Arda Turan, who won the Ukrainian championship with Shakhtar Donetsk, spoke to Turkish media outlet Hürriyet. The youthful coach revealed his ambitions for the forthcoming season.
Arda Turan led Shakhtar Donetsk, which he signed with at the start of the season, to the title three weeks before the league’s completion. Shakhtar won 20 games, drew six, and lost one in 27 league matches this season under the 39-year-old coach.
Despite this, he avoided his home city, training facilities, and stadium. Shakhtar, who does not play in Donetsk owing to the continuing war in Ukraine, trains roughly 20 kilometres from Kyiv and plays at the Lviv Arena, which is 540 kilometres away.
As a result, Shakhtar Donetsk must fly just 540 kilometres in the other direction to play its home matches while the country’s airspace remains restricted. When the psychological impact of the bombs and sirens is considered, it is evident how much of a battle the squad went through to win the championship, both mentally and physically.
In this climate, Arda Turan, who led his team to victory in his first year in office, informed Hürriyet about his post-championship feelings:
“It feels great to be the champion. First and foremost, I would like to thank all my football players who contributed to this championship, their families, my technical team, all the professionals of the club, and our fans who supported us wherever we went under these difficult conditions. I believe we represented a game that suits the culture and spirit of Shakhtar on the pitch. We tried to establish an understanding that was based on playing like Shakhtar. I’d want to thank all of my football players who contributed to this title, their families, my technical staff, all of the club’s professionals, and our supporters for their support wherever we travelled in these challenging conditions. I believe we portrayed Shakhtar’s culture and spirit on the pitch. We sought to reach an agreement based on playing like Shakhtar: controlling the ball, passing and reacting, and generating threat in the third zone.”
The young coach emphasised that they were able to develop young players while competing in both the UEFA Conference League and the league, saying, “I think all my players have done a really special job. Despite the travel in unusual conditions and the fixture, they did a superhuman job. Now we have a Champions League ahead of us that we will participate in directly. We are a very young and developing team, and we want to write a new story in the Champions League.” Despite the odd weather and the situation, they performed incredibly well. We now have a Champions League in which we will immediately participate. We are a young, developing team. We hope to write a fresh tale in the Champions League next year. I’m really thrilled about my team, my players, and our fans.
