The famous Ukrainian coach and expert Anatoly Chantsev shared his expectations for the second part of the Ukrainian championship this season.
— Speaking of the remote dispute between our giants — “Shakhtar” and “Dynamo,” it seems to me that nothing extraordinary will happen — the Kyivans will become champions. However, “Shakhtar” will need to fight. Overall, I expect interesting matches from which I would like to derive pleasure.
— Which team from the UPL impresses you?
— I really like the way “Kryvbas” plays. The guys from Kryvyi Rih deliver quite interesting and, I would say, “tasty” matches. Among several of these, for some reason, the game against “Karpaty” stood out to me. It predominantly took place in the half of the Lviv team. “Kryvbas” had many scoring opportunities, but they lacked the fortune to hit the opponent's goal.
I think the newcomers of the Kryvyi Rih team will come into their own, so I wish Yuri Vernidub and his charges to qualify for the European cups by the end of the season. I hope that will be the case.
— I would like to know your opinion about the teams that are in the lower part of the table. “Chornomorets” and “Inhulets” are at the bottom, while “Obolon” and “Left Bank” are in the relegation zone. What awaits these teams in the spring segment of the championship?
— I do not like to evaluate the chances of the teams located at the bottom of the table — it would be unethical from a professional standpoint. And I generally tend not to make predictions. However, expressing my opinion about the game of a particular team is absolutely fine. I'll start with “Inhulets.” I’ve seen several matches involving them. And you know — there have been some interesting games from this team! One of them was against “Vorskla,” which the players from Petrove won. They looked very good; it was an interesting match. However, “Inhulets” also had some dismal matches. So one can conclude: this team lacks stability.
It’s hard for me to say anything about “Chornomorets” for now. Recently, the club was hit with a transfer ban, so for some time it was unclear whether the newcomers invited to the team would play or not. The Odesa team keeps acquiring players, but what will happen next is unknown. The Odesa club has too high a turnover of personnel, which, in my opinion, significantly hinders them. “Chornomorets” lacks stability.
As for “Obolon,” at the beginning of the season, when after a series of failures at the start, the team was led by Serhiy Shyshchenko, the situation was difficult. It should be noted that the “brewers” had interesting and fighting matches that were pleasant to watch. In them, “Obolon” created opportunities, showing diligence. However, there were times when after a rise, a decline followed.
Regarding “Left Bank,” this team also has a problem with stability. Sometimes it presents a small sensation, and then suddenly its play falls apart. But no matter how things are, the game of this young team is interesting to watch. Especially when it demonstrates combinational football with fast and sharp attacking play. Therefore, I wish all the aforementioned teams that everything planned by the coaching staff comes to fruition. Firstly. And secondly, that they succeed in their games and display sharp attacking football. Lately, I have been hearing this from each coach. So I hope that will be the case. It’s hard to say how the tournament affairs will unfold for each of the slightly mentioned teams and who among them will be ‘relegated.’ Personally, I would express my support for all of them.
Vyacheslav Kulchytsky
