Denys Pidhurskyi: Petrakov told us many interesting things in a short period of time

Denys Pidhurskyi, a midfielder for Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, answered questions from journalists.

- What has changed in the team since Petrakov’s arrival?

- Things have changed. On the very first day, he introduced us to his style, explaining how he wants the team to play and which tactical formation to use. Most notably, we’ve switched to a system with three central defenders. This is new for us, as practically none of the guys had played in such a formation before. But with each passing day, we are getting better at executing it in training; we understand each other better, as well as what the coach expects from us. So, that is the main change I would highlight.

- How would you describe his overall impact on the team?

- Well, he is a legendary Ukrainian coach - a World Champion. We realize he possesses a wealth of experience, so we listen to him carefully and take his advice to heart. Even in this short time, he has shared many interesting insights with us. We have a lot of young players, so this is especially valuable. I’ll say it again: it’s great working with him.

- What has enabled Kryvbas to start picking up points recently?

- We’ve become a bit more focused on defense and are playing more compactly. This has been evident in our recent matches - even our forwards are contributing defensively. As a result, we’ve started finding open spaces in the attacking third. We’ve also begun to rely more on counter-attacks, which has created scoring opportunities. For instance, in the match against Bukovyna, Bar had a good chance, and there were several other promising opportunities as well. That is why they started playing more vertical football.

Media of FC "Kryvbas" Kryvyi Rih according to the materials UA. Tribuna