Patrick van Leeuwen, head coach of Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, reflected on the team’s second friendly match during their summer training camp, a 1-2 defeat against Chornomorets Odesa.
“This was our second friendly of the summer camp, and I see these matches primarily as opportunities to build fitness and give players valuable game time,” van Leeuwen explained. “We are expecting new signings to strengthen the squad, so for some of the players, this has been a demanding workload, especially since we initially planned for each player to feature for 45 minutes. At the moment, we are also involving many players from the U-19 team, so the overall level isn’t quite where we want it to be yet. That means some players have had to put in extra effort.”
As Kryvbas wraps up the first phase of their preparation in Ukraine, the coach assessed the progress made so far. “Considering the challenging conditions, such as the hot weather and the travel to Odesa for this friendly, we have completed a significant amount of work. I believe we have reached a certain level of physical readiness that I was aiming for. The high temperatures today didn’t make things any easier on the pitch, but I expect that during the second phase in the Netherlands, where the weather will be cooler, the players will benefit from the hard work they have put in over these initial two weeks.”
Looking ahead to the next stage of the camp in the Netherlands, van Leeuwen outlined the main objectives. “We want to focus on playing matches there. We will face several European teams, so competing against them is very important for us. Additionally, we hope that new players will join us at the training camp. This period will be crucial for us to make significant progress both in our style of play and in improving the overall quality of the squad.”
