The new head coach of Polissia: "I am convinced that the way you train is the way you play"

The new head coach of Polissia Imad Ashour spoke about how he wants to see the team play next season, which coaches will join the Wolves coaching staff and which specialists will continue to work with the team.

- What style do you see, what kind of football will you strive for?

- I understand that the game of football has its own rules and laws that were established many years ago. Since then, they have only evolved. This game has certain requirements. And during my previous experience, I was faced with a context where it was not about my personal desires, or the desires of the people around me, or the desires of the players, but about the requirements of the game. Can we meet the requirements of the game in every episode when we go out on the field, when we try to win the game in the end. And this brings us back to the nature of the game, to its uncertainty. That is, how we can prepare for uncertain moments in the game. You can't do this on the board, on the layout, it's physically unrealistic. So I will be guided by the principles of the game, by intentions.

The first idea is that the game should be structured. And the idea is that we have two gates and we want to get to the opposite gates as quickly as possible. If this can happen and we can use this opportunity, we will use it: as quickly as possible, aggressively, so as not to leave the opponent a single chance to stop us. But it doesn't always work that way - opponents will interfere with us.

Opponents can play near their own goal. Then we need to look for another way, because this way will be closed. To make the opponent lose confidence in their set-pieces at some point and give us this small space to use. It can happen in the same game. But whatever it is, we will have the same intention - to get to the goal, to play forward, to be proactive. Regardless of who the player is in terms of position, everyone should have this intention. This is how it should be, because this is modern football.

But also, in my opinion and belief, this is the nature of football. It remains to convince those who will implement it. That's why the game will be uncertain, every next game will be something new and special. And we cannot predict in advance how it will go.

- What kind of team will we have next season: aggressive, defensive, playing more without the ball, playing on the ball?

- A team can be predictable given the players that are on that team. But, as I said earlier, every game can be different. I can only speak for myself, but I never want to play a low block or give the ball to the opponent. It's not a proactive game, it's a reactive game. But the opponent can force us to do that. At some point, maybe not the whole game, but in some episode.

And you can't say that a team dominates when it only has the ball and plays proactively. You need to be able to dominate even when you don't succeed. And this will affect the result. And we understand that we will need to get a result here. The question is: how are we going to get it? And for me, the uncompromising, unalterable initial idea will be a proactive, aggressive game in depth, or the use of other ways, if the opponent understands us and does not press us too much or does not allow us to use the space in depth.

- Who will be part of your coaching staff?

- I am not a fan of making radical changes. This is my personal opinion, but I believe that we need to take care of the club when it comes to selecting the coaching staff. That is, firstly, to audit the people who are there, to understand their competencies. Of course, the issue of trust can only be understood over time.

Therefore, it was decided that a certain number of people from the current or previous coaching staff would remain. My assistant Anton Dyachenko will come with me. There will also be a physical training coach, but he will have a much more important role: to combine two departments - physical training and the medical department. In order to have a more scientific approach, and most importantly, a joint one. It is aimed at ensuring that under the loads that the players will receive, we prevent or do as much as possible to prevent unwanted injuries. He will be a foreigner, and his introduction will follow. And I will also be accompanied by analytical coach Bohdan Shyrkov.

Then we still have a sufficient number of specialists who, in my opinion, have the competencies. They have already demonstrated them, we had a preliminary communication. If everything goes well, we will be on the same page. And it will also be the core that will be at the club for a long time. The core that was there will be there. Coaches can change, anything can happen. But the club must be protected.

Goalkeeping coach Mykhailo Fedunov, analyst Serhiy Pinchuk, one of the physical training coaches Oleksandr Tkachenko and coach Volodymyr Knysh will remain on the staff. People from the medical staff and the administrative staff will remain. As I said, I am not in favour of radical changes if they are not necessary. And, based on the analysis of what happened at the club, I do not see the need for radical changes in the headquarters and staff.

- Polissia will make its debut in European competitions in the Conference League. The first game will take place on 25 July, and the return leg on 1 August. For the Zhytomyr club, this challenge is one of the most important in its history. What should you take into account with these European Cup matches in mind? How will this affect the preparation?

- We planned the summer training anyway a little bit in advance. The adjustments will affect the structuring of the preparatory period. It is quite difficult and not always logical and necessary to plan for a long period in advance, because then you have to make changes. That is why our planning is more tied to the principles of tactical periodisation, of course, adapted. It's about what we do every week from game to game. But, of course, the physical training coach and I will need to compromise somewhere in terms of loads in order to get to these matches in the best possible condition.

But the focus will be on physical condition for the whole season. I am not a supporter of this wave-like scheme or the idea of building the preparation for the season, which is more classical, but, in my opinion, less relevant than the tactical periodisation. And tactical periodisation tells us that we have to choose the best dosage of physical activity to approach the next match in the best possible condition. Nothing is perfect, but in my experience, it works. And we can expect the team to be in a very good physical condition if they believe in what we are doing and give their all on the pitch, especially in training. I am convinced that how you train is how you play.