Oleksandr Sopko: "Dynamo needs a coach who will forget or simply not know that he has a Dynamo heart"

Former Shakhtar Donetsk player Oleksandr Sopko shared his thoughts on who could become the next head coach of Dynamo Kyiv.

- In order to lead Dynamo or Shakhtar now, a coach needs to know the language - it is a requirement of the time, " Sopko said. - Our grands need a coach who will be more of a father than a coach in the team, where many young players are playing now. Now, as a result of the war, everyone's psyche is disturbed, and no one knows what will happen tomorrow. The relationship between coach and players at this time has to be more flexible and at the same time more strict. It is necessary to know the language and team mentality. Therefore, Dynamo should be led by a Ukrainian coach.

Let's talk about Oleksandr Shovkovskiy. He has already worked as a coach and he has more chances. However, Oleksandr is such a multifaceted person that he has more interests than just football. He is different from ordinary football fans. For Shovkovskiy football is not the meaning of his life. You need to give all your time to coaching, to endure criticism, to be ready for tough responsibility. Maybe I am wrong, maybe Shovkovskiy has a real coaching volcano inside, but, with all due respect to Oleksandr, I am not 100% sure that he is ready to lead such a team as Dynamo Kyiv.

About other probable candidates. In my opinion, Dynamo management can look for the future head coach among such specialists as Yuriy Vernidub, Yuriy Kalitvintsev and Roman Grigorchuk. We need a coach who will forget or simply will not know that he has a Dynamo heart. We need a specialist with a professional heart, who will talk to the club president not on the principle - "sorry", but on the principle - "this is what we need".

It seems to me that Sergei Rebrov will be able to work like that, but whether he will want to return to the place where he has already left is a question.... Because this is a different Rebrov. I think that now the importance of Dynamo president's decision is increasing, as he keeps his hand on the pulse of the life of the coaching staff. Perhaps, there are options with a coach for Dynamo abroad.

In conclusion, I would like to note that everyone has crises in coaching. Remember, for example, the crisis periods of such specialists as Josep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho. We must remember that in addition to logic and work, in coaching is important and luck.

Oleg Semenchenko