Taras Stepanenko: When winning all the time, you do not notice errors

01-02-15 23:51:41

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The Pitmen’s midfielder summed up the Pitmen’s Brazilian tour and talked about the further preparation of the team for the match with Bayern.

- Taras, a few days of the Spanish training camp have passed. Is there any innovations compared to previous training camps conducted here?
- Nothing special. During days off, we visited our home, families, and then flew to Spain. We are training  as usual. The wind is very strong here. It affects training a little, because it is difficult to calculate the trajectory of the ball.

- What is the difference from the Brazilian training camp?
- There is no heat, that is, the best weather conditions for training. And there are no changes regarding training sessions, atmosphere.

- What does Mister put emphasis on now in terms of preparation?
- The official games are approaching. We will play five games in ten days. I think the coach will allow guys to play 90 minutes, so that they can fully enter into the mode of official matches.

- How ready are Shakhtar for the season?
- Hard to say. Everything comes gradually. In most of the cases, you get into shape through games, and it is better to make it that way. You feel the position, the workload. The main thing for us is to be fully ready for the game with Bayern.

- Have you already begun to analyse the champions of Germany?
- Bayern lost 4:1 to Wolfsburg. Everyone, who wanted, watched this match. Unfortunately, in my room there wasn’t a channel that broadcasted. But I watched the highlights of this match. And during communication with the team, Mister finds the words, begins to prepare us for the Bayern game, but a specific analysis has not yet started. After the Spanish training camp, there will remain just a week before the match of the Champions League. I think then we will thoroughly analyse the opponents’ game.

- Brazilians of Shakhtar even after a tour of their homeland still say they are closer to European football. And you, as a European, after a training camp in Brazil, what style do you like most? What are the main differences?
- I really liked the atmosphere in there the stadiums. Great! Although I was a little wrong in my opinion of Brazilian football. I cannot say that they are playing in a really attacking style. No, the Brazilians know how to defend. Just in the presence of such a large number of viewers they are trying to create a show, to prove that people made the right decision to attend the match. And I like such attacking football. It was great! Brazilians are competent in terms of tactic as well. Now everyone can make transition from attack to defence. But in Brazil football is simply more entertaining than the European one.

- Are the temperature changes felt?
- Of course. Although many kids had holidays in warm countries, experienced climate. Therefore, we cannot say that the heat was a big obstacle. The now is something new for Brazilians who have just joined us. We have heat in the summer too! So, as usual, it took three or four days for adaptation, and everything is fine. It is clear that at this temperature, it was hard to train, but nevertheless, it's not such a big problem.

- Many compared the Brazilian matches with the Champions League games. Do you agree with that?
- In terms of atmosphere - yes. But the responsibility, of course, was not as high. Still, you subconsciously realize that this is a friendly match. Especially since during a period of training camps, squads are constantly are changing. I cannot say that this was the level of the Champions League. On the other hand, we understand that Shakhtar was responsible for its image in Brazil. Plus, there were more spectators than, for example, in Turkey or the Emirates. There, only staff, someone's friends, acquaintances came to matches. In Brazil, we played in front of the fans, there was organised a broadcast. Therefore, there was a more responsible approach. But the Champions League is certainly a priority for the Pitmen. Therefore, the mistakes we made in the previous matches, should not happen again.

- Only one win in five matches. Did the result matter?
- Naturally, we wanted to win all games. But if you win every game, you don’t notice errors. Therefore, it is even a good thing that it happened this. We have analysed the previous games and conceded goals to see what errors were made not to do them again. If there are errors - so there is a lot of work. We focus on them.

- What did you learn for yourself from Brazilian football? For example, feints?
- My position is such that you cannot use special feints. (Laughs.) I cannot single out anything. There are fast, technical players - in fact, as in Shakhtar. Half of the team also consists of Brazilians, so I have not seen anything new. The opponents are of good level. Especially in the last four games: it is clear that the teams are organised. And I think, in Ukraine, for example, they would sit in the same high places, as in Brazil. What new have I seen? The atmosphere and the number of people in a friendly match. I can imagine what happens in their championship.

- How would you explain why different stadiums in Brazil support differently? Some sing, others dance, and others chant something...
- Every city has its own atmosphere, its habits. These are traditions, which have their origins. There are many children going to football! All of this is passed on from generation to generation.  All regions can support in the same way.

- What's your opinion: the best and worst match of the Brazilian tour.
- Hard to say... The worst match was, perhaps, with Baia, when we lost 2:1, and could have scored a bunch of goals, but they made two mistakes. And the best game is our win over Inter. No matter how well you play, it is the result that remains.

- Which team was the strongest?
- For me, the last four games were all equal. I expected more from the match against the champion, Cruzeiro. But in terms of the level, it was the same as he game with Flamengo, Inter and Atletico Mineiro. And it's not bad. The more teams of a good level in the championship, the more stronger it is.

- What memories of Brazil do you have?
- In the first week I really enjoyed Rio, the beach and the ocean. It was still the workload, but it was easier to pass - we were there and played volleyball... I will remember the atmosphere in the stadiums. In general, we have seen only hotels and airplanes.

- On 2 February, you will play with Dinamo Zagreb. Shakhtar have already met this team before...
- I wasn’t at Shakhtar in 2008, so I do not know about this club. (Laughs.) The leader of the Croatian championship. Probably Darijo knows much about this team.

- For him, this is an arched-rival! He also played for Hajduk. And Hajduk and Dinamo (Zagreb) are like Shakhtar and Dynamo Kyiv in Ukraine.
- Yes. Well, I still cannot say anything about this team.

- Have you already analysed the team’s game?
- No. We don’t analyse opponents in friendly matches. Mister may name their players. I only know that Vukoevic play there.

FC Shakhtar
Press Office