Igor JOVICHEVICH: “The coronavirus has just destroyed the Dnieper-1”

Dnipro-1 mentor Igor Jovichevich commented on the results of the 1: 4 loss in UPL’s match against Rukh. The team fell to last place in the Ukrainian championship.

– We must congratulate Rukh for today’s game, they deservedly won. A quick goal helped the rival to gain confidence, but we could not find the strength to reverse the situation. After the second goal we had a couple of chances, but then we conceded a counterattack. Today was very difficult. This is not the reason for today’s defeat, but November was very difficult for us. The disease simply destroyed us, and this is one of the reasons. There was no coaching staff for half a month, now we don’t have anyone to train for half a month. Every day 3-4 players drop out. There were 19 players and now there are 11. Therefore, we do not play matches on equal terms, which are very important to us. But let’s not panic now. We know we play good football in October. Those games showed what the team should show in the next part of the championship. The dynamics that were in October disappeared in November due to illness. But today “Rukh” deservedly won.

– You talked to the players for a long time. What did you discuss? And what exactly are you dissatisfied with in today’s game?

– Today there should have been a different line-up, a different preparation. But in the morning, Di Franco and Taylor tested positive for COVID, so they had to change the system. Several footballers showed up for training yesterday after an illness. At 4-4-2 there was a lot of space between the lines, and after long passes to Dovbik and Khoblenko, we didn’t catch any more balls. Martynyuk was left alone in the middle of the field, from where he dispersed the counterattacks. And our two pivot points, Ignatenko and Kravchenko, were too low. The team seemed to be divided into two parts and there was no game between the lines. It was difficult to get it right in a short time. In general, I don’t like to play with two strikers like that, I like to play with a soccer player below the striker, between the lines.

– How much will Dnipro-1 change in winter?

– When the team was in top form, we played, we showed good football, aggressive with a dominant idea. But the disease also played a role. She ruined the training process. Lately we have trained 12 players. If you don’t train well, you won’t be able to play the game at the intense level required by the UPL. It’s probably good that this part of the championship is over. We have to be patient, add a couple of necessary footballers and go to the new part of the championship with a new spirit.

– What intermediate conclusions did you draw after this part of the season?

– It is sad for the fans, footballers, coaches, club, a good move in October led to failure. Of course, we are affected by a series of negative results. There are simply not enough players who have added to our competitiveness. The pandemic added problems to all the clubs, but it touched us at the same time. We must be objective in this. We will draw conclusions, we will analyze games and with renewed vigor, with healthy players, we will go to our goals.