Denis Garmash became a player of Croatian side Osijek. I think this is a very good decision for him. Much better than working in Hungary, Kazakhstan or joining Kolos. If everything goes well, he can play at the Croatian championship level for 2-3 years.
Denys Harmash. Photo by O. PopovDespite the war, the Ukrainian league is not exactly weaker than the Croatian championship. Dinamo Zagreb dominates the country. This season (after the arrival of Ivan Leko in the spring), Hajduk is looking good. Rijeka and Osijek are in 3rd and 4th place. Lokomotiva, Gorica or Slaven can move up. There are 10 teams in the championship. They play in 4 rounds.
"Dynamo plays consistently at the level of European competitions. From time to time they make it to the Champions League. For two seasons in a row, Haiduk has failed to qualify for the Champions League. Last season, they were eliminated by Villarreal, and this season they had no chance in matches against PAOK.
"Dynamo is the most popular team in the country. The main reason is the Croatian team. There are foreigners, but not too many. Almost all the top talents are in the Dinamo Zagreb system. The population of Croatia is 4 million people. Other clubs need to look for players. Financial opportunities are at the level of Poland. Even slightly lower. Therefore, local clubs are looking at all possible options. Former Dynamo player Kargbo is now playing for Solin (Hajdka Farm in the second league). Benito was a bit in Gorica.
If we talk about the best player, I would name two names - Martin Baturina and Marko Livaja. The former is the main talent of Dinamo Zagreb. He is 20 years old. We all saw him at the youth Euro. This is his last season in Croatia. Next summer he will play in Serie A. "AC Milan and Napoli are actively bidding for the attacking midfielder in the range of 20-30 million euros. The second is a downed pilot who is already 30 years old. He tried his hand in Italy, but nothing happened at Inter. He chose the path of leases. Two years ago, he returned to Croatia. It turns out that there are no good quality players in the range of 23-28 years old (the best years). Talented youngsters, minor legionnaires, locals who couldn't prove themselves and downed pilots.
"Osijek has a history with Ukrainian players. The first was Dmytro Lopa, who played for Dnipro, Kryvbas and Karpaty in Ukraine. Now he plays in the lower divisions of Croatia in transit through VPK-Agro. He played for Osijek for 4 years with a short pause for a loan to Pushkas Academy. Dmytro had some good stretches, but he was not a key player for the club. The club never offered him a new contract.
Not so long ago, the former captain of the Ukrainian youth team, Yevhen Cheberko, played. He showed nothing in Austria before that. Cheberko is remembered for fighting with the club last winter to be released to the USA. This summer, he was finally sold to MLS. The man left for the standard of living, not football. In terms of football, I remember that I failed in the match against Dynamo when the fate of the championship was decided. I don't think he'll be in MLS for long.
This summer, Oleksandr Drambayev became a player for Osiek. He comes from Shakhtar. He played in Mariupol. After the outbreak of war, he went to Belgium, where he spent a full season at Zulte-Waragem. He was called up to the youth national team of Ukraine of the last convocation, but did not go to the Euros. Now he plays steadily in Croatia.
I understand that Garmash's transfer is an agency one. Prostar had a connection with Osijek because they arranged Drambayev's transfer there. The Croats were interested in Garmash. They were not going to pay anything. It was necessary to agree on the termination of the contract with Dynamo Kyiv.
"Osijek had great ambitions to achieve results 2-3 years ago. The former Dynamo Zagreb coach Nenad Bielic came to the team, and they had high hopes for him. He initiated the invitation to Ceberek. The team spent a year building, but nothing came of it. There was no talk of a championship. Plus, we failed in the European Cups. That's why Nenad was fired. He is now the head of Trabzonspor.
Today, Osijek no longer has any special ambitions. In the summer, the team sold players for 6 million euros and spent nothing on new players. The team is led by Stepan Thomas. He worked in Turkey, and before Osijek he was in charge of Sheriff. He played in Italy, Turkey and Russia. He knows the Russian language.
Croatia's peculiarity is "football nationalism". The attitude towards the locals is loyal. Many things are forgiven and many chances are given. Foreigners are not particularly favoured. If something goes wrong, you can be fired very quickly. I know the former coach of Haiduk, Lithuanian Valdas Dambrauskas. He led the team out of the crisis and won the Cup. Then, at one point, the start of the season was not very successful, we were eliminated by Villarreal in the LC qualifiers - he was immediately fired. To sum up, the Garmash family went to a good country with a great climate. The sea is nearby. The level of football is no higher than in Ukraine. There will be no problems with communication with the coach. Everything else depends on Denys. If he is stable and motivated, he will be able to stay. If he doesn't show anything, he won't stay for long.
Serhii Tyshchenko
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