Grishin Analyzes Neftkhimiks Narrow Defeat to Severstal: A Call for Greater Focus and Responsibility

The head coach of Neftekhimik, **[Igor Grishin](https://example.com/tags/36151-igor-grishin/)**, assessed the match against Severstal (2:3) in the Blinov Cup.

– Just like in the previous game, we started off unfocused and conceded an early goal. This happened in both the first and third periods, although the players came out motivated. It’s encouraging to see that we are building up our gameplay. I hope we can turn around our misfortunes. It was a fairly even match between two attacking teams that enjoy possessing the puck. Today’s game was more fluid and lively compared to yesterday’s. Both our team and the opponent created plenty of scoring opportunities. I’m hopeful that if we convert even 10% of those chances, we’ll begin to score more than three goals per game.

**– What led to the late goal against your team? Was it a lapse in concentration or just bad luck?**
– A goal is always the result of some error; there’s usually a clear reason behind it. It seemed like we had everything under control, yet the puck unexpectedly slipped into our net. In that scenario, the opponent played cleverly. Even though we conceded, there was a good chance for Zhafyarov to equalize with just 20 seconds left. Unfortunately, he couldn’t capitalize on that opportunity.

**– Today the players were trying to set up plays for the puck correctly…**
– That’s currently a challenge for us stemming from our training sessions. Ultimately, our training is focused on increasing our goal-scoring output, which is our primary condition. The players tend to pass responsibility onto their teammates. Our team needs to have 20 responsible and self-assured players. Confident players should take the initiative and aim for the goal. Sometimes, however, a nearly goal-scoring situation doesn’t result in an accurate shot. We continuously highlight this issue during our training sessions, – noted Grishin as quoted by the Neftekhimik press service.