The former defender of Kyiv’s Dynamo, London’s Arsenal, and the national team of Ukraine, Oleg Luzhny, made a prediction for the match between Arsenal and Shakhtar in the third round of the main stage of the Champions League for the 2024/2025 season.
Oleg Luzhny
— Olege Romanovych, Arsenal is not a foreign team for you. How do you remember your years in North London today?
— Those were some of the best times in my career. The team was good, the collective was superb. Every year we fought for trophies. I am very satisfied with the period I spent at Arsenal.
— For 22 whole years, Arsène Wenger led Arsenal as the head coach. What did he bring to the club?
— He generally brought a different culture and perspective on football to England. This applied to game preparation, everyday matters, and cuisine. He changed a lot for the better at Arsenal. He instilled a style of football that allowed the team to reach a high level.
— What was he like as a coach and a person?
— A very intelligent and smart person. He respected each player and treated them like his sons. Likewise, the players tried to live up to him and not let him down.
— How did your personal relationship work out?
— Wonderful. Before the match Ukraine — Belgium (0:0) at Euro 2024, I met Wenger and we talked for about an hour. Arsène is now working for FIFA, he asked about the situation in Ukraine and the war. I saw in him a desire to help in the development of Ukrainian football.
He said that after the war it is necessary to do something together to promote youth football, as all our problems lie there.
— Do you remember any personal story with Wenger?
— I’ll repeat, he had a special approach. Wenger understood back then that it was unrealistic to pull an entire season with just a roster of 12-15 people while playing two matches a week. You need to have two equally proficient players for each position.
When I played for Arsenal, I was already 32 years old. At one point I had to play four or five full matches in a row in just two weeks. Wenger came up to me and said: «You can go to Cannes for three days and rest, take a little breather». Can you imagine a coach in Ukraine approaching a player during the season and suggesting such a thing?
That’s how Wenger treated the players. He realized that I needed to step back a bit and reset. At the same time, he knew that everything would be fine and that no one would let him down.
— For five years now, Arsenal has been led by the young ambitious coach Mikel Arteta, who seems to be returning the Gunners to their past positions. Is he a new Wenger for Arsenal?
— Arteta hasn’t won anything significant with Arsenal yet. I can’t say anything definite about him because I don’t know him. Everyone says he’s a good specialist. You see, in the last two years Arsenal has been fighting for first place.
— Is it fair to say that at the end of Wenger’s era, Arsenal fans were tired of him, but over the years a reassessment of values has taken place?
— Fans simply got used to Arsenal always winning something. Then a generational change came and Wenger needed time to establish new connections. However, in England, no one gives you time. You have to win. That’s why the fans were unhappy.
While Wenger was building a new team, they finished in fourth place. Though that is also not bad. Arsenal participated in the Champions League every year, which brought serious income. When Wenger left, I think fans regretted it.
— Thierry Henry was an incredibly important figure for that Arsenal. Do the Londoners currently have a player of at least similar class?
— There aren’t players even close to that level in Arsenal, or in Europe and the entire world right now. Players of Henry's caliber are born once every 50 years. Maybe even 100.
— Is it possible to include Henry in the list of players who undeservedly went without a ‘Ballon d'Or’?
— Definitely. Henry, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, and Gianluigi Buffon are players who, in my opinion, undeservedly did not receive the ‘Ballon d'Or’. Why didn’t they get it? I don’t know. Why do Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have five or six ‘Ballon d'Ors’? Every year someone new could have been awarded.
— Interestingly, in 2004, when Andriy Shevchenko won the ‘Ballon d'Or’, Henry only placed fourth in the voting, but many fans still believe that the Frenchman was worthy of the award that year. What’s your opinion?
— Shevchenko was also at his peak and had a very successful year. But it was not only that year that he was so successful. Don’t forget that before that, Shevchenko had already placed third in the ‘Ballon d'Or’ voting twice. So I believe he deserved the award. As for Henry, in those days he could have received the ‘Ballon d'Or’ almost every season.
— You personally have a reputation as one of the toughest players in Ukrainian football. However, at Arsenal, you played alongside such a monster as Patrick Vieira. Can it be said that Vieira was a tougher player than Luzhny?
— Well… You can say he was tougher. Of course. At that time, all the players were brutal. On the field, intellectuals were not playing, if you understand me. Anyone could play roughly and tackle hard. Who didn’t play that kind of football simply didn’t survive there. You had to act and be rough too.
— Do you see players like Vieira today at Arsenal or Shakhtar? Perhaps Taras Stepanenko is the last of the Mohicans?
— There aren’t such people at all now. The generation has changed. It’s incomprehensible to me, honestly. There are no players of the level of Henry and Vieira at either Arsenal or Shakhtar today.
Stepanenko? Yes, he’s a good player, I like him. He plays well in defense, he’s dedicated, fighting, doesn’t spare himself on the field and goes into any tackle, but he’s still not that level of player.
— Arsenal's former home stadium, Highbury, really had a special atmosphere?
— Yes. It accommodated 38,000 spectators, and individual tickets were almost never sold there, only season tickets. Every person who came to the stadium sat in their place for about 10-15 years. Fans came to football as one would to a second family. They knew who was sitting on the left, right, in front and behind them, and they became friends.
When Arsenal moved to the Emirates, of course, all the seats were mixed up. I know that many old Arsenal fans still feel upset about this.
The atmosphere at Highbury was special. It’s important that people there understood football. There was no such thing as insulting their own players or anything like that. Outsiders—yes, that happened. If anyone from Arsenal made a mistake, no one raised their voice. They just supported and cheered from the first to the last second of any match. People sat in the stands like in a theater.
— How do you find the Emirates compared to Highbury?
— The new stadium is big, and the stands are a bit further from the pitch. It’s completely different. You can’t compare it to Highbury. At the old arena, even if you were throwing a throw-in, you approached people almost within four or five meters.
— So it will be easier for Shakhtar against Arsenal at the Emirates than if they were to play theoretically at Highbury?
— I wouldn’t place much weight on that factor. I know from my own experience that when the match starts, players dive completely into the whirlwind of events on the pitch and abstract from the stands.
— Arsenal hasn’t won anything on the international stage for 30 years now. In your time, the team was close to the European trophy, but in 2000, you unexpectedly lost in the UEFA Cup final to Galatasaray (0:0, penalties 1:4). Was this an underestimation of the opponent?
— Yes, that was a 100% underestimation. We talked about this among ourselves afterward. We arrived at the match thinking we had already won the cup. And that’s it.
— What was the key moment of that match or the penalty shootout?
— The penalty shootout—well, that was too late. It was about who was better psychologically prepared. We just weren’t lucky. Although we didn’t play that final very well either. Galatasaray also had a good team at that time and they were really geared up for the game.
— Was it a big blow for Wenger?
— Not just for Wenger. It was a blow for the players, management, and fans. Can you imagine an English team losing to a Turkish one?
— Let's move directly to the upcoming match between Arsenal and Shakhtar. Bookmakers assess the chances of the Ukrainian team winning as 1 to 22. Is it really that obvious in this pair?
— Arsenal looks slightly better, and I think they have a significant advantage, but not as stark. Shakhtar is also a good team and can get it together. One should never underestimate an opponent. Just like I just recalled our bitter experience with Galatasaray.
This is football, and no one knows in advance what will happen. Maybe Arsenal won't focus on Shakhtar, thinking they can easily score 5-7 goals, while the miners will dig in. And then what?
— What do you think of the current Arsenal's play?
— I do not like their style of play. It’s football sideways-backwards, not aggressive forward play.
— Has Arsenal finally established itself as the second force in the EPL, capable of dethroning Manchester City?
— Wait! It’s possible to overtake Manchester City, but there are still many other strong teams. What about Liverpool? Chelsea has dipped a little now, but still. Aston Villa is doing well. The EPL is very unpredictable. From the first to the last round, you can only get maximum points.
I remember in the 2003/04 season, we and Arsenal in December were in first place, ahead of Manchester United by 12 points. In the end, we finished second and fell behind Alex Ferguson’s team by five points.
— Why do you think Shakhtar is so unstable this season?
— Perhaps it’s due to restructurings in the team. You see, a new Shakhtar is being built now. Many newcomers, who still do not have good chemistry. Plus, again, some fit the team in the end, while others do not.
— At the start of this Champions League, Shakhtar had a horrifying one shot on target in one and a half games. What could this be attributed to?
— I won’t say it, it's not my competence. There is a coach who is responsible for the team's results. Of course, this is not the same Shakhtar that was at the beginning of the 2010s. Back then the team was just extraordinary. Now it’s a bit weaker. Well, it’s not the end of the world. The team is playing in the Champions League. One year does not equal another.
— So, today’s Brazilians of Shakhtar, the conditional Kevin and Pedrinho, are not the new Alex Teixeira and Douglas Costa?
— I don't want to rush to conclusions. Maybe a bit more time is needed for adaptation. These people came from the other side of the world. They need to get used to the football and generally everything.
— How significant is the factor of Heorhii Sudakov for today’s Shakhtar?
— I really like how he plays. In the last match of the Ukrainian national team against the Czechs (1:1), I believe he was the best on the field. He played exceptionally well. He also showed a high level against Georgia (1:0).
— Is Sudakov already ready for a top club? For example, one like Arsenal?
— For the football Arsenal is playing today, I think he would fit in. Why not?
— What is needed to make this leap?
— To look stable in every match. That’s the most important. Not that you play one or two matches well, and then for the next five or seven you’re just walking around the pitch.
Scouts pay a lot of attention to this. If they come to one match, then the second, third and see that the player performs super well, then they will take him. But if in one match he plays well, the next one worse, and the third even worse, then no one will want to watch him.
Stability is the hallmark of a player’s class. Of course, there can be a drop in one game because these are live people, not robots. However, on the whole, one must keep the standard.
— And finally — your prediction for the match Arsenal — Shakhtar.
— I guess the chances are 50 to 50. What will the score be? Let it be 1:1.
Dmytro Venkov
