Ex-football player of Zorya Luhansk Andriy Tlumak in an interviewTEAM1 ” shared his impressions of his team’s yesterday’s match with the Romanian Universitat (1: 0) in the 3rd qualifying round of the Conference League.
Andrey Tlumak- It is important that Zorya not only won, but also kept its possessions intact. It adds a lot of confidence and inspiration. Nevertheless, we must not forget that during the long off-season, Zorya did not avoid significant personnel losses. Secondly, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Luhansk team was deprived of the necessary match practice.
- The head coach has also changed at Zorya - instead of Viktor Skrypnyk, the Dutch specialist Patrick Van Leeuwen was at the helm. Does it follow the same game concept as its predecessor?
- No, as you know, Zorya, under the leadership of Skrypnyk, used the game with the so-called "rhombus" in the middle zone, which helped Lugansk achieve noteworthy results. Now Zorya has adopted the 4-3-3 scheme when attacking and 4-5-1 when it comes to defense. This tactic is followed by many famous teams. It is sharpened for intrusiveness in attacking operations using flanks and high pressure, compactness when tackling the ball.
Another thing is that since Zorya, unlike the same Universitati, still lacks playing conditions, especially in official fights, this negatively affected reliability. Recall that due to problems with the safety net, the end of the confrontation in Lublin was quite valid, because after the set pieces were played, the Romanian team created several dangerous chances.
- In your opinion, did Zorya play enough to win?
- I think yes. After all, it was Zorya that controlled the course of events on the field. In my opinion, the class of players in our team is higher than in the "University". And I am convinced that if Zorya had normal conditions for training, then the advantage in the score would be more convincing.
- And although they say that the winners are not judged, nevertheless, what did you not like about the actions of "Dawn"?
- Since Zorya's squad has changed a lot, primarily in defense, it is not surprising that there is still a lack of teamwork, and in some moments of concentration. At this level, this is unacceptable. I am sure that during the preparation for the re-fight in Romania, the coaching staff will draw the attention of the wards to precisely these weak spots.
Although, of course, the best option to make up for lost time in eliminating shortcomings is to hold official matches. However, unfortunately, the football season has not yet been restored in Ukraine. Nevertheless, despite the fact that the result of the first confrontation is rather shaky, it allows the Ukrainian team to dictate the terms and I believe that in Craiova they will not miss their chance.
Vasily MIKHAILOV
