Oleksandr Ishchenko: «Shovkovskyi clearly understands who among the Dynamo trainees he can rely on in the near future»

On Saturday, November 23, the Youth Football School 'Dynamo' named after Valeriy Lobanovskyi is holding a review and additional competitive recruitment for children into academic groups born in 2008-2011 and the pre-academic group of 2012.

Oleksandr Ishchenko. Photo: fcdynamo.com

— We start, unless air alerts interfere, exactly at 10:30, — says the director of the Youth Football School 'Dynamo' Oleksandr Ishchenko. — So far, 52 candidates have signed up, but I know from experience that many more eager ones will gather by the gates of our youth base at Saliutna, 35, at the appointed time. We are waiting for guys not only from Kyiv — from any city or region of Ukraine. Everyone will have a chance.

— What trials await those who dream of joining 'Dynamo'?

— First, we will check the level of preparation of the young football player, ball control technique, pass accuracy. Then — shot accuracy, playing through a 'wall' or a false 'wall'. A game exercise on half the field will allow us to assess the tactical readiness of the candidate. If we conclude that the guy is interesting to us — we will conduct testing, as speed qualities in modern football come to the forefront.

In total, one and a half hours will be quite enough to assess the abilities of those who come for the review. Even those who ultimately do not make it to 'Dynamo' will gain an additional incentive for self-improvement by working on quality fields and comparing their level with Dynamo's requirements.

— What number of talented players found as a result of the review would satisfy you?

— I see no sense in hiding: under modern conditions, we will rejoice even in one but true talent. Previously, noticeably more children came to such reviews. Mainly in summer, but now we are holding selection camps at this time of year. I must say, quite successfully! This summer, we selected six interesting boys from the camp in Koncha-Zaspa. And in the 'Dynamik' camp in Bulgaria — another four.

— At the end of February, with the then graduating class of the academy born in 2007, U-17 youth national team coach Yuriy Moroz worked for a week. An interesting experiment...

— The practice of involving — it is clear, on a temporary basis — coaches of adult or older teams in working with our academy trainees has been in place for several years now. By the way, in summer, when Austrian national team coach Ralph Rangnick came to Kyiv at the invitation of Andriy Shevchenko to meet with Ukrainian colleagues, I asked him whether he held any training sessions with the boys from the club academy when he headed 'Manchester United'? He replied that assistants conducted them, and Ralph himself only observed this a few times from the side.

But in our academy, sessions were held by Serhiy Rebrov, Oleksandr Khatskevych... The same Mircea Lucescu, who, during his time at 'Shakhtar', did not meet with the academy players at all, held a meeting with the Dynamo Youth Football School coaches. Before that, he allowed us to watch three training sessions of the first team, which raised many questions for us.

— Is Oleksandr Shovkovskyi aware of the academy's personnel potential?

— He does not miss a single U-19 match, and his assistants keep their finger on the pulse of our affairs. There is a constant exchange of information, and the head coach of Dynamo's first team clearly understands which of our graduates he can rely on in the near future. How can we not recall the words of Alex Ferguson about the fact that you cannot build a great team without knowing what is happening, conditionally, in U-15.

Oleksandr Volodymyrovych is also helped to navigate the issue of reserves by U-19 team coach Ihor Kostiuk. Therefore, his involvement in working with the graduating class of the academy born in 2008 was very beneficial. He immediately noticed and invited to the senior team Lusin, Andreyko, and Romanyuk, who have already had playing practice with him. Over the last week, four boys from 2009 have been involved in the training sessions of the 19-year-olds.

And what a training Oleg Venglinsky conducted with the attacking group! Then, the boys came to me for a long time: Oleksiyovych, how to arrange individual sessions with him? Just let him set the time!

— The Dynamo academy consistently remains among the top ten most productive in the world in terms of the number of graduates playing in the top divisions of various countries...

— This is certainly an achievement. But if you think that the club leadership, upon learning about such results, asks less of us or hangs a medal around our neck, I have to disappoint you. Our task is to provide the first team of 'Dynamo' with quality personnel reinforcements at the level of Tsygankov, Mykolenko, Zabarnyi or, as recently, Vanat, Brazhko, Voloshyn... 'Where are the new talents? — the president sternly asks us. — Go and work better!

— Do you follow the academy graduates in foreign championships?

— I try not to miss games involving our boys in the top leagues. Because I remember well what a difficult period related to injuries Tsygankov went through. How Mykolenko, who had no problems here, received two consecutive injuries at 'Everton' recently. I hope he will avoid injuries from now on. I do not forget how Zabarnyi, whom Lucescu noticed, made it to the 'Dynamo' first team, practically not lingering in either the youth or the U-21 team.

— You remember all three as children. What were they like in their youth?

— Tsygankov stood out because he was, in a good sense, greedy for the ball from childhood. He never left it to anyone when he had no doubts that he would get around three opponents and score! However, despite all his technical prowess, Vitya never missed a chance to work additionally.

His dad, a well-known goalkeeper in the past, helped him a lot. I remember they immediately decided to improve all types of passes, ball control, especially with a sidestep. Tsygankov excelled in this maneuver.

As for heading, Vitya recently said in some interview that he wasn’t taught this in the Dynamo academy. (Smiles). On occasion, I can show the notes of training exercises focused on this that have been used with us for many years. And not just in the academy — even in the first team. The same Kosovskyi, having come to 'Dynamo', practically did not play with his head, but later, in the famous Kyiv semifinal of the Champions League against 'Bayern', did not lose a single aerial duel.

Regarding Mykolenko... On one hand, he was a quiet boy, and on the other — a hooligan. This was surprisingly organically combined in him. Once, on the bus we were traveling on for away games with the players of 2002 and 2004, a boy from the younger team turned out to have a broken rib. I conducted my own investigation — and found out that it was Vitalik who tried to discipline the younger one and miscalculated his strength.

I immediately decided to suspend Mykolenko from training, although the Spanish curator of the academy, Alberto Bosch, was categorically against it. It is unknown how Vitalik’s career would have developed if the whole team hadn’t come to ask for him. They said, Oleksiyovych, the boy got a bit heated, forgive him. But the one who defended him the most, believe it or not, was the very victim.

I do not recall any problems with Zabarnyi. He was a mature boy, absorbing everything the coaches taught him like a sponge. He flew up the career ladder, as I said earlier, very quickly — the club's management was even concerned that he might break down from such a rapid integration into adult football. They put personal responsibility on me for him — and I agreed with Lucescu, who believed that if a boy plays solidly at seventeen, there is no point in artificially slowing down his progress.

At 22, he became one of the leaders of the national team. At 'Bournemouth', he trains hard, works on exercise machines to achieve the best shape. The boy has set himself the goal of becoming a high-level footballer — and has every chance of achieving this goal.

— Especially since Zabarnyi may move to a more prestigious English club this summer: both 'Chelsea' and 'Tottenham' are hunting for him at the same time. Which of these teams suits him best?

— I personally really like 'Tottenham'. This, forgive me for the tautology, is an incredibly team-oriented team. Moreover, when working on pressing in training, they play rock music, which I know for sure is to Zabarnyi’s taste. So I would like to see Ilya in the lineup of this club next season. And that he would dance some boogie-woogie on the field in honor of the victory. (Laughs). Because he is good at dancing.