Former Dynamo Kyiv coach Oleksandr Khatskevych has assessed the latest changes at his former club.
Alexander Hatskevich- Is replacing Mircea Lucescu with Oleksandr Shovkovskyi at Dynamo a plus or a minus for the team?
- If we take these four games that the team has played now, it is definitely a plus. Before that, the results were disgusting and it was clear that the atmosphere in the team was not at the highest level either. And what we see today is a positive for the team.
"Dynamo needs to add to its stability and results. Today, the guys themselves say that the game is not so important, but the results are.
- What do you think has changed in Dynamo's game today?
- They don't claim to be the first team. If you take the matches with Kryvbas, the last one with Metalist 1925, the team plays more transitional football, scoring goals on counterattacks. But it is clear that we played two games with the majority and had an advantage both in terms of score and players.
So we started scoring from direct "standards". Under Lucescu, in my opinion, the last time a goal was scored from a set piece was when we played Ferencvaros, Popov scored after a free kick(match of the sixth round of the group stage of the Champions League season 2020/21, 1: 0 - ed.) I know that under Lucescu, the team did not work on standards at all, but now they are working on this component and it is paying off.
- Will Kyiv be able to challenge for the championship?
- Dynamo's goal is always to fight only for the championship. As we speak today, Kryvbas has lost points, and Dnipro-1 has lost points. And in terms of points lost, Dynamo and Shakhtar are already ahead of both Dnipro-1 and Kryvbas. That's why Dynamo always has the same task, and what happens in the spring...
I am sure that Dynamo is one of the favourites in the fight for the championship. If a month ago it would have been as follows: "Yeah, Dynamo could be in the top three". Today I am telling you that Dynamo is one of the favourites.
- Dynamo currently has 10 players on loan from other clubs: Serhiy Buletsa, Gerson Rodriguez, Justin Longwake, Eric Ramirez, Kahim Perris, Mykyta Kravchenko, Giorgi Tsitaishvili, Vikentiy Voloshyn, Anton Bol, and Oleksandr Yatsyk. Which of them makes sense to return to the team?
- As for the legionnaires, the question is closed - none of them will return. Maybe the team would need Rodriguez's skill level today. As for Ukrainian players, maybe Bulets.
For me, Geo Tsitaishvili is a footballer with a very high football intelligence, but today Dynamo have switched to Valery Lobanovskyi's football - with a quick transition from defence to attack, everyone behind the ball line, fragmentary pressure. If under Lucescu's rule, 4-2-3-1 was clearly visible, now 4-1-4-1 is more visible during the attack, and 4-4-2 during the defence.
But Geo is no longer a Ukrainian footballer, he is a Georgian. He is also a legionnaire. The level of other legionnaires is currently lower than that of the guys in the team.
- Last question: are you going to return to your coaching career?
- I have other priorities today - my personal life and my family. Anything can happen. Of course, I follow and am interested in football.
Andrii Shevchenko
