Leonid Gaidarzhy: "Bragaru will be a player of Dynamo's main squad"

The former coach of Chornomorets Odesa midfielder Maksym Bragaru, Leonid Gaidarzhy, has assessed the transfer of the 21-year-old winger to Dynamo Kyiv, which was officially announced yesterday.

- What do you think about Bragar's transfer to Dynamo?

- I am not surprised because I have always appreciated Maxim. I am very happy for him. I believe that this boy has a great future. He has many qualities that are necessary to play even at the European level. I think he can already claim one of the leading roles in a European team. Many experts are impressed with his game.

- Will this transfer benefit Dynamo and what can Bragaru gain from it?

- Bragaru can increase the competition at Dynamo. He is a versatile player who can play in many positions. Thanks to this, both the whole team and he can progress.

Dynamo will provide him with regular participation in European competitions and advertising, as Dynamo is the brand of Ukrainian football. Thanks to this, he will have a chance to prove himself somewhere abroad in the future.

- Will Bragaru fit into Oleksandr Shovkovskyi's game plan?

- I think the level of football intelligence will allow him to adapt to any style of leadership.

- Will Bragaru cope with the high level of competition at Dynamo?

- Maxim is not afraid of competition. He is a very driven young man with a strong character and fortitude.

If he makes a mistake, he does not despair and does not tear his hair out. He immediately forgets about it and moves forward. He is not interested in what happened. He is interested in what is now and what will be in the future. It is not a problem for him to compete with the players that Dynamo has today.

- What is the best position for Bragar?

- At the children's and youth level, Bragaru played as either a central attacker or a winger.

Perhaps Roman Hryhorchuk (Chornomorets head coach - ed.) had his own vision of the game and wanted wing-backs to be active in attack. That's why he moved him to the position of full-back. Bragaru has the speed to play there, but I don't think he has a very good individual ball selection skill. He is still more attack-minded.

- What role can Bragaru expect to play at Dynamo?

- It will take a little time, he will adapt and be a player in the main team. This is my opinion.

- Now I'd like to talk about Bragaru's time at the youth level. When did you first see him?

- I want to start with the fact that Bragaru is a pupil of Odesa Children's and Youth Sports School No. 11. Its director was and, I think, still is Heorhii Pylypovych Kryvenko. The head teacher was Oleksandr Yermakov. His coach in the DUFL was Ivan Matsansky.

When Bragaru and his team started in the DUFL at the age of 14, I worked as a Chornomorets selector together with Valerii Semenovych Porkuyan and Andrii Vasylovych Telesnenko. We attended almost all the matches of the city's championship. There, we noticed not only Bragara, but also Rodion Honchar, who later played in the second league in Mykolaiv for Anatolii Didenko, and Mykyta Pylyka (Real Pharma). There were four or five players who stood out. However, among all of them, Bragaru was a pronounced personality.

- How did it happen that fate later brought you together with Bragaru at SoHo.net?

- After some time, I retired from Chornomorets, and the SoHo.net executives offered me to lead their team. SoHo.net is an Internet portal in Odesa, and they had an amateur team that played in the city championship.

When I took over the team, we had problems with the squad because many players had left for Real Farma, Perlyna and Mykolaiv. Then I asked the management of the Children's and Youth Sports School No. 11 to allow me to enter their final year in the summer and winter city championships.

The guys played one match in the DUFL championship, and then those who didn't get much time on the field played for SoHo.net. They had their own training sessions, but when they had the opportunity, they came to us and trained twice a week. These guys had a full weekly micro-cycle and had a good training process and game practice.

- How did Bragaru stand out among the others? What shortcomings did he have in his game?

- Maxim is fast, agile, technical, and reads the game well. His only drawback, perhaps, is his not very expressive heading. Here we should take into account anthropometry(Bragaru's height is 175 cm - ed. note). However, he compensates for this with his work with the ball and his thinking. He is a very intelligent and tactically trained player. He is also constantly improving.

- How did Bragaru behave in the team?

- He had no pride or euphoria from the fact that everyone loved him. He was just a humble young man in the dressing room. There were no problems with that. In general, he is a super nice guy to talk to.

- And what about the regime?

- This guy has no problems at all in this regard.

- How did Bragaru prove himself during his time with SoHo.net?

- Bragaru played for SoHo.net for a year and a half. He played a great first season. At the end of the winter championship, he was recognised as the best player in the tournament.

Fans came to watch him in Odesa. Many fans know me, and they asked: "Well, Leonid Vasilyevich, will Bragaru play today? If he is, we will come".

For my part, I even called Oleksandr Holovko, who worked in the structure of the Ukrainian youth national teams, and told him about Bragaru. He came to Odesa several times and watched his matches.

- How did Bragaru get to Chornomorets?

- I suggested to Gennadiy Nizhegorodov and Oleksandr Babych, who were in charge of Chornomorets' youth team, that they pay attention to Bragaru and come to watch him play during the winter championship. That's how he got into the sphere of interest of Odesa's main team.

- Was Bragara offered to anyone else?

- I told Yurii Koval, who was working as Zorya's sporting director at the time, about Bragara. We have known each other since 1996, when he was in charge of Vinnytsia Niva and I was his ward. We still keep in touch.

So, I once called him and told him that there was a very promising footballer in Odesa and that he should pay attention to him. I don't know what Koval's next steps were, but Bragaru never ended up in Zorya.

- Perhaps some clubs showed interest in Bragaru themselves?

- Even before Bragaru started playing for Chornomorets, he was invited by Dnipro. I convinced him not to go anywhere and not to sign any contracts with agents. You can see good players, you don't need to offer them anywhere. So there is no point in working for an uncle. It's better to work for your own name and skills. As a result, he stayed in Odesa.

- Why didn't you support the option with Dnipro?

- Because I believed that he needed to stay in Odesa for a while longer and continue to develop in his familiar environment. As for Dnipro, I told him: "Absolutely not. If Chornomorets invite you, you'll go there. Don't rush to leave. You have your home here, your parents."

- How would you rate Bragar's time at Chornomorets?

- On a five-point scale, I'd give Bragar 4.5. Why not five? There were some matches where he made mistakes that somewhere affected the result not in favour of Chornomorets. Although there were few such moments.

He didn't start playing in the first team right away. He gradually gained fitness and entered the game. At first, he played for a half, there were periods when he did not play at all. Sometimes he was not included in the application and was nervous.

I called him and tried to convince him that rotation in a professional club is inevitable, and he should bravely endure it without panic, resentment and fuss. After all, the next training session was tomorrow, and he had to be one hundred per cent ready for it. He took all these recommendations with understanding, did not give up, continued to work, and his work paid off.

- Bragaru is actively involved in the youth national team of Ukraine, he played at the Euros. How do you rate his performances for the blue and yellows?

- You don't get called up to the national team, even the youth team, for your beautiful eyes. At the Euros, Ruslan Rotan's Braharu played all the matches in the base, acted actively and effectively, did not fall out of the general scheme. This shows his high individual skill.

Now the team is led by Spanish coach Unai Melgosa, who has taken a fresh look at all the players. However, Bragaru continued to play. It means that Maksym really knows something on the field.

- Isn't Dynamo the ceiling for Bragaru?

- I am sure it is not. He can reach the level of the top club in Europe.

- What is the secret of Bragaru's success?

- Hard work and love for football. He will never betray this game.

Dmytro Venkov