Former coach of Kyiv «Dynamo» Yozhef Sabo evaluated the performances of our giants in the main round of the Champions League and Europa League and shared his thoughts on the future of our football.
Ua-football.com.
— How disappointed are you with the performance of Donetsk «Shakhtar» and Kyiv «Dynamo» during this segment of the European Cup competitions?
— I didn’t expect anything special from our giants, given that we are at war. Besides, what can be said if the same «Dynamo» has a very young team. We can see how they play and what they can show. The fact that in the last match, the Dynamo players won against Latvia's RFS is nothing extraordinary. So they beat the Riga team — and what? Instead, they wrote: they climbed from 36th place in the Europa League table to 34th — that’s something!
As for «Shakhtar», they have also achieved “nothing” in the Champions League. Unless they scored three points more than «Dynamo». Regardless of how things are there, I have no criticism. I understand: there is a war going on, and no normal footballers will come — neither to «Dynamo», nor to «Shakhtar». Unfortunately, we need to wait for a high level of our football. For now, it's even hard to imagine what it will look like in the future. It will be a disaster.
— What do you mean?
— Relatives have taken all our young footballers aged 13 to 16 abroad. They have been training for football in youth teams in different countries in Europe for a long time, and most likely, they will not return home to Ukraine. That’s why I say it will be a disaster. When the war ends, God forbid — and what then? There will be serious gaps as there simply won't be players to raise the level of our football. Clubs will have to buy players from abroad again if they have the money. And if someone agrees to come.
— Recently, «Shakhtar» has started selling one player at a time. Just in the last two weeks, the Donetsk club has lost Danilo Sikan, Taras Stepanenko, and Oleksandr Zubkov. How justified are these transfers?
— I haven’t thought deeply about these moves. Regarding Stepanenko, I can say that he has already played enough for «Shakhtar», and one must consider that he is already 35 years old and lacks former speed. So it’s normal that he moved to a foreign club. Sikan hasn’t played for «Shakhtar» for that long. He has played in the current season, but I don’t see in him a player of extraordinary class. I don’t think he will demonstrate his class at «Trabzonspor». As for Zubkov, he is not a bad player. But let's be honest: he cannot be categorized as “top”, where one can regret losing such a player. I see nothing terrible in this.
— In the current championship, «Dynamo» aims to win gold medals. In this regard, can the sale of the main goalkeeper Georgiy Bushchan to Saudi Arabia be considered premature?
— It’s hard to say definitively what and how. The thing is that both «Dynamo» and «Shakhtar» went into the winter break with a 10-point gap in favor of the former. I think the Dynamo players will become champions. And regarding the last line, Bushchan can be worthy replaced by Ruslan Neshcheret.
— Has Mykola Shaparenko stayed too long at «Dynamo»?
— Oh, I don’t even understand what happened to this guy. He was progressing literally before our eyes, growing into a good midfielder. Shaparenko can defend, has a well-set shot and more. But after he got injured, his game has not been going well. And what is happening now with this player — I honestly don’t know. Something has happened to him. I wouldn’t want to assume that the guy has developed “star illness”, as it sometimes happens when you rise. However, usually, then you fall down. That happens in football. Love affairs? That’s also quite possible.
— Apparently, the midfielder of «Dynamo» should have been released abroad earlier…
— In Europe, there are different specialists who know well how and whom to buy. Shaparenko is a good guy who showed quality play. So it’s a pity that everything has changed lately.
Vyacheslav Kulchytsky
", 'Yozhef Sabo
