The military aggression of the agonizing Russian Federation and the wave of migration of Ukrainian football clubs associated with it are pushing our league towards a serious internal transformation, the direction of which is not difficult to predict.
Photo: Radio LodzLet's estimate the scale of the inevitable transformations using the 2022/23 season as an example.
The alignment of forces in the Premier League seems to be the main trend of the next football cycle. In this regard, it may resemble the very first, transitional championship of Ukraine, sensationally won by Tavria.
Then, by the spring of 1992, the strongest teams of the Ukrainian SSR from the former major allied league, having lost their best football players and leading coaches, suddenly faced a new reality. It took several years for even the most eminent of them, including FC Dynamo Kyiv, to be able to return to the orbit of serious football.
And now, 30 years later, the situation is somewhat repeating itself.
More than others, the departure of the black swans was felt by Shakhtar, as well as Metalist, who returned to the elite. Both, having previously relied on legionnaires, seem to have returned to the 90s in one off-season. By changing the status of potential favorites to the role of dark horses - yes, few comparable in terms of opportunities and tournament tasks, but in both cases they are motivated to change.
But yesterday's middle peasants - Dnipro-1, Vorskla and Zorya, as well as Kryvbas, which emerged from the shadows of oblivion, got their chance to enter new frontiers. Individually, each of them seems to be no match for the same Shakhtar, but taken together, they will surely cause trouble not only for him, but also for Dynamo, certainly the main contender for the title.
Mircea Lucescu's team is unanimously predicted to win the championship, although it is not yet known with what list of players it will enter the UPL season. I think her application for the fall will become clear only after the completion of the European Cup qualification. We will start from whether the people of Kiev get a ticket to the Champions League or at least the Europa League. After all, the departure of Kendzery, Verbich and the sale of, say, Tsygankov will further level the balance of power in the UPL...
However, a significant contribution to the upcoming redistribution will also be made by the coaching factor, which, again, plays into the hands of Dynamo. Still, Lucescu's trophy-winning experience, which includes the ability to concentrate on achieving the chosen goal of his wards, to motivate them, simultaneously putting pressure on opponents and referees, is unique. That is why Mircea is not just expected to win the 2022/23 championship, but a confident victory that lays the foundation for the future as well.
Perhaps one of the main intrigues of the new season will be the answer to the question - will Dynamo, which has built a system of selection, training and transfer of young players to adult football in advance, be able to regain long-term hegemony in the Premier League? How it happened in the 90s.
And what will the competitors of the 29-time champions of the former USSR and modern Ukraine be able to oppose to this ambition?
Igor LINNIK
