Viktor Khlus: "In our times, among the current players of Dynamo, at best a few could play in the reserve team"

The former striker of Kyiv’s Dynamo Viktor Khlus assessed the performance of the Kyiv team in the 4th round of the Europa League match against Ferencvaros, which ended in their painful defeat 0:4.

— How can we explain the disaster of Kyiv’s Dynamo?

— By the players’ unwillingness to fight on the football field. Lack of willpower and apathy is what we are observing. For me, a true admirer of Dynamo, who spent the best years in the club, it is hard to understand the team’s fall into the abyss. When I finished playing at Dynamo, I had to play in a small provincial Swedish club, Elfsborg, where at that time there were not even hotels. But now this team is higher in the league table than Dynamo, with wins, goals scored, and points earned. What does that say? That the club's policies were built correctly. Feel the difference! In the last round, Elfsborg defeated Roma, which had previously beaten Dynamo. Yesterday, the Swedes played to a draw with Braga, while the Kyivans after the game with Ferencvaros read the scoreboard, which shows 0:4. Perhaps it’s time to think, are we going there? It is even hard to explain why Dynamo is in such a miserable state? The players, going onto the field, do not think about the game, but are in some kind of stupor. It’s hard to comment on the disgrace that we saw yesterday from our giant. Some say that in the game, we hit the crossbar twice, so we need to hit the post ten times to score at least the first goal in the Europa League. In four matches, zero goals scored. And again, for comparison, Elfsborg has seven goals. And most importantly — there is no playing discipline on the field.

— An example of a lack of playing discipline can be seen in Shaparenko. Recently, he often engages in unnecessary confrontations on the field (and this is not the first time), waving his arms in front of the opponent’s face, wasting energy not on the game…

— From my experience, I can say that if Shaparenko comes to some foreign club, he will have to work hard on the field to win the ball and do something himself. Every day, in every game, he will have to prove his capability and necessity for the team. In Dynamo, they give him the passes, and he walks cleanly on the field. It won’t be like that there. Yes, he is a quality player with good potential, but a classy player confirms this in every game, not just once in five matches. And class must be shown not in the Ukrainian championship, which is very weak in level, but in battles like European Cup matches and performances for the national team.

— Besides a big problem in attack (zero goals scored), there is the same problem in defense. The two central defenders Mykhavko and Bilovar played very poorly. Attacking players ran away from them and scored from under them. Do you agree?

— Earlier, when I was a player, every team had classy strikers: in Dynamo — Blokhin and Onyshchenko, in Shakhtar — Starukhin and Hrachov, and also in other clubs; it would take too long to list them all. The coach before the game said: "I ask you, do not let the ball get to these players." Now the balls don’t even reach the strikers not because they don’t allow it, but simply because there is no skill. Just passing like Kabayev, right to the opponent’s feet, after which we get scored, is something Dynamo players know how to do (laughs). But there are defenders who should know how to play one-on-one and correct such blunders by Kabayev. And here we are doing very poorly! If I were playing against defenders like these now, they would have received a three by the first half. But Dynamo conceded the same goals into their net, albeit in the second half (laughs). Crosses, passes, everything goes through the defense, attackers easily score in the center of the penalty area, easily beat one-on-one, run away and score, as was the case with Bilovar. The central defenders allowed the opponent to do everything.

— Someone is looking for the reason for such a large defeat in Dubinchak's sending off in the 17th minute. Is it appropriate?

— Yes, it should not have been allowed. How the opponent slipped past, bypassed Dubinchak, who found nothing better to do than go off the field with his foot raised into the attacking ankle? Dubinchak has neither class nor the ability to think. The class of a player plus intellect equals result. Making a correct and clean tackle should be taught from childhood, while jumping straight-legged does not require much intelligence. Let him blame only himself for letting the team down.

— Ferencvaros managed to take revenge for the Cup Winners' Cup final in 1975, where Dynamo won 3:0.

— It is hard to compare those times with the present. Back then, Dynamo was made up of stars, and the team was a star of world football. The current generation... eh, I don’t want to say anything. I think, among the current players, at best a few could only play in the reserve team. With whom can we earn points, if not with Ferencvaros? For now, we look into the future with sorrow.

Sergiy Shebek