The new Arsenal-Kyiv coach tells about the first days of his tenure

- Igor, your appointment to the position of the gunners coach was unexpected. If you do not mind my asking, how long did you think about the offer?

- I received the offer after the New Year. I did not immediately respond but took a couple of days to think about it and then agreed. I already have experience of being a head coach, and now I understand that we all need to make maximum efforts to keep the team in the UPL.

- Could you please tell the names of your assistants in the coaching staff?

- So far there are two of them - Vladyslav Gumenyuk has been at the club for a long while and Sergiy Dotsenko has recently retired. We are looking for a coach of goalkeepers.

- It is already obvious that the team from Kyiv is expected to have big personnel changes. This even more complicates your work conditions...

- I do not want to talk about the players who left. I will only say that most of the information that appeared in the media is not true. In my opinion, it is not necessary to disclose the internal matters of the club to the public. In regard to difficult conditions, I am not afraid of them.

- Is there any clear news on the winter signings? Will it be players from Ukraine, from abroad, free agents or other options?

- I can definitely say that the we will rely on Ukrainian players. I always did it this way - for example, when I worked in Mariupol, there were two Georgians in the squad and the rest of players were ours. So it will be now. I keep an eye at the Macedonian who has a contract with the club but he will be probably the only foreigner. I can also assure that only those want to play for Arsenal-Kyiv and fight to keep a team in the UPL will be in the squad. It’s too early to talk about more specifics. By the way, over the past few days, lots of agents called me so many times — I did not expect this!

- Gunners are the last team among all the UPL teams who will fly to Turkey for training camps. Will this time be enough for proper preparation for the second part of the season?

- We started to prepare on 10 January: in Shastlyve there are all conditions for running work, there is artificial field. On 25 January we will fly to Turkey. We will stay there for 24 days. In general, it is one and a half months to prepare. I think that's enough.

- Have you managed at least for yourself to make up a plan on how to pull the team from the last place of the tournament table?

- First, I analyzed the situation: our position, the gap to the rivals, the schedule of matches – both ours and theirs. Then I analyzed the composition of my team. The work is underway. Do not forget: in fact, the gap is not very big, and there are still 14 rounds left. I believe that everything will work out. I talked with the President and the General Director of the club - they also believe it, and this is the main thing.

- Appointment to the Arsenal-Kyiv interrupted the 6.5-year period during which you have not been a head coach of adult teams. During this time, a world football has changed, in particular, it is believed that the era of “tiki-taka” has passed. How do you evaluate these processes and what football will your new team play?

- We are not Real Madrid or Barcelona, we are Arsenal-Kyiv. Thus we will play the football that will bring the result. A spectacular game is unlikely to come soon as we have a difficult position and not so much time. In general, I tend to strength football because I am sure: those who win challenges have more chances to win...