Legendary Ukrainian coach Vitaliy Kvartsyanyy has answered questions related to the Ukrainian championship, the Ukrainian national team and domestic legionnaires.
Vitaliy Kvartsyanyy"Shakhtar have no game of their own now".
- Whose game do you like in the UPL?
- I will be frank: you can find good players in all teams, even at FC Lviv. What can I say, if there are great players in the oblast championship, who can reinforce the UPL teams in a few years. And I have never been wrong in this regard.
- Which UPL players do you get a buzz from?
- Previously, I enjoyed Bondarenko from Shakhtar. But now I no longer like him. Artem started to play backwards, crosswise, constantly grazing with Stepanenko in the centre of the field. What kind of development is that? Bondarenko is a good player, but they squeeze him, trying to instil the Barcelona and Manchester City game. "Shakhtar need to show their football, not copy anyone.
Shakhtar currently don't have their game. They should play in someone else's penalty box, but it turns out they don't play on their own. I watched their games with Leipzig and Rennes. It's a sad sight. If I'd been drinking, I'd have gone and got drunk during the game to make it easier to watch. Is it really possible to get high from it, playing in your own penalty area? In general, we currently have a problem with our goalkeepers.
- What is it?
- During Lucescu's time at Shakhtar, when there were Brazilians, the team played forward. When the internationals departed, the Pitmen started playing through the goalkeeper. Under Fonseca I always honoured Pyatov as the best player because he had the most TKOs. Recently, the Ukraine national team played England and once again Shakhtar goalkeeper Trubin was the best. He plays well with his feet but can miss between the legs, he has a wrong choice of position when facing a corner.
Dynamo goalkeepers also suffer from it. Can't Shovkovs'kyi tell them where to be?
- Since you mentioned Shovkovs'kyi, do you think he should stay in charge of Dynamo?
- It is a complicated question. For me personally, Lucescu is a role model. A man coaches a team at a high level at the age of 77. Priceless brains of the experienced coach must be saved, not thrown out. Shovkovs'kyi should be gaining experience under Lucescu.
Experienced coaches, such as myself, Lucescu, Pavlov, Markevych, Onishchenko, Blokhin and Sabo know how to fix the situation and breathe new life into the team.
"I am only impressed with Benito at Dynamo. He made up for Tsygankov's departure to some extent".
- Who, in your opinion, will be the UPL champion?
- The end of the championship will be interesting. I think that Dnipro 1 and Zorya will put pressure on Shakhtar for the title. My favourite team right now is Zorya, Shakhtar and Dnipro-1 are also not bad at times. But at the moment our giants are not showing consistently high quality football. The biggest problem of Ukrainian football is cautiousness and development of attacks across the field and backwards. Because of this our football is degrading.
We have good players, but they are not allowed to develop. Gabi(Artem Gabelok - ed.) from Metalist 1925 often plays with the goalkeeper, as well as Shakhtar players with Trubin.
All the teams in the Ukrainian championship play the same way. Put on Shakhtar`s kit or vice versa and you cannot tell who is playing.
- What is going on with Dynamo now? Prior to the start of the championship, the Kyivians were considered favourites of the UPL, but they completely failed the season, leaving them without medals.
- They also overcontrolled the ball, and Dynamo has no personalities now after Tsygankov's exit. I like only Benito in the Kiev team. He fitted in well and to some extent made up for Viktor's departure. Benito is a threat - he plays outside the box and sharp. But there is no constructive team attacking play at present in Dynamo. Has Lucescu forgotten how his team played before? There is no need to think that the Ukrainian players are worse than Brazilian ones.
Many Dynamo players have reached their peak in development, but without them the Kyiv side will play even weaker. I can say that there are no players in the UPL right now who can play for the top 10 teams in the English championship, apart from Dovbik.
"I made it clear to Dovbik that he will not become a great footballer without workloads".
- What can you say about Artem`s game?
- I had him at the training camp with Volyn. Artem then played with two touches: received and gave. I told him: "If you don't play individually, you won't become a good striker. We also worked on developing his starting speed.
- In one interview, Dovbik said that Kvartsyaniy's workload was crazy and you tried to make a horse out of him.
- I have always had, am and will always have a high opinion of Dovbik. I`ve never offended players, but I`ve offended Dovbik a little for those words. I do not know if he said it or the journalists twisted it so, but all my exercises were aimed at the development of players. I made it clear to him that he will not become a big footballer without loads. Horses are driven to exhaustion so that they fall down, but I have never driven my players to exhaustion, and they did not die in my trainings.
Maybe Dovbik does not run like that now, I do not know. But he has become a real athlete, he probably works out all the time in the gym. He already had the potential to do that and he was a good footballer. I am sure that now he can play for any European club, even the top level. Dovbik works well with the ball, up top, on standards, he is fast and a team player.
- Let`s talk about our foreign players. What do you think about Tsygankov`s game?
- Tsygankov is a good footballer, though I like powerful ones. But not everyone can play in the Spanish championship. I`m glad he did it. I think he is worthy to move to a stronger team than Girona.
- What can you say about Zinchenko, who this season was close to triumphing in the APL with Arsenal, but eventually won the silver medal?
- Zinchenko is a top class footballer. A weak player will never play in Manchester City and Arsenal's core. He has character, and he is a leader in the Canaries' locker room. You can see that Alexander is constantly working on himself and squeezing out the maximum. He is a fanatical overachiever.
"Lunin has to wait for his chance. "Real Madrid don't just walk out on the road".
- Mudrik is still without a goal and Chelsea fans are already writing harsh comments about him.
- Mudryk just got into the wrong team. I always liked him. He needs to improve his speed technique and be able to keep the ball in his feet like Messi. I think Misha is working on that. Football intelligence he has. For some reason the Chelsea coaches are slow in trusting him, Mudrik needs to play more. He is a rare talent and I think he will show his worth, Misha just needs to find his own coach.
- It is not an easy situation for Lunin at Real Madrid. With Courtois healthy, he does not get chances in the starting lineup, and when he came on, he looked unsure. Should he stay at the royal club or should he look for another team?
- The big plus is that he is in the Real system and has the opportunity to train with the best players in the world. Lunin should show even more effort and have his luck. At the beginning of the season he played well for Real Madrid, scored well in a number of games, and now it's as good as a stump.
Lunin has yet to gain experience and has lost his luck. The heyday of any footballer is between the ages of 26 and 28, so there is still time for Lunin. I believe he does not need to give up, he needs to wait for his chance. "Real Madrid won't just stand in the way and you can always leave for another team.
"Yaremchuk needs to become Ibrahimovic in terms of psychology. He is always focused and plays with a cigarette in his teeth.
- Jaremchuk has a difficult time at Brugge, Roman did not score for a long time and lost his place in the starting lineup. What happened?
- I think Yaremchuk is a very talented footballer with great qualities as a striker-finalist. He has speed, he is good up top, he can beat, pass and score.
Perhaps his problem has to do with psychology. Yaremchuk's decline began after his move to Benfica. In the Portuguese club the players play with good technique and southern mentality, while Roman has a mentality of Eastern European, hard football. In addition, he has not found his coach. Now Roman is in a period of excitement and formation.
- Maybe he should return to Dinamo?
- The Belgian league is stronger than the Ukrainian one, so it is better for Yaremchuk to stay there. He should wait for his chance and coach. He missed some great chances and they refuse to put him in the squad. I think Roman should be trusted and he will start to score, gain confidence and everything will go great. I believe in him. Now Yaremchuk needs to believe in himself and start concentrating more.
There is no need to go anywhere, unless there is a conflict with the coach or the management. Otherwise, he should ask to rent him to play. Yaremchuk needs to become Ibrahimovic in terms of psychology. He is always focused and plays with almost a cigarette in his teeth. Pure composure! And Yaremchuk is, perhaps, vulnerable, worried about everything, and therein lies the main problem.
"Why is it accepted that only Dynamo players have to coach the national team?!"
- The Ukraine national team has not yet officially announced the name of the new coach. What do you think about this situation?
- I am in full agreement with Markevych that Rebrov has been awaited for two years like a Messiah. I respect Rebrov, we have good relations with him, he`s a wonderful expert, educated, knows foreign languages, but in Ukraine there are enough qualified coaches.
- Who, for example?
- Yuriy Vernidub said that he had always dreamt of working with the national team, but he knows it will never happen. Why do we have a perception that only Dynamo players must coach the national team? It is as if the country's president or deputies decide who is to be the national team's head coach.
Petrakov showed how to work with the Ukraine national team, but he had no luck. But we have great Petrakovs in the country, there are plenty to choose from. And for two years all they have been talking about is Rebrov. Do you think that if Kvartsyan had coached Dynamo, they would have played worse? I am sure they would have played better! But I am not given to it, just like Vernidub and Hryhorchuk.
- What are the top five best Ukrainian players according to Kvartsyanyy?
- Dovbik is undoubtedly in the first place, Bondarenko comes second, Zabarniy takes third place, Mykolenko takes fourth and Tsygankov and Zinchenko share fifth place. I cannot not mention Yarmolenko, I will put the veteran in sixth place.
- By the way, Yarmolenko's contract with Al-Ain expires this summer. Do you think he will return to Dynamo to strengthen his native club?
- More likely yes, than no. Although, I think, he has already mixed the European style of play and life with the Middle East. Let's see how he will manage to reorganize. Yarmolenko has good experience, he knows how to handle the ball, he knows when to shoot and when to pass. I think he will help Dynamo.
"Kochergin is the most underrated Ukrainian footballer".
- Who do you think is the most underrated Ukrainian player you would recommend to the National team?
- I am very impressed with the world champion Daniil Beskorovayny, who has opened at Vernidub at Kryvbas. I took him to Volyn at the age of 16. He is developing very well and we need the national team coaches to have a look at him. Beskorovayniy has crazy data - he is tall, fast, tough. Vernidub gives him a good school.
Beskorovayny and Zabarny - it will be a crazy pair of central defenders in the team, the more so that Danylo is left-handed and Ilya is right-handed. Also Beskorovayny could play left-back if Mikolenko gets injured.
I also like Shved from Shakhtar, although he needs more athleticism, and is prone to injuries. I also think he lacks 100% commitment. But this all passes with age. Shved has strong skills to become a stable player in the national team.
However, the most underrated player, in my opinion, is....
- Who?
- Vlad Kochergin! He became Polish champion with Raków, scoring eight goals, marking his last match with a double. He has skill and poise, good speed technique and agility. His speed produces a sense of goal, something not everyone can achieve.
For example, Malinovskiy is a pugilist, he put it under him and hit it from the left. But in Marseille he is a bit stifled in long-range shots, as it was at Atalanta. Kochergin, on the other hand, can play at speed and shoot from two feet, and I am a proponent of long-range shots.
I follow the Polish league, and "Rakuw" is one of the strongest teams in terms of fitness, which has a positive effect on Kochergin. I can say with certainty that he is a top class international player. He has a German-Spanish-French-Italian-English-Polish style!
From Spain he has fast technique and quickness with the ball. Kochergin would have played in France because he is flexible and plastic and is not inferior in this component to African players, of which there are many in Ligue 1. He is also a good athlete and plays well with his head, so he could easily play in the Bundesliga and the APL. Apart from that, he has the skill to play in the main squad of any Italian team, and Serie A is a very difficult championship. I'm not even considering Turkey, Belgium and the Netherlands, where he would be in a leading role straight away.
- There was a lot of criticism of Rotan, when he called up Konoplyanka instead of Kochergin for the national team. How did you react to it?
- Rotan played with Konoplyanka at Dnipro. Zhenya is very much in tune with Yarmolenko, as he had previously played with him in the national team. Sometimes, there should be such experienced players in the team. I don't think Rotan made a mistake by releasing Konoplyanka at the end of the match against England. Had he called and released Kochergin for five minutes, it would have been worse for Vlad, and honourable for Konoplyanka. I can say that Zhenya certainly did not spoil anything, the skill, as they say, you cannot breed. But it is clear that today, Tsygankov is much stronger than Konoplyanka. Kochergin should already be called up to the National team and put in the starting line-up.
- Who can he oust from the squad?
- Kochergin can oust anyone, whether it is Mudryk, Yarmolenko or Tsygankov. Football in Poland is very strong, so do not underestimate Ekstraklasa.
Andriy Piskun
