Former Ukraine national footballer Oleksandr Prizetko shared his expectations from the first match of the Conference League play-off round Dynamo vs Besiktas.
Oleksandr Prizetko- I don't consider Dynamo as favourites, but if we take this pair as a whole, the favourite for me is Besiktas. But again, not a clear favourite, because everything can happen.
- Before the game in the European Cup, do you think the Kyiv team will have time to recover after a tough match with Chornomorets in Odessa?
- Again, when Dynamo played in Odessa? This is a team that sets itself tasks to get somewhere, to win something, the team knows what it is going for. Every year, the team, which takes part in European cups, faces such moments. All matches in the UPL should be so hard. There should not be passing games, we do not want to see passing games in our championship. In Odessa they gave them a fight, and everyone presses on the fact that Kyivians did not recover there. Everyone thinks that this is no excuse at all, but there is a roster of players, there is rotation of the squad.
- In your opinion, what do the current Dynamo lack in the games on the Euro arena?
- I can only express my own opinion. Watching these matches Dynamo play, I think they lack some confidence. "Dynamo is Dynamo. When the team entered Europe, it could win, could lose, could draw. But there was confidence. And here, in my opinion, there is no confidence, in the same games, in which Kyiv team won, against the same Aris. There was no confidence. I don`t know what they lack, it seems that the team is not the first year, there are new players, but they always join, there are losses and acquisitions.
- This season the team has the task to reach the group stage of the Conference League. If Dynamo fail to reach the next stage, is it necessary to change something in the team, is it reasonable to dismiss Mircea Lucescu?
- There are tasks. "Dynamo" is such a club, which sets itself tasks. The coach goes for it, goes under the task, he knows that there is a task - to get to the group stage of the Conference League. But I just do not see something in Dynamo, for example, that the coach added, roughly speaking, if we compare his work in Shakhtar Donetsk. Everything was different, there were Brazilians. Even if we compare it with the time when he came in his first season at Dynamo. Everyone remembers very well what he did from those players who were at hand. He immediately made a leap of two steps. And now, I think, what we see is treading on the ground.
- Anxiety or positivity before the game with Besiktas?
- Without positivity, there is no place at all. I will still believe that Dynamo will beat Besiktas. The Turks do not have such a super team. "Besiktas" in the last game, as far as I remember, in the Turkish championship played not with the strongest opponent, 1:0 they won and conceded in the last minute. 1:1 at home played. So we should not be afraid of the Turks.
- What would you advise the Dynamo players before the game in Bucharest?
- I can only say one thing that I do not see in Dynamo. Even in the UPL is confidence. We are all used to it, especially fans with a long history, no matter how Dynamo played, it could lose or draw, but the team played confidently, created moments. Maybe not everything worked out, but they played. And today I do not see it.
- Andriy Yarmolenko's return to Dynamo. What to expect from it?
- I think it depends on Andriy himself. But I think that he is a professional in this respect. I see how he is worried, how he is happy about his goals in the Ukrainian championship, because for him it is like he came back already a master, recognised, but young players will be reaching for him. I think this is only a plus for the team as well. I am sure that they listen to him and he pulls, they follow him, it is a good factor.
- Are there any players for you in Dynamo's lineup today, who can come out and change the situation on the pitch?
- I like Shaparenko very much, he plays forward a lot, aggravates. There are Shaparenko, Buyalskiy, players who can decide at this level. Plus Yarmolenko. Perhaps, Vanat, he has already played, I like him, because he can also decide. His statistics is not bad, he scores. I think that experience will come to him, he has the desire, he has aspiration, and the most important thing is that he scores.
