Khapov: We will analyze our mistakes, we will move on

Press Conference of Zaur Khapov: the Head Coach of FC Lokomotiv about the Away Match against FC Rostov.

– There is not much to comment on yet. The start was wildly substandard. From the first minutes, Rostov was better in everything: in its aggression, in movements, in their x-rated challenges. What we initially planned, did not work at all. And after the score of 2:0, and after the dismissal, it was really difficult to change something. We will understand why this happened. This is not the end of the world. It’s still a hard blow. We will analyze the mistakes, we will move on, we will improve and fix everything.

– You said that after your score of 2:0 and the dismissal it was really difficult to change something. Can one say that the team accepted the defeat?

– Under no circumstances. I said it was difficult to turn it over. We tried to do it in the second half. But after the third goal, it was really impossible to change something. The team struggled. We played, but it was difficult with Rostov’s current mood to oppose them.

– At the very beginning, your team gave Rostov a lot of space in their half. This turns out to be disastrous. What is the reason?

– I repeat once again: what we initially planned, did not work at all from the first minute: neither aggression, nor pressure, nor ball control. We want all of these. We slightly changed the scheme: we put four defenders, Barinov as a holding midfielder, two deep-lying forwards, two wingers, and Jan Kuchta in front. Thus, we want to create some aggression, but it did not succeed.

– When you changed the scheme, did you decide to reflect the Rostov scheme?

– We decided to play more attacking football.

– In the second half, at the half-time, there was a double substitution. Was it because you missed one player, or was it because the other tasks of yours?

– We changed two players due to the fact that they did not quite follow the instructions we gave before the game.

– You went to Rostov by train. Did this trip affect the physical condition of the players? Can we put that such result was due to the road?

– It took us seventeen hours to get there. I don’t really think that is an excuse. Our boys had a training yesterday and managed to shake things up a bit. Of course, our movements were not quite right. The road seems to affect us after all, but this is definitely not the main reason.