So, the Ukraine national team are preparing to open another page of their history. With a new (which one?) head coach, who has returned home during the most difficult time of war. That fact alone is reason enough to thank him.
Serhiy Rebrov, as you may recall, also took charge of Dynamo at a critical time. A kind of "inter-coach", after Oleg Blokhin's departure. It was an incredible challenge, which he accepted and turned out to be a triumphant winner. The situation has changed over time. Now we were all looking forward to Serhii Stanislavovych's decision as the most successful Ukrainian coach abroad.
Rebrov's main quality, which was the driving force in his career - the ability to make full use of the available resources. I am talking about his career as a player too. Valeriy Lobanovskiy during one of his interview-lectures asked the audience: "Do you think Rebrov is an athlete? But he wins with his head from everyone!". Yes, the maestro was looking at the root. Not the tallest of the tallest, Serhiy constantly leapfrogged much taller opponents. And the phrase that Rebrov "wins with his head" has two layers. I think it is clear which ones.
Both as a player and as a coach, Rebrov preferred simplicity and efficiency to beauty and effectiveness. Not without reason, at the press conference on his appointment, he was talking about fighting and aggression, rather than building a model. Even when it came to the "institution of the national team" Rebrov did not comment on it. Instead, he said very clearly that the time is short, but as much of it as it is, and it should be used in the most useful way. Even during his work for Dynamo he has shown an ability to distribute energy and money efficiently. Both won trophies in Ukraine are "about it", as it has recently become fashionable to say. Yes, to sacrifice something, yes, to give something away somewhere, but only to acquire more later.
Having said that, Rebrov is not a theorist, but a practitioner. He says that he constantly studies specialised sports literature, but, in my opinion, he does not exaggerate the importance of methodical material. And this is very good for the national team. You agree that we are all a bit tired of 'structures' which, moreover, do not always bring results. Or to be more precise, they suddenly stopped bringing results. So it's not just and not so much about the structure. Not just, so to speak.
If you ask me, Rebrov has been lucky with the national team's calendar in June. Opponents are graded from strongest to weakest. A test of the pen in the match against Germany, then a roughly equal Northern Macedonia and, finally, the weakest opponent - Malta.
In the first game the result doesn't really matter. The next two games, on the other hand, are to be won. In a group containing England and Italy we must either fight for every point or get ready for the next qualifier. It seemed that Rebrov chose to fight.
In this situation, perhaps, it is good that Rebrov and his staff, as I understand it, do not have an imperative task of reaching the Euros. It is possible to work calmly without being overly nervous. Not in the way, for example, Aleksandr Petrakov was nervous, with his face on neither before, nor during, nor after the matches. This nervousness, by the way, was clearly transmitted to the players.
I think that for the Ukraine national team we will see not even Dynamo of those championship days, but rather Ferencvaros. A team with two or three leaders and the rest working losh... However, any animal can be used. A shark, for example. I'm sure we'll fight and bite. And maybe we will swallow some of them.
Artem Zholkovskiy for Dynamo.kiev.ua