At the start of the second part of the season, Dynamo's youth team won three games. Ihor Kostiuk's men defeated Veres 5-1, Chornomorets 4-0 and Metalist 1925 7-0. The goal difference is 16-1.
Igor Kostyuk. Photo — fcdynamo.comOf course, there will be smart people who will say that at the start of the season, Dynamo's youth team also won big and hardly conceded. Like, let's not draw any conclusions, because the opponents were not of the highest class yet. "Metalist 1925 is at the bottom of the table, while Veres and Chornomorets are average. If you hang a trident over the Kremlin, it will still be crooked...
I would look at the successful start of Kyiv from a different angle. You need to understand the problems Dynamo U-19 faced in the second part of the season to see the work of the coach and his staff.
The team's main goalkeeper Viacheslav Surkis missed the second part of the training camp and is only now returning to the team. In the match against Chornomorets, he came on as a substitute at the end of the game, and against Veres he played a half. Mykyta Gudymenko has never played at this level.
The team lost its main pair of defenders. Taras Mikhavko is already in the first team. Team captain Nazar Balaba missed all three matches of the second part of the season due to injury. A new pair of defenders, Zakharchenko-Sizoniuk, is playing in the centre. The former spent last season on loan in Zorya's youth team, while Yehor lost the competition to Mykhavko in the summer.
Roman Salenko, the leading player of the first part of the season, has health problems. He didn't play in the training camp and hasn't been included in the squad yet.
Forward Vladislav Gerich has not yet fully recovered from his injury. He hasn't played since October.
The leading scorer, Matvii Ponomarenko, had his own problems. He needed to regain his faith in himself. He needed to work individually. Matvii didn't start the second part of the season in very good shape. He made a double against Veres and began to resemble himself from the first part of the season.
The U-17 national team is currently playing the elite round in Greece. Volodymyr Ozymai, Oleksiy Rybak, Demian Tretiak, Bohdan Redushko, and Pavlo Lucin are currently in the city of Parthi. Rivne had only 6 players in reserve. In the match against Chornomorets, the application was also incomplete. The situation will be the same for the next match against Zorya on Tuesday. All this is reflected not only in the application, but also in the training process.
Without the main goalkeeper, with a new pair of defenders, problems with the main striker... the team is defeating opponents in a landslide. The coaching staff probably eats their bread for a reason.
Okay, the result in youth football matches is not in the first place. Let's then note the progress of David Bilyi. Bilyi missed the first part of the season due to injuries. Now he has gained very good form and creates a very strong triangle in the middle of the pitch together with Danylo Ishchenko and Kyrylo Osypenko. Show me your midfield, I'll tell you what kind of team you have Dynamo U-19's midfield has finally found some stability. If it continues, Bilyi will have his chances in the first team.
Andrii Matkevych leaves a very good impression. He was injured in the match against Polissia in October. He is a real captain, a leader on the field. He also shows his best and stands out.
In the Veres vs Dynamo senior team match, Kyiv had personnel problems in the middle of the pitch. Vitalii Buyalskyi withdrew due to injury. Volodymyr Brazhko is disqualified. Anton Tsarenko is injured. Oleksandr Andrievskyi played in the support area. There was no opportunity to strengthen or refresh the game. Why not give at least 5-10 minutes to Bilyi? Shaparenko and especially Shepelev already looked not only tired but exhausted. The situation with the Vanat-Ponomarenko forwards was similar. Perhaps the team would not have given up playing football and everything would not have turned to a fight and long passes that were favourable to Veres. A fresh striker would have prevented the Rivne team from making long passes. Why then do we need a youth team if, despite the personnel problems in the first team, they are not trusted?
I understand when Taras Mikhavko made a mistake at the age of 18. This is normal for his age. But when 25-year-old Benito not only doesn't improve the game, but also brings a goal, it looks bad somehow. Would it have been worse if young Matkevych had played on the right wing?
Serhii Tyshchenko
