Former Dynamo Kyiv head coach Oleksandr Khatskevich shared his opinion on the current state of Ukrainian clubs, coaching transitions and possible options for his own future coaching career.
Alexander Khatskevich“Where will Yarmolenko play in Dynamo if there is Tsygankov?”
- Alexander Nikolaevich, where are you now? What do you do?
— Now in Europe (the conversation took place yesterday, ‒ ed.). Priority is given to the family, because a lot of time was devoted to work, and now is the time to be with the family.
- In Germany, you participated in a charity match. What was the game in honor of?
- The centenary of the club we played against, from the fourth or fifth regional league in Germany. Veterans of Dynamo (Kyiv) were invited. It was very nice to play together again.
- Andriy Yarmolenko, according to press reports, was close to returning to Dynamo, but ended up in Al Ain. What do you think about this?
- It's better to ask Andrey Yarmolenko. Now, in this period of time, one should not be surprised at anything - you yourself see, it happens that not only a player, but also a coach who swore love for a club, moves to another. This is up to Andriy Yarmolenko, not journalists.
— How would you rate his form in recent matches?
- I was at the last game with Ireland in Poland. It was hard for Andrey in the first half, although in the second half it was he who played a key role when Dovbik scored the ball. It was clear that it was already hard for him to play so many matches in such a short period of time. This is understandable, there was no such game tone. Yarmolenko has the skill, but in such a regime as the national team played, it is already hard.
- Is Yarmolenko able to strengthen Dynamo now?
- Let's think about what position.
- Winger.
- Okay, but where is Tsygankov?
- There are Tsygankov, Verbich, Antyukh, but there are no more wingers in Dynamo as such. Tsygankov can be transferred to another flank, for example.
- So you say Tsygankov can be transferred to the other flank, but 90% of the time he plays where? And where is it effective?
- On the right.
- Here you go. Say there's Verbic. And Antyukh? Did Lucescu take him for something? How long has he been on the team?
- He still took Vitinho, but he left.
- If we compare Vitinho and Verbic, does Verbic have the advantage?
- Vitinho just started to prove why he was taken in friendly games.
— Well, you have your opinion, and I have mine. Verbic is stronger. Vitya Tsygankov is not so effective from the left flank.
You said - Vitinho, and I tell you - Antyukh. It was also bought for something. He didn’t just join the team and have been with Dynamo for a year and a half. It turns out that this transfer did not work either.
Yarmolenko is a significant footballer in Ukraine. He showed himself excellently both for the national team and for Dynamo. This return would strengthen the Ukrainian championship itself, because he is one of our best football players in history. But I don't know how to use it, at the same time as Tsygankov.
I also had this question: both Vitya and Andrey were on the team at the same time. Yes, Vitya played on the left, instead of Gonzalez, but still, he was not so effective. In the top 10 position is Buyalsky, one of the best football players in Ukraine. Therefore, how to use all three of them at the same time is a question.
- Moving to the UAE is a step towards the end of a career. Maybe it would be better for Yarmolenko to go to Turkey or another European club?
— If there were such options today, he would choose another offer. But this is all talk. I know how it all happens and from whom it can come. Therefore, it was better to ask Andriy himself to comment on the rumors - did he plan to return to Ukraine at all during this period of time, when we have uncertainty with the championship and martial law.
"Dynamo" is the clear favorite of the championship"
- Is it worth holding the championship of Ukraine from August 23 or do you need to wait a bit with the start?
- What needs to be done is clear. Everyone understands why and for what. But there are a lot of "buts" at the moment with the war in Ukraine. But wait... The fifth month is already over, and everyone is hoping that the war will end.
- This is how our football can be ruined... What are the main problems of the UPL in the summer of 2022?
- There are a lot of issues related to security, this is the most important point. Therefore, what they say that the championship starts on the 23rd is good. But we still do not know where and how it will be held. It will be a championship in Ukraine or it will be a combined championship with trips abroad for teams that will play in European competitions. There are a lot of questions, but for now there is only a date.
- Not all clubs can afford to hold games in neighboring countries.
— We all know that. There is no common denominator among clubs today.
- The departure of legionnaires and massive coaching transitions suggest that this UPL season will be full of surprises. What do you think?
- In terms of results - of course. Many teams, not only understaffed, they are in a transitional period. And where to take the players? Everyone says that this is a good moment for young people - there will be half a team of experienced, half a team of young people. I think this does not apply to Dynamo, Shakhtar, Dnipro-1. They have assembled, well-played teams.
- Will the level of the Ukrainian championship now roll back to the level of the times of the first independent?
- I did not catch the first championship of Ukraine, but I remember how it was in Belarus. Of course, this will not be the championship, as they like to say, 2011-2014. Of course, the level will drop, and everyone knows it. To what level is the question. How long this will take, only time will tell.
- Foreign players are actively leaving the Premier League. Shakhtar suffered especially. Do you think that now Dynamo will become the favorite of the championship?
- If Dynamo remains in the same composition as it is, then yes, Dynamo is the clear favorite of this championship.
“Only amateurs can say that Dynamo will beat Fenerbahce”
- Who can compete with Shakhtar and Dynamo for the Champions League?
— Let's wait for the start of the championship. Who will be able to fight, the games themselves will show.
I don't follow the lineups as closely as I used to. I know that Vernydub returned to the championship. I see changes in Zarya, Vorskla. But Dynamo and Shakhtar are always the best teams, the best players in the academies and the strongest acquisitions. Maybe Dnepr-1, with the arrival of Krasnikov and Kucher, will compete with them.
— Can Dynamo beat Fenerbahce?
- Everyone says that Dynamo is obliged to pass Fenerbahce. Only amateurs say that. Fenerbahce is a pretty strong team. A new coach came, he also knows Dynamo very well, he played against Kiev in the Champions League (Jorge Jesus was at the helm of Benfica when Dinamo faced it in the Champions League last season, ‒ approx. ed.). This is the same grand of Turkish football as Dynamo in Ukraine.
It will be an interesting game, the chances are equal. I don't see any advantage for Dynamo. Dynamo played charity matches, Fenerbahce played in the championship, everything is leveled by this. Whoever is better on the field, who has higher skill, will win.
“Jovicevich swore his love to Karpaty, then to Dnipro-1, and now he is in Shakhtar
- There has been a real transfer boom in the UPL in terms of transfers of coaches. Do you think that Skripnik will succeed in Vorskla?
- Skripnik was going under some kind of guarantees, financing, transfers. He already has experience in the Premier League, he knows the realities of the championship, the possibilities of teams today. If he moved from Zarya, then conditions are better in Vorskla.
— Igor Jovicevich at Shakhtar. What is the rationale for such a choice on the part of the Pitmen's management?
- He swore his love to Karpaty, then he swore his love to Dnipro-1, and now he is moving to Shakhtar. I think that his acquaintance with Srna had more influence here.
— That's right, it seems that Darijo Srna lobbied for Jovićević's candidacy.
- Nothing to complain about. De Zerby also shouted that he was ready to work for free. Everyone makes a decision. Of course, working at a club that plays in the Champions League group is not Jovićević's achievement, but let's look at Shakhtar with young players.
- Oleksandr Kucher changed Metalist to Dnepr-1 due to problems with financing the Kharkiv club?
- I can’t tell you if there are any problems with financing, but Metalist is the only team that has not left Turkey. Therefore, I think that there was funding for the team. And now we do not hear that the club is withdrawing from the championship.
The transition of Kucher and Krasnikov is like playing solitaire. Dnepr-1 and Metallist have always been sworn enemies. The main thing is that it all goes to the benefit of Ukrainian football. Say that due to funding problems (Krasnikov and Kucher transferred from Metalist to Dnepr-1, - ed.), I can't. If Kucher and Krasnikov leave, then Metalist is getting weaker.
“I had an option with China, but because of the coronavirus, it disappeared”
- When do you plan to return to coaching?
— Now the priorities are slightly different. There were options here in Europe, but the team was in the middle of the table, and the task was to become a prize-winner, and at the expense of their young players. They say: “At one time, a large group of football players joined Dynamo Kyiv, almost 70-80% of the team was renewed.” I answered: "It still takes time." I couldn't say, "Yes, I'm taking this job." If there is a condition that the team that was seventh or sixth should be in the top three next year and at the same time five or six players from the youth team should enter the first squad, such a result cannot be achieved.
- Are you talking about the Polish "Gornik"?
- I will not name the team. There were options from Asian leagues, from China, but with a new strain of coronavirus, the option disappeared. I was already supposed to fly to China, but it didn't work out.
- Did clubs from Ukraine contact you?
- Not.
- The information that you will replace Skrypnyk in Zarya is not true?
- Ask Gypsy where he got this information from.
“I don’t understand why there were no Besedin and Buyalsky in the Ukrainian national team for the play-offs”
- How do you like the performance of the Ukrainian national team in the play-offs for the World Cup?
- The result comes out on top. In any arrangement. It is not clear to me why experienced football players, Buyalsky and Besedin, were not left at the disposal of the national team. Ukraine had a difficult schedule, flights and matches were the same for several days. I think they would be more useful than the players that were available.
What they lost in Wales... The guys tried hard, and Petrakov was worried, it was obvious. For many football players, this was the last chance to play in the World Cup.
- Did the referee deliberately not put a penalty on Yarmolenko?
- I don't know if it was intentional or not. In Ukraine, the whole country says that it was a penalty. In Wales they say that he was not. For me, it's a penalty.
- Should our team win the League of Nations group?
— Nothing in life happens without problems. It was hard enough in every game. The Irish are a pretty nice team. The Armenians are good, here they also determine two games with the Scots, which are also not a gift.
“Mudrik can play in the top 5 leagues in Europe. But in the Spice level team
- Now there are rumors about the possible transfers of Mudrik and Dovbik. Are they ready for the top 5 European championships?
- Let's talk about Mudrik. Misha was not known as a football player six months ago. There are 20 teams in the top 5, the question is which team? In Italy - in "Spice", like Kovalenko, that's where he is ready to play.
- Rumors send him to Juventus and Bayer.
- Rumors can be sent to Real Madrid. He certainly has potential and abilities. Plus, I crossed paths with him, and in western Ukraine, we played football. The guy is very talented and promising. But to say that he is now ready for the transition and will become a leading player there is too early.
- Dovbik - showed himself well.
— Scored the ball with the Swedes? So this is his job. If Besedin had not suffered an injury, who knows if this replacement would have happened at all. After Sweden, they started talking about him. More than six months have passed since he performed well in Dnipro-1, and what is his condition now? Are there options? You need to be ready. If there is an offer, you need to leave, convince the management.
- Tsygankov and Zabarny?
— They talk a lot about Vitya. I know that when I was a coach, there was interest in him from Lazio. Inzaghi was interested. Vitya has his own priorities too. Premier League, Spanish, Italian championships - I don't know. Plus the price they want for it.
Here, according to Mikolenko, a clear offer came, it suited everyone, and Vitaly is already in the top championship. They have been talking about Tsygankov for three or four years now.
Zabarny quickly broke into both Dynamo and the national team. He shows stable football, there are qualities that clubs look at. He himself knows what needs to be strengthened.
- Why didn't you manage to play in Sampdoria with Supryaga?
- Let's talk about Supryaga when he deserves it.
"Tymoshchuk chose the side of darkness, and that's where he will stay"
- Your last place of work was the Russian Rotor. After the start of the war, did you communicate with any of the former wards?
- I did not communicate with anyone. Neither with the leader, nor with other people who were. Some guys wrote to me and now they also write words of support, but there is no direct contact.
- Rakitsky left Russia immediately after the start of the war. Ordets - later. Tymoshchuk continues to make money in the aggressor country. Does he have an excuse?
- A lot has been said about this too, what was accepted in Ukraine in relation to Tymoshchuk, he deserved it, such an attitude from Ukraine, and from his former partners, and the people, so I have nothing more to say. He chose the dark side of the coin. He chose the side of darkness, and there he will remain.
Evgeniy CHEPUR
