Oleg Fedorchuk: "Popov has grown a lot. This is a completely different Popov than under Lucescu"

Famous Ukrainian coach Oleh Fedorchuk named his version of the symbolic team of the Ukrainian championship for the 2023/24 season and commented on this choice for each position.

Oleg Fedorchuk's national team of the 2023/24 Ukrainian championship: Riznyk (Shakhtar) - Dibango (Kryvbas), Slyubyk (Rukh), Popov (Dynamo), Konoplya (Shakhtar) - Brazhko (Dynamo) - Kryskiv (Shakhtar), Sudakov (Shakhtar), Shaparenko (Dynamo), Hutsulyak (Dnipro-1) - Vanat (Dynamo).

Coach: Shovkovskyi.

Goalkeeper.

- Riznyk played the best, he looked very solid. There were fears that he would not be able to replace the legendary Pyatov, but Dmytro organically fit into Shakhtar. Riznyk is definitely not worse than Trubin, and in some respects he even surpasses him.

Left-back

- On the left, I'll put Dibango, he is the leader of Kryvbas and at the beginning of the championship was one of the brightest players in the UPL. Shakhtar's Azarov had a very uneven performance and failed in the end. The likelihood of Dybango leaving in the summer is very high. I think he will join a foreign club, there will definitely be demand for him.

Right-back.

- Sych is a good footballer and one of Rukh's leaders, but I would prefer Konoplya. In addition to being a defender, he also plays in attack and scores important goals. Konoplya is also a key player for the Ukrainian national team. At first, I was sceptical about Konoplya, but his confident play made me change my mind. He is a footballer with character and a great future!

Central defenders

- There is more choice here. Popov has improved a lot. This is a completely different Popov than under Lucescu. I will pair him with Slyubyk, who has shown great progress. "Rukh deserves a player in the symbolic team.

Will Slyubik be promoted? If our leading clubs, Dynamo, Shakhtar and Kryvbas, want to achieve results and not spend a lot of money on legionnaires, then Slyubik is a good option. A European player of his level will cost 5-7 million, while Slyubik with a Ukrainian passport will cost about 2-3 million.

Matvienko is definitely not in the national team. He sat out too long at Shakhtar. He was pumped up too much by agents with transfers, and in the end, nothing. Mudryk was also pumped up at one time, but he was sold, and Matvienko stayed. And the saddest thing is that he was left without a bright game.

Supporting midfielder

- Brazhko is a new type of midfielder in Ukraine. The last three iconic centre-backs of our country were the traitor Tymoshchuk, Sydorchuk and Stepanenko. But Brazhko is much more effective and versatile than each of them. He is very aggressive in attack, mobile, daring, creative and plays well up top. We have never had such a plan of players before.

Central midfielders

- Sudakov is an extraordinary footballer, reminiscent of Rykun. We see him making sharp, unexpected and risky passes. At the same time, unlike Rykin, he provides volume. Sudakov is the No. 1 contender in the UPL for a move to Europe. The main thing is for Shakhtar not to play with the price.

You can lose time, as it was with Dovbyk. If Dovbyk had left two seasons earlier, the situation might have been even more interesting. And it is not known what would have happened to Tsygankov if he had extended his contract with Dynamo, and now he is a top European footballer. Everything has to be done in time. Sudakov is already ripe for a transfer to the top championship.

I will pair Sudakov with Shaparenko. After a serious injury, he became even more aggressive and mobile. Not every player can come back after such an injury, and Shaparenko gave Dynamo a second wind. But Sudakov will be more interesting.

Left midfielder

- Kryskiv is a versatile player who can play on the wing and in the centre. He works accurately, has few defects and has sharp passes.

Right midfielder

- Hutsulyak played brightly on the right. He is not a pure forward and not a pure winger. He reminds me of Tsygankov in some ways, he could use some more stability. Hutsulyak was a bit unlucky, he got into good shape, but the team was underperforming.

Kvasnytsia is a bit of an overrated player, although commentators love him. Two or three flashes per season are not enough. Kvasnytsia has potential, but everyone is too much in love with him, and he plays on that. That's why I won't put him in the symbolic team.

Forward.

- Guerrero was good. It seems to me that he has overstayed his welcome at Zorya and needs to move to a stronger team. But I will support Vanat and give him the first place. Sikan played unevenly and not as brightly as Vlad.

Let's not limit the Dynamo players. In my opinion, this year we should have given two golds and two silvers. "Shakhtar were no stronger than Dynamo this season. The decisive role was played by Kyiv's loss of points against Veres, when Benito scored a penalty in stoppage time. "Dynamo and Shakhtar are teams of the same level.

Head coach.

- If Rukh's Ponomaryov was a little more successful, I would have named him, but I'll call Shovkovskyi. Under Lucescu, the team was in a bad psychological state and suffered more than played. Shovkovskyi managed to completely rebuild the team. This shows his coaching skills, because there were no transfers or additional injections into Dynamo. He added Brazhko and Shaparenko, and Popov completely changed. It is clear that Shovkovskyi is in full control of the process.

The opening of the season

- If there was still Minaj, I would have named it. As it was, Rukh was the opener. In the end, they lacked a little bit of experience. I am impressed that Rukh has its own youngsters from the Academy and Ponomaryov has given the team a quality game. This is the first such project in our football.

Disappointment of the season

- Rotan did not impress with Oleksandriya, but the main disappointment for me is Skrypnyk. I was sure that he would be able to save Metalist 1925 from relegation, but the team sank and we didn't see any coaching decisions at all.

I was also disappointed with the unavailability of UPL matches. I have no problems watching them, but older people cannot find UPL TV, let alone subscribe for a fee. I want football broadcasts to be available during the war. The problem needs to be solved.

"The Golden Ball for the best player of the season

- Sudakov played the best of all, and he deserved the Golden Ball of our championship the most. He became a champion with Shakhtar, won the Cup, is the leader of the national team and the most expensive player in the UPL. Sudakov is on the same level as Tsygankov, he is a top footballer.

Serie A will be perfect for Sudakov, they love smart players in Italy. It's too early for him in the Premier League, there are more powerful guys in the centre of the pitch. Napoli is a good option. But if the Neapolitans are led by Gasperini with his intense training, it will be difficult for Sudakov. Van Leeuwen is a baby compared to Gasperini. Juventus would also be a good option. The Turin club is in crisis and Sudakov can help them.

Andriy Piskun