Dnipro defender Petro Naida of the 1970s told Football 24 about the "unknown Lobanovskyi" (excerpt from an interview).
Petro Naida- You remember Lobanovsky as a footballer and worked with him when he was taking his first steps as a coach. What is his strength?
- In his mental abilities. Lobanovskyi is an analyst, a very intelligent person. He approached each task logically. Let's take the example of meeting standards. This was especially evident when he started coaching at Dnipro. A free kick was taken by one person. The players went to a potential set-piece with defined roles. Everyone knew where the ball would bounce, who would be the first to play the ball in case of a rebound. His Dnipro team was a real force - when we were promoted to the top flight, our rivals from the first league would ask: "Let you win 1-0 and that's it".
- Valerii Vasylovych, whom we don't know. Do you remember his special character traits?
- First of all, one of his virtues comes to mind. Lobanovsky hated to lose. And not just in football - in all the games he played. He was disciplined, didn't drink alcohol like some people... The man graduated from Odesa Polytechnic Institute! He had a creative approach to football. Like an artist, like a film director. That is why he is forever in history.
- In 1966, Oleh Bazylevych came to Odesa for the season. What kind of person was Lobanovskyi's close friend?
- A joker by nature. As a footballer, he was gifted and technical. Bazylevych had a great feint that footballers use nowadays. Oleh played as a right-winger, so he would move to the centre and shoot with his left foot into the far corner. And he almost always hit it. He must have found it somewhere - the coach didn't teach it. And in the 60s, such things were considered an innovation.
- Did Lobanovskyi and Bazylevych immediately settle down in Odesa?
- Some of the players liked to drink. But these two liked to walk around the city and study Odesa's history. They felt like they belonged here.
- Vasyl Lyabyk, who played for Dnipro, recalled: "I am grateful to Lobanovskyi for organising excursions for us almost everywhere. Otherwise, we would have left the hotel, trampled the path and gone back to the room. He took us to famous cemeteries, museums, and theatres. With him, for example, I visited the Piskaryovske and Novodivoche cemeteries, Khatyn, and Stryi Park in Lviv."
- Such cultural trips are a matter of course for Valeriy Vasilyevich. Obviously, he wanted to relax the team, distract them, and reduce tension. "While some people went out for exercise in the morning, we were already walking around the city. We looked at people, had time to think about life.
- One of the elements of Lobanovskyi's coaching philosophy was discipline. How did he punish offenders?
- With fines. But he applied such sanctions not only for violations of the regime. Late arrivals, effective mistakes on the pitch - he also punished them. He even fined me.
- For what?
- I gave a pass to the wrong place (smiles). We almost got a goal. But 15 minutes later we still conceded, so he fined me. In general, I was not an offender. If you've had three yellow cards in your life, that's fine. You have to understand that you are facing the same player. If you break him, you will only make it worse for his family, which he supports.
- In the training process, Valery Vasilyevich was perhaps the country's main innovator. What things were perceived as revolutionary at the time?
- No one knew what a video recorder was, and we already had one. This could have even caused problems with the KGB, who believed that such equipment was only suitable for pornography. But Lobanovskyi used his connections and got a VCR to analyse the games. Perhaps Dnipro was the first team in the Union to do this. We had a cameraman who filmed the entire match, and then we theoretically analysed it with the coaching staff.
- Did the coach have a good administrative base at Dnipro?
- Undoubtedly, the strong support of the plant allowed the club to develop. For example, we were able to fly to all matches. Accordingly, we spent less energy on the road, recovered faster and performed better. Lobanovsky was probably the first in the USSR to allow the team to invite their families to training camps. Valerii Vasylovych also knew how to discover players. Where would Belanov be if it wasn't for Lobanovsky? Blokhin should also be grateful to him. So should the rest of the Dynamo players. And in 1976 they wanted to remove the coach from the team. Our Dnipro beat them 3-1 in Kyiv.
- We have mentioned the fines. However, the training process was unbearable at times. Did the team train in any weather?
- That's true. Rain at the training camp was not an obstacle for us. However, Lobanovskyi always defended the interests of the players. If necessary, he fulfilled all the promised financial conditions.
Liubomyr Kuzmiak
