Former player of Dnipro and the Ukrainian national team Andrey Polunin analyzed the Rennes-Dynamo match within the third round of the Europa League group stage, and also shared his opinion on the situation in the Kiev club.
Andrey Polunin- Even at the pre-match press conference, Kiev coach Mircea Lucescu expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the delegation of his team lives in a hotel located 60 kilometers from the city of Rennes. Is this a clear failure of the management of the Kyiv club?
“Now it’s such a time that, because of the war, our participants in European competitions spend a lot of time on buses and planes. This is a statement of fact. Shakhtar, Dnepr-1 and Dynamo spend a lot of time on the road. There is only time left for recovery, and there is no time for the training process. It is difficult for me to understand why the management of Dynamo did not book a hotel in the city of Rennes at the end of August, when the draw for the Europa League group stage took place.
- Before the match, Dynamo had 0 points in their group and, of course, wanted to score points in France. What did you see on the Roazon Park field?
- If you take the whole fight and how it developed, then a draw could well have been recorded in this meeting. In the first half, the French played much more actively than Dynamo, and sharp moments at Boyko's goal arose regularly. Rennes players opened the scoring, but our players were able to level the score thanks to a great attack. Dubinchak started it, then Besedin wittily dropped the ball to Buyalsky, who rolled the ball under the blow of Tsygankov.
After the break, the Dynamo players played more compactly and could well count on a draw. The hosts' mentor Bruno Genesio made four substitutions in the second half, releasing mainly the youth. I read it after the end of the fight, in the last minutes, six people who were born from 2002 to 2005 played in Rennes. And the second goal in their squad was scored by Douai, who is only 17 years old.
- Let's remember the goals conceded by Dynamo Kyiv in this match...
- Our defenders tried to go on the attack using a pass. However, they often played defensive midfielders who were under constant pressure. Zabarny and Popov were to blame for the first missed goal. The first one lost his zone, and the second one just let Terrier break through from not the easiest position. Popov needed to play more aggressively. He needed to be closer to the opponent, put pressure on him.
And the second goal? Popov just gave the ball to the opponent. You can't play like that. We need to act securely.
- Lucescu immediately replaced him, calling it educational work. How would you react to the situation with Popov in your time, when you played in Dnipro or the Ukrainian national team?
- In the locker room, they would talk to him like a man. The team really needs points in the Europa League, UEFA pays prize money for each point scored, and here it is. He will not be put on the next matches.
- In addition to defense, there are big questions to the line of attack. Only three shots were made by the Dynamo team. What do you associate this with?
- The team must have qualified forwards. They don't exist now. That's the whole answer. We see that Parris and Lonwijk have joined Dynamo. Why don't they play in such an important match? When I left to play in Germany, they immediately put me in the squad and demanded the full program from me. Nobody wanted to wait. There are two options: either you play and integrate into the team, or you sit on the bench.
- Artem Besedin with Dynamo since 2016. During this time, he played many games in the group stage of the Champions League and Europa League and scored only 1 (!) goal in European competition. These numbers are humiliating for a striker at such a great club.
- I agree with it. Besedin is a defensive striker. For him, the main thing is to impose a fight. But what if Dynamo has no forwards. Many say that foreigners will not come to us. But this is not so. Foreigners joined the trains of Shakhtar, Vorskla, Dnepr-1 in the summer. Dynamo Kiev spends a lot of time in Europe, only rarely visiting Ukraine, playing UPL matches.
- Why didn't Mircea Lucescu make a single substitution until the 79th minute in the match against Rennes? Did everything suit him?
- He looked at the result. While there was a draw, he did not want to break anything. There were no major failures. The hosts often hit from outside the penalty area. Play Kiev 1:1 in France, it would be perfect. But...
- After the end of the match, many people remembered the phrase to Dynamo President Igor Surkis: "It's better to play in the Europa League and win than to lose in the Champions League with a humiliating score."
- We see that this season and in the Premier League, not everything is so good at Dynamo. We all know the brand of Kyiv Dynamo. When the team wins, everyone is happy, and when the team loses, the fans have every right to demand better performance and results from their favorites.
- Under coach Lucescu, Dynamo played 15 matches in the group stage of the Champions League and Europa League, scoring only one victory. These figures are simply humiliating for the capital club. How to explain it?
— Yes, there is no result. But, in addition to the head coach, it is necessary that the leaders of the club share the responsibility. We need to strengthen the team. It is clear that we do not know the whole situation in the club, but after all, there is no particular competition in the roster.
In support of Mircea Lucescu, I will say that he twice led the team to the Champions League group stage. Perhaps he squeezed the maximum out of the available players. To grow the club further, you need to buy new players. Look, Zabarny, Sidorchuk, Tsyganskov and Buyalsky know that they will always take the field in the first team. They are irreplaceable. It should not be. Dynamo has a tight schedule and it is necessary that there are two players per position, and at the same level.
- In your opinion, is Dynamo still capable of taking third place in the group and being in the Conference League?
- There are always chances. There is nothing special about AEK. Yes, you need to win with a difference of two goals, because at home Dynamo lost 0:1. But if Dynamo wants to qualify for European Cups from the group, then they need to score points and not only with the Cypriots.
