Ivan Krivosheenko: "It is good that Ukraine has a championship at all".

Former Poltava Vorskla midfielder Ivan Krivosheenko summarised the results of the Conference League match Zorya vs Maccabi (1-3).

Ivan Krivosheenko

- Ivan, Zorya played against a club that had not played a single official match for a month due to the war in Israel. Who were the favourites for this match?

- I will go back a little bit. In early September, Zorya appointed Valeriy Kriventsov as the head coach of the team. Even then it became clear that we should not expect any super results from the current Zorya. The new coaching staff still have to learn a lot about their charges. Only after the winter training camp it was possible to demand something from Kriventsov. Maccabi have a similar situation with the Luhansk team. There was a war in Israel, and the team did not play anywhere for a month. I thought that this factor would affect the guests' game, but everything turned out for Maccabi in the best possible way. Maybe the first goal of centre-back Luccassen had such an impact on the game of the Ukrainian team.

- Why did the second and third goals scored by the guests quite easily - a feed to the goalkeeper's line and Maccabi player Peretz is not prevented from shooting at goal from close range?

- There are several reasons. As you know, in attack you can always rely on improvisation, but in defence you need the play of the defenders. Left defenceman Vantuh did not play in this match. On his position acted Snurnitsyn. And Jordan and Batagov lacked mutual understanding. And the actions of our defenders show that they are not in optimal conditions. Last week, Zorya conceded four goals in the cup game in Odessa, as well as two goals in Rivne - in the UPL game with Veres. The defence of the Luhansk team is not notable for its reliability.

- What impression did Maccabi make on you?

- A good club, with great traditions. Of course, because of the war a lot of things have been disturbed. However, for Ukrainian teams it has long been a well-known issue - Zorya hasn't played at home since 2014. I read that the Israeli players were training at home, while the legionnaires gathered just recently in Poland. The main goalkeeper did not come to the match with Zorya either.

- Did you like the game itself?

- If we put aside the negative score for Zorya, we liked the match very much. The opponents were looking for a chance in attack. Both teams had 38 shots on goal. But too soon the Luhansk side conceded two goals. It became very difficult to get back at 0:2.

- Are there any questions to Turbayevskyy?

- We see that so far Turbayevsky is not characterised by reliable play. Somewhere he could have played more confidently, somewhere he could have advised his defenders. This is the result. Nikita is only 21 years old and lacks experience in such important games.

- How can you assess the attacking actions of Zorya? The players had 14 shots on goal of Maccabi.

- If the starting minutes were dictated by the guests, then with the score 0:2, our players took full possession of the initiative. It was noticeable that all Zorya players, without exception, wanted to achieve a positive result. At the beginning of the second half they scored a beautiful goal, but it was cancelled by the referee because of offside. Then Alefirenko still scored a legitimate goal. No one dropped their hands, everyone wanted to score more, but many shots came directly to the goalkeeper.

- And how to comment on the replacement of Guerrero at halftime? After all, this is the best player of the team, its main asset.

- There is either some kind of injury or he was simply saved before the Ukrainian championship match against LNZ.

- On 25th November Zorya and Maccabi will play the previously missed match, most likely this game will be held in Cyprus. Do the Luhansk side have a chance to beat their main rival in the group?

- We can expect a lot from Zorya. They have young, talented players in their squad. Balance is needed in the team's game. Something needs to be done with the defence. Zorya have a pretty good chance to win the next match against Maccabi. It will be important to score first, after that the opponent will open up and it will be easier for the Luhansk team to play. Zorya always create a lot of chances at the other team's goal. We hope for Guerrero's goal sense.

- The Eurocup week for the Ukrainian teams started with Shakhtar's historic victory over Barcelona, and ended with Zorya's routine defeat to Maccabi....

- "Shakhtar, no doubt, made all our fans happy. But I will say that it is good that Ukraine generally holds the championship in wartime, and young players try to please our football fans. All our teams participating in the European Cup have heavy logistics. Travelling is exhausting, there is not much time for recovery. However, even in this situation we need to show our class.