Polissia goalkeeper Denys Boyko spoke about the most difficult opponents, the psychology of the post-match penalty shootout and the biggest dandies on the team.
Denys Boyko. Photo: polissyafc.com- The coaches and players of Polissia have said in interviews more than once that they don't need to look at the standings. But let's take a quick look at it anyway: Dnipro-1, Polissia, Kryvbas, Shakhtar, Rukh. What do you think is the reason for this season's tightness and unpredictability?
- Both the coaches and players of our club are right. It's almost the equator of the championship, we have played 14 rounds and absolutely nothing has been decided yet. Today, the distribution of places can be very misleading. Of course, the fans are very pleased that we are at the top of the standings. And we are too, we understand this - we are real people.
For me, this is one of the most interesting championships. You understand that I have had many championships. But today I believe that every team, absolutely every team, from Minaj to the championship leader, can beat anyone. Even though Minaj has no wins in the season, they don't lose with a crushing score, and they come out and fight. Previously, there were three or four leaders who were leading the way, beating almost every opponent, and there were almost no matches like this. Now everyone can beat everyone both away and at home. This is what makes this championship interesting. Everyone is trying to get as many points as possible. That's why there is such a tightness.
- There are already 14 matches in the championship. Name the team that, in your opinion, had the strongest attack.
- All the matches were tough. I will not belittle or diminish the merits of our opponents. We played with good teams, but if we were to single them out and mention them directly, then, to be honest, it would be Dnipro-1. They have a well-coordinated team and a very good game. And Dynamo (Kyiv). I liked these two teams best in attack.
Most teams hold the ball well and play well. But if it came right down to such tension in our penalty area, it was Dnipro-1 and Dynamo Kyiv.
- In the cup matches, you became the hero of two matches in the penalty shootout. In the comments after the match against Dnipro-1, you thanked Mikhail Fedunov for his help in preparation. Can you tell us how this preparation and meeting with the coach went?
- First of all, I don't consider myself a hero, because the whole team does one thing. In the same way, you can call every guy who scored a goal a hero, because each ball was decisive in the same penalty shootout. First of all, our team is distinguished by its team play. That's why it's important for me that not only I help the team from behind, but the whole team should be as one. So we will not separate anyone. I think the whole team are heroes in this case.
In my opinion, penalties are a psychological thing. It is much easier for the goalkeeper in a penalty shootout because he is already ready for it. I think it's much harder for the players. Someone younger is under more pressure, more experienced players feel it less. But the pressure is much greater on the players. If the goalkeeper doesn't save an 11-metre shot, even if we judge from the fan's point of view, what will he say? Well, it's 11 metres, someone will say it's a lottery, someone will say it's a well-executed shot by the player that was impossible to save. I'll say that there are no balls that are impossible to deflect. If a player does not score during a match or in a series, he understands that his every mistake can be fatal. A goalkeeper has five shots, while a footballer has only one.
Of course, there is targeted, focused training for each player, and there is an analysis. Footballers also know that they are being studied, analysed, where they will hit and how they will hit. But there are moments when the goalkeeper on the line has to make sure that the player shoots in the corner the goalkeeper wants him to shoot. This is the goalkeeper's psychological and tactical preparation for a penalty kick. I won't tell you any more secrets, let the opponents think for themselves.
- I would like to analyse the situation in the match against Oleksandriya. I carefully watched the episode with the second kick in the penalty shootout. It seemed to me that you clearly knew where the player was going to shoot. You jumped neither higher nor lower, but exactly where it was needed. How did you manage to read it, what comes to the fore at such moments: intuition, experience or preparation?
- Preparation comes first. I'll say it again: every shot by every player is the hard work of a coach with his or her ward. The coach provides theoretical training on where the player can shoot, the goalkeeper assesses the player's psychological state, because there were cases when players were sent off in the 119th minute for a penalty shootout. There is analysis and tactical preparation. Look not even at our tournaments, but at any other: all goalkeepers have cribs, either on a water bottle or on a towel, or have a piece of paper in their socks. This is all done by the goalkeeping coach. He prepares information for each player. Of course, both the player has a final shot and the goalkeeper has a specific decision to make. The goalkeeping coach can't influence this, he can only cheer for me and the team. But the last step is mine because I am the one who makes the final decision.
When I was in Besiktas, I was very good friends with Cenk Tosun. And I was always curious, we would stay after training and he would always take penalties. At that time, he was a full-time penalty taker and we took quite a few penalties in that championship. I was interested in how he thinks. He always went to the analysts and talked to them, found out how certain goalkeepers acted. And I asked him about it. He didn't always shoot from the same angle, although he always practised the same one in training. Once, during a break in the championship, we were chatting at the base, drinking coffee and the topic of penalties came up. He said I had worked out a tactic: I hit two shots in one corner, the third one in the other. Then I can hit it again in another, and then two more shots in the opposite corner. He always knew exactly where he was going to hit and what the sequence of these shots was. He said: I know that the goalkeepers are preparing for me and will try to bite me, but I change the angles. In statistics, sometimes you can see statistics on where the balls are placed in the broadcast. He knew his percentages, but everyone knew them. So in terms of percentage, he had about 45% to 55%. Such conversations with strikers also give a lot of information for analysis.
I was very offended when I saved a penalty from Buyalsky. Firstly, he is my friend and we talked a lot when we were at Dynamo Kyiv together. He was very well prepared for all penalties. And I'll say this, I knew 90% where he was going to hit. It was somewhere on the level of feelings. He is a very smart footballer, one of the smartest in our league. He has a lot of experience. He is a player who is very difficult to read. He can shoot from different angles, he can cut the ball, he loves it very much. At the level of feelings, I knew that he would hit exactly that corner. I did everything in my power to save the penalty, but just before my hand, he jumped up on a bump and just flew over my hand. That's why I was so upset. Not because he scored, but it was a shame that I saw that ball with such a scoreline, and in such a match against Dynamo Kyiv. Later I asked him what he had for breakfast to make the ball go in so unfortunate. He then said that his shots into the bottom corner were impossible to deflect, with no chance. But there are always chances.
- To conclude the topic of penalties: it is often said that penalties are a battle of characters. Microphones often don't reach there, but we see how goalkeepers and players communicate with each other. What do you say to each other? What's the strangest thing you've ever said or heard at such moments?
- I will still insist that this is not a battle of characters, but still psychology. First of all, for me. Yes, of course, there is a moment of technical performance. There are people who practice their punches every day after training. There are people who hit the same point. But there is also a percentage of players who put the ball down very well. People like Vasya Hrytsuk. To hit that ball, and it was very, very difficult, you have to go there in advance and know for sure that it will go into that corner, and even into the top corner. Of course, you can jump and go there.
Another example: when Emil Mustafayev scored against Mykyta Shevchenko in the series. They are friends, they were on the same team. And Nikita did everything right. He was just unlucky in some moments. He was preparing, he also had a bottle of shots. I wanted to give my players a hint, but I couldn't shout at the whole stadium, because I could knock down my players and help the opposing goalkeeper. And I think it would be a plus for the opponent's goalkeeper, because he can hear it all and I will confuse my player. The only thing I could do was influence their conversations. When Nikita started talking to Emil, I told him not to talk. This is psychological pressure. Emil is a young guy and I'm very honoured and proud of him for scoring that penalty. He coped with his emotions. I won't say that he hit it with confidence, but he scored it, and as you know, a goal doesn't smell.
But when Nikita started to say, "How are you going to hit it, and I know," I immediately told Emil that there was no need to talk. Because Nikita was trying to sow a seed of uncertainty. Because if a footballer has decided where he is going to shoot, you can't change the angle. And the goalkeepers' task is to make sure that the player hits the angle the goalkeeper wants him to, to confuse him, to throw him off his shot.
At one time, Rykun didn't care who was standing opposite him, what he was told. The person came up, put the ball down, hit it where he wanted it, turned around and left. He didn't even celebrate. I mean, he was so psychologically frozen, in a good way, that he didn't care.
But there are moments when you talk to a footballer and try to make him doubt his actions, to make him scared, to make him feel nervous, to put pressure on him not only from the fans but also from the goalkeeper. You can still change something in the game if you don't score, but in a penalty shootout it's a different matter.
- Let's talk a little bit about our team. I would ask you to answer a blitz in which I ask short questions and you don't have to answer them in a short way: who is the biggest dandy in the team?
- Dima Shastal. And also Nikita Kravchenko. He has his own style, we call him Mykyta-oversize backstage. He likes this style, he even trains in this way. I, for one, feel comfortable when everything is in a small size, and he can take things a little bigger so that nothing interferes with him. These are probably the two biggest dandies.
- Who is the most modest?
- I think that in communication, Small, Artem Smolyakov. I wouldn't say he's reserved. I think he is more relaxed in the company of his peers. But I think he is quite modest. Although, this can be deceptive, because with me, with Hitch, with Vasya, he can communicate like that, but in his own circle he can be as relaxed as possible.
- Who is the most talkative and impossible to talk to?
- Janak, Dan Janakov. He loves to talk a lot, to babble, to tell stories. He has this way of behaving. He likes to "crack", so to speak.
- Who jokes the most?
- Everyone here. All the guys have a sense of humour, I can't single anyone out. Both Phil and Shaba can crack a joke and make you laugh.
- Who is the biggest workaholic in the team?
- From what I see during training, the one who stays on the football field is Dima Shastal. But many guys work hard not only on the pitch, such as Artem Shabanov, Mykyta Kravchenko, they are constantly working with physical trainers. So, offhand, Dima Shastal is in the first place, all the others also work out, but Dima gives himself the most time after training on the pitch. The majority of the team knows where they need to improve, and we have a qualified coaching staff that helps us with this.
