Marino PUSIC: “This is a big challenge. Shakhtar will play bravely against Barcelona”

Shakhtar’s coach Marino Pusic He held a press conference before the Champions League 4th round match against Barcelona to be played in Hamburg, Germany on November 7.

– Who will play instead of Konoplya and Bondarenko? Have you already decided on the starting lineup?

– Yes.

-Can you tell us?

– Definitely. There were important players in the starting 11 of the last match. Unfortunately they are not here right now. I firmly believe that those who replace him will play well. Our team is getting better every day, I see the talents of different players, I create my plan in my mind. To be honest, I knew right away who would replace them. But I can’t tell you that now.

– This is your first trip with the team to a home game away from home. How was it?

– A long journey. We can’t call this a home game because we were on the road for several hours to reach our goal. Of course, this requires adaptation, it requires being spiritually strong, and I see this in my team as well. We are happy to be here, we have time for a short training session to prepare for tomorrow. But honestly, it’s definitely not ideal for you to be traveling for that long. This was my first experience, even my second experience because we were returning after the Barcelona match. But this is the first experience with such a game; This is very special. But we’re not here to complain, we’re here to compete. And all this. We’re not here to complain about long drives, spending too much time, not doing extra training, or anything like that. We are not complaining, we came here to fight, to play this match.

– Nine years ago, you took over a team that lost its home game in Donetsk. You didn’t play there. What do you think about leading a team that does not have its own stadium and fans?

– If this were the only problem for us… Unfortunately, there is war and that is the most important thing. We hope it will be over as soon as possible. And of course, these conditions, as I said before, force us to travel a lot, not to play matches at home. And it’s not easy. But in this club I feel the character, the fighting spirit, the organization, I see that people work hard, they are like family to each other, they support each other in these difficult conditions to find the best way out of this situation. I am also very amazed by this, it is not easy but this general mood astounds me.

– Congratulations from the Netherlands! How did you move from Feyenoord to Shakhtar? What was that experience like and what challenges are you facing now?

– Everything is happening so fast, I have to adapt very quickly and I do this. I’m not someone who focuses on problems, I’m always thinking about solutions and possibilities, this gives me energy and keeps me focused on what I’m doing. Actually that’s all. I never think about the problems because there are so many, but if you focus on the situation as it is, players with great characters, it gives you focus and energy. I want to transfer this energy to the team. We don’t talk about the problems.

– What is your level of knowledge of the Ukrainian language?

– I understand about 30 percent, I can read and I will speak even better – give me six months and next time we will communicate in Ukrainian.

– Shakhtar hired a coach from the Netherlands in the summer, they did not play well with him. Dutch school – Shakhtar’s new style?

“I think that in football in general, globally, we cannot name schools anymore. This school is known for its offensive style of play. In my opinion, it is always the personal choice of the coach, because we are all different and of course that is the main part: the attacking style of play and the development of young players are also important. I think that goes for all of us, everyone has their own vision of the game and stuff like that. This is not specific to any country, it does not exist only within its own borders, it is everywhere. I like attacking football, high pressing and working with the team, so we try to improve the team and individual players. Of course, I must say that I am influenced by this school, this is obvious, but there are also personal differences.

– We know from well-known sources that you analyze your next opponents in great detail, including watching a large number of matches. How many Barcelona matches have you watched before tomorrow’s match? So what can help Shakhtar achieve a positive result?

– A long journey contributes to this: there is enough time to watch many matches on the bus or plane. But overall I watch them a lot. This is how I work and this is how I try to prepare my team. Like every team, we know Barcelona’s strength; they are a great club. In my opinion, one of the best in Europe. Playing against such a team is always a big challenge. We already met a week ago, we felt their strength but also their weakness, so our job is to find them again, use analysis and fight, as I said before. For us this is a game, we must not lose anything. I just want my team to come out, fight, rework our fundamentals and aspects of the game. Let’s see where it takes us but I want us to be brave and do our best in this match.

– What can you say about Bondarenko and Hemp? Why don’t they play?

– I already said that these are good, young, talented and smart football players. They are very important for us and we would like them to come out tomorrow, but they are not in the squad so there is no point in thinking about it. In such situations, I switch quickly. If the players can’t play, you can’t change anything. To think about the game without two players, I need to make a plan with people I completely trust. What can I say? They are young, promising, talented, smart and have a great future. We have a very busy schedule right now but there is nothing to do. We are a big club and we want to compete at a certain level. We have a tough schedule but we are here to fight. You don’t need to spend a lot of energy as a coach in this game, because the players themselves are very serious, they understand how difficult the opponent is, everyone wants to show themselves tomorrow, so we are really looking forward to it. this match.

– You made your debut in Barcelona two weeks ago. Tomorrow we will see a different Shakhtar because you had time to work with the team. However, we cannot say that now is the best time for Barcelona: they lost the El Clasico and did not perform well in the match against Real Sociedad on Saturday. Do you think you have a better chance of winning now?

– Every fight always has its own energy. This is a new game. It is almost impossible to compare the match we played two weeks ago with the match we will play now. We had time to work together. Of course it wasn’t that long, just a short week. To be honest, we didn’t have a lot of training and it wasn’t very extensive, but during the matches we practiced some principles that I would like to see again tomorrow. I don’t really believe them when they say a particular team isn’t at its best at a particular moment because it’s a different game every time. Barcelona have a surprising number of good players and can afford many changes. But we’re here to compete. I want to see the implementation of what we are working on in education. We’ll see how everything turns out. Any team can lose a classic, the odds are always 50-50. I can’t say that they are going through a difficult time. It is possible to get a draw from a difficult away game. They continue to challenge for the title and are currently in third place. I know this is a very good team. This doesn’t change my mind.