The third game day of the European Cup group tournaments for the representatives of Ukraine turned out to be twice truncated. The war that followed our country in Israel prevented the match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Zorya Luhansk in the Conference League. The match was postponed from 26 October to 25 November.
Marino PušićSo last week, only Shakhtar played on the continental stage (if we take the youth competitions out of the picture), who, under the guidance of their new head coach, Bosnian Marino Pusic, lost away to Barcelona in the Champions League group (1-2).
It is understandable that the debut of a hitherto little-known to the wider football community specialist at the helm of the Pitmen, and even in Europe's most prestigious club tournament, could not but cause increased attention in the sports media. As, in fact, did his hasty appointment to the post.
Meanwhile, events on the domestic arena are unfolding as usual. On the weekend the matches of the 12th round of the Ukrainian championship were played by the teams of the elite division, and the main favourite of the championship, Kyiv Dynamo, having played a draw with Kolos (1:1), managed to lose points in the third match in a row. And from a shadow leader turned into a stalker.
And the leaders of UPL clubs held their second meeting on Wednesday, where they again discussed the problems of refereeing, and came to a very fundamental conclusion.
However, about everything in order.
Nooneim with miner's handwriting
Shakhtar players travelled to the Catalan capital under the guidance of sporting director Darijo Srna, and already there they received the news that the issue of appointing a new coach had been practically resolved. However, Srna, the acting coach, had previously made no secret of the fact that he was not keen on coaching, that he was a temporary figure and that he simply could not refuse the president. And soon everything would fall into place.
Of course, everyone was waiting for a man with a name - even if not the most high-profile, but at least a fairly well-known one. The candidate of Feyenoord manager Arne Slot, whose spring victory over the Pitmen (7-1) impressed many people, resurfaced once again. But Slot did not dare to leave his seat. But his assistant Marino Pusic gave his consent after difficult negotiations, as the press noted, although the Pitmen, according to the Football24.ua website, which cited Dutch colleagues from 1908.nl, had to pay 1.25 million euros for breaking his contract.
"Who is Marino Pušić? Nobody knows. Analyses have been carried out. Has his heart been checked? Is it definitely a miner's?" - journalist and commentator Igor Boiko reacted to the news rather caustically.
And continued: "In all seriousness, a coach is sacked for some misdemeanours and another is called for some merit. And if there were any doubts about the dismissal of Jovicevic and van Leeuwen, then Pušić is something strange at all. Unless he is a strong coach, who was hidden in his pocket by Arne Slot and did not let him prove himself after a great season at Twente in the local first league"(Dynamo.kiev.ua, 25.10.23).
Here it should be noted that any notable player 52-year-old Bosnian was not heard, and the only experience of independent work as a head coach was just the season in "Twente". However, many people, not only in the Netherlands, believe that it is primarily due to the tandem of Slot and Pusic, who was in his shadow, that Feyenoord have made serious progress recently. At the same time demonstrating pacey, aggressive, colourful football. The kind of football that Rinat Akhmetov has repeatedly emphasised he likes.
Pusic has literally burst into the Donetsk club. On Tuesday, he was officially introduced as the Pitmen's coach, and a day later he was in charge of the game from the coaching bench, having had time to get to know the players, conducting a theoretical session with them and making a lasting impression on some of them.
"We have signed a very strong coach who will show good results in the future," said Darijo Srna in turn. - " In the match against Barcelona, he will be on the coaching bench with me. The fact that Pušić has little experience as a head coach is not a big deal. First of all, we look at his professional and human qualities.
We had a difficult period in recent months. We did not play inherent miner's football, the one we need"(Ua.tribuna.com, 25.10.23).
"Why did we praise the decision to change the coach? - For his part, FC Shakhtar CEO Serhiy Palkin commented on Pushych's appointment. - Because the fans saw where we are or are not going, what kind of football we show or do not show. The quality of football answered all the questions, and the results too.
We made a mistake, we recognised it. I do not believe that the fault lies solely on the previous coaching staff. No, we all made a mistake, but we corrected it very quickly and we are moving forward. We need to burn out this sidebar and realise that the club is the main thing. No names, no seats, but the club and its results. Maybe the decision is not overly human, quick, but we had no time to prolong the situation further"(Shakhtar.com, 25.10.23).
A good landmine despite the defeat
As usual, there was no shortage of predictions on the eve of matches of this rank. Shakhtar's coaching change only added fuel to the fire. As well as Barcelona's personnel problems. And then there is Saturday's looming clasico with Real Madrid.
"Because of the huge number of injured base players, the Catalans have to suffer: Lewandowski, Pedri, Rafinha, Sergi Roberto, De Jong, Kunde. Plus Gavi, who is suspended for suspension. So, are we starting to believe in the success of our players?
Let me put it this way: we can assume that the Pitmen will definitely have opportunities. Another question is that Barça will have no less. And that's where who will beat who," suggested Football magazine editor-in-chief Artem Frankov(Dynamo.kiev.ua, 24.10.23).
"I don't even know how to comment," the always expansive József Szabo frankly admitted. - If Shakhtar president wants to get a new coach, it should have been done before the winter break. Well, will Pushich come now? And what, will he be able to give a result at once, to beat Barcelona? He does not know the team at all "(Ukrfootball.ua, 24.10.23).
However, Szabo agreed that discipline in defence, pressing and attempts to catch the opponents on the counter-attack could play into the Pitmen's hands, as Barcelona's defensive play is not infallible. However, the former national team coach categorically refused to believe that Shakhtar would not lose.
"Even if Shakhtar lose, nobody will say a bad word, provided that character and dedication are shown," said former Pitmen forward Oleg Matveev. - Although it will be tough. The Catalans have more skill, and there are such talents on the way, that they won't spoil the porridge. I think Shakhtar should not try to play Barcelona against Barcelona, but try to play on the counterattack"(Dynamo.kiev.ua, 25.10.23).
"Shakhtar did not pretend. But did it change much?
"The first half was puzzling. "Shakhtar were too respectful of the opponent and played very timidly in attack. And with so many mistakes made by the Pitmen in defence, it was naive to expect anything else. Formally, Shakhtar held out for 30 minutes. In fact - the first fires started to appear from the very beginning of the match. And by halftime, the ball was twice in Riznyk's goal, who saved the team from a goal on two other occasions," Terrikon.com (25.10.23) noted in its report.
The second half, according to the authors of the site, turned out to be different. Barcelona were hardly saving their energy before Real Madrid, but Sudakov's goal in the 62nd minute gave them hope. The Pitmen had several further opportunities to equalise. However, the Catalans could have calmed the game down with a goal of their own.
The hero of the game was 20-year-old Fermin Lopez, who made his third appearance in the starting line-up. The 16-year-old Lamine Yamal also came on the pitch from the first minutes.
"The class of these vikonavtsiv was enough to punishShakhtar for gross mistakes. Even at the start Sudakov failed to bring a goal - Fermin's shot was pulled by Riznik. Yamal simply cut down Azarov on the flank. And when Cancelo and others fought, no one could put out the fire.
"Shakhtar played with an unimaginable number of errors. Zubkov and Kryskiv made sub-optimal decisions and lost the ball. Even the experienced Stepanenko and Matviyenko ruined their players and left great zones," Football24.ua (25.10.23) wrote.
And journalist Mykhailo Tsyruk summarised: "To say anything about the champion of Ukraine on the results of this match is quite difficult, because for most of the game on the field was one team - the one in blue-granate. The Donetsk club switched on a bit after their goal, but these switches happened in periods. If we look for something to praise the Donetsk side for, we can say thank you for not giving up and not falling apart"(Xsport.ua, 26.10.23).
And authoritative expert Oleksandr Sopko admitted: "I have no mental uplift after this match - everything is predictable. There was no miracle, and all of Shakhtar's sore spots were visible at this stage, so the coach has a lot of work to do. Of course, there have been times when the Pitmen lost to Barcelona with a bigger score, and our team was stronger then. However, the current victory was so easy for Barcelona that it is not easy to compare it with anything"(Footboom1.com, 26.10.23).
According to Sopko, the Catalans were already preparing for the game with Real Madrid and played the second half at a minimum. And Shakhtar made so many mistakes that it was impossible to achieve something, and to progress in general. It would seem that the scoreline is not so sad, and the Pitmen had chances, and the statistics is not depressing, but the game leaves much to be desired. And this condition, according to the expert, is not momentary, but systemic.
Nevertheless, Marino Pušić, despite the defeat and the fact that he had to face Barcelona already in his debut in the team, kept a good face after the game: "Intruth, the boys did everything I asked them to do. Of course, there were moments when we had to endure the pressure of the opponent, but even with these sufferings they showed character: they were very tough, organised and disciplined, supported one another.
It is very important to respond to such a high pressure and intensity on the part of the opponent. We changed some things in the break, although the team did well in the first half. If we can change something during the game with such a supervisor, we have the potential and character. And that is what I am most satisfied with"(Shakhtar.com, 26.10.23).
Yarmolenko factor and psychology
In Ukraine last weekend matches of the 12th round of the national championship took place. Everyone played, except Chornomorets and Shakhtar - their meeting was postponed.
Kryvbas' victory over Dnipro-1 (3-0) allowed Yuriy Vernidub's charges to secure their place at the top of the current standings (26 points). However, only one point behind them is Polesie, which coped with Zorya (1:0). And recently the shadow leader of the tournament, Kyiv Dynamo suffered another loss, having played in Kovalivka in a draw with local Kolos (1:1).
In the last three meetings the Kyivians scored only one point out of 9 possible.
As noted by Dynamo.kiev.ua, the match started quite briskly: both teams took a good pace, exchanging several dangerous attacks. At first, the hosts looked a bit sharper, with Brazilian Diego standing out. However, by the middle of the first half Dynamo opened the scoring: after a multi-pass combination Shepelev passed to the right to Karavaev, and the latter gave an effective pass to Tymchik.
The goal seemed to give Mircea Lucescu's men confidence. Dubinchak had a good opportunity to score, but he delayed his shot. And towards the end of the first half, Karavaev missed a great chance to increase the lead, shooting over the goal from a few metres.
"After the break, our team again inexplicably failed, as in the recent game with "Polesie" - stated the same resource. - First, the hosts managed to equalise - Luchkevich scored a masterpiece goal. A few minutes later, Vanat received a second yellow card for simulation. And then the Bilo-Syni almost fell apart. Only thanks to several incredible saves by Buschan the hosts could not score more" (28.10.23).
However, Vanat's penalty was not so indisputable. At least, the Dynamo coach Mircea Lucescu said: "We lost two points. We finished the match with ten men, it was quite difficult. "Kolos" kept the advantage. But the main thing that worries me is the answer to the question why the referee did not look at the VAR when he made the decision to penalise Vanat. I saw in that episode the contact between the Kolos defender and our striker. We demand from our players to observe fair play, honesty in the game, but we get the opposite"(Dynamo.kiev.ua, 28.10.23).
Referee Kozyryatski's decision also raised doubts among former FIFA referee and now a well-known referee expert Miroslav Stupar: "Vanat did not fall down himself. It was visible to us, but not to the referee. Kozyryatski thought that the forward faked a fall, but the defender's kick on the opponent's ankle was there, and it is clear that the player lost coordination in the dynamics of movement.
Whether he fell beautifully or not is not important. The important thing is that the kick on the leg took place, and VAR could not suggest anything. Then what is it for - this VAR? Kozyryatskyi missed, although he should have taken a penalty, Dynamo remained in the minority and now the question to the UAF Referees Committee is: how will it interpret this moment?"(Dynamo.kiev.ua, 28.10.23).
Perhaps, it would be wrong to reduce another loss of points by Dynamo to the referee's mistake. Obviously, there are other factors influencing the results. Among those seen on the surface are the weak play in the central defensive zone, the absence of Yarmolenko due to injury and unsatisfactory psychological resilience of the team and its individual performers.
Much has been said about the shortcomings in the actions of the centre-backs. Perhaps, only Popov can be called as meeting modern requirements, although he is unstable and traumatic. As for Sirota, Dyachuk, Bilovar, rarely any match goes without their serious mistakes. And here, apparently, the game of supporting midfielders requires some restructuring. It is not appropriate to give recommendations on this matter to the coaching staff, Lucescu is probably considering options to solve the problem himself.
However, as an illustration, let us cite the figures of Ua.tribuna.com website: "14 goals conceded by Dynamo in the first 8 matches of this season - the club's anti-record in the Ukrainian championships. Mircea Lucescu's team surpassed its own last year's figure, when 10 goals were conceded during the same period. In third place (9) is the beginning of the season-2013/2014, when the team was managed by Oleg Blokhin" (28.10.23). And this is despite the fact that it is difficult to make claims to the goalkeepers.
As for Yarmolenko, who before his injury and surgery was the best in the tournament in terms of the number of sharp passes into the opponents' penalty area, everything seems to be unambiguous here.
"It's a bit scary for Dynamo without Yarmolenko," admits commentator Viktor Vatsko. - Before the season we said that the team has two reinforcements compared to last year - Yarmolenko, who returned home, and Shaparenko, who recovered. But the latter was again forced to be treated, and Yarmolenko, who underwent surgery, will not play again this year".
"I am sure, if Yarmolenko was healthy, Dynamo would not have lost neither to Polesya nor Dnipro-1," agrees journalist Serhiy Tishchenko. - Today it is more than a footballer for the team. Lucescu's mistake is that he counted on Yarmolenko as a performer who would play without rotation. Overload and led to the fact that the body could not withstand"(Dynamo.kiev.ua, 23.10.23).
How to solve the problem of Yarmolenko's absence is again the prerogative of the coaching staff. It is clear that there is no one to fully replace him. But nobody cancelled the search for options, right?
Finally, about psychology. For a long time Dynamo, having three games in reserve, was the shadow leader of the championship. This, according to Alexander Popov, the founder of the famous Shurik website, played a cruel joke on the team.
"The thing is that footballers are not in a vacuum - they can also read. Including about leadership, which is not there, but which, it turns out, is there. And that's a thesis they absorb into themselves. It can be understood if the team is confidently conducting the championship, going without losses. But when it stalls, concedes in almost every match, what potential leadership can we talk about?
Players go out on the field as a team that is doing well. And when they face the situation that the opponent, it turns out, also knows how to play football, they get lost, do not understand what is happening. And this inevitably leads to instant nervousness, confusion and to goals in their own net"(Dynamo.kiev.ua, 23.10.23).
One can agree with this thesis or not. But the recognition of some players suggests such thoughts. For example, the revelation of the team captain Vitaliy Buyalskiy after the defeat to Polesya that if you miss such victories, you should not play football, but go to another profession.
Or the words of Volodymyr Brazhko after the draw with "Kolos": "We realise how many points have been lost. So we need to train better, play better, so that everything depends only on us. Now we will give our best on the pitch in the next matches"(Fcdynamo.com, 28.10.23).
Well, the time to come out of the shadows has come, especially since Dynamo is no longer the shadow leader, having transferred this dubious, as it turns out, status to Shakhtar. The Kyivians will face the Pitmen in the opening match of the 13th round of the UPL next Friday.
Hopes of Nadein and his colleagues
Last Wednesday, on the initiative of Gennadiy Butkevich, the president of Polesya Zhytomyr, the second meeting of the UPL domestic clubs' managers took place. As on the first, September, a number of representatives of the football elite of the country were absent. As then, the main topic of discussion was the refereeing, which was narrated by some of its participants.
"Nosov fromMetalist 1925 was present on the phone: he listened and agreed with everything - that it is necessary to improve the refereeing, as he also considers himself a victim - said the commercial director of Dnipro-1 Vyacheslav Fridman. - Karamanits is in a foreign detachment. Akhmetov was not present and, I guess, he will not come. Kozlovskiy must be a long way away. Drought promised to be there, but, apparently, he forgot. It's not clear why Slobodyan wasn't there. Last time he went to the hospital for illness, and what happened now, I do not know. There was no one from Oleksandriya either"(Sport-express.ua, ua.tribuna.com and others, 26.10.23).
However, the head of the UPL, Yevhen Dikiy, was present. According to Friedman, he was mostly silent, while others spoke. And first of all about how to avoid the influence of referees on the results of matches and the distribution of teams in the standings. The most eloquent from the height of his experience was the president of FC Dynamo Igor Surkis. He, as well as the rest of those gathered, want more representation of clubs in the UAF, not three votes, as it is now.
"Clubs spend their own money on keeping teams and holding the championship, therefore, they want to take a more active part in the management of the process. For this purpose it is necessary to take some decisions, there must be a quorum. Therefore, we would like the next meeting to be more inclusive. At this meeting, by the way, the owners of clubs want to request candidates for the position of the head of the UAF, to get a feel for their programmes. Aže oblast federations sklikatimut vikonkom".
Friedman also agreed that the clubs are not satisfied with the work of the head of the UAF Referees Committee Luciano Luci. He seems to have a contract expiring in October. However, some say that his agreement has been extended. And whether this is actually the case, it is unclear due to the events that are taking place in the House of Football.
"At the meeting they discussed proposals to reform the work of Ukrainian football referee corps and issues of interaction between the UPL and UAF, " - for his part added the investor of "Metalist 1925" Vladimir Nosov. - Our club, of course, will actively participate in the life of the Premier League. We will share our proposals to improve domestic football, as far as possible in the current conditions"(Ua.tribuna.com, 26.10.23).
Ivan Nadein, president of Veres, was much more specific: "We have discussed various options, but we agreed that we will be able to implement our decision only after the changes in the UAF leadership take place. Without this, it will be difficult to put our ideas into life, as there is no one to talk to at the moment. At our meeting, all of them supported it"(Sport-express.ua, 27.10.23).
Nadein expressed hope that the leaders of the country's elite football clubs will succeed in realising their plans. After all, even the first meeting bore fruit. In particular, the process of transferring the VAR system from under the control of UAF Marketing to the UPL, as they were bought with the money of clubs. There was also a meeting with the supervisors of refereeing, however, it turned out to be, in fact, fruitless.
"Luchi and Rizzoli explained to us a lot of mistakes, but in fact they are not able to make any reforms today, because the UAF has no leadership. Butkevich, for example, wanted to raise the wages of referees, but Luchi said that a thousand dollars per match, which they receive now, is enough. Some club presidents, on the other hand, wanted to fine referees for poor evaluations and low ratings. However, there were different thoughts, and this is a normal working process.
Nadein confirmed that the clubs do not know whether the contract with Luchi has been extended, because it was concluded by the UAF. Also, the president of Veres does not know where the fines paid by the clubs, kovidnye money and in general, what is the UAF budget. Therefore, the clubs want more transparency in relations. Including in the refereeing issue.
"When the heads of the arbitration explained to us the decision of the referee in the closed mode, then in many clubs claims fell away. At the moment, today football referees in the country are associated with unprofessionalism and corruption. It is a mystery to us why the UAF Referees' Committee does not allow referees to publicly explain their decisions. Even though we pay the committee a million hryvnias for refereeing. It isfor such moments that we need to use pressure devices"(Sport-express.ua, 27.10.23).
Viktor Zhuravlev
