Dynamo head coach Marcel Licka answered journalists' questions after the match against Fakel (1:1).
— I am very glad that all my players stayed healthy today. It is always difficult to play on such pitches because there is a real chance of being injured. We saw less football and more struggle together with long passes and crosses. This kind of play was more comfortable for the hosts. We tried to move the ball forward through passes. Our team created 3-4 good situations in the second half, but we couldn't succeed in finishing.
Fakel are able to put pressure on the opponent by using tall and powerful forwards. And they have very dangerous set-pieces. When you are leading, it's always painful to miss a victory, but given the weather factor, the pitch quality and the opponent, we can consider this draw positive.
— You told that the team played simple football, but it seemed that Dynamo were the only one side to combine through passes here.
— We tried to do it. I asked Fernandez and Balbuena not just to kick the ball away, because if they played long balls, we would have to deal with good centre-backs on the opposite side of the pitch. We didn't want to forget our game philosophy. It is clear that there was a higher percentage of technical mistakes today. This is what happened to Shunin when the ball lept up in front of him, and if Fakel had scored, it would not have been the goalkeeper's mistake.
We wanted our offensive line to play through passes and not be afraid of mistakes. In the first half there were good episodes when our footballers looked for each other when playing in one touch or give-and-go. By the end of the match, we started using long passes that led to losses, but we had to calm down and save the ball. Fakel also demonstrated simple football and put a lot of pressure, counting on their set-pieces.
— How much did pitch and weather conditions affect the course of the game?
— The same weather is in Moscow now, where there is a lot of snow and -15 degrees. So we've gotten used to it over the last couple of weeks. I want to say thank you to everyone who cleaned up the snow and put the pitch in order. Of course, it is better for us to have a good pitch on which we can play through a short pass. But I understand that it is December 10th and we are in Voronezh, and not in Krasnodar or Sochi. We must accept it and not look for excuses. There was one pitch for both teams. It is necessary to show character and do your best throughout the full 90 minutes. Yes, we didn't win, but the team showed character and the good attitude to the game.
— Why did you decide to field Nicholas Marichal and switch to three centre-backs by 1:1?
— Fakel made a lot of long passes forward, and it was not easy for Fabi and Robi to win duels all the time. That's why Nico helped them by the end of this encounter.
— Why didn't Nicolas Ngamaleu and Fedor Smolov come to Voronezh?
— Fedya fell ill on Tuesday, and Moumi was injured at the beginning of the Rubin game. He did not train for a whole week. Therefore, we decided not to risk releasing him on such a pitch.