The captain of Zhytomyr’s “Polesje” Ruslan Babenko shared his impressions of working under the guidance of the new head coach of his team, Ruslan Rotan.
Ruslan Babenko— Ruslan, how are the training sessions going under the new coach?
— Everything is great. Everything is very interesting. To some extent, Ruslan Petrovich struck me. I will turn 33 years old in a week, and in some situations I previously did not understand why it was this way and not that way. I am learning a lot of new things. In general, I am enjoying the process.
— I saw that the entire coaching staff of “Polesje” is currently involved in the training process. Has it always been like this in your practice?
— You observed well. From the first training session, everyone works as a single mechanism. If some players miss a detail, everyone gives hints, corrects, supports. There’s a great atmosphere during the classes, so I want to give my all.
I reiterate, I am learning a lot of new things for myself. You need to not only work with the ball but also run a lot; everything is intense, in a football way. But at the same time, you need to think a lot. There are situations in which I have never found myself before, and that’s very interesting.
— You have changed many clubs throughout your career. Is the current process unusual for you?
— By the way, I have thought about this. This is 100% one of the best training processes in my career. But it was also interesting in Poland when I played for “Rakow,” and the team was led by Marek Papshun. We had a new scheme with two “sixes” and two “tens.” We also dedicated a lot of time to tactics. It was a colossal experience for me.
Sergey Demyanchuk
