Former Dynamo Kyiv midfielder Mykola Morozyuk talks about his former team's performance under Oleksandr Shovkovskyi, the Ukrainian national team's performance at Euro 2024, his meeting with Yulia Tymoshenko, and more.
- Mykola, we saw a photo of you with Yulia Tymoshenko yesterday. What kind of meeting was it?
- It was a friendly meeting.
- So have you entered politics?
- No, I have not entered politics. The meeting with Yulia Vladimirovna was partly planned, partly spontaneous, and attended by my friends. I didn't even realize how this photo appeared on the Internet.
- Roma Bebekh posted it on his Bombardier telegram channel.
- It's not like it's a secret, I just asked because I hadn't posted it myself, and I was curious.
- So what kind of meeting was it?
- I don't have a clear answer, so I don't know how to answer you. There is nothing to say for now. Perhaps there are some plans in the future, but it's hard to say how it will be. Yulia is an experienced person who has seen a lot in politics. She shared her life experience with us and told us how not to repeat her mistakes.
- What is the most interesting thing you remember from your conversation with Tymoshenko?
- Everything was interesting, I won't single out anything in particular, I'd rather single out Yulia Volodymyrivna as a person, she has the energy of a strong and wise woman. This was the first time I met her in this format at a round table, before we had only met at football events, and we said hello and that was it.
- Was it some kind of training conducted by Tymoshenko?
- If I describe it in general, yes, it was a private training for young ambitious people.
- Was it a paid training?
- Of course, it was free. The meeting was organized by people who have direct contact with Yulia Tymoshenko. I had a good and unforgettable experience.
- Did any other players attend the meeting?
- No, it was just me.
- What do you want to do in the future: be a politician, coach, manager, businessman, or learn some other profession?
- It's hard to say what exactly, but I can say for sure that coaching is not in my plans, as well as a close relationship with football. Football will always intersect with me, but I will not connect my life with it as a profession. I plan to develop myself in other directions, and time will tell where exactly.
It's just that after football life, I need to learn a lot and adopt the experience of successful people like Yulia Volodymyrivna. Now I am collecting information for the future. I am interested in different areas, but they have a lot in common.
- If Tymoshenko invites you to join her political party, will you accept?
- Right now, I'd say no, because I have no plans to be at the same level of politics as I do to work for a football club. But appetite comes with eating. Everything is gradual.
- If Tymoshenko runs for president of Ukraine, will you vote for her?
- When the election time comes, you can ask me. I haven't thought about it yet. Right now my head is full of other things. I want Ukraine to win as soon as possible, for peace to come and for us all to live to see the elections.
- What are you doing now?
- A little bit of everything, including volunteering. I also take part in charity matches to help our soldiers. Even my friends find it difficult to formulate what exactly I am doing now. Yesterday I was playing football, and today I am meeting with Yulia Volodymyrivna. There is no clear logic in my activities today.
- Have you ever thought about playing football?
- I have already closed the professional football page for myself, but I play for Ruh Media Team and plan to develop media football in Ukraine. I want media football to be at a high level in Ukraine. But it's not so easy because of the events that are happening in our country.
- DidHryhoriy Kozlovsky (president of Rukh - ed.)invite you to join the Ruh Media Team?
- No, I was invited by one of Rukh's managers, Oleh Shpur, and head coach Valeriy Fedorchuk. Since I am in Lviv most of the time now, they called me and I was interested in this offer and agreed. I want to take our media football to a new level and eventually create a media league. On the 19th, we are starting the UA Steel Cup, the first official Ukrainian cup for media teams.
- Milevsky also plays for the Ignis media club. Have you played against his team on the field?
- They will also take part in the Media League Cup. So we will have to cross paths with Tia again on the football field, and God willing, it won't be the last time. I will be glad to meet him.
- Do you watch football at all? Did you see Ukraine's performance at the Euros?
- Yes, I saw all the games of Ukraine. I've always loved watching football, but after my career ended, I got distracted. In general, it was not interesting to watch football, except from the semifinals of the Champions League, or to watch the teams I support - Dynamo, Real Madrid and the Ukrainian national team.
- There were a lot of expectations from the Ukrainian national team, but in the end, we did not advance from a rather mediocre group. What can you say about the performance of Rebrov's team?
- I, like all the fans, journalists, experts, coaches, expected that the Ukrainian national team would 100% get out of the group. I thought that we would not even feel the Romanians - we would score at least four goals with Dovbyk's hat-trick. Everyone created such an atmosphere around the national team that the guys thought it would be easy for them and the last game against Belgium would not decide anything.
This was reflected in our young players, who read about themselves that they were phenomenal. This was imprinted on their subconscious, and in such a tournament you can't just go out and play football, you need maximum concentration. In the match against Romania, our players underestimated the opponent and relaxed a bit. I also had such an example in my career.
- Tell us about it.
- Unfortunately, or fortunately, I did not play in such tournaments at the adult level, but I once took part in the Euro U-21 in Denmark. We had a strong team: Yarmolenko, Konoplyanka, Zozulya, Stepanenko, and me. We were going to the European Championship as one of the favorites. Our journalists, as well as European ones, said that we were the main contenders for victory.
Before the match, we thought we would beat the Czechs at least 4-0, but in the end we lost 1-2. The Czechs simply outplayed us and had a snack. After the game, we couldn't even understand what had happened. It was hard to change anything afterwards - we drew with England, lost to Spain and went home a little crippled. It was very embarrassing in front of our fans.
- It was a good example for our young people that they should not underestimate their opponents.
- We have a very cool and promising team. I believe that it has a great future, but unfortunately, many of our players had no experience of playing in such tournaments. At the Euros, Ukraine failed only in the game with Romania, but four points were not enough to get out of the group.
Lunin had an unbeatable season at Real Madrid, but made a mistake in the first match at the Euros. Our other national teams also played poorly. The same Dovbyk had a crazy season for Girona, but played sluggishly at the European Championships. There was a lot of pressure on him, because everyone expected Artem to score goals.
It would have been better if we had played the Belgians in the first round, I think the guys would have adjusted to such an opponent. Ukraine is a head stronger than Romania, but unfortunately, we underestimated the opponent, made mistakes and got 0-3.
- Who are the Ukrainian players you are currently impressed with, whose games you enjoy?
- I get a kick out of Sudakov and Shaparenko. They are young players who can reach a new cool level. I'm very glad that Kolya has recovered from his injury, and I hope he continues to grow. At the Euros, he showed that he is on the right track.
I am also a fan of Mudryk. But he got into a difficult atmosphere, everything fell on him, the high price pressures, plus Chelsea is not in the best shape now, often changing coaches. Mudryk alternated between good games and bad ones. The overall picture was not very good. We hope that Maresca will unlock Misha. He is a very talented player.
Mudryk made great progress when he worked with De Zerbi. The Italian took him up a few levels and taught him how to use his speed and technique properly. At Chelsea, Mudryk needs help from the coach and a sense of trust, but so far he doesn't have it. They immediately demand from him: go out and show! But he can't do that, because at a young age he went straight from the UPL to the Premier League.
- Is Shaparenko ready to move to the top championship?
- I think so, just like Sudakov.
- How much would you estimate Shaparenko?
- Personally, my opinion is somewhere between 25-30 million euros. Shaparenko played very well at the Euros against Slovakia, showed leadership qualities, and became the Lion of the Match.
- Which top championship will suit Shaparenko?
- I think La Liga will suit him well. Kolya works well with the ball, is a smart player and is confident and calm beyond his years. And he will not get lost in Serie A and the Bundesliga. Only in the UPL it will be difficult for Shaparenko, it's not his style, he lacks a little power and physical qualities.
- Could Shapa play in Girona?
- Well, why not? If I had been told that Dovbyk would become the best scorer in La Liga at Girona, I would not have believed it. Honestly, before Tsygankov's transfer, I didn't know about Girona at all, I thought they played somewhere in the Segunda. Although I am a fan of Spanish football, Girona was a surprise for me. Now I follow not only Real Madrid but also Girona.
- Trabzonspor is actively interested in Yaremchuk. You played in Turkey, what can you say about whether this championship will suit Roman?
- Turkey has a great football atmosphere. I remember the stadium in Trabzon very well, it was always filled to capacity. The team there has great ambitions, every season they set a goal - the championship and European Cups. The competition in the Turkish Super League is high, there are many stars.
If I had to choose between Brugge, Ghent and Trabzonspor, I would choose Trabzonspor. But this is my subjective opinion.
- You played under Rebrov at Dynamo, and now Serhii Stanislavovych is the national team coach. Tell us about him.
- It's hard for me to say what he is like now, because a lot of time has passed since we worked together. I'm sure he has gained experience and is changing some things, but the base remains. I liked working with him, it was great. I was impressed by the fact that Rebrov was introducing promising and modern trends at Dynamo. I understood him from the word go. Serhiy Stanislavovych preached the format of the new school.
During every club break, Rebrov went to study at the best clubs in Europe, constantly improving his skills. He always had a lot of knowledge, he was constantly interested in modern trends, and not in the way that he worked only on the basis laid down ten years ago, where they jumped over barriers and ran in bulletproof vests.
When I first started playing, there were slightly different requirements. Over time, they started to die out, but some coaches still use them in Ukraine.
- What do you mean, Cooper tests and the emphasis on physics?
- I mean the principles of the game during the match, tactical moments, etc. There are coaches who demand not to play through the goalkeeper and not to pass across, but to play only forward. But you can't always play forward, you have to push the opponent so that this opportunity opens up.
At the beginning of my career at Dynamo, the coaches even counted how many passes were made forward, across and backward. And a midfielder in control of the ball will still play more across or back, because it is impossible to play constantly forward on one striker. But defenders, on the contrary, make more forward passes.
Some coaches were very unprofessional about this component and didn't even try to understand why the player wasn't passing forward.
I'll never forget how at the youth level we beat everyone 7-0, 12-0, and then we came to an international tournament and met Bayer Leverkusen. For 90 minutes we didn't see the ball at all! People were playing at a different level. After that, I began to treat myself differently and realized that I was not a football player compared to Bayer's players. I started to devote all my free time to improving my football skills that I saw in the Germans.
- You played a lot of matches under Khatskevich's guidance. IsOleksandr Mykolayovych a physical trainer or not?
- He's never been a physical trainer in his life! If you compare him to Rebrov, Rebrov is more flexible, but Khatskevich also has many great qualities, especially in relation to the players, he has his own charisma. I enjoyed working with him.
It seems to me that Khatskevich, as a young coach, lacked the experienced assistants that Shevchenko and Rebrov had. Behind them were people who had come a long way in football and could take responsibility at some points, but Khatskevich did not have such people.
Dynamo had a lot of important matches in the Champions League, Europa League, and the Cup final. It was difficult to achieve the maximum at all levels without experienced assistants.
- You played on the same team as Shovkovskyi. Could you have thought then that he would become Dynamo's head coach?
- I didn't think about it then, but when he became Dynamo's head coach, I wasn't surprised at all. Shovkovskyi is a very erudite and intelligent person. He always stood out from everyone else with his charisma, behavior and confidence. During the game, he was always focused and responsible. He has all the qualities to succeed at the helm of such a great club as Dynamo.
- Do you like the way Dynamo is playing now?
- Sometimes Dynamo plays great games, sometimes not. Kyiv sold key players: Zabarnyi, Mykolenko, Tsygankov. It is not easy to replace them immediately. There was a failed stage under Lucescu, when the team crumbled, and then he was fired. Perhaps Lucescu could no longer give anything to the team. There are many factors that affect the inexpressive game - constant travel, life without families. But now is the time when it is a sin to complain about such moments.
After Shovkovsky's appointment, Dynamo had a great run, I was even sure that the fight would go to the last round and they would become champions. I attended the match against Shakhtar in Lviv and expected Dynamo to run over the Pitmen with a skating rink, but I didn't see it and was very upset. I didn't see enough emotion from the players and the quality of the game performed by both teams was low.
- Do you believe that Dynamo will become the UPL champion next season?
- Of course, I do. Now Yarmolenko is coming back, God willing, he will get in great shape and injuries will not bother him.
- Your last professional club was the Cypriot Ipsonas ("Beauty") of Russian blogger Yevgeny Savin. How do you remember this period?
- It was very hot in Cyprus. In terms of football, it was a completely different experience for me, a bit shocking. Some players combined football with other jobs. I have never played at this level in my life. It's very difficult to accept this level after where you were before. I had almost decided to end my professional career, and the option with Ipsonas came up spontaneously. So I accepted it.
- How do you remember Evgeny Savin?
- He is an ideological person with a great desire to create an honest club. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, he has closed Krasava in the shit swamps and created a new club in Cyprus. He had some very difficult moments with finances, but he always treated the team humanely and tried to solve everything.
Savin spoke out against the war many times, and when this information surfaced in the terrorist country, he started having problems. This was reflected in his fortune, which was in Russia.
I followed Savin a lot even before the war, I was interested in watching videos on his YouTube channel. He was one of the first Russians after February 24 who was not afraid to express his position, packed his things and left Russia. We lived next door to each other in Cyprus, we had many conversations, Evgeny told us many things and cried.
- What is the most eerie story Savin told you?
- He told me that he could not take his parents out of Russia because his father was untransportable due to his health condition. Savin told us with tears in his eyes that he felt sorry for his parents, he was afraid that he might not see them again.
Yevhen also said that when his mother goes out, the neighbors they have known for many years say to her: "How could you raise a traitor? What a shame!". Savin is very sorry that he cannot influence this in any way.
It so happened that life brought me together with Savin, and I don't know any other Russians and don't want to know any more. Before joining his club, I met him and talked to him to understand his position. I can say for sure that he belongs to a small percentage of sane people among these animals.
- At Dynamo, you worked with another Russian, Yuri Semin. He seemed adequate at the time, but now he supports the Putin regime. What can you say about him?
- As a coach, I liked Semin, he brought a lot of new things to Dynamo, and many young players played under him. I have nothing bad to say about that period. What happened to him now, it's hard for me to say. Probably, he is one of those people who made a fortune in Russia and does not want to change anything.
Semin just goes with the flow. Perhaps he is an ideological pro-Putin, who the f*ck knows, I don't know him as a person. Semin hasn't done anything wrong to me, but looking at his actions now, I want to cut off his hand, I can't stand Russians that much.
- What's going on with you and Iryna Morozyuk on the personal front?
- At the moment, Iryna and I are officially divorced. I am doing my own thing and want to build a new life, find a new profession. That is, to find myself in new things and be successful in a new direction.
- Do you get jealous of Iryna when she comes to Milevsky's streams?
- Of course not. It's primitive to be jealous because of Milevsky's streams. Iryna can go anywhere she wants, we are no longer husband and wife. It's just like when Iryna wrote on Instagram about Aliyev [cheating on me with him], then the media picked it up, and many people started writing to me. From the outside, it looked very funny when this statement was taken seriously.
- How do you react to Iryna's public posts on social media?
- We always had a dialog, we discussed some things, some of her posts made me nervous, but in general, everything was fine. I'm talking about the time when we were married. Now I don't react in any way because we are divorced. Irina and I have a good relationship, we have wonderful children. Everything is great.
- So you remain friends?
- Yes, there is no other way out. I feel sorry for spouses who have children together and become enemies. Unfortunately, I've been divorced twice, but I have a great relationship with my ex-wives and three wonderful children. This is the most important thing for me.
- Who is the strongest partner in Dynamo?
- Yarmolenko.
- The weakest player at Dynamo?
- Tomislav Busic. There was such a Croatian. He was no good at all.
- An incredible Dynamo talent who couldn't be revealed?
- Volodymyr Lysenko.
- The best coach in your career?
- Rebrov.
- The best coach in Ukraine right now?
- Rebrov.
- The worst coach in your career?
- Volodymyr Onyshchenko. I was young then and it was hard for me to work with him. Later on, there were no problems with Onishchenko in the national team, but when I was very young and needed help, he put pressure on me, I couldn't cope with many things. After Onyshchenko, I developed football complexes, I could have broken down. I felt confident only when Lytovchenko and Kalitvintsev joined the team. They saved me at that time.
- What was your best goal in your career?
- From an Oleksandriya free kick against Yurii Pankiv.
- The largest amount of bonuses?
- 55 thousand dollars in Donetsk's Metalurh for reaching the final of the Ukrainian Cup and getting into European competitions.
- Milevsky or Aliyev?
- As a football player, Milevsky.
- Is Surkis the top president of the club?
- I have good memories of Ihor Mykhailovych and he helped me in many ways. For me personally, he is the top president.
- Who will win the Euro 2024 final: Spain or England?
- After the group stage, I said that either England or France would win the tournament because they play the most boring football. These are the teams that usually win the finals. Since France has already been eliminated, that leaves England.
- If you met Tymoshchuk on the street, what would you say or do to him?
- I would like him not to recognize me on the street and, in contrast, to charge him with all my strength from my fist when he does not expect it. For me, this person simply does not exist.
Andriy Piskun