Former Shakhtar Donetsk striker Andriy Vorobey has commented on the performance of Ukrainian teams in the European cups this week.
- Let's start with the match Slavia vs Dnipro-1. Dnipro lost with a big score in Prague, having struck the first blow on the opponent's goal only in the 86th minute of the game. What was it?
- I think that Dnipro-1 is not ready to perform at this level. Earlier, in the Champions League qualification, Dnipro played only the second match in Athens at a decent level. And here? The impression that most of the players have only seen each other on the pitch for the first time. We did not see any team interactions, although Dnipro-1 has experience in international matches. Last season Oleksandr Kucher's charges played in the group stage of the Conference League.
What caught my eye? A lot of mistakes are made by Dnipro defenders. Everyone knows that the Czech teams are skilful in playing at standards, but we can not cope with the opponent, who scores after a penalty kick in the minority. The Slavia players played with heart, while our players acted characterless, hitting the first shot at the goal only in 91(!) minutes. And that shot was struck by 18-year-old forward Daniel Kivinda.
- Does the absence of Pihalenok and Dovbik affect the team's play so much?
- As we can see, yes. To the leaders of the team I would add Gutsulyak. Dovbik went to Girona, Pihalenok got sick - and everything broke down in the game of Dnipro-1. Without Dovbik and Pihalenok, the zest in the actions disappeared. But, I repeat, I am very confused by the defensive play of all the players of the team. Here, for example, the captain of the team Svatok. In spring he was called up to the Ukraine national team, he played at Wembley against England and after that he started to make a lot of mistakes. Slavia scored the first goal from under him in the opening match.
- You have often encountered this: yesterday a player was announced, and today he is already in the starting line-up. I'm talking about forward Aleksandr Filippov. And another new recruit Bogdan Lednev came on the field in the 11th minute of the match?
- Everything happened very quickly. Dovbik moved to the Spanish La Liga, and there was simply no one to replace him. Of course, we should have foreseen everything earlier. Everyone understood that Dovbik's transfer was possible, that's why Dnipro-1 managers had to invite a new forward earlier and play him. And we do not know exactly what is the financial situation at Dnipro now. Either we can take only free agents, or we can make a transition for relatively little money. If you buy a player of the main squad - it's one thing, you can count on him.
We know that Filippov and Lednev didn't play much last season, for various reasons. Yes, we understand that these newcomers have international experience, but they need to be in optimal conditions to perform well in such a difficult match. I think it's a little early to count on Lednev and Filippov.
- In your career you played against Slavia. What impression this team left on you?
- Football is changing, but Czech players - not really. All of them are physically powerful, tall players. They always play great in standard positions, their head coach Trpisovski has been leading Slavia for 6 years. In my time Czech players did not rely on technique. But now I see that they have improved here as well. A month ago, Slavia left-back David Jurasek signed a contract with Benfica. As I heard, the transfer amounted to 14 million euros. Czech teams live on the sales of their best players. And it is quite normal.
- Why did Aris beat Dynamo?
- I have watched the Aris game carefully and I would say that this team pleasantly surprised me. I thought that the fifth team of the Greek championship would look weaker. But, with their loyal fans, the home team fought for every ball. Aris tried to make the most of every attack. I can not say that Dynamo players acted badly, but there are big claims to the attacking actions of the Ukrainian team players.
- Everyone has a question why the best sniper of the team Vanat did not play...
- I myself would like to hear the official position of the club on this issue. Mircea Lucescu had it like this at Shakhtar: mostly Ukrainians play in the Ukrainian league, and in European cups - foreigners. I am not implying anything. Over the last 5-7 years, in my opinion, Vladyslav Vanat is the best forward of Dynamo Kyiv.
- Do you agree with the opinion that the team leaders: Yarmolenko, Sidorchuk, Shaparenko and Buyalskyi failed this game?
- Yes. Sidorchuk and Shaparenko did not escalate at all - all passes went backwards and forwards from them. In attack - Yarmolenko and Buyalskyi could not put unsolvable tasks in front of the opponent's defence. Nobody broke into the free zone, we saw little one-touch play. I think that Dynamo had no leader on the pitch this evening.
It seems to me that before the match Dynamo Kyiv players wanted to play at the expense of their rich international experience. It did not work out. I think we should have used the flanks more often, act aggressively, not being afraid to make mistakes. The players of our team lacked creativity and zest.
- Before the starting whistle everyone was worried about the unsuccessful actions of the centre-backs - Popov and Sirota. How did these players prove themselves in Thessaloniki?
- They did not have such obvious, gross mistakes. But the way Popov plays in defence... You can`t play like that. Only a miracle and Buschan saved Dynamo from the second conceded goal in extra time. Our defenders are not accustomed to take balls cleanly, without fouls. What I noticed is that in Europe defenders play tightly with the opponent's forwards, while our defenders take position, in zones, and try to confront the opponent.
- Why, in your opinion, Mircea Lucescu made the first substitutions only in the 81st minute of the match. After all, in such a heat many players were simply tired...
- Probably, the head coach of Kyiv were afraid to change authoritative performers. I am sure, Sidorchuk and Yarmolenko could have been changed much earlier, they did not get into this game.
- What are the chances of Kyiv Dynamo to pass Aris in this round of the Europa League? The return meeting in Bucharest is already in a week.
- The chances for Dynamo to pass Greek Aris are quite good. We all want Dynamo to play in the play-off round with Besiktas. I think that our team in Bucharest will have great support from local fans and Ukrainian refugees. Everyone knows how strong Greek clubs are at home, and how they stew in away games. Mircea Lucescu is a legend in Romania, and he should also be supported by local football fans.
In the return leg, Kyiv must play very fast. We do not need to control the ball for the sake of control. We need active play of flank midfielders. Shaparenko, Buyalskyi and Yarmolenko should threaten the opponent's goal a lot. And not like in Thessaloniki, where only three shots at the goal of Aris were made by our guys. With active play in the return match, everything will work out for Dynamo. We should look for a chance only in attack.