The famous Ukrainian coach Volodymyr Sharan summed up March in the Ukrainian championship.
Volodymyr Sharan. Photo — Yu. Yuriev— The best team of February-March?
— The choice is between Oleksandriya and Veres, but I will choose the Rivne team because it surprised more. Veres had bright victories over Kryvbas (3:0) and Polissia (5:1).
— The team that disappointed in February-March?
— Of course, it is Chornomorets. The Odesa team with its available players should not lose to outsiders ranked lower—Inhulets and Left Bank. It is no coincidence that there was a change of coach there.
Will Kucher be able to keep Chornomorets in UPL? It’s hard to say. Everything will depend on teamwork, and Chornomorets has a very tough calendar. I will reveal to you a secret that I could have been in Kucher’s place. I hesitated for a long time, but I decided to continue my creative vacation, although I want and need to work. Why did I refuse Chornomorets? I still have not fully recovered from the operation and had a number of other reasons.
— How do you assess Rakitsky's return to big football? He has already debuted for Chornomorets, but this match is hardly one he can count as a win.
— Rakitsky is a true professional and a good guy, there’s no question about that. Such players are needed in the dressing room. At one time, I had Seleznyov in Mynai, but then we had a misunderstanding. It is evident that Rakitsky is not in the best shape right now, and there is little time left. I hope he will help Chornomorets with his experience.
— The best coach of February-March?
— My choice is Shandruk. Veres does not have stars, but the team looks balanced. Shandruk has introduced aggressive football, especially at the start of matches. When they score a goal, they act correctly in defense. I like that Veres mostly plays forward and exploits the free spaces of the opponent.
However, Veres' positional play is still at a low level, as shown by the match against Left Bank. If the opponent closes down, the people's team can create nothing.
— The best player of February-March?
— For me, the best player of the month is Filippov. He is the striker that Oleksandriya has been looking for a long time. I attend all home matches of Oleksandriya, and I really like how Filippov plays. Sasha clings to the balls, and through him, the team transitions from defense to attack.
— The best Ukrainian legionnaire of February-March?
— It’s hard to single someone out. Probably, I will name Yaremchuk because he has been scoring in recent matches for Olympiacos. Although one must look at the level of the championship where Zabarnyi and Yaremchuk play. It’s unlikely that Roman scored as many goals in the EPL as he is now scoring in Greece.
I like Zabarnyi, but he lacks stability so far. In the first match of the national team against Belgium, I named Ilya the best player, and he did not perform at that level in the second match. I can’t say he failed, but I expected more, primarily in the buildup of attacks, which was terrible from our central defenders.
Dovbyk? He is struggling after the illness and lacks stability.
— Give a prediction for the final top-3 of UPL?
— Dynamo deserves gold medals with their game, I think the Kyivans won’t let the championship slip away. I’ll put my native Oleksandriya in second place. They currently look no worse than Shakhtar, so it will be interesting to see the cup match.
— The last question concerns the national team. After 3:1 in the first match, Ukraine lost to Belgium (0:3) in the second, playing to maintain the score from the first minutes. After this match, a wave of criticism fell on Rebrov, fans are calling for him to resign; he even closed comments on Instagram. Your opinion—should Rebrov leave the position of head coach of the national team or should he finish the qualifying cycle for the 2026 World Cup?
— I believe there is no sense in changing the coach at this stage. No one expected that we would beat Belgium in the first match, especially after the first half. After this match, everyone started saying how strong we are and how weak Belgium is. But it turned out they are not weak; they simply underestimated us in the first match, and in the second, they gathered themselves.
Of course, from our team’s side, this was a failed match. We always have bad luck in the playoffs; we look for excuses that we play on the third day and lack the strength. But for some reason, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, and France always have enough strength. Belgium simply put us in our place and deservedly won.
— In the qualification for the 2026 World Cup, we were also unlucky. Our opponent could have been Croatia, but instead, we got France, which made a comeback against the “checkered ones”.
— Such teams as France and Belgium gather at the right moment and prove that they are stronger. Yes, we were unlucky with the opponent, but we still need to play and take at least second place.
Andrii Piskun
