The head coach of the Ukrainian national team Serhii Rebrov spoke about his work in the national team, as well as the preparation of our national team for Euro 2024.
Serhiy Rebrov. Photo: UAF press serviceSetting up the Ukrainian national team for the Euro
- What result will you set the players for before the Euro? Is there a conversation, for example, about reaching the final?
- It is important for me that all team members focus on a specific meeting. We deserve this place at the Euros. That's why we have to set ourselves the task of winning the match before every game.
Then we will see. You don't need to think about schedules immediately after the first match. When the second one comes, we will think about the second one. Therefore, now we need to prepare for the start in a calm and focused manner through friendly matches.
- The Ukrainian national team will be one of the youngest at this European Championship. Is this an advantage or a disadvantage?
- I love working with young players, they come out on the pitch with a real desire. However, it is very difficult for a team without experienced players. A young player is about instability.
Experienced players help the young ones. In boxing, for example, everything depends only on you, but in football you have a partner who is ready to help. Successful teams are those with a balance between experienced and young players.
- Mykhailo Mudryk's case is a good illustration. He will come to the national team after a very uneven season at Chelsea. How do you motivate such people?
- When players come to the national team camp, they forget about their clubs. Problems in clubs are problems of clubs. Almost all players have them.
Mudryk helped us a lot in recent matches despite the criticism of the fans. He is a patriot of Ukraine. And when he comes out in the national team shirt, he will never think about anything other than winning.
- Italian national team coach Luciano Spalletti forbade his players to play PlayStation. Napoli players were locked in a hotel because of poor results. Do you relate to such methods?
- Every coach and president has their own methods. The president loses money from losses. He can apply extraordinary methods to the players. Sometimes radical steps have a right to life. Lobanovsky did this very often. But I can't say that I myself practised something like that after defeats.
- Where is the role of the coach greater - in the club or in the national team?
- For the national team, the key thing is for the players to go out on the pitch and fight side by side for the country. The coach has a minimum of time to convey something to the players.
At the club where I spent every day with the players, at the end of the season I could see how well they understood me even when I didn't say anything to them or remind them of anything. They already do it on the pitch.
I cannot say that the role of a coach is very different in the national team and the club. But the training process is. For the national team, it is very short, and the training plan is constantly changing. And within two or three training sessions, you have to put into the players what you have been doing for months or even years.
- How much do you miss your daily work as a professional?
- I really miss it. But when I received an invitation from the Ukrainian national team, I couldn't refuse. I had a lot of contracts and requests, from the Emirates (before being appointed national team coach, Rebrov coached Al Ain club from the UAE - Forbes), but I told everyone that I was choosing Ukraine now.
I am very interested in working with our guys. The first year is always difficult. It takes time for the players to understand me better, and we don't have it. In this short period, we have done a lot. In 11 games, we lost only one (to Italy in September 2023 - Forbes). And this is a great achievement.
I saw the players' faces after our victory against Iceland. It was obvious that they realised they had done a lot. They don't even realise how much.
How to motivate a team that is losing 0-3
- What are the main components of success in football?
- Firstly, without money, you can't compete with teams that have much more expensive players. If your team is 10-20 times cheaper than the opponent's team, you have a chance to win, but at a short distance. I have never said that money comes first, but without it and without qualified players, it is very difficult in the long run.
In addition to money, the selection of players is also important. Even if you have the money, but you don't understand how to select players to fit the coach's model, it is very difficult to build a team.
If a club sets itself the task of winning the championship and has already lost three or four games, and its supporters and journalists start talking about changing the coach, it has a big impact. That's why communication between the club president and the coach is also important.
- Ten years ago, you took over Dynamo. How does the current Serhii Rebrov-coach differ from 2014?
- I am often asked what is harder: to be a player or a coach? I think it's harder to be a coach, because after the whistle blows, the player's job is over and he goes home, while the coach has to analyse the game that has passed and prepare for the next one.
If you were a player in the past, this experience will not help you much when you become a coach. But now the experience I have gained over the past ten years helps. In my first year of coaching, I had a lot of ideas that were not confirmed by practice.
When I took over at Dynamo, where players could have a salary of three million dollars a year, it was important to gain their trust. That's why I immediately started looking for an individual approach to everyone. Over time, their faith in me paid off.
- How will you motivate the players if the first half ends 3-0 against you?
- Running into the dressing room screaming is not always the right idea. Sometimes you just need to calm the players down. To do this, coaches need to be psychologically balanced. We have a very good team now, but it has to go out on the pitch and be balanced, to show its best.
We were losing to Macedonia 0-2, and then we came out and beat them 3-2. We had a very difficult conversation in the dressing room because the players were not just not doing what we had agreed on, they were not doing anything at all. And then I told them that if they claim to be playing for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but do nothing on the pitch, it says a lot.
- Does a coach or a player get more satisfaction from a victory?
- When you get a result as a coach, you are more happy for the players themselves, because you understand that you helped them win. I quickly forget about what happened today or yesterday and start preparing for the next match just as quickly. I don't celebrate victories for a very long time.
On the new generation of footballers and Andriy Shevchenko at the helm of the UAF
- What is the difference between the current generation of Ukrainian footballers, such as Tsygankov, Dovbyk, Mudryk, and yours?
- Nowadays, players are more concerned with themselves. The players who come to the national team camp constantly go to the gym and prepare themselves for the game. Many bring their own physiotherapists and coaches, who draw up training programmes for them.
This didn't happen before. Previously, a person was a footballer only during training and the game itself. Now players are more focused on preparation. They know how important it is not to waste time.
- How has the role of financial motivation of players changed over the past 30 years?
- There used to be different money and different volumes. Money does affect motivation. But in a team sport, feelings are important. When you go on the field and beat someone, it's not about money anymore, it's about you and your team.
- Your name can be seen in various ratings of the worst transfers compiled by the British press. What did you do to prevent this from affecting your game?
- I kept telling the president of Dynamo: "Don't read the fans' reviews. Talk to the specialists, the coach and only then draw conclusions."
The only people who can publicly and really constructively criticise the game and the coach's work are former coaches. Even players who have finished their careers cannot, because they have no coaching experience.
I am happy with my football career and what I am doing as a coach now. There is no need to look for the negative. Especially in the era of social media, when any fan can write you anything while sitting on the couch, and you will sit and think whether it is true or not.
- What should the new head of the UAF, Andriy Shevchenko, change in Ukrainian football?
- I think everyone is grateful to Andriy for leading the Association in such a difficult time for it. Now it is difficult to talk about the development of Ukrainian football. Today it needs to be supported, given the war and the destruction it brings.
Holding the championship is a significant step. But almost every round has delays, stops for alarms, postponements, etc. Therefore, we will think about how to develop Ukrainian football after the victory.
Daria DZYSIUK, Serhii SHEVCHUK, Borys DAVIDENKO
