The information agenda of the reporting football week in Ukraine was determined by the match between Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk in the regular round of the Ukrainian championship.
Given the rivals' positions in the table, the "classic" derby looked somewhat unusual, but in the end it turned out to be full of symbolism. The game ended with the resignation of Kyiv coach Mircea Lucescu.
Mircea Lucescu. Photo by Yuriy YurievUnexpected colours of the Classic
We should ask the statisticians if there has ever been a time in the history of national championships when both national football giants were outside the top three at the time of the face-off. The current meeting between the White and Blues and the Orange and Blacks broke the pattern entirely: Shakhtar and Dynamo were ahead of the more stable Kryvbas, Polissia and Dnipro-1.
In the midst of the season, the Pitmen decided to change their head coach: Patrick van Leeuwen, after less than six months with the team, gave way to Marino Pushic. His counterpart, the coach of the capital's team, Mircea Lucescu, indirectly acknowledging the tension in his relationship with his wards, was stubborn and seemed to hope for some positive changes in the game and results. The duel between the UPL debutant and its record holder answered some questions. Not only formally, but also officially.
"Today I would not like to talk about the game. I want to say that I have played football in Ukraine for 15 years. I decided to end my career here. This was the last game. I said goodbye to my players, to Shakhtar's players. I thank everyone and hope that a part of me has left a mark on Ukrainian football. I am grateful to both Shakhtar President Rinat Akhmetov and Dynamo President Igor Surkis for our joint work. I would like to end my career in a different way, but everything comes to an end - my football career, football itself, love and life. There is abeginning and an end to everything... " - with this philosophical speech at the post-match press conference, Lucescu announced his resignation (Fcdynamo.com, 3.11.23).
"Dynamo lost to the most principled of rivals - 0:1. Extending their winless streak in the league to four games and suffering their fourth defeat in the last six matches.
"October was a black month for Lucescu - defeats to Polesie and Dnipro-1, a draw with Kolos," summarises an anonymous writer for Terrikon.com (4.11.23 ) . But fate was harsh. "Dynamo did not use their chances, although they had them, while Shakhtar, on the contrary, created few chances, but scored a goal. And Lucescu decided not to continue, becoming another victim of Shakhtar Kyiv. The club in which the Romanian coach had invested so much effort - both physical and mental..."
According to many analysts, Shakhtar's victory was by no means accidental, it only highlighted the current crisis of the Kyiv team, which has also lost several leading players (Buyalsky was added to the injured Yarmolenko and the suspended Vanat, who was injured). In such a situation, hopes were pinned on a flawless defensive performance and the opponent's mistakes.
"Neither the former nor the latter worked out," states Yevhen Savchuk (Footboom1.com, 3.11.23 ), " Where it's thin, it tears, and the defensive line reminded us of this again, looking simply helpless when Shakhtar scored their only goal. After that, it was necessary to rebuild, to make a non-standard move, but one could only dream of it, as evidenced by the substitutions that Lucescu made in the 83rd minute. And they were more likely to be desperation substitutions than anything constructive. The desperation of the coach, who seemed to understand (or rather, knew in advance) that his Dynamo epic was over. And even more so, he probably understood that he simply could not give the team more in the current situation."
At the same time, Kyiv visually outplayed the opposition in the first half. They exerted effective pressure on the back line, worked much more productively on the flanks, demonstrated interesting draws, shifting wingers to the centre, played wide, and won in individual struggles.
Ironically, it was their personal skills that proved decisive in the goal. As if in response to Lucescu's accusation that legionnaires refuse to come to Ukraine, Brazilian Neverton made a brilliant pass to Zubkov, and the latter dealt with Bushchan in cold blood from the central area critical to the Kyiv defence.
"With significant problems, but the hosts once created a really good chance for a goal in reply, when Karavaev tried to take advantage of Nazarina's mistake in his own half on the right flank of the penalty area, but missed the near post," informs Football." And here the trouble is that the capital's team had no more chances to save, while the opponents could have closed the match long before, but Sikan did not beat Bushchan in a similar situation. And then the Pitmen simply skilfully restrained the attack of their principled opponents."
Would Lucescu's decision have been different if Karavaev had converted one of his two killer chances? Or if Brazko's shot hadn't been blocked by a defender? Or if Benito's attempt had reached the goal? Surely the Romanian himself will tell us about it in due course. For now, we have to assume that the coach just made sure that he and the team were tired of each other, he had exhausted himself, and the only way to break the stalemate was to take a radical step.
Second after Lobanovsky
It is interesting that in Mircea Lucescu's long sports biography, this is the first time he resigned himself.
"Before Dynamo, Lucescu managed to work for two national teams and 10 clubs in 41 years of his coaching career ," Timur Koval shares the results of his research (Ua.tribuna.com, 2.11.23 ). " Only once did the Romanian leave his post on his own initiative - in 1986, when he simultaneously coached his country's national team and Dinamo Bucharest. That is, he had another job option and left when his contract expired. But in 44 years, Lucescu has never resigned himself, even with the worst results of his teams."
As it turned out, the Romanian specialist's decision to leave his current job was not spontaneous, he had been thinking about it for a while.
"I admitted to myself that it wastoo hard for me from a sentimental point of view - I had no strength left to go through the minutes of silence in memory of those who died in the war before each match," Dynamo.kiev.ua quoted the coach's interview with the Romanian edition of Digi Sport Special (4.11.23). But, of course, the recent results have also made themselves felt. A month ago, we were ahead of Shakhtar in terms of points lost. I don't know what happened then. But the moment came when I felt that it was time to resign, thereby taking full responsibility for the recent failures. For a coach, especially one with my experience, it is important to understand when to leave. I could have taken this step earlier, but I still wanted to play the match against Shakhtar, and we had an agreement with the club president about this."
According to Dynamo president Ihor Surkis, the coach's verdict came as a complete surprise to him.
"Lucescu has always enjoyed the respect and trust of our club, I am sincerely grateful to Mister for his work at Dynamo Kyiv. Therewere victories and achievements on the path we travelled together, and Lucescu stayed with the club in this difficult time of war," reads a public tribute posted on the club's official website (Fcdynamo.com, 3.11.23).
No one would argue with Igor Mihailovich's words: Lucescu is a great coach. Several articles that followed the Romanian's resignation pointed to the scale of the figure, who will leave a bright mark on domestic football.
"As it turned out, nothing is alien to Lucescu ," said journalist Valerii Vasylenko, " At least his farewell words seem not only very adequate, but even sentimental. For the first time in his time at Dynamo, Mircea laid everything out so clearly, took the blame for his failures, told us about his problems and experiences, and asked us to support Dynamo's youth in any way we could.
He seemed to be on Dynamo's electric chair forever. At least until the end of this season, that is. And then such a demarche. Such an act. After which there is emptiness" (Sport.ua, 4.11.23).
The author shares the feeling that something significant and huge has come to an end. He reminds us that a whole generation of fans in our country grew up with Lucescu as their coach. This generation may adore the Romanian coach, or they may even throw boulders into his garden, but the fact is that this man evoked real emotions, stirred up, and left no one indifferent.
"There is no one else like him either in terms of size or sound of name. With the departure of Lucescu, our football will become truly more lean, even less spectacular ," Vasylenko sadly states.
"This step by Lucescu is the most interesting thing that can happen this season in Ukrainian football," supports his colleague Dmytro Lytvynov (Ua.tribuna.com, 4.11.23 ), " He continues to make our football, if not better, then more interesting even now.
And Andriy Bilyk, a reporter for the same Tribuna, even dared to draw loud parallels when assessing Lucescu's legacy.
"This is the true greatness of Mircea as a sports personality - he became the second person in Ukrainian football after Lobanovsky and the first and only foreigner to gain national recognition as a coach...
Lucescu, in turn, is behind Ukraine's only European trophy since independence and the fact that our football has become bipolar.
There are simply not many figures like Mircea - ambiguous, controversial, odious, criticised, but certainly great - who are not the same. And I have no idea when the next one will appear in our football" (Ua.tribuna.com, 4.11.23).
Wishing Mr Lucescu and his family health and well-being, Ihor Surkis stressed that the team would move on without lowering the bar of the tournament task, namely, to win the current championship. It has been officially announced that Oleksandr Shovkovskyi will remain acting head coach until the end of the season. And the former goalkeeper will have to solve the problems that have accumulated at Dynamo in recent months and eventually led to the change of coach.
"Lucescu has always been a recognised expert and legendary coach, and I thank him for all his achievements and contribution not only to Ukrainian but also to world football ," SaSho wrote on his Instagram page, "But I personally thank him for inviting me to join his coaching staff.
Today I have the great honour of becoming a mentor, albeit with the prefix acting as the head coach of my favourite team. I also cannot fail to note that this became possible thanks to the trust and support of the club's president, Igor Surkis.
I am well aware that this is a great responsibility, which I take on with great respect. Thank you all for your support and faith in me. Only Kyiv is the only victory!"
We will see in the near future whether Shovkovskyi will be able to reboot the Dynamo machine. In the spring, Oleksandr did a good job of replacing Lucescu, who was then on sick leave. In the current league, nothing has been lost for Kyiv, and in terms of human resources, given the leadership of the U-19 team in their tournament (the day before, Ihor Kostiuk's charges beat Shakhtar 2-0), the capital's team remains one of the undisputed leaders and favourites in the Premier League.
Shakhtar's Bosnian accent
The state of affairs at the Donetsk club is also in the focus of attention of the Ukrainian sports media. It is interesting to see how Shakhtar, our only representative in the Champions League and one of the main teams of the national team fighting for a ticket to Euro 2024, will change under the leadership of Bosnian coach Marino Pušić.
Prior to the 'classic', the newcomer played two matches in charge of Shakhtar - against Barcelona in the Champions League and against the first-league side Viktoria. Neither of these games could be perceived as indicative. Not only because they took place, as they say, in the "off the cuff" mode. Rather, it is because the level of the opponents does not allow us to comprehensively judge Marino's coaching skills, because the first opponent is a head stronger than his current team, and the second is equally weaker.
The confrontation with Dynamo is another matter. It is by no means true that the Pitmen played for a reasoned victory in the derby. Nevertheless, Shakhtar got three points, taking them away from their eternal main rival in the fight for the title. This is Pushic's first significant achievement in his new position.
What kind of person is he, this coach? What kind of football will he instil in one of the leaders of our elite division? Dmytro Vatras thoroughly dealt with this question in a conversation with the Dutch journalist of AD.nl Mikos Gouka and shared it with the Tribuna readers.
"The lack of knowledge of the UPL and serious experience as a head coach, another change in the club's development vector are reasons to be sceptical about the Pitmen's move," reads the article. - "The European background, the role in building a powerful and attractive Feyenoord, charisma, awareness of the war factor (Bosnian Croat) are reasons to engage in discussions with critics and question premature conclusions" (Ua.tribuna.com, 2.11.23).
The lack of independent work experience is probably the biggest disadvantage of the Bosnian. He only worked as a manager at Twente - he took over the team in a crisis period, did not save them from relegation, but returned them to the elite the following season.
Subsequently, Marino worked closely with Arne Slot - together they almost led AZ Alkmaar to the championship (covid prevented it), and soon found himself at Feyenoord's headquarters. Last year, the team won the title and defeated Shakhtar in the Europa League play-offs (1-1 and 7-1), and this season, after the third round, they are leading the Champions League group, leaving Atletico, Lazio and Celtic behind.
According to the Dutch media, Pušić is a strong tactician, and in Rotterdam, he was responsible for analysing opponents. In particular, he also studied Shakhtar on the eve of the European Cup duel, so he should be aware of the advantages and problems of the Donetsk team.
"The fact that I'm well acquainted with the team is definitely a big plus ," writes D. Vatras, " So it's no surprise that Shakhtar didn't hesitate for long, throwing Marino into the fray right away. And sitting Srna on the side at first" (Ua.tribuna.com, 2.11.23).
By the way, according to sporting director Dario Srna, Shakhtar will be active in the transfer market in winter, which is a signal to Pušić's rivals in the domestic arena.
In terms of character, Pushic is the complete opposite of van Leeuwen, he is more like Jovicevic, who coached Shakhtar before the Dutchman. In Marino, the team players once again got a "friend" rather than a "boss". The journalists also managed to feel it, noting the friendly communication style of the new coach.
"After van Leeuwen's Iceberg, this is really a new breath and probably what is needed," the author of the article suggests (Ua.tribuna.com, 2.11.23).
But, perhaps most importantly, Pušić is ready to instil in his players beautiful and attacking football - away from their own goal, clear schemes of play, many quick ball returns.
"Building from the back, quick combinations and attacking from the flanks: these are a few things that I think are important," Tribuna quotes Pushic as saying at the post-match press conference in Barcelona. " I love football, and when I watch football, I want to enjoy it. So I also want to have fun when my team is on the pitch. That's why I demand a lot of movement, high pressure and courage. We have already shown this against Barcelona and we will develop it in the near future."
The journalist's conclusion is based on a comparison between Pušić and van Leeuwen.
"Despite the fact that Patrick had experience in the club's structure, knowledge of Ukrainian football and a good period at Zorya, his invitation in June seemed less logical than Shakhtar's new choice ," the author concludes (Ua.tribuna.com, 2.11.23).
So, the renewed Shakhtar continues to chase the unexpected leaders of the Ukrainian championship - Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih (coached by Yuriy Vernydub) and Polissya Zhytomyr (Yuriy Kalytyntsev). Of course, Dynamo Kyiv, led by Oleksandr Shovkovskyi in his acting status, will also return to the fight for the top places. It should be noted that Dnipro-1 has recently been led by a new head coach, Yurii Maksymov. Interesting football projects are underway under the banners of Rukh Lviv (Vitaliy Ponomaryov) and Chornomorets Odesa (Roman Hryhorchuk).
For all of these professionals, the outstanding achievements of Mircea Lucescu will serve as benchmarks. This will undoubtedly add intensity and intrigue to the national championship. Despite criticisms of the UPL's level, it promises to delight football fans with a sharp and interesting dispute, where the final is unpredictable and the main events are still to come.
Orest LELEKA
