Sergey Lushan spoke openly about Mash'al's heavy defeat and the crisis of leaders

Mash'al Mubarek, one of the underdogs of the Uzbekistan Super League, suffered a heavy blow in the next round. Traveling to Kokand, the Mubarek team lost to the hosts with a large score of 3:0. Gross mistakes in the penalty area and weakness in the attack led to the team's heavy defeat.

At the post-match press conference, Mash'al head coach Sergey Lushan had an open and sharp conversation with journalists about the internal problems of the team, the decline in the performance of the leaders, and the shortage of personnel.

"With such mistakes, one could not expect a different result"

Assessing the match, Sergey Lushan did not hide that gross flaws in the defensive line predetermined the result:

• Inevitability of defeat: "We lost the match. Given the mistakes we made in our penalty area, we fully deserved today's defeat. What other result can be expected if such gross mistakes are made?" — the specialist gave a critical assessment;

• Loss of game initiative: The Kokand team made the most of the created opportunities, while Mash'al failed to eliminate the mistakes in its own penalty area.

Experienced players are not playing as expected: "Now we will rely on youth"

Answering a question from journalists about the lack of a real leader in the team to drive the game and the decline in the athletic form of experienced players like Sardor Abduraimov, Lushan replied:

• Agreement with criticism: Agreeing with the questioner, the coach said: "You asked the question and answered it yourself. If our leaders were showing the football we expected, the current situation would be completely different";

• Sharp turn towards youth: Since experienced players are failing to show themselves, the club is changing its strategy: "We are making changes to the squad. Our young players are not bad. Now we will rely on them, try to develop them and bring them into the main squad. We have no other way left".

Why didn't Mukhtarov start in the main lineup?

Discussing the team's physical condition and falling back at the end of the game, the coach revealed the reason why Mukhtarov remained on the bench:

• Training injury: The player unexpectedly got injured during the training session the day before the match: "Actually, he was supposed to play in the main lineup. We prepared him with exactly that plan. But the injury in training changed all plans and we were forced to field Jurabayev";

• Entering the field with a painkiller injection: "He himself expressed readiness to play and said he would help even with injections. Therefore, we gave him an opportunity in the last 15 minutes".

Another loss of points in Kokand further complicated the situation of the Mubarek club in the standings. Whether the coaching staff's decision to rely on young players will pull Mash'al out of the danger zone — time will tell in the upcoming rounds.