Famous Ukrainian coach Oleg Fedorchuk shared his thoughts on the second part of the Ukrainian championship of the 2023/2024 season.
- Who will become the champion?
- Shakhtar has more chances than anyone else. "Having dropped out of the European competitions, Shakhtar will focus on the league. Shakhtar, Dynamo and Kryvbas will fight for the championship. I don't see any other contenders.
"Polissia has ambitions, but I think in the first season they will be to qualify for the European Cups. It's the fourth place, at most - the third place. The Zhytomyr team has a big rotation going on.
We don't hear anything encouraging about Dnipro-1, except that they have paid off Jovicevic. This is not the news of an ambitious club. If Dnipro-1 is paying off the coach from the day before yesterday with such effort, it says a lot.
"Kryvbas is inspired by its place and has not lost anyone. Vernydub is one of the most experienced coaches in the UPL who knows how to motivate. Let's remember his Sheriff and Zorya. Perhaps it is difficult for him over a long distance because of his emotionality, but he works well in short stretches. And we should not forget that Kryvbas is a club from the homeland of the President of Ukraine. This is understood by sponsors and businessmen who need to squeeze the most out of Kryvbas.
- Who will take places two to four?
- I will give the second place to Dynamo, and the third to Kryvbas. Dnipro-1 and Polissia will fight for fourth place. Dynamo has virtually no losses. Even if Shovkovskyi does not show outstanding coaching, Kyiv has a young team, and players under the age of 25 are progressing in all scenarios.
However, it is worrying that Dynamo has not solved the critical problem of centre and right backs. It's hard to judge Mykhavko's level from control games, where there is no stress and he plays under pressure. He is a good footballer, I think he will get time. Mikhavko can repeat the path of Zabarnyi. But Zabarnyi was lucky because Dynamo had a series of injuries at the time, and he took his chance.
As for the right-back position, Tymchyk is injury-prone and unstable, and Karavayev is not a defender.
- Who will be relegated from the UPL?
- I think Minaj and Veres will be relegated. "Veres is feverishly taking players on loan, but I don't remember any cases in Ukrainian football when loan players helped outsiders.
As for the joints, there are many candidates. At the moment, neither Zorya nor Metalist 1925 are impressive, and there are bad talks about Chornomorets' financing.
Metalist 1925 seems to have money, but their transfer campaign surprises me. With all due respect to Garmash and Yurchenko, I don't see them as diesel locomotives, they are just ordinary cars or even restaurant cars. We need to buy players under 26 who still want to prove themselves, not those who have already played out their careers. Skrypnyk is an expensive coach, and the players are not up to his level.
- Who will be the top scorer?
- Most likely, Vanat will win the scoring race. I think he will score around 14-15 goals.
Kozhushko has already jumped over his head. He found his coach, Vernydub, who trusts him. In the second round, it will be difficult for Kozhushko to score, he has never been very effective.
Will Supryaga be able to compete with Vanat? I have big doubts about him. Supryaga is not a pure forward, he likes to play from deep. He has problems with receiving the ball and is an individualist.
That is why Mudryk has problems at Chelsea. He doesn't communicate with the players around him, he focuses on himself, just like Supryaga. Once the Metalist manager asked me my opinion about Jaja Coelho. I immediately said that there would be problems with him. Because he is a gifted footballer, but not a team player. That is why Zhaža did not fully realise himself and did not play in the top championships despite his obvious talent.
- Which UPL club had the best transfer campaign?
- Perhaps Polissia. "Shakhtar buy players but don't fix their problem areas. They have bought three young left wingers, perhaps to compensate for the loss of Mudryk.
"Shakhtar definitely need a forward, a centre-back and a full-back. We see that Stepanenko is playing on the edge. He needs to go to Belgium, like Sydorchuk, he deserves it.
- Who will win the Ukrainian Cup?
- "Polissia will put everything on the Cup. I think if they win the trophy, it will satisfy Butkevych's ambitions in his debut season in the UPL. For the Cup, it is not necessary to have a well-played squad, the main thing is to tune in for one game. Remember how Chelsea won the Champions League despite being inferior to Man City. "Polissia reminds me of Girona, who also started strongly, but then began to fall due to a lack of depth and freshness. But they can tune in for one game.
Andrii Piskun