On Saturday, November 23, in the match of the 14th round of the Ukrainian championship, Kyiv’s “Dynamo” defeated Odesa’s “Chornomorets” with a score of 3:1. The match took place in Kyiv at the Dynamo Stadium named after Valeriy Lobanovskyi. We present to you the post-match press conference of head coach of the capital team Oleksandr Shovkovskyi.
— I congratulate “Dynamo” fans on the victory! Undoubtedly, the weather conditions have made their adjustments. Yesterday and the day before, it was impossible to conduct a full training session, as the football field was not prepared well enough. All the people we had at our disposal were involved in working on the field of the Dynamo Stadium named after Valeriy Lobanovskyi to make it ready for today’s game. And I want to thank them for their work. Although, of course, the field was not as fast as we expected today. It is important for us that the ball moves as quickly as possible.
— Explain the tactical scheme with three central defenders that you used today. Is it a one-time experiment?
— We prepare for each game separately and want to have several options at our disposal for how to act on the field. One of them is the scheme with three central defenders. We have played this way before. And we are constantly working on it. We will continue to work. Our team has a certain identity, and we will be developing different options.
Oleksandr Shovkovskyi. Photo — Yu. Yuriyev— Today was the debut of Roman Salenko for the first team of “Dynamo.” How ready is he to play at this level?
— He has been training with us before — during the breaks for national team matches. I see that he is more or less ready to strengthen our team and play. He will continue to gain playing experience in the “Dynamo U-19” matches, in the UEFA Youth League, but we will involve him in our matches as well. Now he will prepare for matches with us.
— Today “Dynamo” scored the 100th goal with you as the head coach of the team. What does this mean for you?
— For me, this means nothing. What matters to me is the winning game. And how many we scored... We could have reached this figure much earlier. And I would have been glad if that had happened. But even when I was a football player, I never looked at the statistics. Perhaps someday I will look at them. And now... Well, it is what it is.
Post-match press conference of “Chornomorets” head coach Oleksandr Babich
Oleksandr POPOV from the Dynamo Stadium named after Valeriy Lobanovskyi
