The goals we conceded are the shared responsibility of the entire team

– In the match against Inter, we had a number of chances that, unfortunately, we failed to capitalise on properly. We had some decent opportunities in the first half, and we also created a few chances early in the second half. For instance, Tiutiunov and Zubrii had good opportunities to level the score. Individual mistakes in defence also had an impact on the overall result. At the same time, I want to express my support for our goalkeepers. Yes, both Bahlai and Chympoiesh made mistakes, but the nature of the goalkeeper position is such that errors are immediately noticeable and often lead to conceding goals. That said, I want to highlight that the guys have saved us many times, so they should not blame themselves. The goals we conceded are the shared responsibility of the entire team. So I will emphasise once again: we fully support our goalkeepers.

– Shakhtar U19 still have three matches remaining in the UEFA Youth League league phase, which will be crucial for the final outcome. What should be worked on to improve that result?
– We have lost three matches in the UEFA Youth League, and of course, we are not satisfied with this result. We take a critical look at ourselves – both the coaching staff and the players, we want to rectify the situation. However, we must also take into account the circumstances we are in. Any team need at least three or four days to prepare for a match: to study the opponent, develop a game plan and prepare well. After all, tactical patterns need to be tested during training sessions, and the line-up must be carefully selected to suit specific game tasks. However, due to an extremely busy and demanding schedule, we simply do not have that opportunity. Here are the facts: on October 19, we played against Kolos U21, and the next day was spent traveling to Italy – we even recovered on the bus and the plane. On October 21, we had one training session, but it was essentially just a warm-up, because we could not work on any tactical aspects as the session took place at Inter’s training facility. And the very next day, we had a match against Inter U19. So, we prepared for the opponent and came up with a plan, but we were only able to go over it in theory. You could say we just showed the guys how they should play on the board, but we could not practise it physically. What can you expect when we are selecting the line-up based on who is fresher? Such an important factor as competition among the players is effectively non-existent. We are facing the exact same situation right now ahead of the Ukrainian league match against Zorya U21. We spent the entire night and half the day traveling. Today we will have a warm-up, and tomorrow a pre-match training session awaits us. I want to emphasise that we are by no means complaining, nor are we looking for excuses. I am just explaining our current situation: not only do we lack a full preparation cycle, but we do not even have a single decent training session where we could work on something. So, how should these results be evaluated? Of course, they could certainly be considered negative under normal circumstances; however, given our situation, with us constantly traveling and playing with virtually no training, a major question arises: is it even possible to achieve a higher quality of play and better results under these conditions? Let me put it this way: we are doing everything in our power, but the outcome of each match is decided by specific moments, which are influenced by the factors I have mentioned. Despite all the circumstances, we still have three matches left in the UEFA Youth League, in which we will do everything possible to get maximum points and try to qualify for the next stage.