Dynamo head coach Marcel Licka answered journalists' questions after the first official match of the year with Rostov (1:1).
— We have extracted the maximum from the minimum. In this match we were not better than the opponent who forgave us. The game was simple, but we couldn't calm her down, hold the ball, play between the lines.
— You said that you are counting on the individual qualities of your players. Can we say that this calculation was not justified?
— No, we had some kind of fear. When Balbuena or Lunev were with the ball, no one wanted to open up, and everyone was just waiting for long passes. If the ball was on the ground for at least five minutes, it would be great. All the time the balls were flying through the air, there was a lot of struggle in which Rostov looked better. I am very upset about this game. I have no problems when players make mistakes, but when they are afraid to play, hiding from the ball, I don't understand it.
— How would you rate Danil Glebov's debut?
— It was hard because it was his first game in our team. I can't say anything bad about his performance or the performance of another newcomer, Juan Caceres. But we, as a team, played poorly, so it's hard to look for any advantages.
— You said that Glebov would help with his advice. Did he manage to help you? What did he say?
— Any information can help. Everything turned out as we said – the Rostov players used high pressing, constantly put pressure on the player with the ball, used good diagonals on powerful attackers. So everything was expected, only we did not fulfill the requirement that we had - after interceptions we should have actively played forward. Many times the ball reached Balbuena or Lunev, who knocked it forward into the struggle, which the Rostov defenders mostly won. That's why they outplayed us today with their aggressiveness and attitude to the game.
— Rostov has only recently changed its head coach. Did you see something new in the team's game?
— Valery has been working with the team for a long time, and his colleague will continue his work. It is clear that he will contribute some of his ideas, but it will not be possible to do it right away.
— How severe is Konstantin Tyukavin's injury?
— He's sitting in the locker room right now, applying ice. I can't say anything now about the severity of the damage. Everything will be known after the examination.
