Dynamo Kyiv midfielder Andriy Yarmolenko gave an online interview for the club's fans on the air of the VDINAMO Youtube channel. We bring to your attention the most interesting fragments of this dialogue.
Андрей Ярмоленко. Фото — А. Попов- How do you feel in a team made up mostly of young players?
- Of course, the age difference is felt, and it is normal. But I feel very comfortable with young guys, because they respect me. This is the most important thing for me. If I see that I am respected, I treat a person in the same way. The most important thing is to respect each other, to have a good team. And here age doesn't matter. And in such an atmosphere it is quite acceptable, for example, for a young player to make jokes to his older teammate.
- Who is the most courageous in this respect in Dynamo, and who is the most modest?
- The most courageous is probably Vanat. And the most modest... There are many of them. Let it be Tsarenko. But such modesty is also normal. I remember when Andriy Shevchenko returned to Dynamo, I called him "you" for the first two months.
What fascinates me about young people is that they are ready to listen and learn. Sometimes they come up and ask for advice. They can ask a question about some game episode, or they can ask about the nuances of life when you play outside of Ukraine.
- How were the elections of the new Dynamo captain after Sidorchuk's departure?
- Mircea Lucescu made this choice. He talked to me and Vitalik Buyalskiy. It is normal. As normal I consider the choice of the captain. Buyalskiy deserved to be it, he has been at Dynamo for many years. And at that moment he knew better than me what was going on in the club, in the team, he knew all the guys better than me. So everything was logical. Vitalik is really a leader not only on the football field, but also in the team's locker room.
Brazhko's captain's armband in the absence of Buyalskiy? I think it was a small advance. And a demonstration of how important the role of young players is in Dynamo, a demonstration that we are not afraid of this responsibility, that we are ready for the fact that we have a lot of young players, that they will sometimes play unsuccessfully, that sometimes there will be no result. That's the reality now and the club is ready for it.
And in this situation, none of the senior players took offence. Except Buschan. (Laughs). Just kidding!
- Who or what story do you associate Mykola Shaparenko with?
- With Zed from "Police Academy".
- And Buschan?
- He's such a "daddy"! He looks like someone's father! (Laughs).
- Bujalski?
- There's a bouncing ball that bounces all over the room. Here, Vitalik has such days, when he is very active in everything.
- How are you feeling right now? When will we see you on the field?
- I feel good. I hope to go on the field soon. You understand, after a serious injury you need time to recover. Then I missed a week because of a cold, when I just started to work with the ball. I had to do again the work that I had done before the cold. The most important thing is that I am already working with the ball and there is no pain. I hope that in 5-7 days, if my knee does not hurt, I will start training in the general group.
- How many per cent are you ready?
- 0% so far. It's one thing when you work individually, and quite another when you train in the general group - there is a completely different level of intensity, everything is completely different.
- Would you like to get a call-up to the Ukrainian national team if it makes it to Euro-2024?
- To get into the national team of Ukraine, I must play, and not just play, but show quality football and deserve this call. If I play well, give, score, it's one thing, but just to go to the national team - I don't have it in me, I don't want it. I want to earn a call-up.
- What do you expect from Andriy Shevchenko as the UAF president?
- I congratulated him, of course, on his election to this post. And I believe that there can be no better candidate in Ukrainian football for this position. I wish him success! I am sure that this man will do everything to make Ukrainian football develop. Of course, I want children's football to develop, to give it as much attention and finances as possible. But we must understand that there is a war in our country and it will be difficult to realise all the plans. I know that Shevchenko will make every effort. But he needs time.
- How do you feel about the idea of restoring the youth championship of Ukraine (U-21)?
- Here we need to ask the opinion of all clubs. It is clear that Dynamo Shatra needs this tournament. Let's say, I will need game practice now. Where can I get it? I can`t play for Dynamo U-19. I am not ready to play for the first team. I need some period of time to play at a lower level in order to reach a higher level.
But if we talk about the teams that do not have such funding as Dynamo and Shakhtar, they can simply say that they cannot afford to support another team. And you can understand them too. We have to look for a way out. Perhaps we should bring back Dynamo-2 and Shakhtar-2 and let them play in the lower leagues.
- The media say that you are already involved in some personnel issues at Dynamo. Is it true?
- No. I am a current football player and I deal exclusively with my career. If the president or the coach ask me about something, we can talk on these topics. But I'm convinced that you have to do one thing. If you are both a coach, a president and a football player, you will do everything badly. You have to do one thing.
- How do you spend your free time?
- I can just tell you how the schedule of my day at the training camp looks like. I wake up at 8:30, I go for medical examination, then breakfast, then preparation for training. At 10:30 I start training. It lasts until 13:30. Then physiotherapy. Then I have lunch, rest, try to sleep for an hour. I wake up at 5 p.m., go to the gym, where I work for 2-2.5 hours. And again procedures. Dinner. Rest. An opportunity to socialise with family and friends. At 23:00 I go to bed.
- The strongest foreigner you played with at Dynamo?
- Mbokani, Belanda, Silva, Vida. Very strong players, professionals and good people.
- Can you recall the funniest story about Africans who were at Dynamo?
- I always laughed with Ayila Youssef. He came to Dynamo, played here for 10 years and I asked him how old he was. He answered that he was 25. A year later you asked him about his age, and he was 25 again! Of course, everyone joked about the fact that in Africa they fool the public and forge passports.
Text transcript - Dynamo.kiev.ua, when using the material hyperlink is mandatory!
