Football religion: Lucescu’s style

30-04-13 09:00:26

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A fresh issue of Shakhtar magazine appeared on the shelves of the stalls. The main character of the April issue is Douglas Costa. In the meantime, we are publishing one of the main pieces of the March issue devoted to the Pitmen’s mentor Mircea Lucescu.

French journalists like to chat with Mircea Lucescu. Not only is the head coach of Shakhtar an interesting individual, but also he is fluent in their language. Recently, France Football published a long interview with Mister, in which he for the first time told about how his trademark coaching style was developing. We are presenting to you the most interesting excerpts from the article published in the Paris magazine.

Craftier than any other

We have the most Brazilian team in Europe, - Mircea Lucescu said this for the first time almost four years ago, when Shakhtar won the UEFA Cup. Since then, the Romanian coach did not change his football religion. The core of his 4-2-3-1 formation is always Brazilian: moreover, as many as ten Latin Americans currently play for Shakhtar. The record figure! Mister, who has been coaching the team for nine seasons now, explains it this way:

- Today, Brazilians are already Shakhtar’s brand. Due to the fact that they speak the same language and feel the game in the same way, these players add to it a special technique, entertainment and consistency in our attacking style.

In addition, the presence of Brazilians in the team is the key to winning titles, maintaining the status of the number 1 team in the country, adding flavour to the Champions League matches, constantly filling the 52,000 stadium to capacity and pleasing the billionaire Rinat Akhmetov - the owner of the club and the man ranked 39 in world ratings with a fortune of 12 billion euros.

In 2002, the 22-year-old Brandao first arrived in Donetsk to ‘develop new football land’. However, Lucescu admits that “he never adapted”. He was followed by other twenty-year-olds, as, for example, Matuzalem, who currently plays for Genoa, or Elano, who defended Brazil’s colours at the World Cup 2010. So, the seeds finally sprouted and the recipe is still effective.

- The club has the money, and it created an exceptional structure, - explains Mister. Shakhtar pays very good wages. But since it can’t fight with the entire world, we have to be more clever and more creative than others. When they want to go in search of young quality players abroad, mainly attacking midfielders or strikers, the Brazilian market is inexhaustible! When we realized that thanks to Matuzalem Shakhtar made a qualitative leap, I advised my president to continue to follow that strategy. This is exactly what we need: he loves skilful, fast and able to demonstrate a spectacular game players. To fill our stadium and attract new fans, we managed to combine football results and entertainment. However, all this has changed the meaning of my work as well. From now on, I build the game and conduct training sessions depending on the Brazilians, increasing, for example, the number of the exercises in short spaces – just where they have proved the strongest.

What is the key to this particular staffing? So, first we must go in search of the young players aged 18-19-20 who have no bad habits yet.”

- Then we must educate them and provide them with favourable conditions. Until they can prove something on the field, - continues Lucescu, - prohibit them from giving interviews. And finally, we mustn’t hold them accountable too fast not to burn their wings. At first, I allow them to play for a quarter of an hour or for 20 minutes. From time to time I test them for one and a half or two years. Thus, they learn better the team game, and I always have a ready equivalent substitute in case one of them leaves. To create a healthy competition among the Brazilians, as you probably noticed, I often reshuffle them. The only problem with the Latin American players is the environment and the agents.

For example, in the winter, Shakhtar lost one of its best players – the left midfielder Willian, who dreamed of the English Premier League, but in the end was tempted by a 35 million transfer to Anji and an ‘excellent’ five-year contract.

- I had a presentiment of the blow, although many preferred to ignore such talk. But we prevented it by buying Taison, who already played in Ukraine, in Kharkiv. Because of his explosive speed, dribbling and the ability to make good use of the space, I hope that he will soon impress Europe.

Looking for heads, not feet

Brazilians give the team style, intuition, and a special way of playing. For example, Fernandinho, a former winner of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, who arrived in 2005, is the unquestioned leader in technique. The team’s average performance per game is 2.74 goals in general in all the tournaments! Finally, the Donetsk team knocked out Chelsea, the current Champions League title holders.

The success of Shakhtar is, above all, the success of the whole team, built patiently and consistently, intelligently and diligently. Team with a real game philosophy. What is the philosophy of Mircea Lucescu as coach?

- To recruit the young, teach them, bring them up to become big professionals, make them grow and progress together, in stages, with a good attitude and compulsory discipline. Especially to appeal to their intellect, but without breaking and without prejudice to their personality, - says Mister. - As well as develop their other qualities, besides a simple instinct. As I often say to them: I need your heads, not your feet. So the result they show on the pitch is just a consequence of the invisible work. I am very attentive to the smallest detail in the outfit’s life, every moment I watch the team balance. I build it by weighing each ingredient as accurately as possible, just as at the chemist’s.

This can be achieved by changing the position of a player.

- I did this, for example, with Rakitskiy, initially the left back, who was shifted towards the centre. Or with Hubschman, who arrived as a central defender, whom I subsequently moved into the hoding midfielder position, where he became very important, - continues the head coach.

Perhaps, these words will help you understand the structure of the team from within - a very young team offensively, very European, experimenting increasingly more in the defensive third and very Brazilian one. By the way, even Shakhtar’s Armenian attacking leader Mkhitaryan spent four months in Sao Paulo, when he was 17 years old! Lucescu always says:

- For the team to be able to demonstrate their qualities and play the way I want them to, in certain cases it is necessary to sacrifice myself and begin to serve the talent. It's about Douglas Costa, who has the ability for a mind-blowing breakaway, or about Alex Teixeira, who needs only to touch the ball to amazingly control it.

Tackling or exploding

We leave the principles of the game and the important words with the Romanian coach: uneven rhythm, short passing, breakthroughs on the wings, a change of pace and direction, creating open spaces alongside sidelines, numerical advantage...

- The concept - he says - is to control the game, hold the ball and create chances in each zone, in every situation, even from corners! For me, the only time you can go without the ball is when you take a shot at the goal or in the final phase of an attack.

Shakhtar’s style is based on several key points: controlling the ball, a passing game and effective deliveries - either to collectively tackle the ball or to explode and rush forward. Also, on the quality of the first pass, shifting the game focus to the opposite flank, on the midfiedlers’ ability to break into the box in the final phase of the attack. And if the overall efficiency is achieved through the flanks, particularly the right one, the quality of feeding the ball (which stands for 40% of the goals scored), solidity and strength of the two wingers, Srna and Rat, depend, first of all, on the team play. To attack and put pressure together when they lose the ball, creating density where it is needed!

- A player like Mkhitaryan is very creative, it uses the open spaces created by Luiz Adriano, but he is also self-sufficient and plays an important role in tackling the ball, - emphasizes Lucescu.

Two years ago, Shakhtar advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals, where they were stopped by Barca - the best in its history. Today, Shakhtar dreams of the time when they will settle permanently among the top 10 European clubs and strengthen its position in this market. Never say never!

- We have the best team in Eastern Europe, - states Mircea Lucescu. - I'm proud of our game, I have a healthy atmosphere in the changing room. We lack just a little - a little bit of experience and nerve to reach other heights and compete with the giants. But when you do not have such a history, such money and such a power in the media world, I know how hard it is ...

Mircea Lucescu: I have a special relationship with Brazil

The head coach of Shakhtar discovered Brazil for himself at the age of 22, while on tour with the national team of Romania. This meeting with the country of football and samba influenced his vision of the game.

- Mister, when did you come up with this passion for Brazil?
- It goes back to the events that happened more than 40 years ago - the first trip with the national team of Romania in the winter of 1967-1968. It was organized by the Lebanese manager - a great friend of the then-future FIFA president Joao Havelange. I was 22 years old back then, and I just played a match against Congo in Kinshasa - it was right before Christmas. I was forced to spend three days alone in Dakar to await for my visa. So I went to study the nearby area. Later, we spent over a month in Brazil, crossing the country from south to north, from Porto Alegre to Fortaleza. It was an amazing experience ... Can you imagine how much admiration and wonder I experienced, the young player, who came there from a socialist country, the existence of which in the world was known only through the map. In that era, yet full of carelessness, but with psychedelic elements, I discovered for myself the essence of every Brazilian: football, samba, beach and sex. I better understand why this is enough for them to live happily. Everything revolved around it! Oh, plus Brahma Chopp – the number one beer in the country ... I remember how we had a bottle of it each in Milan with Ronaldo, when I coached Inter for 6 months in the late 1990s.

- What was the first thing you noticed on this journey?
- The atmosphere in the stadiums, where you play the rhythm of the samba with each group of fans who react every time their team intercepts the ball and attacks. All this creates a unique atmosphere both in the stands and on the pitch, which impressed me incredibly. Players feel it very strongly. Two years later, after the tour, I returned to Brazil - it was in the early 1970s, in January - February, a few months before the start of the World Cup in Mexico. We played in Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, dropped into Peru for the carnival, because in that moment everything stopped, and all the rest did not matter. Then we competed in the tournament at Maracana with Flamengo, Vasco da Gama and the Argentine Independiente, where I was the best player according to O Globo magazine. I must still have this trophy at home ...

- Hence your style of play - somewhat Brazilian?
- I played the same way both on the left, and on the right flank as I was a ‘two-footed’ player. Sometimes, I was even involved in attacking. But I've always been a very technical player with good dribbling skills, with good and targeted deliveries into the box. Yes, there was something Brazilian. Every time I played in Brazil – I was back there again in 1971 with Dinamo Bucuresti – I felt just great. This corresponds to what I mean by inspiration, creativity and virtuosity. Among other things, at that time Romania was playing the football based on keeping the ball and deliberate time-wasting. The team used well the open spaces and cleverly turned back, patiently building a short passing game. As Barcelona's tiki-taka today ... But the most important thing was still the fact that the Romanians managed to play against a great team of Brazil in Guadalajara at the World Cup 1970, not long after this tour. On that day we lost 3-2. Pele scored two goals in the closing stages of the match. And I managed to to swap shirts with him. I still keep it, without washing. And since that time it takes pride of place in my collection of souvenirs. Thus, I can say that I have a special relationship with Brazil and that this link extends from the distant past. Sometimes I scroll in my head that time and tell my Brazilian players about the country and the era they do not know. So I create a special atmosphere of sensitivity and establish the links that help build rapport between the coach and players.

- This experience has influenced you not only as a player, but especially as a coach?
- This experience explains much of my game philosophy and my unequivocal love for football, technical, attacking, entertaining and clever. Wherever I coach, my teams always play well. No one can challenge this! By the way, since that period, I became interested in the culture of the country, its mentality, its music and language. Today, for example, I'm fluent in Portuguese. And then I translate it into Russian for the rest ... Once I realized that it would be much easier for me to learn to speak fluent Portuguese than to continue to call a teacher of Russian language for Brazilian players. Although ... Fernandinho, who joined us in 2005, still speaks Russian these days.

Shakhtar’s three key players

Fernandinho, skill leader

Lucescu’s opinion: “He's a terrific player - a former striker, whom I transformed into a midfielder. His individual technical ability, his vision of the game and the quality of his passing are just exceptional. He blends well into the game, assists and often performs the dirty work. In addition, he is a permanent participant in all the important moments of the match. He is an outstanding professional, highly respected in his craft, who always acts in accordance with the team. I do not understand why he still has not played regularly for the Brazilian national team, because, in my opinion, taking into account its present composition, Fernandinho is better than Chelsea’s Ramirez. I would not be surprised if one day he will find himself in a very strong club.”

Darijo Srna, dressing room leader

Lucescu’s opinion: “This is the captain and soul of the team. As a football player, who has been playing for Shakhtar for a very long time, he is the embodiment of the values ​​and philosophy of the game of our team. And Darijo develops them further. Since the day when Jadson moved to Sao Paulo, having spent six seasons with us, Srna has become an absolute leader in the team environment, not only in the changing room! He plays a very important role in the integration of innovations, keeping an eye on the balance between different generations within Shakhtar at the same time. And, of course, on the field he is a terrific player on his right wing, in particular due to his ability to create numerical superiority, the amount of his work and the passing quality.”

Henrikh Mkhitaryan, attacking leader

Lucescu’s opinion: “An extremely intelligent player, who lives and breathes football only. I noticed him when he was 17 years old  - he was playing against Shakhtar in the qualifying round of the Champions League for the Yerevan team. But back then, we had no one who trusted the Armenian football players. But I was insisting - and he joined us two and a half years later, but from another Donetsk club, Metalurh. Henrikh speeds up the game, he always has a very good feel for the situation, acts on the counter together with the other players on the pitch, he has a scoring flair, plays an important role in creating scoring chances and still nets a lot of goals. Thanks to his quantum leap in quality over the year, the level of team play as a whole has improved.”

FC Shakhtar Press Office based on the March issue of Shakhtar magazine