Former Dnipro-1 coach Alexander Hrytsai commented on the most important events in Ukrainian football in the first half of the current season.
Alexander Hrytsai— Alexander Anatolyevich, how do you evaluate the first part of the UPL season? Did you expect this arrangement in the top three, namely first Dynamo, second Alexandria and third Shakhtar?
— “Alexandria” in second place? I wouldn’t say that’s a big surprise. I mentioned earlier that this team is getting stronger. There is no big surprise in this. The other thing is that Shakhtar ended up in third place with a serious gap from the first Dynamo. That’s a small surprise. I thought that Dynamo and Shakhtar would be closer together, competing for the title.
— Overall, if we look at the UPL league table, who else can be highlighted?
— If we take it as a whole, honestly, no one has particularly surprised. At first, Kryvbas struggled, and then they picked up speed and climbed to 4th place. Also, Polesie surprised in that they couldn’t gather more points.
— But, despite the other results, nonetheless, Polesie beat Shakhtar twice in the first half of the season!
— We need to understand that one match doesn't determine the outcome of another. Such matches happen. Remember the times when Zarya constantly beat Dnipro. Maybe for Polesie, Shakhtar is a convenient team.
— Do you think Alexandria, which many are now talking about, can make it to the European cups as a result of this season?
— Everything will depend on the winter training camps. The question is whether the team will strengthen, how the training camps will go, and how they will prepare. Then we can talk. But based on the first segment of the championship, the Alexandrians deserve to qualify for the European cups.
— What can you say about Ruslan Rotan? Is he really succeeding in his role as the coach of Alexandria?
— Apparently, yes. And this is also the merit of the club's management because after the first year of work, they could have stopped cooperating with Rotan. But the management trusted Rotan, and now he is delivering results — the team is in the top three.
— Which players in the UPL surprised you?
— Hutsuliak, who scored 9 goals, pleasantly surprised me. Can we now consider the signings of Hutsuliak and Nazarenko good reinforcements for Polesie? Yes, undoubtedly. But, of course, with such players, Polesie should be gathering more points.
— Besides Hutsuliak and Nazarenko, who else from the UPL could be called up to the Ukrainian national team?
— Right now, there’s a lot of talk about Yegor Tverdokhleb from Kryvbas. This guy deserves his chance. And for me, Ruslan Babenko from the same Polesie is an underrated player. When he played for Dnipro-1, almost all attacks started through him. He also holds his position well in defense. Yes, he’s not particularly big, but let’s take the example of the same Italian Marco Verratti, who has manifested brilliantly in the holding zone as part of the Squadra Azzurra and PSG. Over time, perhaps Ruslan will still be called up to the Ukrainian national team. He deserves that call.
— What can you say about your former team Zarya?
— They are certainly not surprising with their results. Although, indeed, before the break, they managed to win twice. Now the Luhansk team needs to prepare and analyze the mistakes made. And perhaps they will manage to improve their game.
— And what do you think about Lviv's Rukh, which you also coached?
— In my opinion, Rukh needs experienced guys, about a couple, who should become the leaders of the team. Young footballers should listen to such players. What the Lviv team currently lacks are such experienced performers. If such performers appear, they can give advice to their young teammates.
— And what can be said about the performance of our teams in the European cups? Shakhtar earned 4 points, while Dynamo pleased only with one goal from Kabayev.
— And there’s not much to talk about. Unfortunately, a failed performance. There are probably objective reasons for this. But, to be honest, such results are a failure.
— Shakhtar, starting from the match against Arsenal, somehow began to play more actively. The Donetsk team started creating something in attack and a picture in the game appeared. Who can be highlighted in the miners' squad? Maybe Sudakov?
— Yes, of course, Georgiy can be highlighted. Zubkov can also be highlighted. Of course, the goalkeeper Riznyk! He managed to break the Champions League record. Of course, it’s not very good for Shakhtar that they were shot at so many times by PSV players. But Riznyk is doing well!
— What influenced the outcome of that meeting with PSV, by the way? After all, the red card played its role, didn’t it? The Dutch team managed to beat the UPL champion 3-2 after being down 0-2.
— It was noticeable that the guys tired. And the red card also affected the course of the match. PSV is an attacking team, and it was anticipated that the club from Eindhoven could score in the majority. Yes, Shakhtar could hold the favorable result for them, but the Dutch team still won.
— In January, Shakhtar is expecting matches with Borussia and Brest, while Dynamo is set to face Galatasaray and RFS. Can the winter break benefit Ukrainian clubs?
— Of course, possibly, the break could work to our teams' advantage. But a lot will depend on whether they will strengthen. Surely Dynamo and Shakhtar should reinforce before such matches. But it will still depend greatly on the training camps. After that, we will see in what shape the teams approach the European cups and the Ukrainian championship.
— What do you think about the draw for the World Cup 2026 qualifiers? Ukraine has drawn Iceland, Azerbaijan, and the winner of the Nations League match France/Croatia.
— If comparing options, of course, we want Croatia as opponents. The Balkans also have a tough team, but when compared to France, Didier Deschamps' side is certainly stronger. As for Iceland and Azerbaijan, what can I say? We all thought we would easily defeat Albania in the Nations League, but in the first round of the Nations League, we lost to them. At this moment, it can be said that playing against Iceland and Azerbaijan will likely be tough matches. Azerbaijan and Iceland are geographically far away. You have to fly there, and moreover they will have fan support in the stands. Therefore, these will be tough matches, especially away.
— Regarding one of the main sensations of the Ukrainian national team, Ivan Kaluzhny, what can you say?
— I have known Vanya for a long time. We cross paths with him in Rukh when I was the coach there. The guy deserves a call-up to the national team and generally deserves the highest praise.
— He is indeed growing. Do you think, considering his position, at his age he can still progress even more? His price on Transfermarkt is currently 1 million 200 thousand euros.
— Of course, he should progress. He is 26 years old now. He must progress and improve all components of his game. But there are no perfect players. And Vanya has things to work on.
— After a goal drought, Artem Dovbik has started scoring again. In victories against Sampdoria (4:1) and Parma (5:0), Dovbik scored three goals and made an assist. Can you see that he has been accepted in the team? And is Ranieri inclined to trust Artem?
— Yes, most likely he has already settled in and adapted in Rome. I already mentioned that the goals will come to Artem. Yes, there was a drought. But he has moments, and the goals will come. More accurately, they have already come.
— Now in Ukrainian football, coaches are emerging, about whom not so much was known before. Do you think a coach should have some experience as a player or is it not necessary?
— For me, a football coach is a person who was still a football player. Because there are situations that you cannot explain if you haven’t played football. This includes body turns and many other nuances. And you can hardly learn this from books. Nevertheless, there are cases in the world where those who were not football players became quite successful coaches. And, of course, not every football player becomes a coach. A coach must be able to convey information to his trainees so that they understand you and listen to your advice.
Dmitry Kotkov
