Well-known Ukrainian coach Vyacheslav Grozny told what he thinks about the prospects of the former head coach of the Ukrainian national team Andriy Shevchenko on the background of the news that he terminated his contract with Italian Genoa.
- Why do you think Shevchenko and Genoa terminated the contract? After all, a Ukrainian specialist could receive money and have a rest.
— It would be right to ask Andrey and his managers a question. I personally think that Shevchenko and the management of Genoa agreed to pay part of the compensation. On this basis, he has the right to accept another command. Perhaps Andrei decided to find a common language with the club and receive certain penalties. I think this is closer to the truth.
I can say that work at Genoa did not add positive emotions to Andriy Shevchenko, but this is football. The Italian team under Mancini won the Euro, and then lost to North Macedonia and did not qualify for the World Cup. We have such a profession.
- Should Shevchenko now return to coaching or, maybe, run for the presidency of the UAF, as the media write?
- We do not have UAF presidential elections now during the war. There will be no elections, at any level. The second point is what Shevchenko himself thinks about, a question for him. Every person, if he has the vocation of a coach, wants to coach. If there is a vocation of a functionary, then he is interested in this type of activity.
Shevchenko is now more of an ambassador from Ukraine, he is more involved in charity work. When he asked the leadership of Irpen how to help them, they answered him - with a stadium. This is a very strong mission when a person represents a country. It deserves respect.
— What did Shevchenko fail in Genoa?
— I can't answer for him. He will read it and say: "Why is Grozny signing for him?" There are people who work well with national teams, and there are people who work well with clubs. And a rare exception when the coach works well with both the club and the national team.
I don't know what he initially agreed with the management. There was also information that the sports director came to Genoa, led his own line, which went against the line of the head coach and his staff. I don't know, it's hard to say.
Perhaps Andrei Nikolayevich does not even think about coaching now. The dominant feature is peace in the country and victory over the enemy. Maybe he wants to reach the UEFA level as a football functionary. A lot of people don't want to be coaches because it's a stressful job.
Evgeny Chepur