On Thursday, October 23, in the 2nd round match of the main stage of the Conference League, Kyiv Dynamo lost 0:3 away to Turkish Samsunspor. Here is the post-match press conference of Dynamo’s head coach Oleksandr Shovkovskyi.
— Tiare made two costly mistakes, how do you assess his play?
— I don’t agree there were two mistakes, but we can’t come out of the locker room already trailing 0:1. Certainly, such mistakes affect the team’s performance and overall result. Although with the score at 0:1, we had a great chance we should have taken advantage of—when we failed to score into an empty net. This is also a mistake that influenced the final result. As I said, the devil is in the details. Unfortunately, these details have recently not been in our favor. We make mistakes both in defense organization and in attack, failing to capitalize on our chances.
— In the first half, both wingers were active. Why was it so rare to find yourselves in the opponent’s penalty box?
— Because the opponent tried to do everything to prevent it. In some cases, individual skills were not at their best. To win matches, you need to win micro-duels in both defense and attack. Unfortunately, this component from our side was of poor quality today. Although in the first half, before the second conceded goal, I can’t say we played poorly or didn’t have chances to better realize the opportunities we had. But the score is on the scoreboard.
— It was Rubchynskyi’s first match of the current season. How ready was he, and how do you assess his play?
— He had a difficult period. He returned to the team’s camp after training and playing for the youth team, like the other 9 players who joined the team two weeks after preseason started since they were preparing with U23. It had its impact. He sustained an injury, quite a serious one, and missed the entire preparation stage. Then he worked hard, and recently his efforts allowed him to earn a spot in the starting lineup. I believe he played the first half at a sufficiently high level, then it became noticeable that he struggled. theless, I’m pleased with his work and attitude. I’ll say again, he had a challenging period, and considering he missed a lot, how he prepared deserves praise. Kudos to him.
— In two main stage matches of the Conference League, you haven’t earned any points. What are your plans for the future?
— We will prepare for each game, aiming to improve our tournament standing, achieve victories, and earn points.
— Of the injured players, who do you think was missed today?
— You want me to call out individuals. One can say we missed everyone. We can talk about someone specifically, but the situation is what it is. Certainly, the absence of players doesn’t give us additional opportunities, but we must deal with what we have at the moment.
— Overall, how can you comment on today’s match?
— Let’s be honest: whatever anyone says, the situation in our country affects a lot of things. I’ve stopped talking about this because we are heavily criticized for allegedly blaming our failures on the situation in Ukraine. But frankly, this cannot be overlooked or ignored. Players who could strengthen the team don’t want to come to us or demand absurd and unattainable salaries in our reality.
It’s very difficult to be competitive relying solely on our Academy. When the war started in 2022, many boys from our Youth Football School left Ukraine and are now playing successfully in Spain, Italy, Germany, and other countries. These are the players that were expected to strengthen Dynamo and be in the main team. The situation today is very challenging not just for football but for the whole country. These are obvious moments, but I’ve stopped talking about them because everyone is tired of it. So, I try to speak directly about the quality of play.