Shakhtar Donetsk, a Ukrainian club from the city of Donetsk that now plays its home games
in Kharkiv due to the conflicts affecting its home region, have been a consistent force
in Ukrainian football and regularly appeared in European cup competitions.
Indeed, along with Dinamo Kiev, they are one of only two clubs from the Ukraine to have
won a continental competition, defeating Werder Bremen in 2009 to with the then UEFA Cup.
Shakhtar have a reputation for finding, developing, and selling high quality players from the
region but also from South America.
Chelsea’a Willian and Manchester City’s Fernandinho were both bought by Shakhtar from
Brazilian clubs.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan spent four seasons at Shaktar before moving to Borussia Dortmund.
Other Shakhtar graduates include three times Ukrainian footballer of the year Anatoliy
Tymoshchuk, Douglas Costa, now at Juventus on loan from Bayern, and Alex Teixeira, who
set a record at the time for the most expensive transfer to a Chinese club when he moved to
Jiangsu Suning.
Shakhtar, currently managed by Portuguese coach Paulo Fonseca, compete in a much restructured
Ukrainian Premier League.
The first round of the league sees all teams play each other twice, before, in early March,
the league splits into a top six and bottom six to play for the Championship and European
qualification in one, and to avoid relegation in the other.
Shakhtar Donetsk finished the first half of the 2017/18 season top, and are currently
second in the Championship group of clubs – they have, of course, also competed in
this season’s Champions League, going out on away goals to Roma in the Round of 16.
Fonseca favours a 4-2-3-1 with Shakhtar, and their on-pitch style reflective of their team
building philosophy – a mix of Ukrainian players, often coming from the club’s academy
system, providing the defensive spine behind an exhilarating blend of South American attacking
talents.
Against weaker opposition, which in the Ukrainian Premier League is everyone except Dinamo Kiev,
Shakhtar play with a high line.
They aim to compress the space and while the defensive shape is 4-2-3-1 with a fairly deep
pivot, they press in a way that further shifts their back line towards the opposition goal
by squeezing the opposition player in possession.
This can be risky, and Shakhtar can be vulnerable to long balls or teams that counter quickly
and directly; by and large, though, their centre backs have enough ability to recover,
assisted by the midfield pivot.
This deeper-lying pair, usually Fred and Taras Stepanenko, are also crucial for Shakhtar’s
transitions.
The centre backs, Ivan Ordets and Yaroslav Rakitskiy like to carry the ball forwards,
and rotate possession with the midfield pivot to create space for this movement forwards.
The centre backs will even carry the ball into the opposition half themselves, with
one of the pivot filling in.
Shakhtar’s full backs push high and work well with the inside forwards, Bernard and
Marlos, and as Shakhtar move up the pitch the formation looks like a 2-4-4, with a controlled,
quick shifting of possession left to right or vice versa through the square of possession
at the back.
The transition into attack also sees one of the pivot happy to push forwards in support,
while Taison drops off or pushes up level with front man Facundo Ferreyra.
This gives Fonseca’s team a very dangerous ability to shift possession wide or through
the middle, with players dropping and pushing up, which drags opposition markers out of
position.
Fred is especially adept at getting forwards to support the attack while also being a solid
defensive midfielder.
He often plays raking through passes at an angle for Ferreyra to run onto in the half
spaces – the striker can then look to pass the ball wide to a support runner, or look
inside for Taison arriving late from the central attacking midfield position.
Shakhtar have a high number of players who are quick, clever on the ball, and play with
a degree of freedom that makes them exciting to watch.
This is not confined to the Brazilian players in the squad either – Ferreyra is from Argentina,
but Butko is a full back who gets forwards well, and the first choice centre backs are
very capable on the ball.
Their commitment to attacking, sometimes leaving only the ‘keeper and two centre backs in
a defensive position, does mean that Shakhtar can be vulnerable, but it also makes them
a very entertaining team.
Paulo Fonseca has developed a style that the players are comfortable with, that works to
their strengths, and generates great football.
It’s little surprise the Portuguese manager has been linked with jobs in Europe’s top
five leagues –Shakhtar’s fabled development line extends to more than just Brazilian midfielders.