Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Taras Stepanenko summed up the results of his team's recent test match against the Dutch Fortuna Sittard (3:3). Recall that this match was the first for the Pitmen under the leadership of the new head coach Igor Jovičević.
Taras Stepanenko“There were many mistakes: both individual and when leaving the defense to attack. The first ten minutes were absolutely terrible.
But we must understand that a new team is being built now. Shakhtar has many young players, a new coach and demands. We need to work, after a week of training we cannot say that we have already gained the optimal shape. The main thing is that later we managed to equalize the game, to show character. 3:3 is a natural result, but there is a lot of work ahead.
How much time will we need to adapt? The head coach said that he prefers 6 weeks of preparation, but we only have 5. So we need to catch up on a week and work with double requirements. There will be enough time, we are waiting for difficult and interesting matches with strong opponents - step by step we go to the optimal form, ”Stepanenko quotes Shakhtar's official website.
