Head coach of the Ukraine national team Serhiy Rebrov told Dynamo.kiev.ua in an interview about what he thinks about the outcome of the Ukrainian championship of the current season and expressed confidence that nothing has been decided yet in the dispute for the gold medals between Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Sergei Rebrov- Many people consider this Ukrainian championship to be the most interesting in recent years, do you agree with that?
- Even when I watched the winter training camps of almost all UPL teams, I noted for myself that their level is almost the same. Maybe only Dynamo and Shakhtar stand out on the general background. But there is nothing surprising in this. The same Dynamo, although they play now practically without foreigners, but the club has a very good children's and youth school, the first team now includes many graduates of their own Academy. Even without foreigners they create good competition in the squad. I have always said that in any team it is very important to have competition in every position. Now it exists in both Dynamo and Shakhtar. Due to this, both teams, despite the tight schedule, demonstrate what is required of them.
But the other UPL teams also give a good fight. They are more equal among themselves. And the championship itself has become more even and balanced than it was before, when our clubs bought a lot of foreigners or attracted foreign players as free agents. Now the fashion in our championship is set by Ukrainian players, and our league is now represented by a large number of young domestic performers.
- The competition in the championship has become higher, but the overall level of the tournament is considered to have fallen. Where is the golden mean?
- This is the middle ground. Previously, a higher level of the Ukrainian championship was achieved due to foreigners. There were a lot of them, teams had the opportunity to attract them. Now this is no longer the case. But the time of Ukrainian players has come. Many of them, I think, already now show a stable game and continue to progress - this is the most important. So the level of the championship is gradually growing, we are not standing still. It is important that teams show a stable game from match to match, but it is difficult to expect it from young players at once.
- The disappointments of the second round of the Ukrainian championship are surely Polesie and Dnipro-1? What happened to these teams? Were they not ready for such a long distance?
- As for Polesie, I agree with the former head coach of this team Yuriy Kalitvintsev, who once said that his team was outscored in the first round. It was so, if we understand. And now "Polesie" does not get points. This is due, again, to the fact that the level of teams in the championship has levelled off, and each of them at any moment may not get the points they were counting on. Yes, we probably expected a lot from "Polesie", but the team faced a very strong competition. Do not forget that "Polesie" only this season entered the UPL. It was hard to expect from the team that it will immediately go to the European cups. It is possible, but it takes time.
"Dnipro-1", of course, can be called a disappointment of the second round, but in this case, the fact that the team is now without a number of its foreigners played a role. In my opinion, now Dnipro-1 has only 12-13 players of a good level, who can do something against the leading teams. Plus injuries.
- Kryvbas' chances to finish above the third place, in fact, have already lost....
- Yes, but I like the game of this team, I like the discipline on the pitch, the selection of performers, understanding of the game - it is due to all this that "Kryvbas" takes the third place. I think, before the beginning of the championship, few expected that at the finish of the tournament Kryvyi Rih team will occupy this position.
- Dynamo under Shovkovskiy has significantly improved both in terms of the game and results. What is the secret?
- I have seen a lot of Dynamo trainings. I know Shovkovs'kyi well - he is a maximalist and works very hard. At the same time, confidence is very important for any team. In the second part of the championship only the first game with Veres (1:1), where Dynamo missed the victory in the last minutes, stands out, but in the rest of the games you could always see that the team knew what they wanted to play for. I see confidence in this Dynamo, I see the progress of the team and I see that its players enjoy the game. This is very important, and it always gives the result.
- If we talk about the tactical pattern of Dynamo's game, what were the main changes after Shovkovskiy started to work with the team?
- I don`t see such big changes. It is important that the players understand their positions in building the team's game. And the training process also decides a lot. At the same time, it is very important for the team's confidence that there was a result, and Dynamo has it in the second part of the championship. The team wins, looks confident, its players, I repeat, enjoy the game. These are the main changes.
Besides, Buyalskyi and Shaparenko have gained a good progress. Yarmolenko scores in almost every match. These are the players who can decide not only the fate of the episode, but even the fate of the game. They are very important for Dynamo now. The team at this stage has found its strongest squad and looks very strong. Therefore, I have no doubt that the match between Shakhtar and Dynamo in the next round of the championship will be very interesting.
- You watched the match between Dynamo and Polesie in Mircea Lucescu's company. Did he like the game of Dynamo players?
- I think, everyone likes the game of the current Dynamo. The opponents of the team did not change their tactics: very strong defence with the expectation of counterattacks. But now it does not become an obstacle for Kyiv team to create a lot of chances and win. And it is even more important that in the second round of the championship Dynamo improved in defence. Everyone knows how they play against Dynamo, but it is important to understand how to resist it and achieve the necessary result. The Bilo-Syni are doing it now.
- Taking into account the level of Shakhtar's game, the level of Dynamo's game, taking into account the distance between the teams of four points, as well as the fact that there are only three rounds left to play in the championship, is there still intrigue in the fight for gold medals?
- Yes! After all, there is still a match between Shakhtar and Dynamo. I am sure that nothing has been decided in the championship race. Everything is in Dynamo's hands. But if the team really wants to become the champion, they must beat Shakhtar. So there is intrigue. But the result of the Pitmen's match with the Bilo-Syni will be decisive in it.
- As the coach of the Ukraine national team, did the spring part of the championship give you a pleasant headache in terms of selecting players for the national team's application for Euro 2024?
- I am interested to watch the progress of Dynamo and Shakhtar players, the progress of other players. As always, we follow all potential candidates for the national team. But the most important thing for all of them is to show a stable game. There are many players who will play brightly for two matches, and then it's hard to find them at all. So we are looking not at one or two matches, but at the players showing confidence and stability.
- Do you support UEFA's decision to expand the Euro 2024 bid from 23 to 26 players?
- Yes. I know what the problem was for the top teams on this issue. They did not understand how to use these "extra" players in the training process and how to then "unhook" three players from the entry for a particular match. There are a lot of stars in such national teams, it is difficult to work with them. We do not have such a problem. I am grateful to all the guys - both those who were on the field and those who were not included in the application form. We have always remained a united team and it is due to this that we reached Euro 2024.
The decision to expand the bid is a plus for us. We ourselves submitted such a request to UEFA. Look how many matches Dynamo and Shakhtar play now. Fatigue of players is inevitable. Plus injuries. Therefore, it is important to be able to quickly replace this or that player. And in our situation it is very difficult to attract a player from Ukraine, because he still has to obtain a permit to travel outside the country. So, I repeat, the expansion of the application to 26 players is very important for us.
- When can we expect the announcement of the Ukrainian national team's bid for Euro 2024? UEFA has set a deadline of 7 June.
- I think that on 7 June we will announce our application. We will see who we will invite to the friendly matches, which we will hold before Euro-2024. There is still time before the formation of the application. And the club season is still going on. We hope that our players will finish it without injuries. So I just don't see the sense to hurry with the formation of the application and announce it earlier than 7 June.
Alexander POPOV
