Former head coach of “Zorya”, “Vorskla” and “Metalist 1925” Viktor Skrypnyk — on the main trends, tendencies, and personalities of domestic football.
Viktor Skrypnyk— Are you following football?
— Of course. I watch all the games of the German championship. After the tour ends, they still replay matches until Wednesday and provide analysis of all games. If you’re a person interested in this process, you involuntarily participate in all of it. Then there’s discussion of the next tour’s games. As for Ukraine, of course, I’m interested, I keep an eye on it. Sometimes I catch a good game. For example, I watched the match “Dynamo” — “Shakhtar”.
— Did you like the teams’ performance?
— I liked it because there was fierce competition on the pitch, and no one wanted to give in. I’m somewhat disappointed with our teams’ performances in European competitions, but I understand this. After all, I used to participate in similar tournaments with “Zorya” and “Vorskla”. I know our strengths and weaknesses well, where we are lacking.
— Who, in your opinion, is currently the number one coach in Ukraine?
— Rotan. I admire how he works in terms of vision and game management. Ruslan is number one in this regard. Then, probably, comes Vernydub, who has maintained high standards for the second year running with the player set he has.
“Dynamo” is “Dynamo”. At this moment, they have gathered the best Ukrainian players. They have a collective, Oleksandr Shovkovskyi keeps the guys in good shape. I could mention not one more coach who has performed well in Ukraine at one time or another. But currently, the most stable coaches in Ukraine are Rotan and Vernydub.
— Can you name the top three footballers currently playing in Ukraine?
— I will definitely include Hutsuliak in this trio. He was a leader for “Dnipro-1”, and now at “Polissia”, he’s also among the leaders. The guy consistently demonstrates his skills; there’s no period where he just disappears or drops out of the game. He scores decisive goals. And he has started receiving call-ups to the national team.
Then — Kabayev, who has proven through his work that he is a key player for “Dynamo”. His first season was hard. He was always getting “injured” when the load increased. Now this is a completely different Kabayev; such a player is needed for “Dynamo”.
One more bright spot — Oleksandr Nazarienko, who has burst onto the scene. But here we are still talking about a short distance. We’ll see what he’ll show in a year.
— What about the most hyped players — like Sudakov?
— I don’t want to say anything about Sudakov, Bondarenko, Kryskiv. Although I like them. “Shakhtar” has the strongest foreign players in Ukraine. Due to them, our guys look normal. If we talk about the best, they should indeed be the best. For me, this is the main criterion. I could also mention Brazhko, but he has some games that I do not like much.
— Who is the best in the position you played?
— Among those who play in Ukraine — Bohdan Mykhailichenko. Although I played on the left, and he operates both right and left at “Polissia”. Among those playing abroad — Vitaliy Mykolenko.
— And what can you say about Dovbyk? Is Serie A his championship?
— Dovbyk did the right thing by moving from “Girona” to “Roma”. In his second season, expectations would have been greater, and at “Girona”, it would have been very difficult for him to replicate what he had already achieved. Dovbyk chose Serie A, meaning he had some considerations in this. It’s his decision. I wish him nothing but good luck.
With the player set that “Roma” currently has, they can play much better. It seems to me that another coaching change will happen for the Romans, and they will find a specialist who will establish a game for the team. Here, Dovbyk could play a key role for them.
— Do you agree that the goalkeeper line in our national team is the strongest?
— When you look at the national team, of course, you pay attention to the clubs where the players play. In front of the goalkeepers, we have Real, Benfica and domestic giants. If Lunin is having a season playing for a club like “Real”, conducting 30−40% of the games — that’s normal. Trubin is the main goalkeeper at “Benfica” — playing all matches. As for “Dynamo” and “Shakhtar”, for the Ukrainian championship, Bushchan and Riznyk are very decent level goalkeepers. What more could we wish for?
— In Ukraine, we have raised such iconic forwards as Blokhin, Belanov, Protasov, Shevchenko. Why is there now such a crisis of scorers in the UPL, and even the most accurate barely average 0.5—0.6 goals per game despite everyone agreeing — the level of the championship has dropped?
— The striker alone can’t do anything. Someone needs to service him. The fact that he needs to open up somewhere, to finish the business properly, is, of course, a quality that must be present in a forward. But first, the ball needs to be brought to the attacking player. And we have a problem with this.
What can I say about this? We need to wait for the emergence of a new Shevchenko, Rebrov; maybe one day we will have a player of similar caliber. We have good young guys — Sikan, Vanat. Perhaps in the future, one of them will break through.
— Right now, only the lazy are not criticizing the Ukrainian national team. There are many complaints about the attacking players, that we create little and score little. How do you assess their game? Do you believe in success in the playoffs against the Belgians?
— Well, we have to believe in something. Fans always expect football with the hope that their team will definitely win, even despite the fact that their favorites have lost a few matches somewhere before.
So I watched these November games considering that the situation is very complicated. We got four points, and from a difficult position, we still broke through to the playoffs. Let's keep our fingers crossed for our national team together.
Oleksandr Petrov
