Mircea Lucescu: Shakhtar deserved to win

Press conference of Dynamo head coach Mircea Lucescu after the match with Shakhtar.

– Mister, it was a difficult game for your team. Your analysis of what Dynamo Kyiv failed to do today, please?
– Shakhtar deserved to win. Against the backdrop of our incredible mistakes, Shakhtar looked fresher, played at different speeds, and we could not get up to their speed and conceded in this to the opponent. The game was level to a certain point – until we let go of the opponent during the corner kick, when we missed the first goal. Corner and penalty kicks were the moments of lack of concentration during standards, which allowed the opponent to score and get an 11-meter kick. Well done Ruslan – he pulled out that ball. The start of the second half was good – we scored a goal. However, immediately, literally in a minute, we missed the opponent's lunge: Tsyhankov lost the ball, Mudryk entered the middle, which he does well, and I talked about it – it was necessary to secure partners. In the first half, we did a great job with those Mudryk’s passes, and in the second half we let go and he scored. Immediately came a red card, followed by a third ball. That was also against the backdrop of our mistakes: there was a long pass, which both our goalkeeper and the defender had to read. Mistakes lead to goals, and goals are victories. All these errors are incomprehensible to me. How could Zabarnyi handle the ball like that and act that way in an episode where there was nothing dangerous and he had to play simply but he let that ball go? Perhaps, the judges could limit themselves to a yellow card, because our player was a little lower. The opponent took this chance, and Zabarnyi was sent off. After the second goal, Shakhtar controlled the course of the match. We fussed, hurried, plus we were in the minority, and I did not see confidence in the actions of my team.

– The next match is with Metalist. Will the team be able to approach the game in optimal condition and how will you make the players get in the right mindset?
– Some substitutions will need to be made. Tomorrow we leave early in the morning for Kyiv. Upon arrival, we will have to try to field fresher players and spend at least one training day. After all, we do not train, but only travel. I generally exempted Buyalsky, Tsyhankov and Sydorchuk from training for two days. In addition to recovery activities, we do not have scheduled training sessions that keep the team in good condition. Hopefully, by Thursday, the boys will recover. There will also be changes – fresher players will come out in the starting lineup. Zabarnyi won’t play anyway.

– Mister Lucescu, tell us why don’t newcomers Lonwijk and Parris play, as well as Diallo? These are the attacking players and Dynamo needed to come back today, but they didn’t even come off the substitutes’ bench.
– I see them every day at the training sessions. The thing is that the training sessions are mostly held with the substitutes, those who didn’t play at all or played not enough time. Now they are not ready to play. They need to get acquainted with the team, they should know our players. It is difficult to experiment with the new players within a few days. They have to adapt to the team and the team have to adapt to them.

– What do you say to the footballers after such matches?
– I encourage my players and try to restore their morale, as it is hard in situation like that. You have to be in the players’ shoes and understand the teams constantly changing pitches, hotels, countries. These problems will affect the condition. I cannot say that the opponents dominated or had a great advantage in the matches we have lost. Advantage is the opponent’s scored goals happened after individual mistakes of one or two of our players. Again, nothing will change now, because we have the same conditions – the same transits, buses and planes. It is difficult to maintain concentration, maintain the morale. Especially, when there are unsuccessful matches. I think that everything changed after knockout from the Champions League, after loss to Benfica. It was devastation, failures came one after another, like something ruptured in our game. We lacked something regardless of the opponent. But we did not give up anyway. I say it again, the particularities decided the match result, some individual mistakes leading to these defeats. It is the same deal with today’s game. It is necessary to cheer the guys psychologically now. We have the next meet on Thursday, the game on Sunday. We are going home, to Kyiv, where the team will be able to prepare better to these matches psychologically.

– What words did you hear from Ihor and Hryhorii Surkis?
– What happens in the dressing room is our internal business. Everything stays within the team.