Yesterday, Dynamo Kyiv had an unsuccessful start in the group round of the Europa League. Oleksandr Shovkovskyi's team lost to Lazio of Rome with a score of 0:3. Ihor Nakonechnyi, a former player, coach and head coach of Chornomorets Odesa, shared his thoughts on this match.
Ihor Nakonechnyi- To be honest, I was optimistic about the Dynamo-Lazio match at first. I thought that our team would play well in it. After all, Lazio is not a superclub at the moment. In Serie A, the Romans look modest, sitting in the middle of the standings. If we talk about Dynamo, it's a different matter... When you look at Dynamo's game in the Ukrainian league, they look good, but you can't say the same about their performance in Europe. I'm just shocked by the way Dynamo let Lazio's players pass through their defense! It's out of the question! And in the middle of the park, it was far from what I would have liked. There was a lot of talk about the holding midfielder Brazko, whom Dynamo allegedly intends to sell to a foreign club, but does he live up to his level? The center-half is a key, defining figure in a team game, but we did not see any constructive actions in terms of defense in his performance. The Romans passed through the center like a knife through butter. It's a shame that in yesterday's match, Dynamo did not show anything - neither in the defense nor in the midfield! Nothing! In addition to all the troubles, Dynamo's defender Sebalios was injured, which does not add to the optimism of the Kyiv coaching staff.
- You have already mentioned Brazhko. Besides him, did anyone else disappoint you in the middle line?
- Shaparenko. This player showed so much promise, but he clearly lacks stability. Yes, he can pass and score. But yesterday he didn't look like himself - both in passes and shots on goal. Apparently, the opponent was "driving" so that the guy did not know what to do (smiles).
- What are Dynamo's prospects in the group round of the Europa League and in general?
- We need to think about really strengthening the squad. In general, there are no trifles in football, everything is important. The experienced Mircea Lucescu was replaced by Oleksandr Shovkovskyi on the coaching bridge. We don't know what kind of knowledge he has and what methodology he uses. Before that, he was a goalkeeping coach and then immediately became the head coach. Therefore, it is not clear what Dynamo has in terms of the training process and everything related to it. No one denies that Shovkovsky has a lot of experience as a football player. However, by and large, he hasn't worked much as a head coach. The Ukrainian championship, where his team is doing more or less well, cannot be compared to European Cup tournaments. As soon as he got to a serious club in Europe, the difference in class immediately became apparent. Each line of the current Dynamo team needs at least one highly skilled player. Perhaps the capital's club could use a good assistant head coach or the head coach himself. I don't even know what needs to be done at first to make Dynamo look like the Dynamo we all remember from the high-level games in Europe. So, if the club wants to reach a decent European level, they must definitely change something in terms of strengthening.
Viacheslav Kulchytskyi
