On Sunday, October 16, in the away match of the 7th round of the Ukrainian Championship, Dynamo Kyiv lost to Shakhtar Donetsk with a score of 1:3. The meeting was held in Lviv at the Arena Lviv stadium. Your attention is the post-match press conference of the head coaches of the teams.
Mircea Lucescu. Photo — A.PopovMircea LUCHESCU, Dynamo head coach:
— Shakhtar deserved to win. Against the backdrop of our incredible mistakes. Shakhtar looked fresher, played at higher speeds, we could not rise to such a level and were inferior to the opponent, first of all, in speed. But the game was equal until a certain moment, until we missed the opponent when taking a corner, when we conceded a goal. There were other similar moments. For example, an episode with a penalty kick against our goal. These moments, the lack of concentration allowed the opponent to score goals.
Ruslan - well done, pulled out a penalty, and then the beginning of the second half was good - we equalized the score. But literally a minute later they missed the opponent's attack. Mudrik wedged into the middle, he does it well - there should have been insurance there. In the first half, we coped well with such passes by Mudrik, but after the break we missed him and immediately got a goal. The deletion also happened against the background of our mistakes. The goalkeeper and defenders had to "read" the situation in that episode. Mistakes lead to goals, and goals lead to victory.
All those mistakes for which the opponent punished us today are unacceptable for me. For example, it is not clear to me how Zabarny could act in such a way in the episode that led to his removal. He should have played easier. True, my opinion: the judges could have limited themselves to a yellow card.
After the score became 2:1, Shakhtar began to fully control the course of the game. We fussed, hurried, and, moreover, were in the minority. I did not see confidence in the actions of my wards.
— How will you set up the team for the next match against Metalist?
- It will be necessary to carry out a certain rotation. Tomorrow morning we leave early for Kyiv. Upon arrival, it will be necessary to decide who is the freshest - these performers will play with Metalist. We will have at least one full training day. And then we, in fact, are not training now, but only skating.
In addition to recovery activities, there are no scheduled workouts that allow you to maintain your condition. Buyalsky, Tsygankov and Sidorchuk I released from training the day before.
I hope the guys will recover by Thursday. More recent ones will be included in the squad for the match against Metalist.
- What is the reason why newcomers to the team don't play - Lohnwijk, Parris, Diallo?
- I see them every day at training, and I see that they are not ready to play yet. They have to get to know the partners, the team. It is difficult to conduct experiments just a few days after new players have arrived on the team. They must adapt to the team, and the team must adapt to them.
- You said that Dynamo lost to Shakhtar in terms of speed. And before, your team lost in speed to Rennes, Fenerbahce... Why is this happening? Would you like to apologize to the Dynamo fans for such a game?
— On the contrary, I encourage the players, I try to raise their morale. I understand what you mean, but at the same time, you must also enter into the position of a team that constantly travels around, changing fields, countries, hotels. This affects the state of the team, the players.
In addition, I cannot say that the opponents dominated us in the lost matches, I cannot say that they had a big advantage. The advantage was the goals that were the result of our individual mistakes. It was these mistakes that led to goals and our defeats.
And nothing will change - there will be the same crossings, buses, planes. It is difficult in such conditions to maintain concentration, the morale of the team. Especially against the backdrop of unsuccessful matches
Everything changed after the departure from Benfica. Desolation has come. And then the failures followed in a row. As if something broke in our game. But we still did not concede: the details decided the outcome of the matches. The same goes for today's game.
We need to mentally lift the guys. We are waiting for new matches - on Thursday, Sunday. I hope that after returning to Kyiv, the team will prepare better for these two games. Including psychologically.
- What did Igor and Grigory Surkis say in the locker room after today's match?
- Everything that happens in the locker room is our internal affairs. All this remains in the collective.
Igor Yovichevich. Photo - A.PopovIhor JOVICEVIC, Shakhtar head coach:
- Happy and proud for the team - it stops, continues to be hungry and ready for new challenges Football belongs to the players. They make decisions on the football field. And I can only be proud of them. They give me an incentive, inspiration to work even more powerfully.
This is my first classic. My dream has always been to beat the giants. And when I coached Karpaty, and when I coached Dnepr-1. The better team won today. This should give us confidence, but not self-confidence.
- This is your first victory over Lucescu. How important is this to you?
“Perhaps my answer will not suit you. Today it was not Jovićević and Lucescu who played, today Shakhtar and Dynamo played. I am happy and proud to coach such a team. And Lucescu is a top coach. As a young coach, I want to achieve the same results that he achieved. I must respect him. I try to take something from each coach. So Lucescu has already helped me realize myself as a coach.
— Are Shakhtar at their peak now?
— I don't believe in peak form. You must always be ready to give your best. Today's result is the result of a huge amount of work multiplied by talent and hunger for victories. You can't press a button and beat Dynamo.
- Today, Shakhtar won again, but at the same time they did not have an advantage in terms of ball control...
- I don't want to be a slave to ball control, I don't want to be a slave to one scheme, one style. Style is a team that fights for the result. The team must be a star. And ball control is not at all an indicator that a team is playing well.
- Why wasn't today's match played in Krakow or London?
— I don't have an answer to your question. In my understanding, there was no alternative to Lviv today.
Alexander POPOV from the stadium "Arena Lviv"
