The well-known coach Oleg Dulub commented on Dynamo’s defeat in the main round of the Conference League match against Samsunspor (0:3).
— What are your impressions of Dynamo’s match against Samsunspor?
— The impressions are negative, definitely. Because Dynamo didn’t just lose, let’s say, they lost practically without options. The only moment that could have really influenced the score was Karavayev’s chance at 0:1. Everything else — the game was completely under the control of the Turkish team.
— How surprising was this result, considering Dynamo’s string of negative results and the team’s condition overall?
— I was not so much surprised by the result as by the line-ups of Dynamo and Shakhtar specifically for these matches. If Shakhtar completely refreshed its lineup, then Dynamo also came out partially with reserves, as indicated by, for example, the appearance of the same Rubchynskyi. But most surprising was the imbalance of this lineup.
For example, if we take the appearance of Buyalskyi, then next to him were Ogundana on the left, Voloshyn on the right, and Guerrero ahead. Previously, the interaction, especially from the right flank with Karavayev, had been established almost on a subconscious level. And now it turned out that Buyalskyi found himself surrounded by players who, perhaps, are a bit lower in the level of game understanding.
— What do these experiments with starting line-ups say? Does it mean that Shakhtar and Dynamo are aiming more at the championship battle, and European competitions are not as important to them?
— I think both Turan and Shovkovskyi took into account that Shakhtar and Dynamo would play twice within one week. Meanwhile, Dynamo also plays with the championship leader — Kryvbas — before this. Of course, this fact needed to be taken into account, but for me, unequivocally, European competitions are not a place for experiments.
— Why, then, do our clubs resort to such steps?
— In my opinion, European competitions are a sort of showcase where you should demonstrate your best. But perhaps in light of recent events, when both Dynamo and Shakhtar are not having the best times in the championship (five draws for Dynamo, losses for Shakhtar, and so on), the priority shifts to the national championship. It’s natural, in all countries the priority is the domestic championship.
— Dynamo fans are currently worried about this winless streak, which is getting bigger. What is the problem with Kyiv?
— Shakhtar and Dynamo have two different problems. Shakhtar’s problem is the underestimation of the Ukrainian championship by the foreign coaches. They face very fierce resistance, and some coaches have even said that the Ukrainian championship is more challenging than European competition matches.
Dynamo’s problem is a dressing room issue. It’s the problem of Shovkovskyi’s relationship with experienced players. Goals conceded in the last seconds of the match are no longer an accident. If one time is an accident, two is a system, three is a pattern, then five is a systematic pattern. This needs to be sorted out precisely in the dressing room. If they figure it out — everything will be fine. If not — that’s another story.
— In such cases, club leaders usually change the head coach. Is it time for Dynamo?
— It’s not always necessary to change the head coach. Leaders can do the opposite — express support for the coach they trust. Go into the dressing room and tell the players that we trust this coach, and he alone is responsible for the result. This happened to me at Karpaty, when Petro Petrovych Dyminskyi supported me after a series of unsuccessful matches, and the team immediately turned around 180 degrees.
In Dynamo’s case, it’s a story about the relationship between the president and the head coach. Considering that Shovkovskyi is still in place, I think the president leans towards trusting him.
Oleksii Aleksandrov