The head coach of Kyiv’s 'Obolon', Sergiy Shyshchenko, summarized the autumn part of the season regarding his team’s performances in the Ukrainian championship.
— You took charge of 'Obolon' after the 5th round, when the team had only one point. Did this fact cause you any hesitation after the offer to lead the team?
— No, it didn’t. And I was not afraid of it at all. I told the players that if I didn’t believe in my ideas and in the possibility of correcting the situation, then I wouldn’t be in 'Obolon'. In reality, I believed in all this, as well as in the team—I knew what kind of guys were playing there and what they were capable of.
— Were you able to identify the reasons for the initial failures?
— For myself, I only realized this. After all, I did not know what the training process was like before my arrival, what the requirements were. So this is already history. The most important thing is what we are doing now and what the requirements are. It is extremely important to cope with the situation we find ourselves in.
— Where did you start your work in 'Obolon'?
— At that time, there was a break in the championship. I started with organizing game discipline, explaining to the guys what exactly I wanted to see in their performance in defense and attack. Also how we act in transitional phases— from defense to attack and from attack to defense. After that, we began to work on all components in the training process. There was a lot of work on tactics.
— How quickly did you find mutual understanding with your new charges?
— Very quickly. I have said more than once that there are really cool and simple guys in 'Obolon', a good team. Already from the first days in the team, I felt as if I had been working there for a long time. So there was mutual understanding between us from the very beginning at a good, high level.
— During the autumn part of the championship, 'Obolon' went through a five-match winless streak, suffering four defeats. What levers did you, as a coach, use to ensure the guys did not break down psychologically?
— First of all, faith in them. As I said above, from the very beginning of my work in 'Obolon', I told the guys that I am not here for us to remain in the same place we were before my arrival. I also said: “I believe that we can correct the result—and you can do it.” The players knew and understood this well, and they gave their all in training. And I saw this, telling them motivational things that really helped us and bore fruit.
— In which matches of the autumn part of the season, in your opinion, did the team undeservedly lose points?
— This is probably two matches where we should have taken points. The first of these was in Odesa against 'Chornomorets', where we could have at least not lost one point—this is one hundred percent (in that game, 'Obolon' conceded the only goal in the 87th minute—ed.). And also in the match against 'Left Bank', where we did not hold onto the victory in the 90+6th minute. These are two matches where we really lost points.
— Which matches of 'Obolon', played under your guidance, would you add to the active as both by play and by result?
— We need to analyze all the matches. It cannot be said that we had all ideal matches. Occasionally, we really looked quite good. But to say specifically which of them was the best… Very difficult.
— Perhaps it was the recent match against 'Rukh', in which your team scored three goals for the first time and after which you said you were satisfied with the game?
— When we returned from Lviv to Kyiv, I reviewed that match on video. So I can’t say it was perfect or the best of all played. As for the result—yes, there are no questions here. But regarding the combination of play and result, probably not. We had a positive result against the Lviv team, but the game turned out not to be what we would like. You know, when you analyze the match, then you draw certain conclusions. I was asked at the press conference after the match with 'Rukh' whether that was our best match? So I answered: first it needs to be analyzed, and only after that to understand whether it is better or not.
— Of the ten goals scored, the striker has only one— this was done in the recent match against 'Rukh’ by Rostyslav Taranukha. Is it not too little for players of this position?
— Of course, it’s little. In all flash interviews and press conferences, I always say that I want us to be more aggressive in attack and to produce more quality in the final stage in the last third of the field. I want the players to make the right decisions, and of course, we work a lot on this in training. Yes, we really score little. We only managed to score three goals in the match against 'Rukh'. Well, we will continue working in this direction. I hope that in the spring part of the season, we will try to do better in attack.
— 'Obolon' is one of two UPL clubs that do not resort to the services of legionnaires. What is the reason for this?
— As for the Premier League, 'Obolon' has modest financial capabilities. This position of our club's president involves having only our Ukrainian players. I don’t know—will this ever change or not. We will see, life will show.
— This autumn, 'Obolon' used three goalkeepers— Nazariy Fedorivskyi, Oleksandr Rybka, and Artem Kichak. Will the last two continue to play for the team?
— Kichak definitely will not continue, because he holds the position of goalkeeping coach. Of course, he will no longer be playing "between the posts." As for Rybka, this goalkeeper is in the team and will continue his career there in the spring part of the season.
— In your opinion, what will 'Obolon' do to avoid the relegation zone in spring?
— We have a crazy squad! Great guys who play for one another and are ready to move mountains. We have a good coaching staff, which the club's management supports in everything. About 'Obolon' it can definitely be said: it's a big family that helps each other in difficult situations. So with the help of play, the qualities of each player and the team as a whole, we will try to do everything possible to stay in the Premier League.
Vyacheslav Kulychskyi