Former Dynamo head coach Jozsef Szabo shared his opinion on the second part of the 2023/2024 Ukrainian league season.
- Who will become the champion?
- I think Shakhtar will become the champion. They have the strongest squad and are ready for the season because they started in the Europa League. "Dynamo hasn't lost anyone, but they haven't strengthened either. I wish Shovkovskyi only good luck, but it will be difficult to compete for the championship.
"Dynamo didn't buy anyone at all. Bragaru will be at Chornomorets until the summer. Kyiv definitely need a central defender and a striker. Apart from Vanat, there is no one up front.
I think Supryaga will not be resurrected. He is already lost and hasn't played for a long time. I don't believe in him. Supryaha had time to open up, but he failed. I like only Brazhko at Dynamo. He's a quality midfielder with a good shot, a good vision of the pitch, he just needs to get his hands free. He will not stay in Kyiv for long, he will definitely be bought.
- Who will take places two to four?
- I would put Kryvbas in second place. They have a good, disciplined team and a strong, experienced coach. Third is Dynamo, fourth is Dnipro-1, and fifth is Polissia. "Dnipro-1 has improved a lot under Maksymov. All these teams are the same, so they can take any place from second to fifth.
- Who will be relegated from the UPL?
- "Minaj will definitely leave. They have no players and little money, there's no escaping it. The second contender for relegation is Obolon. This is a very young team that hasn't strengthened much. I think Veres will cling to the butt matches. "Zorya will also pull through, they have the money.
It will be interesting to see Metalist 1925 with Skrypnyk, they should be higher in the table. Skrypnyk is a thinking coach. He should be given the opportunity to complete the team according to his vision of football.
- Who will be the best scorer?
- Filippov from Dnipro-1 will be the best scorer. I like him. He is a scoring and experienced footballer who plays well for Maksymov.
Will he fully replace Dovbyk? Dovbyk is praised a lot, but I watched Girona's last games and I can tell you: Dovbyk is NOT good! I don't know what he does on the pitch at all. With his weight and speed, he should be constantly opening up, moving back, but he doesn't do any of that. I'm very curious who will buy him with such a game?
Dovbyk shouldn't be playing in the first team right now, I think the veteran Stuani is much better. Obviously, Dovbyk is being put in the first team to sell him at a good price. He used to score a lot thanks to the great play of Savio and the Girona midfield, but now they have disappeared and Dovbyk has disappeared with them.
- Who will win the Ukrainian Cup?
- Shakhtar will win the Cup. They have two squads. The only problem for the Miners is that they don't have a good, scoring forward and a central defender. Sikan is not up to Shakhtar's level. A cheeky striker like Napoli's Osimhen, who I really like, should play at the front.
Now the defence. Bondar is frankly problematic. He is a strong, but unpromising guy. He is weak in selection, like Matvienko. There is so much talk about Mykola, but he is still not bought, even though he is not young anymore. Rakytskyi and Chyhrynskyi are of the same age. Let's see what Latsabidze is like.
Andrii Piskun