One of the first legionnaires in the history of «Dnipro», Davidson Morais spoke about the then-coach of the team, Volodymyr Bessonov.
Davidson (in the center; photo: dniprohistory.blogspot.com)
— In my opinion, coach Volodymyr Bessonov was too old for this position, and his working methods were outdated. He treated us like soldiers, was rude, and had obsolete approaches. I saw things in football with him that I had never encountered before.
At first, I had a few chances to play, but I quickly realized that he didn’t like me and Latin Americans in general. Once, after returning from Turkey from a pre-season training camp, I learned that he said in an interview that he didn’t like me, and Latin Americans wouldn’t play under his guidance. I asked the general director about it, and he confirmed that it was true.
I asked him why I couldn’t be released from the team if neither the coach nor he wanted to see me here. I suggested leaving the club without compensation, but on the condition that I would be allowed to find a new club. The next day the director agreed and said that the club only needed an «excuse» before the fans, as many of them loved me. That’s how I terminated the contract and left «Dnipro».
— Could you tell more about what surprised you in Bessonov’s training process, in how he treated the players?
— I remember that his training sessions were sometimes inappropriate and did not contribute to better performance on the field. For example, we went for pre-season training in Turkey for the first time with him. As soon as we returned from vacation, we had only one training day and the next day he set up a friendly match. Physically we were not ready to play.
I had never seen friendly matches taking place two days after returning from a 20-30 day vacation. Physical preparation is necessary first — all clubs do this. But in our case, it was not so. He shouted like a madman, and most players were in poor physical shape, which was completely normal after returning from vacation.
