Dynamo U-19 head coach Ihor Kostiuk commented on his team's1-0 victory over Obolon U-19 in yesterday's youth championship match.
Igor Kostyuk. Photo - fcdynamo.com- We had big personnel problems, so today we played with a semi-experimental team. It's good that we scored a goal, but the quality of the game and, especially, ball control, ball handling, martial arts, tackling, and picking left much to be desired.
- So the changes in the starting line-up are forced measures, not the result of rotation?
- Many players missed this match because of too many yellow cards, while others were injured.
- In addition to the suspended players, Gusev and Gerich were absent today. What's wrong with them?
- Gerich is still injured, and Gusev fell ill after the game against Minaj. You know that we sat in the dressing room for two hours during the air raid alert, it was cold, and several of our players got sick, including Gusev.
- You started the game actively and scored, but then the game calmed down. Was it planned?
- You could see that today Yanchyshyn and Lobko were a little slow in performing the pressing that we traditionally do. Osipenko was missing in the middle of the pitch, and Salenko did not play in his usual position. The construct was breaking down a little bit, the players did not refine and did not understand what functions they needed to perform. They didn't adjust very quickly, so the opponent had free areas between the lines. The defenders were playing very low, taking a step forward, and this caused problems.
- Today you played in the arena. Was it difficult to switch from a natural pitch to an artificial one?
- The speed of the ball, of course, becomes slower. It's hard to dominate and create chances because the opponent has time to adjust and close the free areas. We didn't play fast today, which is why the result is as follows - we scored only one goal, and the quality of the game leaves much to be desired.
- It was the final match of the first half of the season. Can you summarise how satisfied you are with the team's performance?
- Traditionally, during the first six months of the year, we create a team. During this time, we lost a lot of points, there was no stability in the composition and play of our team, which is why we lost points. But in games with our principal rivals at the top of the standings, we showed a high quality of play, and our mood was good. We want the team to come out for every game with this attitude and show this quality.
- Do you already know the plans for the winter break? When is the holiday and training camp?
- We are going on holiday now and will gather again in January. We will start a medical examination as planned, and then we will work here in the arena. And then we'll see what the situation is with the training camp, whether we'll fly.
