Head coach of Kyiv Dynamo Oleksandr Shovkovskyi commented on the draw result (2:2) of yesterday’s match of his team against the capital’s Obolon, which took place as part of the 5th round of the Ukrainian championship, and spoke about the situation with the newcomer of the team, forward Vladyslav Blenutsa.
Oleksandr Shovkovskyi— Based on the players’ reactions and your reaction, this is clearly not the result you expected...
— Well, we always set ourselves up for victory, but football is a game like that. To win, you need to score and avoid mistakes. We had decent chances in the first half, we had decent chances in the second half to finish the match more calmly and bring the score to victory. But instead, at the end of the match, we made a mistake and conceded from a standard. That’s football.
— Did the rotation have any impact, which I suspect had to be introduced, considering that some players were involved in the national teams?
— No, today, the players who prepared and were ready for this match came out. But I can say that I am dissatisfied with the attitude and approach of the players in this match. We did not do well in the motivational aspect. That’s for sure.
— Is there any particular role of Obolon in all of this?
— Every team has its own strategy for the match.
— What is the current condition of the players, how will this affect them emotionally?
— Of course, we are dissatisfied with the result. Certainly, the players are upset, but now we need to analyze, draw conclusions regarding the game. The players themselves need to draw conclusions about their game. Each one. And we, of course, need to draw conclusions about the team’s actions. We have a cup match with Oleksandriia in three days, so we are preparing, we will move on. We don’t have time to chew on our elbows.
— One of your newcomers, Blenutsa, was received rather coldly by the Dynamo fans today. Accordingly, I’m curious about what you told him when he came on as a substitute. Did you try to encourage him or motivate him in some way?
— Of course. He is our player. He is our fighting unit. He is one of us. We are with him.
— Perhaps you would like to say something to the Dynamo fans in this situation?
— What can I say to them? They have their vision. We do not agree with him. We need to look at what was said, how it was said, what it was about. Sometimes, without going into the details of what was said, conclusions are made.
This is our position. Blenutsa has already said everything for himself. And we want to say that he is one of us. He is with us.
