in the war has pressure to survive, a mother with three children without enough money to feed them has an existential pressure. In these cases we can talk about pressure. I think in football, and in sports in general, there is no such thing. I believe in ambitions and attitude, and these are different things. And in addition to ambitions, I also believe in challenges. And this is certainly a challenge for us, there is no question about that, but we faced this challenge with the ambition to catch up with opponents again, be competitive and try to win the league. I am very determined and motivated, like the rest of the team, to act like I explained right now.
– You mentioned ambitions. Shakhtar are the team that have always set the highest goals, the biggest ambitions, and the trophies remain the main goal. For Shakhtar, catching up with Dynamo in terms of titles within the Ukrainian League can become a historic moment to some extent. How to keep the team focused on this goal despite the competition?
– A big club like Shakhtar always has ambitions, and these ambitions must always be there: the ambition to compete for the first place, for the trophy. But the ambition should not be only the trophy, the ambition is also to develop the playing style, make the players better and for them to reach the next level. And the last thing. One day someone asked me for one thing, and I treat it as my task: leaving the club, make sure that the team and individual players are in much better shape than when I started. And this is my ambition. And if it goes together with winning the trophies, which is also my ambition, this is even better. But the first ambition is to develop, be recognisable, have our own style, maintain and develop it even more. The ambition is also to give young players opportunities to join the first team. So if we talk about ambitions, they are much bigger and much wider than just a trophy. The trophy is the final part of the ambition that we play for, and of course, we try to get it. But the ambition is much wider than just a trophy.
– Now I want to dive a little into statistical data. With 41 goals scored in 16 matches (an average of 2.56 goals per game), the team improved this result compared to 2023–2024 when you came to the club. Then the indicator was an average of 2.10 goals per match. What specific changes in tactics or perhaps special efforts contributed to this improvement?
– This is always an interesting detail. You mentioned some aspects, which we worked on a lot, and this is our way of playing: we always try to score one goal more than the opponent, we always try to attack and win. At the same time, we play with a large space behind us, so it is a very demanding style of play, but like I said, it is very important and good for the development of players and increasing their value in the future. We score a lot of goals, that is good, I think we can score even more at certain moments of the game when the fate of the match should be decided, we need to be more determined to decide the match by scoring a goal. And the other side is that we also concede goals, not a lot, I think 0.9 per game, which is a good average. I think we should improve it, a lot. And like I said, the best part of the game must be the last 15 minutes of the first half and the second half. It is my ambition and the ambition of my team to improve this aspect. And this is connected not only with the organisation of the game, because I have to say that it was pretty OK, but also with the individual determination not to concede. And this is also related to the skills in duels, where we need to win. Look, football is a very simple game sometimes, we can complicate it as we want, but I consider it very literally: the teams that win more duels have a better chance of winning the match, so we need to win more duels. It is very simple.
– Despite the fact that the team is more attacking, the fans chose goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk as the best player of Shakhtar in 2024. Of course, their choice could be influenced by different emotional moments related to the performances in the Champions League or UPL. Who do you think is the best player of the team in 2024? And why him?
– First of all, I am happy for Riznyk, because he is a great guy and a professional. And his playing style, especially in the build-up, fits my vision of football – I am very happy with him and that he won this prize. At the same time, it is remarkable that he became the player of the year in the most attacking team of the league. But that is OK – people have the right to their own opinion, and there are always emotions involved. I respect that, but I am especially happy for the player. If I have to choose someone, I am not a coach who quickly makes a choice or focuses on the individual prizes. Like I always say to the players, if somebody wins an individual prize, it is thanks to your teammates, because the team make the individual player better, not the other way around, this is a different approach, a completely different approach. Many players on the team had a good season because we won the double, played great matches in the Champions League. But if I had to choose, then I have to say that the one who had the biggest impact on the game and the attacking part was Sudakov, who scored a lot of goals and provided many assists, and also showed this quality in the Champions League. However, like I said, it is not only about him: in team sports there is no "I" or individual awards. Well, now they exist, but it is a team prize. When a player wins it, it is actually a team effort. So I think he deserved it as well, although, one more time, I am very happy for Riznyk. And I hope that they all will push each other together so that someone else contributes more to the team and is chosen as the Player of the Year by the fans. This is an interesting detail, but in terms of individuality, and this is a team sport – every player has to contribute to the team and its success.
– If we analyse the first part of the season, in several matches Shakhtar conceded goals in the last minutes, and this led to the loss of important points in the UPL and the Champions League. What do you think are the main reasons why the team concede in the final minutes of a game, and how can this problem be solved?
– There could be any reason, but like I said, I always analyse the situation logically and clinically. The team are very fit, all the numbers tell us that, we are also very disciplined and the fact that we conceded goals in the last minutes – and I think we conceded two goals, one in the Champions League and one in the domestic league – while playing in the minority, it is a different story than conceding when you are playing 11 against 11. So there is a difference, because playing with one less player is always more difficult at a high level. I have already mentioned that this is a kind of determination, that we need to feel the danger at a certain moment and know what should be done. Some people told me that we have a very bad luck in this, you can say that, but I do not believe in it. I do not believe in good luck or bad luck, I only believe in hard work, player’s individual contribution to the team and team effort to do everything to get the result. It is in your hands. Of course, there are circumstances that can affect it, but I do not hide behind good luck or bad luck, no. We need to do better, give our all in the last 15 minutes of the first half and the last 15 minutes of the second half. That is it. And to do that we must realise it and work as much as possible so as not to get into unfavourable situations.
– Which match of the first part of the season do you consider to be perfect in terms of execution of your plan, your instructions, but also the team's performance?
– I have to say that there were many them, really many of them. I can think of one or two games in the Champions League, if we talk about the highest level: of course, it is the match against Young Boys, where we were dominant. I also have to mention the game in the Champions League where we lost – it was an away match against Arsenal, in which we showed a very serious level, especially in the second half. Although, the perfect game does not exist. I tried to find it, to play it, but it does not exist. So the closer you get to it, the better, of course, but I would mention those two matches of this season which we played at the top level. I also have to note the game against PSV when we played 11 against 11. We were probably the only club that was beating PSV at that moment on their home field when we played 11 against 11 and were leading 2-0 – it was a very good game for us. As we all know, unfortunately we lost in the last seconds when we received a red card. But as my colleagues said, we showed a serious level playing 11 against 11.
– We will definitely discuss the Champions League and the match against PSV, but we would like to ask you about our young players. Fans are always looking forward to the growth of the young talents from the Academy. If we watch and analyse the matches of our young players, in particular Shakhtar U19, this team perform quite well in the UEFA Youth League, now several players, Drozd and Tsukanov, are training with the first team at the winter training camp, so do you see any of the youth team members as the main players of the first team of Shakhtar in the future and how do you assess their progress in general?
– First of all, I have to say that I think we are in the second place among the Champions League teams by the number of players from our own Academy, so we already have a lot of young performers playing in the Champions League. As for the young players, I would like to emphasise two things. First, age does not play a big role for me. I always say: if you play well, you are old enough. This means that I like to have young players in the team and I like to give them chances to develop. At the same time, it is important for every club to have its own academy. It is also very important for us to have a good Academy to prepare, develop and guide players to the first team. The second important point is that the results of youth teams and youth academies in general are not the most important part. The most important part is the development of players and their move to the first team. This is the aim, this is why the Academy exists. So sometimes you can win matches, lose matches – it is all part of the game, part of the development of the young players, but it is about individual development because you do not bring titles to the first team, you provide individual players. And this is a very important starting point of thinking when you start working with young players, when you want and have to develop them. As I said, I like the young players a lot, most of them participated in our training sessions during the summer training camp and now during the winter training camp. But the development of a young player and whether he will make it to the first team depends not only on his basic qualities. Of course, you have to be at a certain level to compete at all, but sometimes you also have to be lucky in terms of who is playing in front of you, which players are already in your position. Maybe you will take this position immediately, or maybe you will have to follow another path, first train with the first team, experience the level and intensity of training sessions, resistance during training sessions, then go out on the pitch, play adult football, gain even more experience, gain more physical conditions – and then come back. So there are different ways to get into the first team, not everyone is ready for it right away, but that is not a problem at all. Patience is a very important aspect. As a young player you need to be patient and work very hard every day – not only on the pitch but also off the pitch. It is very important how you take care of your body, how much effort you really put in during individual and team training sessions. Therefore, you need to work hard to reach this level and stay there.
– What can you say in general about the level of the UPL during this season? And what changes should be made, in your opinion, so that the Ukrainian League continues to improve?
– In general, I believe that every league, including the Ukrainian League, is very demanding. There are no easy leagues. Each one has its own rules and energy, it is very demanding: there are many physical aspects, but also a lot of teams that defend very well and play well in transition. So the opponents have to put in a lot of effort to win, it is not easy at all based on my experience. Overall, I think that the productive playing time in the league needs to increase, because I think it is pretty low, and I think the intensity of the league should increase as well. Now I am talking about the technical aspects of the game, but this infrastructure also needs to be at a higher level, although unfortunately the circumstances are what they are, so it is not easy for any club at the moment. So when I talk about circumstances and infrastructure, I am specifically referring to the quality of the pitch. If you want to show good football, you also need quality pitches. And I think that this is very good for the development of Ukrainian football in general and the development of young players. Therefore, there are many aspects that I have mentioned now and I can mention more, but at the same time, I understand how difficult it is because of the situation in the country. There is a lot of potential, it is a big country, a football-minded country, and I think the league has a lot of talents that can reach the next level and then contribute to the national team, which is good for the country as well. So I think we all have to put our thoughts and energy together in these difficult times to take the championship to the higher level. And we, Shakhtar, are trying to do it the way I explained: by contributing to the overall development of Ukrainian football. And I believe that this will be good and actually necessary for the development of football in the future. The fact is that Ukrainian clubs have a pretty low UEFA coefficient, unfortunately, which is why our standing in Europe is not so good. We, as one of the teams participating in European competitions, try to get as many points as possible, which is also good for Ukrainian football, because more places are added for other teams to participate in the European matches, which is at the same time very good and important for the development of football in general. Secondly, we play football for the fans. For me, football without fans is, of course, still football, it is still a game, but it lacks that final emotion, the emotions of the stadium and the support of the fans, which every athlete needs to give his best and use his opportunities to the maximum. I would like to see a lot more fans in the stadiums. I do not know how to guarantee security to allow more spectators, I think other people should think about it, but I believe it is very important for the overall development of football in Ukraine. Because, one more time, football without fans feels completely different.
– Let's talk a little more about the Champions League. The match against PSV was one of the most dramatic during this campaign. What key lessons were you and the team able to learn from it?
– For sure, if you look at how we lost that match, like I said, we were playing great until we got the red card. This is a direct answer to the second part of your question. We should feel what the game needs at the right time. The game developed in such a direction that we will probably win by three or four goals. So individual players have to feel that they must stay with full squad on the pitch because it is an away game in a very, very loud stadium with a lot of support for the opponents from their fans, and you need to take the energy from the stadium as well – and we did that almost perfectly before we got a red card. When you get a red card, an opponent with that kind of experience and individual quality feels that the game can be changed, and the fans in the stadium feel it, and start to support and push their team even more. They were actually quiet up until that point: I played a lot of matches in this stadium and I have never heard them be as quiet as they were during that game. This is a big compliment for us. At the same time, we have to learn the lesson that in matches against an opponent of such a tremendous level, and they have not lost a single game in their own stadium, we were very close to winning – you have to know where and how you foul and keep 11 players on the pitch until the end. That was a game changer. And if we talk about the last part of the match, we worked very hard, we tried everything, but one moment can be decisive – it was a free kick from the wing, when the opponent scored the first goal, then they felt that they could come back. I can also share that some of their players told me that they had no chance in this game – that is what the opponent felt on the pitch. It is a compliment. On the other hand, it is also part of our development, because we have a lot of young players, some of them played at this level for the first time, so I cannot blame them, but it was a very tough lesson for us. Actually, we pay for the development of young players with such matches. Dealing with circumstances – not only what happens on the pitch but also the reaction of the fans and this so-called pressure, I told you I do not like this word – is a big lesson for our young players.
– In 2024, there were certain innovations in the Champions League. What can you say about the new format of the tournament and how these innovations affect the preparation for the competition?
– Like anything new, it is exciting right now because no one knows what will happen and what the dynamics of the competition will be. It can actually be seen as a short tournament with eight matches against different opponents. And I have to say that we drew very tough opponents, at the same time I like it a lot because we like to compete against the best teams to see where we are and what we need to improve and also to show good matches for our fans. I think we mostly did it. This format is more difficult than the previous one because we play one match against each opponent. As you know, we play all our games away so it is a big disadvantage for us as a team, including all the time we spend on the road, which is quite unusual in Europe – none of the teams participating in the Champions League has such a travelling schedule as we do. It is a pity, but it is a fact. However, we deal with it very well – and we showed it. And that says a lot about the mentality of my players and the other people at the club who organise everything, so I would like to compliment them as well, because they are doing a tremendous job. The format is difficult, more difficult than the last one, because every game is a final one. Yes, you gain points, but you do not know yet how many points you need to advance to the next round – this makes the tournament interesting, but also very complex.
– Very soon Shakhtar will face Brest and Borussia Dortmund. In the tournament table, Brest are currently in the 7th spot, and Borussia are 9th. What are your expectations from these two confrontations and how will you prepare the team to get important points to advance to the next round?
– The place in the tournament table says a lot about the clubs. Both teams have a lot of points, they are very good teams, they have completely different styles of play, but they are great. In fact, it is very simple for us in this regard – we need to win two matches to have a chance to go further. It will not be easy, of course, we also realise that. Of course, we will play to win, because it does not matter if we play against Bayern Munich, like the last time, or Arsenal, we will try to win. But the way we act is also very important: to prove ourselves, to show our philosophy and a good game, to be competitive. We will try to get a result, although both opponents are very tough, like I said, but it is a nice challenge. My team and I are looking forward to these matches.
– There was information about Arne Slot and Liverpool, as well as other football clubs, showing their interest in you. How can you comment on this?
– Several clubs showed their interest, and it is nice to hear that, but I am not the type of person to change things just like that. Currently, I am committed to Shakhtar. It would have been very easy for me to leave after we won the double, I knew that the second year would be difficult and more demanding than the first one, but I chose this club with my heart because I am very committed to this project, and I felt then that I could not leave the club in such a moment. This project is very interesting, sometimes very difficult, very demanding, but also very beautiful at the same time, and I like such challenges. I think there is room for improvement, and I want to take further steps with the club to develop the players to a higher level and achieve new successes, that is why I have finally decided to stay. Again, as a coach, I am glad to hear about it, but I am not the kind of person who will leave just like that.
– You joined Shakhtar during a full-scale invasion and experienced the war in Ukraine first hand. What is your own experience during this time and what can you say to support all Ukrainians?
– Of course, I knew about the situation before I came to the club, but being here and living it, I really felt what it meant. Actually, what is happening in the country is very sad and terrible. I can only say that I, unfortunately, also experienced this as a young boy in the former Yugoslavia when that war began. Keep hope, fight until the end, be strong, be brave and love your country with all your heart. Hope that soon everything will be over and that we will all be able to live together in normal conditions, that children will be able to grow up in normal conditions, that Ukraine will be one of the most beautiful countries in Europe. I really felt the beauty and spirit of the people in Ukraine, and I am very grateful for that.
– Hello! Well, if we talk about that, there is a part of emotions and a part of rational thinking. And it is logical that fans have emotions when they watch the games or the end results – this is also normal. But my role and task is to look rationally and to make good decisions. So, when I analyse this situation, I see it more as an upcoming challenge for the second half of the season and a kind of ambition to be better than in the first half of the season. Telling you about this, I have to mention that I make conclusions considering all statistics, although I do not focus blindly on the statistic only, but I also rely on what I saw and felt during the matches. Actually, we could get results in all games, we could win these games, but the fact is that we lost many points in these games, at the end of the match in most of them. And, of course, it is very painful and it is not very good on our part, so we need to improve that. But the way we played, what we showed until now – it was actually a very good way to win. And now it is a very important for me to analyse everything – logically and without emotions, rationally, because all statistical data is showing me, showing us that, actually, with an expected amount of points we should be at the top of the table as well, but the fact is that we are not there. So I have to look at that very critically and see it as a great challenge for the second part of the season – to improve things, to win a lot of games in a row, to try to catch the train again. Because it is possible, as there are 14 matches to play, except for the cup games. So all energy, all focus will be on that part. One more time, I am a very positive guy, I have always been, and also now I am very positive about our development, how we work now in the pre-season, preparing not only for the Champions League but also for the national competition, and how hard we work altogether. It is very good, so let’s proceed like that, and I hope we will achieve that in the second part of the season.
– If we talk about football philosophy, what principles define your football philosophy and how do you use them in the game process of the team?
– Actually, my football philosophy is to play attacking and dominant football, like you could see until now during the year. But it is a very demanding game, it asks a lot of the players, but I also think that it is good for the individual development of the players. So I try to play football to score one more goal than the opponent. Therefore, we will always try to attack, to be dominant, to be interesting for the people who watch us. And when we talk about philosophy, this is its general description. Of course, there are also two separate parts in this philosophy. It is developing continuously, as is my view of it, and it is closely connected with a game plan. But maybe I will explain it later.
– You just talked about the development of football philosophy, so how has your football philosophy changed during the last decade and what factors influenced these changes?
– Like I said, the philosophy is to be dominant with an attacking style of play, but you can act like that, in my opinion, only when you are very good in defence. But it does not mean that you defend low in front of your own goal, except when the opponent is so good that they push you to defend in the low block. For me attacking philosophy is connected with high pressure, with the speed of reaction when you lose the ball in the opponent’s half. This is a basic detail of the attacking style. I always say to my players: you cannot show attractive and attacking football if you do not defend well. But one more time, there are specifics of defence, and for me it is important to defend as high on the pitch as possible and to be dominant in that part as well. There is always room for improvement, of course, and it is a very demanding thing, because it is not so easy to do it all the time. But to be interesting and to be dominant on the ball you have to be very good without the ball.
– In 1991, you won the Champions League with Crvena zvezda, and the assistants, who also had great triumphs in many European tournaments, are working with you. If we analyse the last 20 years, how do you think football developed and is developing in terms of tactics, physics and preparedness?
– Like everything, football evolves and improves every year. You cannot compare the past and the present. Maybe you can predict the future a little bit, how it will look like, but there is one thing in common, an important thing – it is the philosophy and the character of the teams. The winning character of the team is very decisive in whether they are going to win the prizes. Especially when we talk about the top level in Europe, the Champions League, the difference between some teams is very small. Like I always say, if you are not 20 percent better than the opponent, then the games will always be decided by individual details, individual mistakes, set pieces, transitions, but most of all – individual mistakes. So the difference is very small, football develops very fast, the game becomes much faster and more tactical, in my opinion, And with this speed of the game you need to think very fast to make good decisions. Football becomes more demanding for the players in terms of this dynamic quality of the game. It takes a lot of work, quality and character to reach this level and to stay at this level, to develop at this level.
– And how do you balance democratic decision-making and a certain level of autocracy, which is necessary for discipline and unity?
– Interesting question. I think in modern football there is always a kind of balance of these two things: are you autocratic or democratic? Or are you more of a leader who just says “that is it”, and nobody can do anything? I think the players learn the most when I give them some space. And although I always give space for development, but I will lead you on this path of development. So it is a kind of balance. I will say this: when we do not have the ball – this is an autocratic approach, then everything has to happen like I want. And of course, it is always an individual decision of the player during the game, for which I also give them freedom, but there is structure, there must be discipline, you need to be compact. Of course, if you are higher on the pitch, there will be less compactness than when you are lower, but it all starts with discipline. When we do not have the ball, I always require one hundred percent discipline in everything. When we have the ball and try to attack there is more democracy, but until the certain point. So my task is to bring the team to a certain level, to release the players who can make a difference for us in certain positions, and the last thing – in the final third, although all of us coaches want to have influence on this aspect, I realised that here it is all about individuality, personal qualities of the player: whether he can make decisions, whether he is dominant in one-on-one situations, But my task is to bring them to this level with good football based on opposition, with build-up from the back, because for me it starts with the goalkeeper. And in the last part there is democracy, more freedom – actually, complete freedom. All I want to see here is intense movement and individual actions, so everybody has the freedom to act and explore their talents. I do not have much influence on it, because it is about the individuality of the player.
– When you analyse the previous matches, how often do you make certain tactical adjustments and see that they could lead to a better result in a particular game? And can you give some examples of such situations?
– When I analyse the game, I always re-watch it very quickly after the end, and, of course, I try to watch it without emotions because, like I said, it is very important to be rational to make a good analysis and see what really happened in a particular situation. For me, the situation always starts somewhere and ends somewhere. Most people see where it ends, and the players who are involved in such an episode get blamed for mistakes. But I look at it generally: where the situation started, whether we could defend or play better and get involved in the last stage. This is an important detail that I consider. Like I said, we lost points in the very late stages of matches – and it is very painful, because we did not have enough time to come back anymore. And we missed our chances to maybe decide the game earlier or get a better result. In my opinion, the team that want and need to win a lot have to play their best football during the last 15 minutes of the first half and the last 15 minutes of the second half – this is when the fate of the matches is mostly decided. And when I analyse these stretches, I see that we were not on top. We scored a lot, that is good, but we also conceded some goals, which I would say were completely unnecessary. Even when we had many players near the ball, we were not sharp enough in the last duels, we just did not run out earlier to be in a certain spot on time, and we did not feel the danger. A team and an individual player have to feel the danger in certain parts of the game and what the game needs at that moment. So this is a big and very important aim. Of course, we will try to improve in the second half of the season. And I can give a couple of examples. After the European match, we played against Rukh at home and showed a pretty decent game, leading 1-0, maybe we had opportunities to score the second goal, but if you do not score the second goal, you do not create a difference and do not make it mentally difficult for the opponent to come back. By that we kept the opponent in the game. Once the opponent is in the game, a one-goal difference in football does not mean much, because everybody these days can score or create chances. Therefore, although we had enough players then, we conceded a goal in the last seconds and lost two points. So, maybe this is one of the examples. Or when we played against Dynamo Kyiv, showing a fantastic game, leading 1-0, missing a couple of chances to make it 2-0 or 3-0, and all of a sudden, we got a red card. All these elements affect the end result a lot. And the end results always evoke emotions in people, and it is logical, it is normal, I understand that. But as a coach, I need to think and I think differently after the matches, and I analyse them like this: how many times we created good situations to decide a game, how many times the opponent did that – this ratio must be in our favour. We have to decide the fate of the game earlier and play our best football during the last 15 minutes of the second half. Okay, maybe it happened only two times, we are not that kind of a team that tends to get a lot of red cards, we were a little unlucky, but you still need to keep a positive result until the end. And this is for sure what I pay attention when I look back at the first half of the season and what we need to improve. I would call it “determination”, absolute willingness not to concede. And it applies not only to one player or line, but to the whole team. These are the examples. Actually, all examples of how we lost points are almost the same.
– I would like to talk a little more about your coaching approach. Is there any historic team or specific style of play that once inspired you and significantly influenced your coaching approach?
– I have been really following football already from 1982, since the World Cup. As a player I watched a lot of matches of other teams, I have always been interested in the development of football. My colleague once told me, maybe very on point: “You have always been more of a coach than a player”. This is because I have always been very interested in the game. And if we talk about inspiration and teams and determine a certain moment or years, I can single out Johan Cruyff from Barcelona and Arrigo Sacchi from Milan. And of course I can emphasise “total football” in the Netherlands which Louis van Gaal played, and recently of course Pep Guardiola – I think he made a lot of effort for the development of football to the next level. I mentioned several coaches who influenced the game, but such a big winner like Mourinho also has a lot of influence thanks to his style of play. A lot of people influenced me, and I have always been interested in this topic. I should also mention Jurgen Klopp with Liverpool, Arsene Wenger with Arsenal – these are teams and managers who are very interesting to watch and see how they develop the game to the next level. But I would like to end with Johan Cruyff: for me he is the number one inspiration of all time, because his influence on the game during that period was on another level.
– If we talk about Shakhtar, over the past 20 years the team has used mainly two formations: 4–2–3–1 and 4–1–4–1. And now the team plays using the 4–1–4–1 formation. Why do you prefer it?
– For me the formations you mentioned are kind of “telephone numbers”, they do not tell me anything. I see football as a game of space and time – and this is an important detail. Those who master space and time will always have an advantage over the other team or a bigger chance to win. So I focus not only on formations, because you can play attacking football and be dominant with any formation. I always talk about these two elements. I like to play with four players behind, but it does not mean that there are always four of them, sometimes there are three or two of them, and maybe only one, it depends on how the match develops. In my opinion, football is a fluid game: everything happens, formations are changing constantly, free space must always be occupied, and there is a certain dynamic in the game. I think that with dynamic you become less predictable for the opponent, and I try to bring it to my team. That is all I can say about formations, I do not like to mention them. Yes, I have a basic one because then the positioning of players on the pitch is good for me. To call it a kind of “telephone number”, it is 4–3–3…
– Or 4–1–4–1.
– No, it is 4–3–3, but it is not about that at all. It is just a “telephone number”, it does not tells me anything. I like to change the formation all the time, it depends on the situation, because you can have a vision of your formation, but it is also about what the opponent is doing at that moment and how you adapt to that, how you predict their movements, where the lines should be, how you bring the best players and footballers who can decide the game in good positions to do that. This is what I think about a lot, not about the numbers.
– Do you believe that every team has a natural lifespan? For example, a four- or five-year cycle? And what is your opinion on certain restructuring and renewal of the squad?
– Maybe in the past it was more common that the team stayed together for a long time, but the dynamic of football has changed a lot these days. I think about it like this: actually, when you are on top and doing well, you need to refresh all the time, because once you are on top you can be satisfied with everything, and I am never satisfied, and I am very honest about that. Then you need to improve constantly, and it is possible not only through work and development on the pitch, which I really believe in, but also by strengthening your team with transfers to change the team dynamics, etc. So I think that it is very necessary for every modern team, not only for us. If you see how fast the teams are changing and how fast the clubs need to act, I think we are in this game as well. So you should always become better even by one percent – not only on the pitch, but also in terms of strategy, change of the team dynamics and other aspects, you should strengthen the team all the time. This does not mean changing ten players, but you need to strengthen your team constantly. I think this is the only way to stay at a certain level and compete at a certain level.
– If we talk about the tournament standings in the UPL, Shakhtar are currently 10 points behind Dynamo and 5 points behind Oleksandriia, but they also have a game in hand. How do these factors affect the team? Do they add significant pressure or perhaps motivate you instead?
– It is a fact, we cannot deny it, but I explained earlier how it happens. It is more of a challenge and motivation than pressure. In general, I do not believe in pressure. I will explain it: I think that a soldier in the war has pressure to survive, a mother with three children without enough money to feed them has an existential pressure. In these cases we can talk about pressure. I think in football, and in sports in general, there is no such thing. I believe in ambitions and attitude, and these are different things. And in addition to ambitions, I also believe in challenges. And this is certainly a challenge for us, there is no question about that, but we faced this challenge with the ambition to catch up with opponents again, be competitive and try to win the league. I am very determined and motivated, like the rest of the team, to act like I explained right now.
– You mentioned ambitions. Shakhtar are the team that have always set the highest goals, the biggest ambitions, and the trophies remain the main goal. For Shakhtar, catching up with Dynamo in terms of titles within the Ukrainian League can become a historic moment to some extent. How to keep the team focused on this goal despite the competition?
– A big club like Shakhtar always has ambitions, and these ambitions must always be there: the ambition to compete for the first place, for the trophy. But the ambition should not be only the trophy, the ambition is also to develop the playing style, make the players better and for them to reach the next level. And the last thing. One day someone asked me for one thing, and I treat it as my task: leaving the club, make sure that the team and individual players are in much better shape than when I started. And this is my ambition. And if it goes together with winning the trophies, which is also my ambition, this is even better. But the first ambition is to develop, be recognisable, have our own style, maintain and develop it even more. The ambition is also to give young players opportunities to join the first team. So if we talk about ambitions, they are much bigger and much wider than just a trophy. The trophy is the final part of the ambition that we play for, and of course, we try to get it. But the ambition is much wider than just a trophy.
– Now I want to dive a little into statistical data. With 41 goals scored in 16 matches (an average of 2.56 goals per game), the team improved this result compared to 2023–2024 when you came to the club. Then the indicator was an average of 2.10 goals per match. What specific changes in tactics or perhaps special efforts contributed to this improvement?
– This is always an interesting detail. You mentioned some aspects, which we worked on a lot, and this is our way of playing: we always try to score one goal more than the opponent, we always try to attack and win. At the same time, we play with a large space behind us, so it is a very demanding style of play, but like I said, it is very important and good for the development of players and increasing their value in the future. We score a lot of goals, that is good, I think we can score even more at certain moments of the game when the fate of the match should be decided, we need to be more determined to decide the match by scoring a goal. And the other side is that we also concede goals, not a lot, I think 0.9 per game, which is a good average. I think we should improve it, a lot. And like I said, the best part of the game must be the last 15 minutes of the first half and the second half. It is my ambition and the ambition of my team to improve this aspect. And this is connected not only with the organisation of the game, because I have to say that it was pretty OK, but also with the individual determination not to concede. And this is also related to the skills in duels, where we need to win. Look, football is a very simple game sometimes, we can complicate it as we want, but I consider it very literally: the teams that win more duels have a better chance of winning the match, so we need to win more duels. It is very simple.
– Despite the fact that the team is more attacking, the fans chose goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk as the best player of Shakhtar in 2024. Of course, their choice could be influenced by different emotional moments related to the performances in the Champions League or UPL. Who do you think is the best player of the team in 2024? And why him?
– First of all, I am happy for Riznyk, because he is a great guy and a professional. And his playing style, especially in the build-up, fits my vision of football – I am very happy with him and that he won this prize. At the same time, it is remarkable that he became the player of the year in the most attacking team of the league. But that is OK – people have the right to their own opinion, and there are always emotions involved. I respect that, but I am especially happy for the player. If I have to choose someone, I am not a coach who quickly makes a choice or focuses on the individual prizes. Like I always say to the players, if somebody wins an individual prize, it is thanks to your teammates, because the team make the individual player better, not the other way around, this is a different approach, a completely different approach. Many players on the team had a good season because we won the double, played great matches in the Champions League. But if I had to choose, then I have to say that the one who had the biggest impact on the game and the attacking part was Sudakov, who scored a lot of goals and provided many assists, and also showed this quality in the Champions League. However, like I said, it is not only about him: in team sports there is no "I" or individual awards. Well, now they exist, but it is a team prize. When a player wins it, it is actually a team effort. So I think he deserved it as well, although, one more time, I am very happy for Riznyk. And I hope that they all will push each other together so that someone else contributes more to the team and is chosen as the Player of the Year by the fans. This is an interesting detail, but in terms of individuality, and this is a team sport – every player has to contribute to the team and its success.
– If we analyse the first part of the season, in several matches Shakhtar conceded goals in the last minutes, and this led to the loss of important points in the UPL and the Champions League. What do you think are the main reasons why the team concede in the final minutes of a game, and how can this problem be solved?
– There could be any reason, but like I said, I always analyse the situation logically and clinically. The team are very fit, all the numbers tell us that, we are also very disciplined and the fact that we conceded goals in the last minutes – and I think we conceded two goals, one in the Champions League and one in the domestic league – while playing in the minority, it is a different story than conceding when you are playing 11 against 11. So there is a difference, because playing with one less player is always more difficult at a high level. I have already mentioned that this is a kind of determination, that we need to feel the danger at a certain moment and know what should be done. Some people told me that we have a very bad luck in this, you can say that, but I do not believe in it. I do not believe in good luck or bad luck, I only believe in hard work, player’s individual contribution to the team and team effort to do everything to get the result. It is in your hands. Of course, there are circumstances that can affect it, but I do not hide behind good luck or bad luck, no. We need to do better, give our all in the last 15 minutes of the first half and the last 15 minutes of the second half. That is it. And to do that we must realise it and work as much as possible so as not to get into unfavourable situations.
– Which match of the first part of the season do you consider to be perfect in terms of execution of your plan, your instructions, but also the team's performance?
– I have to say that there were many them, really many of them. I can think of one or two games in the Champions League, if we talk about the highest level: of course, it is the match against Young Boys, where we were dominant. I also have to mention the game in the Champions League where we lost – it was an away match against Arsenal, in which we showed a very serious level, especially in the second half. Although, the perfect game does not exist. I tried to find it, to play it, but it does not exist. So the closer you get to it, the better, of course, but I would mention those two matches of this season which we played at the top level. I also have to note the game against PSV when we played 11 against 11. We were probably the only club that was beating PSV at that moment on their home field when we played 11 against 11 and were leading 2-0 – it was a very good game for us. As we all know, unfortunately we lost in the last seconds when we received a red card. But as my colleagues said, we showed a serious level playing 11 against 11.
– We will definitely discuss the Champions League and the match against PSV, but we would like to ask you about our young players. Fans are always looking forward to the growth of the young talents from the Academy. If we watch and analyse the matches of our young players, in particular Shakhtar U19, this team perform quite well in the UEFA Youth League, now several players, Drozd and Tsukanov, are training with the first team at the winter training camp, so do you see any of the youth team members as the main players of the first team of Shakhtar in the future and how do you assess their progress in general?
– First of all, I have to say that I think we are in the second place among the Champions League teams by the number of players from our own Academy, so we already have a lot of young performers playing in the Champions League. As for the young players, I would like to emphasise two things. First, age does not play a big role for me. I always say: if you play well, you are old enough. This means that I like to have young players in the team and I like to give them chances to develop. At the same time, it is important for every club to have its own academy. It is also very important for us to have a good Academy to prepare, develop and guide players to the first team. The second important point is that the results of youth teams and youth academies in general are not the most important part. The most important part is the development of players and their move to the first team. This is the aim, this is why the Academy exists. So sometimes you can win matches, lose matches – it is all part of the game, part of the development of the young players, but it is about individual development because you do not bring titles to the first team, you provide individual players. And this is a very important starting point of thinking when you start working with young players, when you want and have to develop them. As I said, I like the young players a lot, most of them participated in our training sessions during the summer training camp and now during the winter training camp. But the development of a young player and whether he will make it to the first team depends not only on his basic qualities. Of course, you have to be at a certain level to compete at all, but sometimes you also have to be lucky in terms of who is playing in front of you, which players are already in your position. Maybe you will take this position immediately, or maybe you will have to follow another path, first train with the first team, experience the level and intensity of training sessions, resistance during training sessions, then go out on the pitch, play adult football, gain even more experience, gain more physical conditions – and then come back. So there are different ways to get into the first team, not everyone is ready for it right away, but that is not a problem at all. Patience is a very important aspect. As a young player you need to be patient and work very hard every day – not only on the pitch but also off the pitch. It is very important how you take care of your body, how much effort you really put in during individual and team training sessions. Therefore, you need to work hard to reach this level and stay there.
– What can you say in general about the level of the UPL during this season? And what changes should be made, in your opinion, so that the Ukrainian League continues to improve?
– In general, I believe that every league, including the Ukrainian League, is very demanding. There are no easy leagues. Each one has its own rules and energy, it is very demanding: there are many physical aspects, but also a lot of teams that defend very well and play well in transition. So the opponents have to put in a lot of effort to win, it is not easy at all based on my experience. Overall, I think that the productive playing time in the league needs to increase, because I think it is pretty low, and I think the intensity of the league should increase as well. Now I am talking about the technical aspects of the game, but this infrastructure also needs to be at a higher level, although unfortunately the circumstances are what they are, so it is not easy for any club at the moment. So when I talk about circumstances and infrastructure, I am specifically referring to the quality of the pitch. If you want to show good football, you also need quality pitches. And I think that this is very good for the development of Ukrainian football in general and the development of young players. Therefore, there are many aspects that I have mentioned now and I can mention more, but at the same time, I understand how difficult it is because of the situation in the country. There is a lot of potential, it is a big country, a football-minded country, and I think the league has a lot of talents that can reach the next level and then contribute to the national team, which is good for the country as well. So I think we all have to put our thoughts and energy together in these difficult times to take the championship to the higher level. And we, Shakhtar, are trying to do it the way I explained: by contributing to the overall development of Ukrainian football. And I believe that this will be good and actually necessary for the development of football in the future. The fact is that Ukrainian clubs have a pretty low UEFA coefficient, unfortunately, which is why our standing in Europe is not so good. We, as one of the teams participating in European competitions, try to get as many points as possible, which is also good for Ukrainian football, because more places are added for other teams to participate in the European matches, which is at the same time very good and important for the development of football in general. Secondly, we play football for the fans. For me, football without fans is, of course, still football, it is still a game, but it lacks that final emotion, the emotions of the stadium and the support of the fans, which every athlete needs to give his best and use his opportunities to the maximum. I would like to see a lot more fans in the stadiums. I do not know how to guarantee security to allow more spectators, I think other people should think about it, but I believe it is very important for the overall development of football in Ukraine. Because, one more time, football without fans feels completely different.
– Let's talk a little more about the Champions League. The match against PSV was one of the most dramatic during this campaign. What key lessons were you and the team able to learn from it?
– For sure, if you look at how we lost that match, like I said, we were playing great until we got the red card. This is a direct answer to the second part of your question. We should feel what the game needs at the right time. The game developed in such a direction that we will probably win by three or four goals. So individual players have to feel that they must stay with full squad on the pitch because it is an away game in a very, very loud stadium with a lot of support for the opponents from their fans, and you need to take the energy from the stadium as well – and we did that almost perfectly before we got a red card. When you get a red card, an opponent with that kind of experience and individual quality feels that the game can be changed, and the fans in the stadium feel it, and start to support and push their team even more. They were actually quiet up until that point: I played a lot of matches in this stadium and I have never heard them be as quiet as they were during that game. This is a big compliment for us. At the same time, we have to learn the lesson that in matches against an opponent of such a tremendous level, and they have not lost a single game in their own stadium, we were very close to winning – you have to know where and how you foul and keep 11 players on the pitch until the end. That was a game changer. And if we talk about the last part of the match, we worked very hard, we tried everything, but one moment can be decisive – it was a free kick from the wing, when the opponent scored the first goal, then they felt that they could come back. I can also share that some of their players told me that they had no chance in this game – that is what the opponent felt on the pitch. It is a compliment. On the other hand, it is also part of our development, because we have a lot of young players, some of them played at this level for the first time, so I cannot blame them, but it was a very tough lesson for us. Actually, we pay for the development of young players with such matches. Dealing with circumstances – not only what happens on the pitch but also the reaction of the fans and this so-called pressure, I told you I do not like this word – is a big lesson for our young players.
– In 2024, there were certain innovations in the Champions League. What can you say about the new format of the tournament and how these innovations affect the preparation for the competition?
– Like anything new, it is exciting right now because no one knows what will happen and what the dynamics of the competition will be. It can actually be seen as a short tournament with eight matches against different opponents. And I have to say that we drew very tough opponents, at the same time I like it a lot because we like to compete against the best teams to see where we are and what we need to improve and also to show good matches for our fans. I think we mostly did it. This format is more difficult than the previous one because we play one match against each opponent. As you know, we play all our games away so it is a big disadvantage for us as a team, including all the time we spend on the road, which is quite unusual in Europe – none of the teams participating in the Champions League has such a travelling schedule as we do. It is a pity, but it is a fact. However, we deal with it very well – and we showed it. And that says a lot about the mentality of my players and the other people at the club who organise everything, so I would like to compliment them as well, because they are doing a tremendous job. The format is difficult, more difficult than the last one, because every game is a final one. Yes, you gain points, but you do not know yet how many points you need to advance to the next round – this makes the tournament interesting, but also very complex.
– Very soon Shakhtar will face Brest and Borussia Dortmund. In the tournament table, Brest are currently in the 7th spot, and Borussia are 9th. What are your expectations from these two confrontations and how will you prepare the team to get important points to advance to the next round?
– The place in the tournament table says a lot about the clubs. Both teams have a lot of points, they are very good teams, they have completely different styles of play, but they are great. In fact, it is very simple for us in this regard – we need to win two matches to have a chance to go further. It will not be easy, of course, we also realise that. Of course, we will play to win, because it does not matter if we play against Bayern Munich, like the last time, or Arsenal, we will try to win. But the way we act is also very important: to prove ourselves, to show our philosophy and a good game, to be competitive. We will try to get a result, although both opponents are very tough, like I said, but it is a nice challenge. My team and I are looking forward to these matches.
– There was information about Arne Slot and Liverpool, as well as other football clubs, showing their interest in you. How can you comment on this?
– Several clubs showed their interest, and it is nice to hear that, but I am not the type of person to change things just like that. Currently, I am committed to Shakhtar. It would have been very easy for me to leave after we won the double, I knew that the second year would be difficult and more demanding than the first one, but I chose this club with my heart because I am very committed to this project, and I felt then that I could not leave the club in such a moment. This project is very interesting, sometimes very difficult, very demanding, but also very beautiful at the same time, and I like such challenges. I think there is room for improvement, and I want to take further steps with the club to develop the players to a higher level and achieve new successes, that is why I have finally decided to stay. Again, as a coach, I am glad to hear about it, but I am not the kind of person who will leave just like that.
– You joined Shakhtar during a full-scale invasion and experienced the war in Ukraine first hand. What is your own experience during this time and what can you say to support all Ukrainians?
– Of course, I knew about the situation before I came to the club, but being here and living it, I really felt what it meant. Actually, what is happening in the country is very sad and terrible. I can only say that I, unfortunately, also experienced this as a young boy in the former Yugoslavia when that war began. Keep hope, fight until the end, be strong, be brave and love your country with all your heart. Hope that soon everything will be over and that we will all be able to live together in normal conditions, that children will be able to grow up in normal conditions, that Ukraine will be one of the most beautiful countries in Europe. I really felt the beauty and spirit of the people in Ukraine, and I am very grateful for that.