Oleg Kuznetsov: «Not to miss much from 'Roma' — that was the hope and even the task»

Former defender of Kyiv's Dynamo Oleg Kuznetsov shared impressions from the match of his former team against the Italian Roma (0:1) in the 3rd round of the main stage of the Europa League, which took place yesterday in Rome.

— It is clear that all Dynamo’s thoughts were about the upcoming match against Shakhtar, which was the reason for the rotation, — noted Oleg Vladimirovich. — Never before has Dynamo under the leadership of Alexander Shovkovsky played with three central defenders, and if they had faced this experimental Roma with the starting squad, they could have dreamed of a good result. But everyone saw what was prioritized. By the way, this game confirmed the opinion that Dynamo does not have two equally strong squads for performing on the European stage this season. For the Ukrainian championship — yes, they do, but no more than that.

— Did the necessity of rotation make Shovkovsky choose a scheme with three central defenders?

— Of course, because there was hope, and even a task, — to not concede much from Roma. In fact, eight players went to play in defense. It is clear that it was a precaution and a calculation for a successful counterattack.

— The fate of the match was decided by a single goal, which was the result of Taras Mikhavko's mistake…

— This is elementary carelessness. Before that, Mikhavko had heard many good words and quite a few compliments. But what happened in the match with Roma cannot be overlooked… Mikhavko needs to be called in for a conversation and, figuratively speaking, be given a dressing down. Such a foul — this is a childish mistake, for which he will be scolded even in the U-19 team. Earlier, Mikhavko's misses were attributed to youth, however now his foul led to a defeat in the Europa League… But Taras will not be sent to the bench, and he will play against Shakhtar.

— At the forefront of the attack was Guerrero, who seemed to have played well, especially in the first half.

— I expected more from him. Yes, he tried, clung to the ball, could have scored, however, Guerrero played better at Zorya. We hoped that he would become the main forward, but for now Guerrero is a player for rotation. It is known that he is a guy with character, and there were times in his career when he even got into a fight with coaches when he was unhappy with a substitution. So, we are expecting more from this legionnaire.

— What do you think of Artem Dovbik's performance?

— He plays his game. And he is dependent on good passes from his teammates. I am sure that if Dybala had played for Roma from the first minutes, Dovbik would have had many more goal-scoring opportunities at Dynamo’s goal. It was difficult for him to play alone against three center-backs of Dynamo. And compare this with the advantages that Shomurodov had in the second half, with Dybala assisting him…

— Did the substitutions made by Shovkovsky enhance Dynamo’s game?

— Yes, for the better. Vanat opened up a lot and well, and corners and free kicks appeared for Dynamo. I think this was planned even before the starting whistle — to reliably play the first 60 minutes, and then the main players come on, and the team tries to achieve some positive result.

Of course, it is regrettable to concede such a goal, however, I have no doubt that 90 percent of the fans and specialists surveyed before the match would have said that we risk losing to Roma with a score of 0:7, and in the end it turned out to be — 0:1… We went out to defend and once made a serious mistake. Everyone also understands that the opponent was an Italian team, which usually scores one goal and then defends. It would have been unbelievable if Dynamo, in such a situation, hoped for victory.

Oleg Semenchenko