On Saturday, September 3, in the match of the 3rd round of the Ukrainian Championship, Dynamo Kyiv lost to Zorya Luhansk with a score of 2:3. The meeting was held in Kyiv at the Dynamo Stadium named after Valery Lobanovsky. Your attention is the post-match press conference of the head coaches of the teams.
Mircea Lucescu. Photo — Y. YuryevMircea LUCHESCU, Dynamo head coach:
— Today, Dynamo football player Brazhko, who plays on loan at Zorya, scored the decisive goal. Previously loaned players did not play against Dynamo. What changed?
- I didn't know that Brazhko would play. But regardless of this, it is important that he plays, improves his skills. I can only congratulate him on the goal.
While working at Shakhtar, I also allowed some loan players to play against my club. But this time, it was not me who made the decision.
I don't deal with loan players, I deal with my team. Our defensive mistakes are worrying. This was the key moment today: after all, we were on the move in the second half, we were ready to score the second goal with the score 2:1, but again we made a mistake...
The game of the team as a whole is also worrying. There was a lot of nerves and fuss in the actions of our players. This allowed the opponent to get organized, to go into good counterattacks, with the help of which Zorya scored today.
The desire of the guys was great. But this desire, on the contrary, interfered with them - they fussed, hurried. And the quickly conceded ball brought additional nervousness. It was not possible to make the last pass correctly - in many respects precisely because of these emotions and nervousness.
Before the match, I told the guys that we are now going through a difficult moment. In addition to the negative results, Tsygankov and Popov were injured, and Vivcharenko was taken to the hospital tonight. These moments affect the general state of the team.
Before the start of the season, we played 21 control matches, 18 of which were won and 3 were drawn. We were confident in our abilities. What happened now is hard to explain. This moment must be experienced.
We withstand the load, we move well. Most likely, problems in terms of psychology: the players were not with their relatives for a long time, there were many exhausting trips. In a word, there are many factors that fetter the players and create a nervous atmosphere.
Now we need to switch to the next match, get ready for the duel with Fenerbahce in the first round of the Europa League group stage. In the Ukrainian Championship, we will still have the opportunity to catch up, and in the Europa League we have to cling to every point.
With regret, I must say again that there are many pauses in the championship matches, doctors often take the field. The fragmented course of the game unnerves the players, knocks down the rhythm, and does not give the team the opportunity to show their game. The referees constantly tell each player what to do, explain the reason for stopping the game, and so on. This is used by teams that lead in the score.
Congratulations to Zorya and its coach on the victory. Our opponent achieved such a result, first of all, due to a great desire to win. Zorya played uninhibitedly, we allowed them many liberties, gave them many zones. Due to nervousness, many mistakes were made - both individual and tactical.
You can discuss our squad for today's match, but given the upcoming moves and busy schedule of matches, I have to rotate. I don’t blame anyone from those who played in the first half, but something needed to be changed, so during the break I made three substitutions at once.
Patrick Van Leeuwen. Photo - Y. YuryevPatrick VAN LEEWEN, Zorya head coach:
- We were preparing to show our football and we managed to do it in moments today. We could score even more today. There were at least two moments in which we had to score.
In general, our team deserves compliments for today's game. All the guys gave themselves from the first to the last minute of the match and strove to carry out the installation for the game.
I would like, of course, more ball control. So we have more work to do. There are many young players in our team who have played little at this level.
- How do you assess Brazhko's potential? How ready is he to play in the Premier League?
- Since he scored the ball today, it means that he is ready. In general, I am satisfied with Brazhko's attitude to work. He listens not only to what I say, but also to what more experienced players tell him.
Alexander POPOV from the Dynamo Stadium named after Valery Lobanovsky
