Setanta Sports commentator and journalist Igor Boyko shared his thoughts on Dynamo Kyiv's start to the Ukrainian league season.
Photo: Oksana Vasylieva"Dynamo is the best topic for a football smackdown. But you can't praise it in any way, as if you are betraying your ideals. (No, Zelensky is good, but Tatarov...)
You can only speak well of Dynamo in two contexts: how strong it used to be and how strong it could be. And so now, when Dynamo won the second match in a row at the start of the season, you still need to look for the negative: weak opponents, referee mistakes and just plain luck. What good things can you say about Dynamo, have you seen their defensive centre at all?
Indeed, both in defence as a whole and in the centre of defence personally, the team plays poorly. There are questions about these games and Bushchan, who should have used his experience to help young nervous defenders, and the wings, because Tymchyk and Dubinchak are not as willing and, most importantly, not as trained to play backwards as they are forwards.
But the centre of defence is a total danger. Any forward pass, any pass to the penalty area is a potentially acute moment. The defender's job consists of two points: here's the ball to be knocked out; here's the opponent who must not be allowed to score. It's very difficult when both centre-backs can't cope with this.
Is it surprising that Obolon attacked in this match? How can you not attack and put pressure? At the same time, Dynamo's defensive problems make the team think more about attacking. I won't say 1-0 wins, a one-goal advantage is never enough. Even before the start of the season, there was this magical question: would Dynamo be able to score more goals than they concede? So far, everything is working out. Yarmolenko is not the main star of this team, but he is an important part. He may no longer have the qualities to solve everything on his own (although it will be more apparent in the autumn), but he definitely has the class to help the team. Buyalsky has switched on the playmaker because there is someone to score without him, Shaparenko adds interesting solutions, and the unloaded Sydorchuk finds partners between the lines.
What can we say about Vanat, who is almost the first Dynamo striker to look at the goal since Brown Ide. Interestingly, in an interview, Vanat called the Nigerian the player he was particularly watching. Although he reminds us more of Ismael Bangour because of his impudence and unpredictability in action.
"Dynamo plays very brightly and efficiently in attack. If there is no one to defend, what can you do? With such a powerful group of players up front, we can safely think about bringing Brazhko and Voloshin into the first team and the calm gradual development of Brazhko and Voloshin, who are in very comfortable conditions and need to gain confidence. No one can be as confident as Van Sant.
However, the Conference League is next, so it will be more difficult. And central defenders are essential. Dynamo are looking for them, but Mircea Lucescu trusts only his eye. Although after several recent stories (Antiukh, Ramadani), it's hard to say that his eyes are accurate.
Although I'm writing about the match the next day, I have to hurry! Perhaps this is the last time in the season when there is a chance to say good things about Dynamo," Boyko wrote on Telegram.
