Serhii Fedorov, one of the coaches of Dynamo Kyiv's youth team, talks about the current Dynamo youth, the players' mentality, working with Oleh Blokhin and Valerii Lobanovskyi, and the most memorable matches in a Dynamo shirt.
Sergey Fedorov"Dynamo U-19: peculiarities of the generation, successes of Vanat and Brazhko
- Serhii Vladyslavovych, your wards have recently beaten a principled rival - Shakhtar Donetsk. There is a certain contrast against the first team's results. How are the U-19 boys feeling?
- The mood is fighting. We played against one of the leaders in our table, and matches with Shakhtar always have a lot of heat. The boys were well adjusted and fulfilled all the instructions of the coaching staff. This gave a positive result.
- Which of the Dynamo U-19 players is currently a candidate for promotion to the first team?
- There are candidates, I just don't want to name them. Because as soon as this happens, the guys will think that they are already in the first team. But there are guys, 3-4 people who can already approach the first team, even train with it and count on their chance. I can name names, but it's too early to talk about it. Let them prove themselves.
- In general, this is not the first generation of young players you have worked with. What is the main feature of these guys if we compare them, for example, with your generation?
- We are completely different. Time passes, we had different values, we were brought up differently. Everything has changed except the requirements in football. If they fulfil the requirements for themselves and ask themselves first and foremost: "What did I do to make the team win? How could I play in this or that episode?", then they will be fine. Many people still lack analysis of their actions.
Nowadays, we are used to earning money and working for it, not just receiving it. Yes, we all tried to make sure that in the future our children would not be stressed, could do something and feel calm. But in order to achieve something, you need to make every effort. They need to understand this.
And we are doing this, explaining to the players that nothing will happen without certain sacrifices on their part, and here we mean leisure time, health, and other factors. The football field demonstrates everything at once: whoever makes the most effort achieves the result. And it doesn't matter which team you play for: "Dynamo Kyiv or Barcelona. The most important thing is for them to understand that if they put in their best effort, they will achieve positive results in their careers. And not only in their careers, but also in their personal lives. Everything should be treated with high responsibility.
- Vladyslav Vanat is a person who has proven himself in the first team, he is a product of the club's academy. We see what he can do on the pitch, but how would you describe the psychological profile of this guy? What kind of person is he?
- We are athletes, we are all a little bit neurotic, it's 100%. Vanat is perhaps a little bit withdrawn, somewhere he is vulnerable to criticism. But all this will pass with time and age. Vanat is demanding of himself, persistent and hardworking. I am convinced that he still has his whole career ahead of him. He will make a name for himself.
- Volodymyr Brazhko is another player whom the club's Academy can be proud of today, when he has fully replaced Serhii Sydorchuk. In particular, we like his long-range shot. How much time did he spend in training to learn how to hit so hard and accurately from long range?
- We work on different components in training. Brazhko probably had it naturally. In the training process, he just perfected this skill. I think it's great that he uses his strengths. This is an indicator that young players should understand well what their strengths are and what their weaknesses are. And how these weaknesses can be compensated for. How can you compensate for lack of speed? By choosing a position, for example. That's why we pay attention to this. As for Volodya, he will progress with every game, he is the future of Dynamo. He is mobile, fast, sees the players well and controls the ball.
Coaching career: the main challenges
-Recently, Dynamo's first team has been criticised a lot for playing in the centre of defence. As a rule, this position is also played by club pupils: Popov, Sirota, Bilovar, Dyachuk. At one time, you also played in this position. What do you think is the main problem with Dynamo's centre-backs?
- You know, there are some stones in my garden here too. Because all these guys who are now in the first team, at one time passed through me. I also worked with them for a while. At some point, there were probably misunderstandings, perhaps some episodes were not explained to them thoroughly, or perhaps some points were not sufficiently explained. There are guys who are 18-20 years old, and they need to be explained, shown, given the opportunity to analyse their actions and not repeat their mistakes.
Perhaps there was some nervousness somewhere in terms of the fact that they had a lot of responsibility and had to play reliably in defence. Somewhere in the psychological aspect, they failed to cope, because they made both individual and tactical mistakes. Therefore, I hope that the coaches will make adjustments in the first team and work on this.
- How difficult was it for you to adjust to coaching after your career as a player? What knowledge did you feel you lacked at the beginning of your coaching career?
- Of course, it was hard, because my playing career was over. It passes so quickly that you don't even notice it at first. It was hard at first, but I managed to quickly adapt to the new role. My first coaching job was with Zirka from Kropyvnytskyi, together with Oleksandr Deriberin. We didn't work there for long, and then I was invited by Oleksandr Ishchenko to the Dynamo Academy. And there was a serious coaching staff there - Serhii Bezhenar, Yura Dmytrulin, Oleksii Protsenko, Ihor Kostiuk, Oleh Venglynskyi, Artem Yashkin. I worked there for 4 years, Serhii Bezhenar and I became champions of Ukraine, we coached in 1997. And after that, we were invited to the first team.
- In your coaching work, you also had to work with legionnaires. Was it difficult? After all, they have a different mentality.
- It all depends on the guys themselves. It's not even about understanding the language, the football language is the same everywhere. It's the attitude that matters here. Let's take Domagoj Vida - he is an open person, it is pleasant to communicate with him. Someone on the contrary is more closed. Lens, for example, but on the pitch everyone was united by one goal: to play and win.
Lobanovskyi, Blokhin and the Ukrainian national team
- Throughout your playing career, you worked with various specialists: the greats Valerii Lobanovskyi and Oleh Blokhin, as well as Leonid Buriak, Anatolii Demianenko, and Jozsef Szabo. Which of them were you able to find common ground with more easily, and which ones were more difficult?
- They are completely different people in terms of their approach and vision. In general, they all had high standards. Valery Vasilyevich Lobanovsky is a guru, I worked with him when I was 20 years old, maybe a little older. Of course, we listened to his every word, even if we were afraid. Of course, some time passed and we got used to it. I was very lucky in my life to be coached by a man like Valeriy Lobanovsky. Because it was this outstanding coach who gave me the further baggage on which I played all the following years.
And when Oleg Blokhin was in the national team, he had a slightly different approach to the players. The atmosphere was more relaxed. Leonid Buryak also had his own vision. But with each coach, I fulfilled the requirements they needed.
- You made your debut for the national team of Ukraine in the match against Slovenia on 17 November 1999. How did you feel when you took to the pitch in your first match for the national team?
- Of course, I was a bit nervous. Because, as far as I remember, it snowed that day, the weather was terrible. The night before, we had trained, it was dry, the weather was good. And then this happened. It was also a decisive game. We were worried, and I will remember this match for the rest of my life.
- But did you manage to cope with all the tasks that were set for you?
- In general, yes, but the result was not very comforting for us.
- You scored one goal in the national team shirt, but it was a strategically important one: the winning goal in the Euro 2004 qualifying game against Armenia (4:3). Do you remember that moment?
- Yes, it was a tough game. We were dominant, but conceded some strange goals. The score was 3:3, the last minutes, there was a rush on the Armenian goal, and I joined in. A flank pass, someone knocks the ball out, and I turn around near the goal line and push the ball into the far corner. Thus, it became the winning goal and these memories are always pleasant. I always liked playing in Lviv: the support from our stands was so strong!
I also recall that we played against Georgia at the Ukraina Stadium during Oleh Volodymyrovych's tenure, and there were some other matches, but we always won.
- In the epoch-making qualifying round for the 2006 World Cup, you played in 8 matches out of 12. Which of those matches in that qualifying round was the most difficult for you?
- Perhaps the away game against Georgia. It was the penultimate match. We had to win, and then we would definitely qualify for the World Cup. But we drew and depended on the other game. It was the hardest game after the match against Turkey, when we won 3-0. It was also memorable. And in that qualifying cycle, all the games were memorable. It was not for nothing that Oleg Volodymyrovych said that we would enter the World Cup in first place. And so it happened.
- You were part of a team that the whole of Ukraine was in love with in the late 90s: that Dynamo team impressed everyone far beyond the borders of our country. You reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 1998/99. What impressed you more: the fact of such a result or the quality of the team's performance?
- Both. Because everyone was united by one goal. We went out on the field and fought, fulfilling Valery Vasilyevich's requirements. There were 25 of us in the team and there was healthy competition. Everyone came out and worked, no matter if they were starting or on the bench. Of course, we were somewhat unlucky with Bayern Munich, because we could have won at home. But this will remain for life, the team achieved a great result. Of course, we would like to do better. But that's football.
- What did Valery Vasilyevich say in the dressing room immediately after the second match against Bayern?
- I don't remember for sure, but he definitely didn't scold us, he praised us, because at that time we achieved a great result and made ourselves known in Europe. And this is worth a lot.
