Mykola Nesenyuk: "Is Spanish football possible in Ukraine?"

Famous journalist Mykola Nesenyuk shared his thoughts on what changes Ukrainian football needs.

"The final tournament of Euro 2024 has once again convincingly proved the superiority of Spanish football over all other forms of the game. And it's not about the victory of the Spanish national team, which deservedly became the European champion. Even if this had not happened, Spanish football would still be the best in the world, the most spectacular, the most attractive, the most intriguing, and so on. It is in Spanish football that football talents are revealed to the fullest extent possible, teams with a unique style emerge, giving the audience an exquisite football spectacle.

You may ask, what about the English Championship, which is widely recognized as the strongest and most attractive in the world? It's simple - the championship is English, and the football in it is Spanish! Do I need to remind you of the names of the leading Spanish coaches who have led the strongest clubs in the English league in recent decades? Or the names of the best Spanish footballers who play in the English Championship? Or help you count how many Englishmen play for the leading English clubs?

The English are fortunate - they are rich and therefore can invite the best players in the world to play Spanish football and delight the entire football world with their matches. What are we supposed to do? Should we just watch their football on TV and accept that we will never have that? Or do we try to develop our football to be able to compete with the Spaniards, as others do?

First of all, we should agree that our football is no longer capable of competing for the highest trophies with the world's leading teams on equal terms, as it was in the old days. There are many reasons for this, and it is hardly worth mentioning them. Moreover, we regularly make attempts to reach at least a level close to the previous one. Both at the level of clubs and the national team. Unfortunately, they have not yet brought real success. Why is that?

In my opinion, the reason for the failures lies in the attempt to teach our teams to play Spanish football. I think it is impossible. The reason is simple - we are not Spanish. To play Spanish football, you either have to invite ten Spaniards to a Ukrainian club or give those ten Spaniards Ukrainian passports so they can play for the national team. And still nothing will happen. Because they will not be the best Spaniards! The best ones will play for the Spanish national team and leading European clubs and therefore are guaranteed to win against our teams, even if they are staffed entirely with Spaniards or Brazilians, as has already been done without much success. What should we do then?

Numerous specialists and experts will immediately say that we should start with children's football. They will tell you that children should be taught to play football from an early age, not to win, as we do here. This is a good wish, but it is impossible to fulfill. Because the entire history of our football, from the youngest teams to the national team, is a history of struggle for results. This is how we are built and we cannot be changed. It's easier to meet a dinosaur on the street than to find a children's coach who doesn't demand victory from his students! It has been so and it will be so.

Then there is another recipe from experts - we should increase the mass of football so that coaches choose the best not from ten candidates, but from a thousand! But even this is impossible in our country. Experience has long shown that no matter what super-massive football competitions we hold, teams composed of players whom everyone knows well will win. The reason is the same: the desire to win at any cost.

I think it's time to make my own suggestion. It exists, and it is that our football can only become as good as, if not better than, Spanish football when our football teams play for the spectators, to give them pleasure with their game and encourage them to come to football again. We want to see a game of football at our stadiums, not a fight for a result, but a game of football, just like in Spain. Is it possible to see this? I would like to believe so. Or is it possible to see a dinosaur on the street?" Neseniuk wrote on his Facebook page.