Russian coach Vladimir Yurzinov Jr. believes that Chelyabinsk “Tractor” failed to cope with psychology in the Gagarin Cup semi-final series against Yaroslavl Lokomotiv due to the loss of a goalkeeper Zaka Fucale .
Alexey Zavarukhin’s team finished the season losing the series with a score of 0–4. Fucale was injured in the first match of the series after a collision with Lokomotiv striker Maxim Shalunov.
— Chelyabinsk was in no way inferior to Lokomotiv in terms of composition. Traktor has performed well this season; it’s a very strong team. It wasn’t like there were only foreigners in the lead roles. I would like to mention Shabanov, Kotlyarevsky, Der-Arguchintsev, Yurtaikin. Lots of good guys. Of course, we also have to mention goalkeeper Fucale. Traktor lacked psychological stability in the series with Loko. It’s clear that injuries happen and leaders argue.
Due to the loss of Fucale, the team collapsed psychologically. Traktor was unrecognizable after the brilliant series with Dynamo Moscow. The loss of the goalie had to be overcome somehow. There were lots of brilliant speeches and emotional outbursts. It seems to me that before the third match Zavarukhin’s speech about Shalunov disarmed the team. All these conversations and scandals were useless. We need to behave in a more balanced way. Populist statements lead to nothing good.
Everyone starts thinking about something else, not hockey. They leave for the next match feeling like the job is done. In the last game in the series, Traktor didn’t look the same. The team looked dismantled,” Legalbet quoted Yurzinov Jr. as saying.
In the final of the Gagarin Cup, Lokomotiv will play with the winner of the Avtomobilist – Metallurg pair.
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Source : MatchTV
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