Polunin: Today the collective game in Luhansk Zarya is at a low level

Unsuccessful in the game and in the result came out for Luhansk Zarya match of the 5th round of the Conference League group tournament against Belgian Ghent. Yuri Koval’s team lost heavily to their opponents with a score of 1:4, having lost even the theoretical chances of reaching the next stage of the tournament. The most interesting matches Ghent – ​​Zarya we discussed with a famous former football player of Dnepr and the Ukrainian national team Andrey Polunin.

— For Zarya, this was the most important match in the group tournament of the Conference League. Who do you think was the favorite of this meeting?

— Probably Belgian Ghent. If we recall the teams’ first game, which took place in Lublin, Poland, then the Ghent players also had a gaming advantage. Although that meeting ended in a 1:1 draw. It is clear that now the hosts were in a fighting mood; at home they wanted to achieve victory in order to be in first place in the group. But there’s nothing to say about Zarya’s mood. We see that the Lugansk team performs unsuccessfully both in European cups and in the Ukrainian Premier League. It is clear that the Zarya players wanted to score points in Belgium, but it didn’t work out.

— The Lugansk team failed to turn the tide of the unsuccessful first part of the season?

— It seemed to me that our guys were constrained, making a lot of mistakes in front of their own penalty area, apparently, this is the class of Zarya players right now.

— Are the goals scored by the hosts the merit of the Ghent football players or, to a greater extent, the fault of the Luhansk Zarya players?

“It’s all in one complex.” The hosts play their own football, they try hard, beat the opponent in the opposing half of the field, and create scoring chances. With the first goal missed, I think Turbaevsky made a mistake – such a shot could have been saved. When the second goal was missed, a rebound from Batagov predetermined everything. Still, if the score 1:0 in favor of Ghent had lasted longer, it would have been possible to win back. But then everything turned out to be more complicated.

I believe that the leaders of the Luhansk team – Antyukh, Mishnev, Guerrero – are not performing very well now. It is clear that the atmosphere in the team, when there are many defeats in a row, is not the best. Guerrero, in my opinion, is simply selling himself. It is clear that today the collective game in Luhansk Zarya is at a low level.

— In previous matches, Zarya lost to Maccabi 1:3 and 2:3, in Belgium they have already conceded 4 goals. Why doesn’t a team concede less than three goals?

— The team’s defenders make a lot of positional and individual mistakes. Danchenko is not in optimal shape, and the injured Butko is clearly missing. In the center of defense, the guys are trying, but this is not enough, teamwork is needed.

— Since May, Zarya has been changing coaches like gloves: Patrick van Leeuwen was replaced by Nenad Lalatovic, the Serbian was replaced by Valery Kriventsov, now the team is led by Yuri Koval. We haven’t noticed anything like this in Zarya before…

— Only the leaders of Luhansk Zarya know the reasons for such frequent changes of head coaches. It is clear that negative results are a change on the coaching bridge. But frequent changes of head coaches are not good for the team. Football players need to get used to new requirements; the educational and training process is changing. I think that the club clearly didn’t get it right with Lalatovich; Kriventsov tried to fix everything, but he couldn’t. And Koval played youth football in Zarya. It is clear that in November, during the season, it is difficult to find a quality specialist.

— Do you think that Zarya’s leaders will look for a new head coach in winter?

– Don’t know. You need to understand what Zarya’s financial condition is now. It is clear that for participation in the group tournament of the Conference League the Lugansk team will receive good money, just under 4 million euros. But what will this money be used for? The most important question is: what vector of development will Zarya’s leadership choose. Maybe they will give Mladen Bartulovic a chance and he will prove himself. Let’s see.

— This week, two Ukrainian teams played in European cups with two Belgian clubs. Who do you think is stronger – national champion Antwerp, currently in 5th place, or Ghent, which is in 3rd place in the Belgian championship?

— I liked Antwerp better. They created enough chances at the Shakhtar Donetsk goal. Of course, the Miners also had many chances to score against the Belgian champion. However, the overall level of play is higher in Antwerp.

— In recent years, only one Shakhtar has been consistently gaining points in European competition. Why can’t other teams maintain the reputation of Ukrainian football at a decent level?

“We see that the overall level of football in our country has fallen. Let us not forget that the war in our country continues. High-quality foreign players do not come to us; our clubs mainly rely on their own strength and on young people from abroad. As an example, Zorya plays on 3 fronts – UPL, Ukrainian Cup and Conference League. Given the difficult logistics, it is necessary to have at least 25 qualified performers. Are they on the team now? No. Here’s your answer. There is simply no high-quality bench for a player to come on as a substitute and strengthen the team’s play.

As for other Ukrainian teams that did not make it to the group stages of European competition, they have different problems. Only the Pitmen will play in European competitions in the spring. I would like it to be the 1/8 finals of the Champions League. This includes the prestige of the club itself, excellent bonuses from UEFA and the prestige of Ukrainian football in such difficult times.