Dynamo Kyiv midfielder Mykola Mykhailenko commented on the Ukrainian Premier League match against Zorya Luhansk (1:1).
- The mood isn’t great – five draws in a row. What do you think about that? Why is it happening?
- What’s there to think about… You saw the game yourselves – we had so many chances, so many quality attacking moves and situations to score goals but we just can’t finish them. And as a result we pay for it by conceding one goal. How many chances did they have? Maybe two – one in the first half and one in the second.
- Once again the game followed the same pattern – we score first, then concede near the end. Maybe we need to score twice so that, even if we concede one, we still win?
- Of course we need to score more than the opponent. If we know that in every game there’s a risk of conceding, then yes, we must score more. What else can I say?
- Some fans have said it would have been better to lose twice than draw five times – fewer points lost that way…
- You know, there’s no such thing as “better” or “worse.” It is what it is. Life doesn’t let you rewind things back. We just need to keep working.
- This match came after the international break. Usually it’s difficult when everyone returns in different conditions. How did you prepare mentally and psychologically?
- We prepared and tried to bring as much positivity as possible into training. I can’t say we had a bad mood today. A lot of things were working – we had good attacks, good moments. But we lack that final touch to bring it all to a logical conclusion.
- Zorya has traditionally been a tough opponent for Dynamo – you dropped points against them last season too. What makes them so difficult to play against?
- They’re a good team with fast wingers. They play open transitional football and are quite organized. There’s nothing surprising about that. But the fact that we can’t convert our chances – that’s what’s frustrating.
- Right now Kryvbas has temporarily taken first place and your next league game is against them. What do you expect? Will it be just as difficult?
- We prepare for every match the same way – we want to play our football. We don’t look too much at who’s where in the standings. We go into every game wanting to win. We create enough chances to win but, clearly, something’s missing. The coaching staff needs to figure out what exactly that is – and we, as a team, must understand it together.
- The next match is in the Conference League. What are your expectations?
- I haven’t watched the opponent yet so I can’t say much. But there are no weak teams there. We’ll analyze them, prepare properly and again aim to win – and try to show our best football.
