Bartulovich: "Congratulations to the football club "Kharkiv" on their first historic victory"

The head coach of the football club "Kharkiv" Mladen Bartulovich on the victory of his team in the first round match of the new UPL season, where his players defeated "Veres" thanks to a goal by Ramik Hadzhiev:

- Congratulations to our football club on the first historic victory under the new name. This is our first official win. Congratulations to all fans and club staff. The first round is always difficult. We understood that it would be a tough game, as the boys were a bit nervous. "Veres" prepared well for the match and played. This match was very challenging for us, but I believe we deservedly won. We pressed "Veres", had chances to score earlier. We are very happy that the substitutes increased the tempo, and Ramik scored a goal. We are happy for him, as this is a very important goal that will give him confidence in the future.

- Why did you decide to play Castillo on the flank today instead of in the center, and what role was Yatsyk supposed to play?

- Regarding Castillo, I will say right away that was the plan. Tactically, he moved into the center, Ilya pushed higher, looked for the ball between the lines, as "Veres" had space that needed to be utilized. As for Yatsyk, his task was to look for passes between the lines and continue the game forward. Of course, "Veres" defended the center well, but when the opponent closed the central zone, we played through the flanks. We prepared for "Veres", and that was the plan for the game.

- Today we saw many newcomers in the team lineup. How would you evaluate their understanding of your playing philosophy?

- As for Yermakov, he has only been with us for a week. We decided to include him in the lineup, and I think we made the right decision. He is a quality goalkeeper, and he showed it today. If the team played a clean sheet, it means we did everything right. As for Parako, we knew him. He also went through training camp, just like Profini and Yatsyk trained with us, so there is already interaction among the guys. They quickly understand what we want from them. Smolyakov also joined us. I believe he will have no problems with adaptation. He also performed well in the 15-20 minutes he received today and added activity.

- Is the team ready now to fight for results in every game? Teams will play defensively against you, they respect you, they fear you. Are you ready for this?

- We are preparing for this and understand that this is how it will be. In the second round of last season, there were also many matches where teams closed up against us. We didn't always manage to break down this "bus," as you journalists like to say. Of course, we are working a lot on this. I believe that the guys who have joined us will help us act more effectively in such matches.

- As I understand, you like players of a certain profile, like Bruninho. There is still a month left until the end of the transfer window. Are there positions you want to strengthen, although the team is already quite well-equipped?

- The club is always working on strengthening the team. Throughout this month, we will see if we need to look for anyone else. Of course, I am satisfied with how the team is equipped. There is good competition, especially in the attacking line. We have versatile strikers - Itodo and Parako. Itodo needs to gain a bit more form, as he was not with us during the training camp. But I am confident that with each match, he will also improve.