Football expert and coach Oleh Fedorchuk shared his predictions and thoughts on the Ukrainian championship of the 2023/2024 season.
Oleg Fedorchuk- Who will become the UPL champion?
- There will be a tough fight for the championship between Shakhtar and Dynamo, but I will give the Donetsk club the edge. I really liked van Leeuwen's work at Zorya and his approach should help Shakhtar. I like him much more than Lucescu.
I didn't see anything creative or new in Lucescu's selection and moves. I am surprised that he stubbornly continued to put Besedin in the squad and the presence of Garmash in a team that claims to be something.
- Who will be in the top 5 of the UPL?
- 1. "Shakhtar. 2. Dynamo. 3. "Dnipro-1. 4. "Kryvbas. 5. "Vorskla. I think there will be a decline in Dnipro-1. We can already see the team treading water, there is no creativity in acquisitions. The newcomers will compete, but they will not be leading players. "Dnipro-1 won't be able to compete for the first two places, but it will take the third.
They will fight for the fourth and fifth positions: "Vorskla, Zorya, Kryvbas, and Oleksandriya. I will give a slight advantage to Kryvbas among this quartet. I also want to believe that Rotan will raise Oleksandriya, although his work makes me more pessimistic so far, so I'll put Vorskla in fifth place. "Zorya lost many players, and Lalatovic has not yet proven himself.
I will also name a group without tasks and opportunities, these teams are not so weak to be relegated and not so strong to fight. These are Kolos, Rukh, Chornomorets, LNZ and Polissia. "Polissia had ambitions in the first league, but we saw a completely inexpressive performance. Remember Rukh and Kryvbas. They also claimed to be in the European Cup, and what? The situation with Polissya is the same.
- Who will be relegated from the UPL?
- This will be the biggest intrigue. Today, the main outsiders are Obolon, Veres, Minaj and Metalist 1925. So far, I don't see these teams having any strengthening or resources. But the biggest changes in the line-ups of Ukrainian clubs occur in winter, so let's see
- Who will win the Ukrainian Cup?
- The cup will be won by the team with the least workload in European competitions. I'm betting on Dnipro-1. I think that if they fail to qualify for the European Cup group, they will make a shot in the Ukrainian Cup. Kucher and Krasnikov will be motivated because they will need to put something on the president's table.
- Who will perform best in European competitions and who will fail?
- There are very big doubts about Dnipro-1, judging by their grid and their first match against Panathinaikos. Even if they manage to pull off a miracle in the return leg, they will face Marseille, and their chances are slim. With the current squad, it will be hard to expect Dnipro-1 to succeed in European competitions.
- Who will be the top scorer in the UPL?
- It's a difficult question because neither Shakhtar nor Dynamo have any clear leaders. Therefore, Dovbyk will again become the top scorer if he doesn't leave. In general, the Dovbyk epic is a kind of Santa Barbara, and it's already starting to get annoying.
I'll still put Vanat in second place. Kelsey. You can't predict a reserve player as the best goal-scorer. Only Selezniov was able to become the best scorer as a reserve for Shakhtar. Kelsey is still very far from Yevhen. Selezniov was a unique player and, in my opinion, underrated. He compensated for his lack of speed with his football intelligence.
He was unlucky that he did not play concentrated in one team. Selezniov could have become the second Batistuta or Shearer, who did not play for top teams but became legends.
- Who will be the discovery of the young players' championship?
- Shakhtar have already played everyone they can. Dynamo have some good youngsters now, like Voloshyn. At Dnipro-1, Rubchynskyi is doing well. I think these players can be discoveries this season.
Alyofirenko played well for Chornomorets, but nothing special, and he still needs to settle in at Zorya.
- Which coach will be the first to resign?
- I have a question about Lalatovic from Zorya. He doesn't know our league, and I really didn't like his complaints about the numerous injuries in the team. It's like saying in a war that tanks are broken. Why should others know about it? Such statements suggest that Lalatovic is panicking, even though the league hasn't started yet.
- Which UPL player do you expect to transfer to Europe this season?
- Putting Dovbyk in brackets, I think Trubin is the first to leave, because he did not renew his contract with Shakhtar. If the Donetsk club does not let him go in the summer, they will be forced to sell him in the winter for 5 million. The situation is the same with Tsygankov. I believe that Trubin is a good fit for Inter and he can develop into a top goalkeeper.
At the age of 21, Trubin has already played for the national team and in the Champions League. He is number one in terms of age and number of games in European competitions and on the international stage. Experience adds value to players.
I'll also name Sudakov, a player who is now on everyone's lips after the Youth Euros. The Bundesliga and the Premier League suit Georgiy's style, but there are questions about the Premier League.
Will Shakhtar be able to get 100 million for him, as they did for Mudryk? There was more politics than football in Mudryk's transfer. Not the least role was played by the fact that the former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich wanted to demonstrate his loyalty to Ukraine through the club. In addition, there was a race with Arsenal, and Chelsea is very jealous of what the Gunners are doing.
I would estimate Sudakov's value at around 30-40 million. Our clubs need to rebuild, so that it doesn't turn out like with Dynamo, when they sold Tsygankov to Girona for a pittance. Vitya is just enjoying football in La Liga right now, and if he continues like this, he will be bought by a top team in the winter.
Footballers should be sold when they are interested. Brazhko for 4 million from Torino? Anything less than 5 million does not pay off. In this situation, Surkis did the right thing. But anything over 10 million is a profit.
Andriy Piskun
