Famous Ukrainian coach Vladimir Sharan commented on the defeat of Kyiv’s Dynamo by the Spanish Real Sociedad (0:3) in the 6th round of the main stage of the Europa League.
Vladimir Sharan. Photo — Yu. Yuriev"I have never seen a Dynamo like the one in the first half against Real Sociedad. The team is slightly above the average level of the Spanish championship, but it’s hard for me to imagine: where else can we take points in the main stage of this Europa League? Perhaps in the game against the Latvian RFS. And even then, I’m starting to doubt now.
For Dynamo, the priority is the Ukrainian championship, which they want to win — that’s for sure. What I saw in the broadcast from San Sebastian, I would call an experiment in European cups. Again they played as I thought — with three central defenders. And again the Dynamo squad changed half of its lineup. It’s clear that there are workloads and foreign travels. But all fans expect Dynamo to play meaningfully not only in the national championship but also in European cups.
Why didn’t they play against Alexandria with three central defenders? The answer is simple: they wanted to win, knowing the scheme the opponent applies. They won 3:0, although I believe it wasn’t according to the game.
But in the match against Real Sociedad, it turned out that the Dynamo players really experimented. Playing with three central defenders, the footballers do not know where to run tactically at all. I have never seen such gaps as what the players of the Spanish team did to the Dynamo players.
Maybe I’m speaking with emotions when I say "experiments," but I can't call it anything else. If Dynamo played in the Ukrainian championship with three central defenders, it would be something else. But the Dynamo team applies this in European cups — that’s why I gave it that definition," Sharan commented.
