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, 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