Former Dynamo Kyiv forward Peritsa Ognenovich commented on his appointment as the acting head coach of Metalist Kharkiv, and also shared his first impressions of working at this club.
Peritsa Ognenovich
- When you received an offer to head Metallist, did you think about it for a long time?
— To be honest, not for long. I know the history of Metalist. I know that this is a serious, good club. It is a great honor for me that I was invited to work at Metalist.
- Was there no fear of accepting an offer from Ukraine, given that there is a war going on in our country?
- You know that there was a war in Serbia too. Therefore, we probably have a little less fear than people from other countries. All this has already happened to us. God forbid that everything in Ukraine ends as soon as possible.
— There are two legends from Serbia in the history of Metalist — Marko Devic and Milan Obradovic. Are you not familiar with them?
- I know about them, they were very good players. Unfortunately, I don't know Devych. I know a little about Obradovic, but not that closely.
- What are the tasks facing Metalist for the second part of the season?
- The task is to move up several positions compared to the place where Metalist finished the first part of the season. We need to play fast attacking football, be more specific when converting scoring chances.
Now there is a high density in the tournament table. You can either climb to the European Cup places or find yourself in the danger zone. As a coach, I want to give the team a good game and take the highest possible position in the table.
- How are the duties distributed between you and your assistants in the Metalist coaching staff?
- We just got to know each other, we started working. I think very good people and specialists work with me. I like to cooperate with them.
We work collectively. We do not have a division of assistants into the first, second, third. Oleg Ratiy, Ruslan Fomin, Andrey Dikan and Andrey Kolesnik are constantly included in the training process, so it's all team work.
— There are rumors that Metallist is currently in an unstable financial situation. Can you comment on this information in any way?
— I am now focused on work. I don't feel any problems in the club now. We are at a training camp in Turkey, all the conditions for high-quality work have been created here.
Andrey Kaplun
