Luis CASHTRU: “That Shakhtar lose 4 points in two rounds

At the press conference, Shakhtar coach Luis Castro briefly analyzed the match with Rukh, which ended in a 1: 1 draw.

– Mr. Castro, what happened today? Did your players underestimate Rukh? There were two different halves.

– Yes, it’s true, there were two completely different halves. In the first, we had some doubts about the game: it was missing to the right, to the left and to the center. He allowed “Rukh” to carry out several dangerous attacks. It threatens our line of defense. There was not enough play between the opponent’s lines. We try to attack from the flanks, play wide. They rarely used short passes and provided few lines between opposition lines. And we didn’t have moments like after the break, either. In the second half, we create a lot of opportunities; unfortunately, there was not enough implementation. There were not enough passes between the opponent’s lines. The two midfielders were deep, close to our defense line, the ends were too wide, too wide. Our neighborhood defenders were advancing. In fact, we only had one Moraes between the opponent’s lines. And the transmission line is not clear enough, the ball often does not reach it. It was very difficult to tie the game this way. In the second half we worked very hard. We play with ten men. I had to switch to a different tactical scheme. The start of the championship is very difficult. In principle, we expected this. In football, as in life, sometimes things don’t happen the way we want and we have to react correctly to what happens. Do not look for excuses or be a victim. You have to react, look ahead and face the next game as one more chance to win. And continue our path, which we draw in front of us before the start of the championship.

– And Linnet?

“We have not done any medical research yet. I think this is a muscle injury that will prevent him from performing in upcoming fights.

– Two draws in two league games …

– I, as a coach, take full responsibility for the loss of points. The life of a coach, our job is to take on the weaknesses of our team. The loss of these four points is completely mine. Of course, we are not used to this. Losing four points in two rounds is terrible for us. We are always fighting for the title. But all we want now is to keep believing in the work we do every day. The qualities are not lost from one day to the next. We have a highly qualified team. And if there was a successful previous season, the players are the same, the coach is the same, now you must take the right path again. Yes, we are now living in an unstable moment. But we will react, no doubt, because we have enough qualities to do so. And proof of this is the second part of today’s game. The team showed that it is fighting until the last second for the title and for the victories that will lead us to it. As for the result, we are not used to it and in no case do we want to get used to it. I really want these draws to create some discomfort in our team, because we have to react.

– Rukh played stronger today than you expected?

– No, we expected Rukh to close deep in defense and make quick counterattacks. Basically, the game was going as we expected. We know that Rukh is a very competent team. And at the same time, we expected victory. We can and must always win. Congratulations to “Rukh” for how he showed himself on the field today. The opponent was very aggressive, often killing our attack development. When we tried to develop our game, we were fouled and stopped. We knew they would run behind our defense line on counterattacks. We knew they would close on defense. We create chances, but unfortunately we fail to realize everything.