Oleksandr Sevidov: "On the background of Shakhtar in the match with Atalanta, we cannot say that Dynamo lost shamefully"

The well-known former coach, and now - soccer expert Oleksandr Sevidov shared his opinion about the match of the second round of the main round of the Europa League Hoffenheim vs Dynamo, which ended in Kyiv's defeat with the score 0:2.

- After Dinamo defeated Partizan in a two-match confrontation, they were singing dithyrambs. But let's be honest, Partizan's play was the level of an amateur team. Then they barely got through - somewhere due to a fortunate coincidence, somewhere due to the blessing of justice - Scottish "Rangers". Then a series of defeats from Salzburg (0:2), Lazio (0:3), and now - Hoffenheim (0:2). So it's not all that rosy! The criterion of the team's level is not the UPL, but the European cups?

- I have repeatedly told those who claim that our championship is growing... All these "results" are an echo of our championship. We seem to be playing in the league, but when we go to the European cups, we seem not to be playing. We cannot say against the background of Shakhtar in the match with Atalanta that Dynamo lost shamefully. There is something to compare with. "Dynamo played better than Shakhtar, but alas...And who else to be equal to, if not our two flagships of Ukrainian soccer? But we are weaker even than those teams, which are currently in the basement of the standings. "Hoffenheim" takes 16th place out of 18, in five matches missed as many as 15 goals, but beats "Dynamo". "Atalanta" in the championship - 12th place, but easily declares "Shakhtar". It should be noted, "Hoffenheim" beat the Kyivians, also not straining much. Dynamo's problem has not gone anywhere - it is the center of defense. Plus add to it that Brazhko, the connecting axis of the entire center of the pre-defense, looks unimportant now; as a result, we are constantly scored in the center. He does not fulfill the main function of a center back - to burn everything that moves and approaches the goal. The second goal - he just stopped, letting himself be easily passed. In my opinion, this is an echo of our weak championship. If Dynamo does not have any problems on the domestic arena, then in the European Cup everything comes out. We need to properly defend not only in numbers, but also in skills. Tactically Dynamo are playing very badly now.

- The second goal to Dynamo is very similar to the two goals scored by Lazio - through the whole saturated defense and the center of the penalty area. The opposing players easily cut through the center, penetrating deep, and calmly score.

- Two supporting players - Mikhaylenko and Brazhko - let them do it, and behind them two central defenders Popov and Mikhavko do not act in the best way. It is not the best game of Mikhavko, and on a shot he did not have time to reach the ball when the first goal was scored, and in the second he did not have time to block the opponent's player. There are both individual mistakes and team mistakes.

- If we talk about team mistakes when scoring the first goal, there are big claims to Kabaev. He was the one who did not close this position during a long pass to the left defender's zone. Where is the diagonal backup of the defender?

- Yes, if he was on the spot, he would have probably tried to prevent to receive and shoot into the penalty area. And then one forward surrounded by defenders after the shot crosses the ball into the goal. And it turns out that Kabaev did not have time to close the feed zone, Mikhavko did not have time to react to the shot, here you have team defense.

- In the first half, except for a dangerous long-range shot of Brazhko, Kyiv did not create anything. Yes, there were attacks, there were approaches, but there was no sharpness at the opponent's goal.

- Unfortunately, the flanks played poorly. There were no escalations, few shots. The same Kabaev looked better before he was called up to the national team, and he used to escalate, beat, earned free kicks, but in this game his efficiency was low.

- It seemed that Dynamo played without emotions and looked a bit tired. Do you agree?

- If we compare our leading clubs, Dynamo played without emotions, but how did Shakhtar play then? Until the first goal was conceded, the game was equal, but these mistakes... No matter how you play, but if you make such mistakes in defense, as we said above, you will still lose. The only thing that can be noted at Dynamo is the appearance of eleven Ukrainians on the pitch, many of whom are the club's pupils. This is a huge plus!

- There was a hope that after Lazio the Kyivians would rehabilitate themselves and at least draw. But it didn`t work out. What's next?

- Everything is measured by championships. Our championship is much lower in terms of level compared to the same championships of Germany and Italy. Dynamo had no counterarguments against Hoffenheim. Everything is logical, everything is natural. The Germans were stronger and deservedly won. After they scored the second goal, the game even went into a boring phase. Dynamo had no chance for at least a prestige goal. One can find reasons for the unsuccessful matches: the difficult situation in the country, difficult logistics of traveling, lack of time for recovery and so on.

Serhiy Shebek