Dynamo Kyiv legend Oleksandr Shovkovskiy returned to his native club. Shovkovskiy became an assistant to the team coach Mircea Lucescu.
Alexander Shovkovsky. Photo: fcdynamo.comRequired Gain
The Dynamo coaching staff needed to be strengthened. The year before last, Italian coach Diego Longo said goodbye to the team. Last year, Ognen Vukoevich completed the work. The Croatian was matched to Osijek, but he never took over the leadership of this club, but he also didn’t work for Dynamo anymore. There was also talk about a conflict between Oleg Gusev and Lucescu, but the assistant remained at his post.
Gusev and Emil Karas are not enough to work in the coaching staff. This is very little for a full-fledged work. Especially given Lucescu's age, when assistants need to do a lot of work. It was necessary to look for reinforcement. In a state of war, one could hardly count on the arrival of a foreigner.
Shovkovsky after the end of his career had nothing to do with football. And in 2018, he became Andriy Shevchenko's assistant in the Ukrainian national team. Formally, he replaced Raul Riancho. After the arrival of SaSho, the national team reached its maximum under Shevchenko - it reached Division A of the Nations League and qualified for the Euro, where it reached the quarterfinals.
After Shevchenko left the national team, Shovkovsky remained at his post and helped Alexander Petrakov. The coach's contract with the UAF has ended. The media are asking for this post Sergei Rebrov, who has his own staff of Spanish assistants. In such a situation, Shovkovsky was no longer needed by the national team. Dynamo took advantage of the situation and returned the legend.
Will help youth and add discipline
We immediately rule out that Alexander will work with goalkeepers. For this, Dynamo has Mikhail Mikhailov. In the Shevchenko national team, the Spaniard Pedro Haro answered this question. Shovkovsky's job is to be an assistant coach.
Shovkovsky should not be considered a follower of the "Dynamo hearts". He is a self-sufficient person and a self-sufficient coach. After ending his career at Dynamo, he did not follow the beaten path to the club owners to ask for a job, but looked for himself. I tried myself in the jewelry business. For four years he worked in the system of national teams of Ukraine.
He received a lot of experience from Shevchenko's Italian assistants and is able to transfer this to Dynamo. His role in Petrakov's headquarters made it possible for the national team to make the transition from one coach to another as easily as possible in the fall of 2021. Of all Petrakov's assistants, it was Shovkovsky who knew the national team players the best.
The first part of the season showed Dynamo's obvious problems with discipline and motivation. In this situation, Shovkovsky can be very useful. It's no secret that he is interested in psychology. This should help find an approach to the players. Popov, Tymchik, Shepelev, Zabarny, Burda, such work will definitely not be superfluous. These players need to boost their confidence.
In 2016, I happened to attend a friendly match between Dynamo and Mils during a break for national team matches. The Lobanovsky stadium was almost empty. You could hear what the players were talking about. And Shovkovsky did not let the defenders down. Despite the status of a friendly match, he led the defense with his voice. Such authority in Dynamo is not enough, which could shout at the players. This will definitely bring more discipline and concentration to Dynamo both during matches and training.
The Kyivans are now in such a situation that the team has reached certain heights in the form of a championship, performances in the Champions League, and then a hole occurred. Not everyone can look for motivation further. Shovkovsky spent about 20 years at Dynamo. He knows perfectly well how to look for motivation to play for one club for a long time.
Dynamo has enough youth. The presence of such a legendary player is a great experience for young players. Shovkovsky himself was in such a shoes and understands very well how to move from youth football to adult football.
Potential successor to Lucescu
Mircea Lucescu will turn 78 this summer. His contract with Dynamo is valid until the summer of 2024. This coach has no long-term perspective. Potential successors should be considered.
Everything goes to the fact that Rebrov will become the coach of the Ukrainian national team. Shevchenko has not been working for more than a year. It seems that he has ambitions to work in another position. It's not easy with foreigners now. It is unlikely that a good coach will agree to come to Ukraine now. We need to look for specialists in the domestic market.
Shovkovsky has every chance of becoming the main candidate. He knows Dynamo very well, because he played for the club for many years. He worked with a number of specialists, starting with Valery Lobanovsky and ending with Rebrov. Understands how the club works and its traditions. There is already significant experience gained at the headquarters of the national team. Now he will get experience working with Lucescu. During the work, the Romanian specialist will thoroughly know the team from the inside. Could there be a better candidate?
Sergei TISHCHENKO
