I believe that the Dynamo U-19 team has a very good chance of winning the championship next season. Gold medals are not particularly important here. The first priority is participation in the UEFA Youth League. This is a great opportunity for development and international experience. In this, most of us learnt about such players as: Shaparenko, Mykolenko, Popov, Dubinchak, Tsarenko, Voloshin and others. Unfortunately, Kyiv missed two draws. We need to be safe in case the first team doesn't help.
1. Coach. Ihor Kostiuk is a very strong specialist, tactician, motivator and psychologist. Ihor Volodymyrovych knows how to develop young players and find an approach to them. It's not always a question of him paying attention to these players in the first team. There are examples of Samba Diallo or Anton Bol with Oleksandr Yatsyk, when people stood out against the background of the youth championship, but they were not promoted. Before the start of the championship, Kostiuk looked like the strongest coach among all the youth teams.
2. The squad. At the U-19 level, it is already very difficult to select. The talents have already been sorted out. Each of them has an agent who has his own vision of the player's career. In other words, whoever is trained by the Academy can be relied on by the U-19 head coach. In last year's team, some positions were frankly sinking - there were problems with both wing-backs, a destroyer in the middle of the field, wingers, and forwards. For example, right-back Artem Benediuk played on the left in defence, or the versatile Naveen Malysh moved to this position. Formal winger Dmytro Kremchanin sometimes played at the forefront of the attack.
Now, the team looks well-staffed and has depth in the squad. In 2006, almost the entire squad was on loan from Zorya. There may not have been a super result there, but the 16-17-year-olds gained a lot of experience that will help them compete this season in the Dynamo youth team. Some of them even managed to play for Dynamo's senior team at the training camp. I believe that these players will have their moment in the spotlight next season, and this season we will have 3-4 core players. Vyacheslav Surkis should become the main goalkeeper. No reference to his surname. Slavik is the strongest of all the young goalkeepers and played fully for Zorya last season. Denys Dykyi will become the main left-back. I have high hopes for Vladyslav Zakharchenko, Maksym Korobov, Kyrylo Osypenko (a very bright head), David Bilyi, Danylo Ishchenko, Kyrylo Pashko, Vladyslav Kalyn, and Matviy Ponomarenko. Ihor Kostiuk can give a lot to each of them. Each of them has to work very hard, because no one will play anyone for free.
Add to this the players of 2005, who have already matured last year - Oleksiy Husyev, Yegor Syzonyuk, Nazar Balaba, Andriy Matkevych, Maksym Vasylets, Nazar Yanchyshyn.
Several players are under review. I won't tell you their names so as not to disturb them. One striker scored 5 goals in two matches. If we manage to sign him, it will be a very serious strengthening for Dynamo's youth team.
The point is very simple: there will be competition at every position. There will be no such thing as someone being able to relax and have game practice, because there is a personnel deficit at their position. We all know that competition is a very good opportunity for every young player to grow.
3. Problems of rivals. Dynamo's main rivals are Rukh and Shakhtar. Both teams have undergone personnel changes this year. In the spring, Mykhailo Dyachuk-Stavytskyi took over the Lviv team, as Vitaliy Ponomaryov started working with Rukh's first team. In the summer, Oscar Ratalutra became Patrick van Leeuwen's assistant at Shakhtar, and Oleksiy Bielik took his place.
Belik and Dyachuk-Stavytskyi worked at the headquarters of their U-19 teams and have now been promoted. Mykhailo was an analyst and Oleksiy was an assistant. Both have no experience of working independently and are just starting out.
Rukh's youth team had a normal spring. Their discipline and organisation dropped very seriously. It was very difficult for them to hold the first place with a solid lead. I know that Ponomarev saved the situation. Belik is a very gentle person, very kind. Both the coaches of Rukh and Shakhtar's youth teams clearly lack experience and may have problems with authority. The season will not be easy for both teams.
Add to that the UEFA Youth Champions League. We will have to play twice a week. Shakhtar will definitely have 6 matches, Rukh may have 4. Given that all the games will be played abroad, it's a lot of travelling. We need depth in the squad. There are all the prerequisites that these teams will be very vulnerable to losing points at this time. The main thing is that everything should be fair - no postponements.
Serhii Tyshchenko
