The head coach of Lviv's Rukh Vitaliy Ponomarev told us which teams and coaches in the UPL he sympathises with.
Vitalii Ponomariov. Photo by R. Porodko- I like teams that play attacking football. We had interesting matches against Dynamo and Shakhtar. In the next round, we have a very difficult game against Kryvbas. In my opinion, the Kryvyi Rih team is the strongest in the Ukrainian championship today. At the moment, Kryvbas is playing better than Shakhtar and Dynamo.
- Do you think Kryvbas will be able to compete for the championship this season?
- I think so. Vernydub has assembled a good team and has put on a good game. The main thing is for Kryvbas to have enough energy to go the whole distance.
- Who impresses you among the UPL coaches?
- In my opinion, Lucescu is a very solid coach. He proved it with his work at Shakhtar and won the championship in his first season with Dynamo. Yes, today he is not doing well at the Kyiv club, but the problem must be looked for within the team.
I also like the work of Vernydub, Hryhorchuk and Skrypnyk. They are very good coaches.
- What are the top 5 best players in the UPL right now?
- I'll put Sudakov in the first place. The second is Vanat, I like this striker. The third will be Pikhalenok. The fourth is Stepanenko, Shakhtar with him and without him are two different teams. The fifth is Rukh's striker Klymchuk.
- Have these five already outgrown the UPL level?
- I don't think so, they still need time, except for Stepanenko, because he is a veteran. Maybe Pikhalenok is ready, but Sudakov and Vanat are young players who need to grow and gain experience in Ukraine. They are not ready players yet.
Andrii Piskun
