The head coach of the men’s national team of Russia Lev Voronin shared impressions with Handballfast of the matches of the Friendship Games in Moscow. To recall, the rejuvenated Russian team ceded to Belarus twice with a score of 26:28, 26:32.
— Of course, we are disappointed. The team deserved better. We could hook at least a draw in the first match. Losses provide food for analysis, — Lev Gennadyevich noted. — Both matches followed a similar script. We were chasing in the score, we leveled the situation about the same time, but missed the opportunity to take a lead. Our players made simple losses in key moments that, in fact, led to a negative result.
— There was a bright memorable episode at the end of the first match, when Artem Korolek ran up from behind and took the ball from Anton Aksyukov. Why didn’t his partners warn him at this moment?
— Firstly, Aksyukov could have made a pass to the player who supported him on the left. In this case the defender wouldn’t have known whom to focus on. Then, as you’ve said, Anton should have been warned, of course.
We draw attention of the players to the necessity to communicate with each other on the court. This skill also needs to be developed. The question concerns not a certain episode, but a constant practice.
— Coaches scold silent goalkeepers who don’t lead the defense in football…
— It’s easier to observe the court to wing players in handball. They see line players and the entire back line of the rival, including playmaker who makes certain gestures to give his partners instructions. The wing player has to inform another defender about actions of the competitors, and he in his turn has to pass on the information further.
We played well in defense in the first match. We allowed the rivals to score 28 balls, even though the national team of Belarus has a strong back line. Actually, less than 30 missed goals is the rate of a decent defense. While there were complications in attack. But we had already lost 17 goals by the break. It was too much.
— Do you, probably, have claims against many players?
— Complaints start with yourself. Everyone has to analyze his play and the information that the coaching staff had tried to convey.
— How do you rate the performance of young debutants — 19-year-old Ivan Shelmenko and 18-year-old Ivan Erkanov?
— It seems that Shelmenko failed to cope with anxiety to the full extent. Though he has a very good potential and desire to work. I suppose, everything will be fine if he has enough game practice.
Erkanov has exceptional physical condition abilities for the wing player, though he represents the Premier League team. I hope he will play in the Super League in the nearest future. He is definitely a candidate for the position of the right wing in the national team.
— Erkanov played one and a half halves despite the status of a debutant. You trusted him to play the second match without substitution!
— It’s not that we don’t trust Anatoly Filippov, who is also a young guy with great physical condition abilities. Ivan just proved himself in the first half. And we wanted to win. Finally, Erkanov scored 4 goals. And he also pleased with the fact that he returned to defense in the style of Korolek and managed to swipe the ball. We failed to see Nikita Kashnikov in action. But this tall player has a good potential. We’ll keep working with him.
— Kirill Akramov played only one minute, but managed to score a goal at the very end of the second match.
— Well done! He saw an opportunity for a throw and succeeded. Objectively, guys who are 18-20 years old now need only game practice and individual work on their own technical and physical base.
— Let’s talk about experienced players. Aleksandr Ermakov didn’t flaunt productivity. Is the reason that it was hard to fight with Artem Korolek and Vyacheslav Bokhan?
— Pivots, like wing players, depend on partners, who have to supply him with assists. They are the final stage players. If the pivot is invisible, it often means that partners didn’t find him.
We analyzed video recording of the first match and became convinced of the fact that there were moments when it was quite possible to make assists to Ermakov and wingers. But we have zero throws from the right side per game and two throws from the left and even then in the majority. Thus, the team never made a positional attack neither from the right nor from the left side. We focused on this aspect and in the second match Dmitriy Kiselev made a couple of good assists to Erkanov that allowed him to attack.
— Do you, probably, have questions in this connection to playmakers, primarily, to Saveliy Shalabanov, who played much more than Aleksandr Arkatov?
— There are questions. Ilya Belevtsov assisted more than central back players.
— Is there a lack of teamwork?
— Definitely. We had only six training days in total during two training sessions prior to the meeting with Belarus in Mogilev in November and to the Moscow matches. Game practice is necessary for teamwork, as well as constant communication — athletes need to talk to each other in any situation.
— You said before the Friendship Games that the core of the renewed national team had been defined. Still, should we expect any changes in the squad? Didn’t you come to the conclusion that some players of the national team do not pull?
— Point changes are possible. We have a large reserve list. It is possible that someone will prove himself in the Super League matches and will deserve his chance. It’s a common story.
— Did you manage to get a glimpse of the matches with the national team of players both in 2008 and younger?
— I watched it. I am proud of guys. The guys from the Belarusian team play together for about a year. However, our guys didn’t take a back seat, demonstrated dedication in the fight for victory and achieved it. As far as I know, the breeding work is underway in the team, and new players will be called to it in the future. The general impression of their performance if good.
Photo: The HFR press
