Van Leeuwen: I am happy with Shakhtar's first performance

Head coach of Shakhtar Patrick van Leeuwen commented on the friendly match against AZ Alkmaar (3-3).

– First, I want to say that I am happy with the week of working in the Netherlands. The players are making all efforts to become better, more fit, and that is what we also welcomed in this match. We hoped for some of the players from the national team to be ready to be here early, but Ukraine team are successful, so that is a positive point for Ukraine and a little bit of a small problem for me, because we have less players. I think that the players who participated in the game did well, tried to do what we trained for during the week. So, I am happy with the first performance and the first time seeing the team in a game.

– What instructions did you give the team specifically before the match? What was the main task?
– The main task for them was to play together, to play as a team. We knew that it was going to be difficult because of the high temperature, but also because we did not have a lot of training sessions. I told them to focus on the team performance, to keep attention and support each other when things become difficult.

– What kind of football will Shakhtar play under your guidance?
– While it did not help today, we want to play a fast football, a combination football, and the combinations will contribute to nice quick attacks and scored goals.