The former head coach of Kyiv’s Dynamo, Yozhef Sabo, summed up the first half of the Ukrainian championship for the 2024/25 season.
Yozhef Sabo— Yozhef Yozhefovych, your native Dynamo has become the “winter” champion of the UPL, going on the Christmas and New Year holidays with the status of the sole leader in the championship race. Is it deserved that the “white-blues” occupy the first position in the standings or is that a result of a certain decline in the play of their main competitor in the fight for gold medals — Donetsk's Shakhtar?
— I was not surprised by Dynamo’s results, but I will not hide that I bet on Shakhtar. I thought that it would be the Donetsk team that would go on winter break as the leaders of the championship. Overall, I am happy not so much for Dynamo as for the fact that everything is going well for Shovkovskiy at least in the domestic arena. He is, after all, my protégé. I started putting him in the starting lineup back in the distant 90s when I believed in him. And now Sasha also trusts the young players. Not everything works well for them in the Euro arena, but they play normally in the Ukrainian championship. At a decent level.
Is it deserved that the “white-blues” occupy the first position? Yes. But it is also very correctly noted that Shakhtar has dropped. They made a few decent acquisitions in the summer (Kyrylo Fesiun, Alaa Gram, Bartol Franjic, Pedrinho and Vinicius Tobias returned — ed.), they strengthened, yet their results have only worsened. Why so? I don’t understand. It’s hard to answer unequivocally because I do not know how the training process is organized in the team, but something is definitely wrong with Shakhtar. Their coach, Pushich, has a very decent squad. Stronger than Shovkovskiy’s, yet even in the UPL, the results are lacking. Taking third place after 17 rounds with such player selection is a failure.
— In your opinion, what is the main reason, as you said yourself, for Shakhtar’s failure in the first half of the championship?
— I would say not in what, but in whom. The coach is to blame. Nothing that Pushich is doing at Shakhtar seems to be working. He talked a lot about how great a player Sudakov is, but in reality, Georgiy is nothing special, zero.
Maybe Pushich has simply lost control over the team. It’s very important how a coach positions himself within the team. This has a significant impact on the players’ psychology, which then reflects in their results. I have the impression that Pushich is holding some players, the majority, in kid gloves, while giving one or two the right to play as they wish (likely a hint at Georgiy Sudakov — ed.). Well, the other players feel it.
— Given all of the above, do you think Renat Akhmetov's nerves will hold out until the end of the championship to tolerate Marino Pushich? Should the Bosnian already be shown the door, or could his successor possibly correct the situation in the championship?
— Akhmetov should fire Pushich in the winter — that’s my opinion. There are no results that the president of Shakhtar hoped for. Therefore, Pushich's appointment as head coach was a mistake.
— Currently, Dynamo has a ten-point advantage over Shakhtar. Considering this, can we already congratulate Kyivans on the championship? Can the “miners” make up such a negative gap?
— Wait. It’s too early. For me, in the UPL, almost all teams are equal. Kryvbas, Veres, Karpaty and Rukh, Polissia or LNZ. All of them can take points from Dynamo. Let’s not rush to congratulate Shovkovskiy and his charges on winning the gold medals.
— Which team surprised you in the first half of the championship? Which has become, so to speak, a discovery?
— There is none. Although, “Oleksandriya” surprised me a bit. Rotan did a great job, creating a decent team, and this despite having much stronger teams compared to the squad from Kirovohrad.
It will not be easy for them, of course, in the second half of the championship. And they may not even be able to stay in second place, let alone fight for the top spot. We will see how the winter break goes, how the team may strengthen.
— And which team disappointed you the most?
— First of all, I would say about “Karpaty”. Although the Lviv team strengthened in the summer, even signing a couple of Brazilians (Stenio, Bruninyo, Jean Pedroso — ed.). There were many talks about having an ambitious project, that they returned to the UPL not just to play a number but to fight for the highest positions. So far, it hasn’t been working.
— The dismissal of Myron Markevych has not gone unnoticed either, as he was the one who brought the team from the First League, prepared it, and here he was just “tossed” out.
— It was foolishness on the part of the Karpaty management. I don’t understand them. Well, what the hell, excuse me, was it to fire Markevych? Was he working poorly?
— Will Kryvbas be able to hold on to the “bronze” that it has not given up in this year’s campaign, but is currently not in the top three teams?
— They have a great coach. Yuriy Vernidub has always impressed me; he knows how to impose discipline on the team. The squad of Kryvbas is decent, but there has been a decline... Perhaps participation in the Europa League played a role, even if it was brief (loss in 1/2 finals of qualification to Czech “Victoria” (1:2, 0:1) and loss to Spanish “Betis” in the Conference League qualification final (0:2, 0:3), — ed.). Previously, our clubs passed teams from Poland or the Czech Republic without issues, just like that, now they do not. The championship is very weak right now...
I hope that after the break, the Kryvyi Rih players will make a leap up.
— The team “Polissia” cannot seem to become the third force in the UPL, even though the club's president Hennadiy Butkevych is pouring millions into the team. What is the reason?
— Pouring money is good, but where are the good football players? Everyone understands that qualified foreigners will not come to Ukraine. Unless they are of a third sort.
— I don’t want to, like Viktor Leonenko, call Imad Ashura a “phys-ed teacher,” no, but a team that sets such high goals invites a little-known specialist as the head coach with virtually no experience. Well, how is that?
— Perhaps that is also part of the problem. Of course, experience for a coach is very important. You need to know not only the rules of the game but also to understand psychology. If he simply behaves in the team like, I'm the boss here and that's it, nothing will come of it.
— Let’s talk about the teams that are currently floundering in the relegation zone or transitional matches. Who, in your opinion, among the quartet of “Lviv Land,” “Obolon,” “Chornomorets,” and “Inhulets” will not stay in the UPL and will drop to the First League?
— I believe “Obolon” will be relegated. They do not have enough money to invite good players into the team. In addition, they lost their main star, striker Ihor Krasnopir, last summer.
As for me... I wouldn’t want “Inhulets” to be relegated from the UPL. They have a good president (Oleksandr Povoroznyuk). He truly loves football. He invests money in the club, but the results are lacking. So, the matter is with Kobin. They invited the wrong coach.
And the second-to-last position of “Chornomorets” for me is perhaps the biggest sensation. Again, they brought in a new coach at the beginning of the championship (Oleksandr Babich) and sold several of their leading players (Mykola Braharu, Andriy Shtohryn, Volodymyr Salyuk, — ed.).
— Let’s move from teams to players. Who do you think has been the main discovery of the season 2024/25 in the UPL?
— It’s hard for me to say definitively right away. I have been watching a lot of matches of the championship, but not all. So picking someone out...
— Many are talking about the defensive midfielder Kaluzhny from “Oleksandriya.” He has even started to be called up to the national team. Is he not the main discovery?
— Before this season, not many people knew about him, that is, there was little talk about him in the media. But I must admit that he has all the attributes to progress and truly become a great defensive midfielder. For now, let’s not overpraise him, because he is a good football player at the level of the UPL.
If he plays the second half at the same level, and representatives from “Manchester United” or “Manchester City” approach him, then we’ll say he is the main discovery of the season.
— Also in the spotlight now are Hutsulyak and Nazarenko. Once again, Rebrov is calling them up to the national team. Is this not a breakthrough for the midfielders of “Polissia”?
— I wouldn’t say that Hutsulyak is really a good midfielder, with all due respect to him. Oleksiy is very dependent on his teammates. Moreover, everyone has already studied his playing style: received the ball, shifted to the left, pass or shot. It’s not enough. Not what a high-quality winger should have in their arsenal today. As for Nazarenko, he is, you know, a hardworking horse.
Let’s watch both of them to see how they perform over the long haul, at least until the end of this championship.
For both Hutsulyak and Nazarenko, simply playing in the UPL is not enough for full-fledged progress; they need international experience.
— Speaking of regress, who hasn’t lived up to expectations, who has dropped?
— Brazhko. I liked him a lot when he played for “Zorya.” In truth, Volodymyr is a wonderful defensive midfielder. He sees the field well, plays excellently in defense, and can make passes over 20-30 meters. He has an excellent shot. But in this championship, he doesn’t seem to be himself. Something has happened to him. I hope this is a temporary phenomenon and Brazhko will again become as powerful a player as he was last season. Maybe he needs more freedom? He can really do everything on the field.
I would also say a few words about Braharu. At “Chornomorets,” Maxim was one of the leaders, but he moved to “Dynamo” and mostly sits on the bench now.
The same goes for Shaparenko; he is not shining either. After he got injured and had surgery, Kolya is no longer the same. I used to consider him a great midfielder, who plays equally well in attack and also works in defense. Scoring... All of that has somehow vanished. We’ll wait, maybe he will return to optimal condition.
— Lastly, I’d like to hear your prediction regarding the championship race in the UPL. Who will take the “gold” after all?
— You’re putting me on the spot with this prediction. (Laughs). Life is such now that you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. These damn Russians bombed Kyiv in the morning; I didn’t sleep because of these bastards (the conversation took place after the morning shelling of the capital of Ukraine on December 20, — ed.).
I would say the top three will remain the same as now. The awards will go to Dynamo, Shakhtar, and Oleksandriya, and we’ll see who gets what...
I don’t think that “Oleksandriya” will manage to become first. Everything will be decided between “Dynamo” and “Shakhtar.” I expect an interesting battle.
Oleksandr Pupchenko
