Yuriy Maksymov: "I left everything for Dnipro-1. It was not so easy to do"

The new head coach of Dnipro-1, Yuriy Maksymov, spoke about his decision to take over the Dnipro team.

- Yuriy Vilievich, how is the situation in Dnipro? Do the sirens give you time to train properly?

- Despite the fact that the air force flies into Dnipro from time to time, unfortunately, the base, training fields, stadium, everything is intact and functioning. There are no problems with the infrastructure.

After a long time in Uzhhorod, the team has finally returned to its hometown, and this is a definite plus. There is no need to constantly move, adjust, train on one field or another.

But... There are also disadvantages. Now the players are a bit depressed, so to speak. My task is to coach. To form a new team. To give the necessary result.

- The necessary result, as you said, is what?

- At the end of the championship to make it to the European Cups. This was the task I was given before signing the contract.

- Do you think that this Dnipro-1 without Dovbyk, without several skilful legionnaires, I mean midfielder Domingo Blanco, goalkeeper Max Vallef, who, I'm not afraid of this word, fled Ukraine, can finish in the top five?

- If I didn't see the potential in this team, I wouldn't have come here. I had a good position in a good team, a great president. I'm talking about Zvyagel and Gennadiy Butkevych (president of Polissya - ed.). I was happy with everything!

And I left it all for Dnipro-1, for this team. It wasn't as easy as it might seem to some, but, as you know, you can't refuse such an offer.

I no longer have anything to prove to anyone, I'm not a young coach, but I have a desire to achieve good results. And with Dnipro-1 it is possible.

Yes, Dnipro-1 is not the glorious Dnipro that it used to be, but one way or another, everyone associates the new club with the old one, so we need to keep the bar high. The club is new, but ambitious.

And Dnipro is not a foreign city for me. I used to play here in the early 90s. My memories of those times are only positive.

- I don't need to be in your shoes to say that Dnipro-1 has significant gaps in every area. Which of the holes should be patched first?

- Probably, every coach wants to strengthen every link. I will gradually build my team, because each coach has his own vision of the game. I can't talk about it now, because it will be empty talk. I've only had one training session with the team, I've only got to know the team a little bit.

You know, this is not the answer to your question, but for me now the most important thing is that the microclimate in the team is normal.

- Despite the absence of an experienced goalkeeper, Dnipro-1 does not concede too many goals in the UPL - four goals in four games. Instead, they score few. The indicators are the same.

- I understand the way you think. Yes, this is a consequence of Artem Dovbyk leaving the team. Personally, I am happy for him. This is normal and right, he has grown up, he needed to be promoted, there should be constant movement in the team. It's like a river, there has to be a flow.

- On Sunday, you will lead Dnipro-1 to the match against Kolos for the first time as the team's head coach. How important is it to start with a win?

- I would like to win, of course, why lie. But for me now it is much more important to establish a normal working atmosphere in the team.

Yesterday at the meeting, I told the guys that we are lucky people. We have the opportunity to do what we love, to play football. There is a war in Ukraine, and we can only thank the military. Tens of thousands of our soldiers are at the front defending our land, giving us a chance to live and play football at the risk of their lives.

The players of Dnipro-1 have nothing to complain about now! The results will come, I'm sure of it. It is worth having patience.

Viktor Glukhenkyi