Renowned coach and expert Oleh Fedorchuk has assessed the prospects of the team's Ukrainian defender Ilya Zabarnyy at English Bournemouth. It must be recalled, the 20-year-old football player moved to the APL club from Dynamo Kyiv last winter. Due to an injury he has played just one match for his new club so far.
- A week after signing for Bournemouth, Zabarny dropped 51 days and missed six matches for his new team. However, he returned to the club at the end of March and has been in the main squad for a month. But during this time he played only 1 match in the APL. Why so?
- Only Bournemouth head coach and the player can answer this question. I do not see any defensive player in Ukrainian football that could meet the requirements of the APL. Because you need to be able to play intense and hard football for 90 minutes at high speed. You can see for yourself what they play in the UPL. And it is the defensive players who suffer most from it.
The price of losing points in the English league is very high, and therefore no one will risk it for the player who at Dynamo did not show much reliability. He was taken on because all the clubs in the APL have free money. And Zabarniy himself is very young for such a position, but already with international experience. They signed him for the future, because clubs have already learned how to make money on rentals and resales. There was an information that Real Madrid CF earned USD 200 million just from rentals a few years ago.
There is already information leaking out in the English press, and I was chatting to an in-depth expert on British football, and he explains that the Zabarny and Mudryk transfers have an economic-political subtext. In Britain they attribute it to the large number of emigrants from our country and the fact that support for Ukraine is currently trending.
And the quality of play... Even to take Ilya's best matches, he was not super reliable even in the UPL.
- Zabarniy had an ankle injury. What are the peculiarities of such a problem?
- It is important to clarify what kind of injury to the ankle. If it is a microfracture, then it is two to three weeks without football, and you need a smooth transition. If it is just a bruise, then three to four days. The nature of the injury matters. I, as a coach, say that there are injuries that do not sound threatening, but they are difficult to treat.
But there is no need to worry about Zabarny. He already jumped over his head when he moved from U-19 to Dynamo and then ended up in the APL. It's a fairy tale, a rare case. I did not even believe it at first and the motives of the transition are not completely clear to me. It seems that there is not only football, but something else.
- How can Zabarniy fight for a place in the starting lineup in a situation when the team is heading for relegation, and he is a young newcomer?
- It is always a risk. Under pressure, young players rarely show themselves, it is natural. Youth is unpredictable, and experience is the experience of making mistakes. Therefore, I do not think that he will be in the starting line-up. Only if there is a force majeure.
Although there is one factor in favour of Zabarniy - he has a very steady psyche. He attracted the attention of Dynamo coaches by that and he showed himself in the first games. Plus in the team he looked one of the most stress-resistant. That's my opinion.
- Is there any chance for Zabarniy to become a mainstay till the end of the season and what will it take?
- It's unlikely this season, but it all depends on which league they play in. I look at Championship sometimes and there's an order of magnitude more fight than in the APL. It is difficult to predict, but if he adapts mentally, learns the language and so on, then anything is possible.
The main problem with our players is not football, it`s mental. Previously, in our country players were waiting for help from coaches, while in the West players adapt more easily. But now this problem is less pronounced in Ukraine - young people are more independent.
By the way, we cannot rule out that Mudryk will have similar problems. But a player like Zinchenko and his adaptability and psychological resilience is the main trump card. Everyone should look up to him in terms of career building. The man came on the smallest salary, practically for free, and in the most competitive club in the world he broke into positions which are not his own. That's the course of Zinchenko's career that should be taken as an example.
- If "Bournemouth" will fly out, what should Ilya do - to stay in the Championship, to ask to rent, and where - in the APL, the weaker leagues, or to "Dynamo"?
- It is unrealistic to go to "Dynamo", and I believe that no one considers such an option because of the level of salaries and the very atmosphere, the war, and many other factors. I think that even after the relegation in Championships Ilya should fight for a place in the Bournemouth squad, because there they will get rid of more expensive players, and look for easier ones. And without him there will be someone to leave and maybe a place will become available.
There's no point in him moving below the Championship and they won't take him on loan in the APL. I don't think it's necessary to make plans. He needs to work on his contract, try and not get injured, he has just arrived and already has health problems.
- Did Ilya make a mistake with this transfer?
- We could have waited for another season or two, but I do not know that someone would have invited him. It's like getting married, whether you made a mistake or not - life will show.
In our situation, any Ukrainian player would immediately agree to a transfer to any team in the APL. Not so talented Zabarniy to calculate his career. But Mudrik was able to calculate and he had options. Zabarny didn't.
I think Zabarny is happy with his choice and the fact that he is not playing does not grieve him. At this age (20 years - ed.) to lose half a season - it is not so bad. Now even defenders play after 35 years, and even more. So he will have enough time to play for another ten years.
Yevhen Chepur