Former head coach Ihor Jovicevic in an interview with "Siamo la Roma" told about the potential of the Ukrainian newcomer of Italian Roma - Artem Dovbik.
Igor Jovicevic- What are your memories of Artem?
- Great. Dovbik and I continue to communicate, we have a great relationship, I am his big fan, and I am also a collector of his shirts.
I want to tell you a little secret: in 2021 he played in the national team of Ukraine at Euro 2020. In the 1/8 finals, the team, then led by Shevchenko, beat Sweden in extra time, and Artem scored the decisive goal in the 121st minute. Returning home, he gave me his shirt, in which he played in that match.
- Did you expect such progress from Dovbik in Girona, where he became the top scorer of the Spanish championship?
- I had the first contact with Dovbik when he returned to Dnipro-1 after a serious knee injury, received in Midtjylland. In the first half of the season he was not in the best physical shape, but I immediately realized that he has incredible potential. Day by day I became more and more convinced that I had met a fantastic person, a true professional, dedicated to his work.
What Artem has achieved in recent years is not by chance, but is just the fruit of what he sowed. He had an impressive tactical growth that proved to be explosive in the second half of 2020. During the 2021 pre-season training camp we went to Turkey, and during that training camp he did things that rendered me speechless. There wasn't a training session where I didn't turn to my staff and say to them, "But where are the sporting directors of the best clubs in the world? This is a beast!".
- What strengths will Dovbic's head coach at Roma have to focus on in order to unlock his potential in Italy as well?
- There are many strikers who need their teammates to work on them fully. Artem, on the other hand, is a player who puts himself at the service of the team, he can score goals even with not the best team play.
Dovbik has a lot of strengths, but among the most important is his ability to play perfectly with his back to goal. When he has his back to the ball, there's no way to take it away from him. And that's a problem for opponents: as soon as Dovbik turns around, he becomes explosive, and you can't hold him back, you can't even foul him!
I'm not afraid to say it, I know I might be exaggerating for some, but I put Dovbik at the top of the list of current forwards. I have no doubt that Artem is better than Holland, Lewandowski and Kane at the moment. He is a complete center forward: fast, powerful, capable of creating chances on his own, very useful in defense and at standards. I repeat, Roma have got a beast! And his modesty makes him extremely open to work and discipline.
- However, he failed at Euro 2024....
- Many stars performed poorly at the European Championships. Look at Mbappe. So it's not about Dovbik. It is no coincidence that the best players were the youngest, and the best teams to play were, in addition to Spain, Turkey and Slovenia - teams that were considered outsiders.
- In Rome, there is already excitement around the Dovbik-Dibala pairing.
- Roma fans are right in their enthusiasm. Dovbic is very strong on his own, and with Dybala's technique and support in the game, he can score a lot of goals. Artem can make a difference by utilizing multiple game systems, perhaps even having another forward like Sule paired with him.
Translation and stylistic adaptation - Dynamo.kiev.ua, when using the material hyperlink is mandatory!
