The legendary midfielder of Dynamo Kyiv, former head coach of this club and the national team of Ukraine Leonid Buryak, in an exclusive interview with Dynamo.kiev.ua, shared his opinion on the latest events related to both Dynamo itself and Ukrainian football.
Leonid Buryak. Photo — O.Vasilyeva“We still don’t even fully realize how difficult it will be to raise Ukrainian football now”
— How do you evaluate the performance of Dynamo in the Champions League qualification?
- In the current situation, it is difficult to adequately assess everything: there is a war going on. And no matter how the matches go, first of all it is necessary that the horror that is happening now stops. And only after that it will be possible to talk about how to restore everything in our country. Including football. But it is very important that the championship of Ukraine has begun. If this had not been done, then our professional football would have been left with physical education teams.
If we talk about the performance of Dynamo in the Champions League qualification, then its result - in the context of the matches with Benfica - was the result of the fact that all the objective factors of the current situation affected the game of our team. We all hoped for some kind of miracle, but it cannot be. Even in football, if we talk about some permanent results.
Dynamo approached the start of the season with only charity matches behind them. This is what affected the game. And the same can be said about the performance at the Euroarena of Vorskla, Zorya, Dnipro-1. It's good that Shakhtar got into the Champions League group stage directly. Although, I personally think that the UAF acted incorrectly by awarding the first place of the last, unfinished championship of Ukraine to Shakhtar: if the gap was significant, then this could be somehow understood, but when, after 18 matches, the leader is ahead of the team, going in second place, by only two points, then how can it be given some kind of priority and awarded the final first place?
As for Dynamo, I think the team prepared well physically for the season, this was shown by the matches with Fenerbahce and Sturm in the Champions League qualification. These rivals were passed just due to the best physical conditions. But these are not the most important components when we talk about the main draw of the Champions League. Here the most important component is football skill. I am sure that if Dynamo had not got to Benfica in the playoff round, but to another team - to Rangers or Dynamo Zagreb, then maybe they would have been able to "slip through". And so I had to play with a really top team. This was evident both in the current matches of Dynamo with Benfica and in the matches of the last Champions League. The current Dynamo simply cannot beat an opponent of this level - the team is drained of blood by the departure of legionnaires. By the will of UEFA, some foreigners left our clubs out of fear, others for some other reason.
In this situation, it is a shame to observe all that wave of unfounded criticism of Dynamo from the so-called experts. I don’t know what specifically awaits Ukrainian football in the near future, but it’s definitely not good. So we all need to be patient right now. Because all of us will have to build on football 15 years ago at best, and recreate everything that was lost. It will be very difficult. And the question here is not only about money and infrastructure: all children football players are now abroad, and they already see themselves there, and not in Ukraine. So we still don't even fully realize how difficult it will be.
However, be that as it may, right now football is still receding into the background...
- Was it a priori an unsolvable task for Dynamo to beat Benfica?
- Exactly. Although, of course, everything is a priori possible in football. Sheriff, for example, beat Real Madrid last season. At the same time, Dynamo invented three out of five goals from Benfica. Avoiding such mistakes is taught at school, in youth football.
And here again we have to talk about skill. Do you remember Rincon, Correa, Gavrancic, Leko, Kleber, Chernat, Gioana, and the same de Pena? These are players who loved the club, but at the same time met the required level of skill. And now... Now Lucescu, it seems to me, wants more from young football players to open up than they do. Lobanovsky, I remember, gave one chance, while Lucescu gives his guys chance after chance.
One way or another, Dynamo needs to take three or four skillful players. Youth is great, but it needs "uncles". With such partners on the field, young footballers feel much more confident on the field, progress much faster and gain stability.
It is clear that in the current situation, no one will come to us even for good money. In this situation, the tournament of youth teams, which was eliminated, is very necessary. Young people now simply have nowhere to get stronger. A lot of compliments to the youth team of Dynamo under the leadership of Kostyuk, but these are young men! This is completely different. The youth team is a completely different football. You have no idea what the "stars" were in the Dynamo youth teams of my time. But only a few performers got to the first teams. Adult and even youth football is already a different level, here you have to torture yourself, literally rape yourself in every game.
This can be seen in the current Dynamo. This one is called a rising star, and this one is also called. Lucescu takes them to the training camp. And then sends it back. And there can be no doubt: the coach is not his own enemy, and he will never refuse a promising player for his team.
Where is Supryaga, where is Vanat, who was given so many advances? Everyone admires young talents, everyone wants them to quickly grow into real football players, but this takes time. And appropriate conditions for progress and professional growth.
And therefore, now it is imperative to play, to hold the championship of Ukraine. Otherwise, all promising players will simply leave. And you need not just not to play, but to play as many matches as possible. Only games involving Dynamo and Shakhtar will not save the situation.
In this context, by the way, I have a question: why does the UAF never report on its activities in the development of Ukrainian football, in the development of youth football? Where to move, how do young men prepare? In fact, there is no philosophy of football that applies to our growing players. Children need to be trained so that in all exercises they work with the ball.
Our championship, in fact, lost Malinovsky and Zinchenko at the time. Why is that? Ukraine is a football power. No country has three Ballon d'Or winners. So after all, the rest of our youth will simply be dragged away.
All these analysts, experts who criticize so rabidly - let them start training, take on a team, earn money, achieve results. Why blacken our football? Why do it? Many do not even know what it takes to play one match.
"The presence of Tsygankov would not change anything"
- Let's go back to the confrontation between Dynamo and Benfica. If Tsygankov played in the second leg, what would change?
- Nothing would change. Too Benfica has a balanced team now. Without skill, it is very difficult to beat her. In addition, Benfica had a very big handicap after the first match (2:0). So one footballer, even Tsygankov, could not drastically affect anything. Especially taking into account the fact that the rivals are a high-class team, and the match was held on its field.
Tsygankov is a talented football player, but he has certain physiological problems, and injuries haunt him. It even comes to the point that he will play one or two matches, and drop out again.
Physiology is what God gave. Tsygankov can learn to control efforts and respond correctly to premonitions of situations where the muscle can “fly”. This all comes with experience.
I remember when I came to Dynamo and did not yet know what it really was to run to the maximum, I also often had this kind of problem. Over time, I adapted, learned to regulate my physiology. A similar situation is now with Tsygankov.
- For the entire return match with Benfica, Dynamo did not manage to deliver a single shot on target. How can you comment on this?
- Kicks and the result of the match are two different things. I remember that we delivered 28 shots on goal per game, but lost 0:1. It is an art to find the moment to strike. And even more so if a person tries to hit a rolling ball.
But shots on goal and passes, of course, were at the head of Lobanovsky's philosophy. One of his favorite phrases was this: "There is no goal without a kick." I remember that during training Rudakov put a bucket of water near the bar: they hit the goal so much that they simply beat off his hands.
And if you didn't make a certain number of passes - a fine.
And, of course, the percentage of marriage is important. 19-21% is the maximum! And if the marriage was 22%, then Lobanovsky didn’t even want to talk. In any case, the marriage that Dynamo is currently playing in, I think, would not suit any coach - it simply exceeds all norms of admissibility.
In relation to this situation, I can only repeat myself: I don’t want to offend anyone, but the team should have 2-3 people from whom it will be possible to push off in the game.
- Due to what can Dynamo improve in the conditions that currently exist?
- I hope the team will open up at home. Match schedule, constant game practice should improve the situation. But even so, it will need 2-3 experienced players. Dynamo has always had quite strong legionnaires. And now you can see how important this is.
- What can you expect from Dynamo in the Europa League, where are Rennes, Fenerbahce and AEK in the group?
- All these rivals of Dynamo are tough. By the way, I can say the same in relation to Shakhtar and its rivals in the Champions League group.
A new meeting with Fenerbahce will certainly be completely different - after the Dynamo matches with this opponent in the Champions League qualification, a lot of time has passed, and both teams are already in a different state. Dynamo players passed Fenerbahce due to the fact that they managed to physically “put pressure” on the opponent. And this is not an easy team. But I remember giving a prediction that Dynamo would beat Fenerbahce. This team does not defend very well, its players do not like to work in defense.
But Dynamo in the group, of course, will not be easy. There are problems in the defense. And the attack is ineffective. We can say that the team is in search of its game in attack. Any team can be in such a situation..
“In the situation with the telepool, I fully support the position of Dynamo”
— How did you react to the crushing defeat of Dynamo by Dnipro-1 (0:3)?
- This match clearly demonstrated the situation that I mentioned above: the legionnaires left the team, and this could not but affect the game, its quality. After all, Dynamo had leaders in each line, players of the required level. Yes, now Shakhtar and Dynamo are better equipped than other clubs, but you still need to play football.
- And how do you see the struggle for prizes in the Ukrainian Championship that has just started?
- It is very difficult to understand what this championship will be like. It is clear that Dynamo and Shakhtar stand apart even in the current situation. In fact, only these two teams are more or less completed, if we talk about the level of the Ukrainian championship. In the first round, unconvincing football was shown. But I hope that during the tournament all teams will improve. Let's see.
— What is your position in the situation with the UPL telepool?
— I fully support Dynamo. People have the right to watch football. Perhaps, in the situation with international matches, everything is not so clear in terms of how and where television broadcasts should be available, but the Ukrainian championship should be broadcast on a public channel. Otherwise, we will simply destroy football and love for it.
Remember the times when 102 thousand fans came to Dynamo matches in Kyiv, and still not everyone managed to get to the stadium? For the fans it was a holiday. And those who could not get to the game took their souls in front of the TV.
“My relationship with everyone in Russia ended automatically”
- It would be simply impossible to touch on the topic of war. You are a native of the USSR, you grew up on that system of relationships, you certainly still have a lot of connections throughout the former Soviet Union. What has it become now, when Russia has destroyed everything of the past with its invasion?
- I automatically stopped all relations with everyone in Russia who were my friends. Yes, before without Moscow it was nowhere. Even any trip to an international match is first a flight to Moscow, and then from there - outside the USSR. Everything was so under control. But that's all in the past now. Communication remained only with two people from Russia. Both of them sympathize with me and all of us Ukrainians, call every week, pray to God that all this will stop. And everything else fell away just automatically. They don’t call me, I don’t call them, all the more so.
- How do you yourself experience the war?
— Like everything else, it is very difficult. I am very worried about my wife. I haven't gone anywhere and don't plan to. I help our army in any way I can. And in terms of the psychological state... Devastation. Complete desolation. Some kind of prostration and a complete loss of the ability to relax, take a walk, finally have a drink. Even when you watch purely sports news, you still think only about the war, about people, about your loved ones - you worry about all of them. I can’t imagine what it’s like for those who lose their loved ones in the war, I can’t imagine what it’s like for those who let their relatives go to the front.
But everyone has faith. I have already said more than once: we will wake up in another country, and what was, will never be again. I am immensely grateful to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, our patriots. I want this nightmare to end as soon as possible.
We, in Ukraine, still have the best football players, we believe in them, we are waiting for the growth of both themselves and the teams they represent. In football and sports, failures happen to everyone - there is no escape from this.
I am grateful to all the presidents of football clubs - in the current situation they find an opportunity to finance their clubs, our football - in this way they show that they think and care about the future of Ukraine. For example, I know that 40-50 migrants live at the Dynamo base. But the club does not trumpet about it on every corner. Plus, the president of Dynamo and the presidents of the clubs directly help the Armed Forces of Ukraine, for this, too, there can only be the greatest gratitude.
In the name of those who are now gaining the freedom of Ukraine, we are all simply obliged after the Victory to rebuild everything, to raise everything. The government will have to raise the economy, and we football people will have to take our football to a new level.
Alexander Popov
