Dnipro-1 midfielder Ruslan Babenko, who once played under Polish coach Marek Papshun at Rakuwa, said he knew about the specialist amid reports that Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk were interested in him.
Ruslan Babenko. Photo - scdnipro1.com.ua- First of all, Papshun is a big workaholic. He works very hard, he squeezes the maximum out of each player. And every player with him is bound to grow and develop. If he sees that a player is not progressing, he immediately says goodbye to him. That's what I've learnt from working with him for a year.
- What tactics does Papshun use?
- He has his own vision of football. Basically, he plays 3-4-3. This is an attacking style of play. He has his own vision, and if someone is doing something wrong, he often stops the training and leads them around the pitch by the hand, pointing out mistakes and so on. He has a lot of theory and analysis of the game
- How hard are his training sessions?
- Very hard training sessions. He has a really good intensity, small pauses. There are a lot of assistants and coaches there, and they always go on some kind of training. You can see that they live for football, and they spend eight to ten hours a day at the base for sure.
- What interesting things did Papshun give you in terms of understanding football?
- I realised, probably two or three years after I worked with him, that what I know about football, probably 60-70 per cent, I learnt from him. Although I worked with Juande Ramos and in Norway I had a good coach, and there is a good level of football there. But I learnt 60-70 per cent of what I know in football from him.
He demanded that the players act in relation to the ball, and each player should be responsible for his own area of the field.
And there are a lot of little things that are shown in the theory about the correct positioning of the body, and the ball should always be received in the right direction, the maximum number of triangles on the football field. You know, when I was in the team, it was very difficult to work with him because there were a lot of requirements. But after a while, I realised that it was a top level.
- How did Papshun create a team that won the championship and is now one of the leaders in Poland? After all, he didn't play football himself and worked as an ordinary physical education teacher.
- It is important that the team and the club are also progressing. They were in the first league, then they got promoted to the top league, and they were constantly progressing. Both the coach and the president increased the level of players, salaries, and many other things. Serious work was also done with the staff - guys who work as physiotherapists in the national team and in Krakow came.
What he has created is great. But a tremendous amount of work was done. You could see that when you arrived at the base at ten in the morning, he was already there at eight, and he always worked until late at night. They all worked very hard to achieve this result.
- Why did Papshun leave Rakuva then, if he did such a good job and achieved such great results?
- I correspond with him sometimes. We congratulate each other on various holidays and successes. But I don't know why he left the team. Just a month ago, I corresponded with him. I asked him how he was doing and whether his coaching career was on hold. He said no, that he was in full combat readiness and was waiting for offers.
As I understood it, he was probably waiting for an offer from the Polish national team. But they chose another coach.
- Could it be true that Dynamo and Shakhtar are really interested in Marek?
- I don't know, but I think if he came, he would definitely not spoil the pot. He is a very qualified coach.
- What could motivate him to come to Dynamo or Shakhtar, to a country where there is a war?
- I have not corresponded with him on this topic. In any case, Dynamo and Shakhtar are a very good level.
Yevhen Chepur
