The main coach of Donetsk «Shakhtar» Arda Turan commented in the broadcaster’s broadcast on the result (1:2) of the match with Kyiv «Dynamo», which took place in the framework of the 1/8 finals of the Ukrainian Cup.
Arda Turan (photo: shakhtar.com)— First of all, I want to emphasize: I sincerely hope that in the near future we will once again have the chance to conduct such derbies as in the good old days — with 40,000 fans in the stands, or perhaps even more.
I also want to congratulate «Dynamo» (Kyiv). If they defeated us, it means they did certain things better on the field than we did, and they managed to capitalize on their chances.
Regarding the course of the match — in the first half, we executed all my instructions. I was completely satisfied with how things developed. However, such matches as derbies are decided by the smallest details. You need to be at the highest level in every little thing.
I told the guys during the break: yes, we are really dominating, but the score is still 0:0, and the most important thing is realism, the ability to convert chances. In the second half, we managed to score, but from a certain moment, we started backing up and allowed the opponent to feel the game.
Despite the fact that overall I am satisfied with how we looked, I really disliked how we lost. I have lost many matches in my career, but you should never lose by retreating. This is what upset me the most — how we behaved in the last third of the match. We need to analyze this and draw the correct conclusions.
— After your goal, «Dynamo» actively moved forward. Was it planned — to play on counterattacks? Or was it just hard to regain the initiative?
— I don’t think it happened because we couldn’t organize an attack after the conceded goal. Overall, the match was a format of counterattack against counterattack. We knew the opponent was strong in this component — and, indeed, we had our chances to score but didn’t capitalize on them.
It was very important not to concede first and not start sitting deeply in defense, but unfortunately, at some point, we still lost compactness. After the conceded goal, our lines opened up, «Dynamo» got more space — and they, as a quality team, took advantage of it.
In such moments, it is very important not to disappear from the game, not to hide, but to continue imposing your style. Unfortunately, I didn’t see that today, and that worries me.
We had enough chances to score in both the first and second halves. But, as I always say, football is a game of moments: you need to capitalize on your opportunities at the right time and in the right place. Today we lacked a little bit of that.
