Olympique de Marseille travel to German soil in Hamburg to cross swords with relegated Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg of the Europa League play-offs this Thursday evening. Coached by Croatian coach Marino Pusic, Hrinca suffered a staff change in October and the new conductor promised to instill his philosophy: “We have changed a lot in the last two months. The team responded very well, I am happy with that. According to my philosophy, the team creates the individual, and not the other way around. We are a team: we attack together, we defend together and we fight for each other. This is our main strength, of course, our tactical abilities, the way we play, the strength we have in attack. It is always the whole story, you cannot mention one part, because all the parts are connected. The most important aspect for me is the team. Team is everything, nothing is higher than team. This is what my players are showing, and I am very happy with it. Pride and Courage”He made the announcement last December ahead of the Champions League clash against FC Porto.
And since December 13 and this match against the Portuguese club, Shakhtar Donetsk has not played a single minute in an official match. Two months long preparation to better prepare for this duel against OM. Short training sessions and friendly matches against teams of different calibers but the troops look set to challenge Gennaro Gattuso’s OM. In any case, Marino Pusic took the time to observe the last eventful week at La Canebière: “I noticed that they have also changed the style of play, so these are all interesting points that we need to analyze well and find an opportunity to go around them. They have very good individual players, because it is Marseille, in the end, they invest a lot in this team. If I’m not mistaken, it’s a club that’s now 5th or 6th in the Ligue 1 table, which is very good and has certain qualities to progress. So it will be a very tough match. He is a demanding opponent in certain circumstances, especially away from home, at Marseille. I can say that these are special circumstances, I know from experience, but we are also good. It will be a very interesting match.said the Dutch coach earlier in the week on the Ukrainian club’s official website.
4-1-4-1 tactic under construction
Marino Pusic does not hide, his tactic is attack. Coming from a Dutch school and a former assistant at Feyenoord, Twente and AZ Alkmaar, the 52-year-old tactician focuses his football mainly on the offensive aspect. It is no coincidence that he quickly installed a 4-1-4-1 system, especially against Porto in C1 where the Ukrainian impressed despite the defeat (5-3). Gone is the classic 4-3-3 of his predecessor Patrick van Leeuwen. As management led by legend, Darijo Srana continues to promote the beautiful game, Pusic seems to be the ideal man: “It’s just DNA, I grew up in an environment where they played beautiful, attacking, dynamic football. Then it deepened and developed in the Netherlands, which helped me. I wouldn’t want to play any other way because as a coach I enjoy football. I want to take. I think this way the players will also enjoy football, and I always want to do something at the maximum level, give the fans something beautiful to see their abilities on the field, and for me it’s all through offensive football.”, he recently revealed in an interview. After the match against Porto, Shakhtar have scored 17 goals in the seven friendly matches played. An offensive steamroller in an oily collective that continues to develop.
Play offense without forgetting defense. This is the difficulty with this aggressive system used by Marino Pusic. Accepting imbalances in the system does not mean leaving gaps in defense. The Dutch coach wants the defense to serve the attack. In this sense, the Ukrainian rearguard has defended very high since the arrival of Marino Pusich at Shakhtar. Hirnyky plays a game based on great intensity, predictable aggression and boundless energy in attack. Recover high to attack quickly and efficiently: “Attack football can only survive if the team is able to defend well, and that doesn’t mean you defend in your own half, but you defend high in the opponent’s half – and I like that. I like to attack, press, be proactive and take the initiative in such situations. The situation was that we took more and more initiative, we had better and better possession, we pressed more and more, we played better and more intensely., said the native of Mostar. To carry out this project, Marino Pusic can count on an exciting young team that fully adheres to the strategic principles established by the 52-year-old Dutchman.
Youth in power
If Shakhtar Donetsk suffered a number of losses in recent transfer windows (Mudrik, Trubin, Marcos Antonio, Dodo, Nares), the management worked to use its South American network, particularly in Brazil, to welcome new young talent into their ranks. Ukrainian Crack, Heory Sudakov: “There won’t be big differences in the perspective of the game: it will be, as always, an attacking style, but we will try to improve our intensity with and without the ball. Here we need to make changes and progress. This is enough time to prepare ourselves in this segment, and we will definitely take a step forward. Having flexibility in certain segments, for example, to create a game, is something new, and we are going to introduce many innovations. Constant work with the team, especially this preparation period, allows me to do specific details as a coach. You can’t introduce a lot of new details, but I’m thinking about a few, analyzing the guys for the first two months, seeing what divisions we need to do next. So I am happy that we are here for a month and can train and work especially on these segments”, Donetsk coach analyzed again. In this team with potential, we especially find the Brazilians Marlon Gomes (20 years old, currently injured), Padrinho (21 years old), Kevin (20 years old), Aguinaldo (19 years old) but also Neurton (18 years old). old), Venezuela’s Kevin Kelsey (19 years), Georgians Giorgi Gocholishvili (22 years), Luka Latsabidz (19 years) and Irakli Azarovi (21 years).
This very global group, in which we also find Tanzanian Novatus Miroshi (21 years) and Tajik Khusrav Toirov (19 years), can also count on some young Ukrainians such as Dmytro Kryskiv (23 years), Danilo Sikan. (22 years old), Valery Bondar (24 years old) and Artem Bondarenko (23 years old). Following elimination in the Champions League and a poor first half of the Championship this young, vengeful team – Shakhtar currently 4th – is hungry for success and progress: “I want us to always play in the same style, I want us to represent club and country at a high level and at a high quality. We take the game as seriously as possible. I gave everyone a chance to play, 22 players played it, which is not easy at all. This means that everyone fully understands and develops the principles of football, everyone is involved in the process., Marino Pusic also explained. Against Marseille, Shakhtar Donetsk will also need rare but reliable veterans like Taras Stepanenko, Dmytro Chygrinsky and Yaroslav Rakitsky, all in their late thirties but ready to send a message to Europe. Last season was a transition campaign between the war and the establishment of the Rejuvenation Project. Shakhtar is a team with less personality but more collective mastery. OM has been alerted.
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