The head coach of Dynamo Moscow, Roland Gusev, answered journalists' questions after the match with Zenit (1:3).
— After such a start to the year, fans were waiting for there to be opposition to Zenit. Why did the team look so weak?
— The team didn't look weak. We made two mistakes in the first half, for which Zenit punished us. There was opposition. Sometimes they had the advantage, sometimes we did. In the second half we had more positional approaches. But with teams like Zenit, it's very difficult to recoup. In general, of course, we can play better.
— Why did you decide to put a very young Timofey Marinkin in the starting lineup, given such a serious opponent?
— I think that Marinkin in the center was in no way inferior to Barrios and Wendel. This guy has a great future. At the age of 17, it's not given to everyone to come out and play so confidently. I put it on for a reason. He has certain qualities, and he can already play at this level. Marinkin played a very good match.
— Did the absence of Rubens have a big impact? It was clear that there was no one to pick up the balls in the center of the field, and in the first half Zenit calmly made many passes in a row.
— Of course, Rubens is a structural player in our scheme. But that's not even the point. We conceded the first goal when Wendel made 4-5 touches on the spot, and no one put pressure on him. During the break they showed this moment, asked to play tighter in the center of the field. We did a little wrong in the first half. It was necessary to meet them higher and play more aggressively against individually strong players.
Again, I don't think we conceded much. In the first half we made two defensive mistakes, and in the second we tried to recoup and got another one when Glushenkov executed.
— What was in the note for Daniil Fomin?
— Our structure of the game was changing, and the note outlined who should play in what position.
— What is the reason for replacing David at halftime?
— He got a knee to the knee, he has a severe bruise.
