"Most Ukrainian football players play because they are paid more money than their friends" - expert opinion

Renowned expert Vsevolod Kevlych shared his impressions of Shakhtar and Dynamo's performances in the Champions League and Europa League respectively.

"A few thoughts on the general situation in football (an outsider's view, so I'm not sure if this is true) through the prism of two matches between Shakhtar and Dynamo in the European competitions:

1. The quality of players coming out of academies is very low for professional teams. The main problem is a lack of confidence in their own abilities and, at the same time, a false belief in belonging to the elite of society. This gap is so striking that the question for educators is even more critical.

2. Most players play because they are paid more money than their non-football friends. There is no love for the chosen profession.

3. Due to the lack of love for their work, there is no thirst for improvement. It is definitely not about "improving every day". At a certain point, improvements stop forever.

4. The gap between the real and the imaginary (the players' own vision of themselves) becomes irreversible. The greater the gap, the greater the despair, discouragement and professional impotence.

Conclusion: if the output is of this quality, we need to see who produces it. And who takes it and what kind of "raw materials". There are some rumors that there is a competition to get into the Dynamo school. Do the best get in? Or the more capable ones? In the near future, the club will have to live off its pupils. And their value is decreasing because of their low quality. What is the reason for this quality? Is it the material or the processor - this is where the responsible club services should look into it," Kevlych wrote on Facebook.