In the eighth round of the Ukrainian Championship, there were unexpected twists and turns this season. There were plenty of surprises and even sensations. On all this, the website Sport.ua talked to one of the most authoritative domestic coaches, Myron Markevych.
— Myron Bohdanovych, everyone is talking about it, and it is evident from the European Cup matches that our championship has noticeably declined in its level. But has it become more interesting due to its unpredictability?
— Undoubtedly. To be honest, I thought that Dynamo and Shakhtar would compete for the first place. But now I don’t think so anymore. Both giants, to put it mildly, look unconvincing. The competitors have done well, sensed the moment, and caught up. Just look, when was the last time after eight rounds that the first and seventh places were separated by three points? Polissia has caught up, LNZ has exploded, and Kryvbas is stable. So, I’m sure that the Dynamo players and the miners will not have it easy.
— By the way, could you have guessed that in the last round, Rukh and Karpaty would achieve away victories over Kolos and Oleksandriya, respectively?
— Rukh should have broken through. They have a pretty even team. There are good performers. They were on their way to victory. I often come to their training and see how hard they work. The victory over Polissia in the Ukrainian Cup gave them confidence. So I’m not surprised by this victory. As for Karpaty, their win also seems logical. The Lviv team has players of good quality. So I’m not surprised by their success over Oleksandriya.
— In the comments from specialists, Kryvbas rarely figured, but the team is already in third place...
— For our championship, they have assembled a decent team there. I like Mendoza, whom I once wanted to see at Karpaty. They have a well-structured game, the Kryvians score a lot, so everything seems justified at the moment.
— Close behind Kryvbas is Polissia. Ruslan Rotan is on the rise, as they say?
— Any coach needs time to set up the game in a new team. It wasn’t so easy at the beginning, but the coach figured it out and the Zhytomyr team is now practically in the lead. This speaks to the level of the specialist. I’m happy for Rotan. I wish him to continue this way.
— Which team, besides Dynamo and Shakhtar, looks like a contender for the top places right now?
— I won’t single anyone out. Kryvbas, Polissia, Metalist 1925, Kolos, and LNZ look approximately the same. And under equal conditions, self-sacrifice will lead to who takes the first place. Only time will show who will take better advantage of it.
I can’t help but mention the outsider Epitsentr. Serhii Nahorniak’s team shows good football in midfield and attack, but their defense is very weak, which is currently preventing them from climbing higher in the standings. And Poltava, in my opinion, is slightly below the Premier League level. The other teams will be fighting hard. There will be no easy matches. The championship has become more interesting. Another matter is that its level is still not what it should be, but we hope that it will improve.
— It’s clear that the giants always attract the most attention. Not to mention the European Cups, are you surprised by Dynamo’s recent results in domestic competitions?
— I don’t remember if there has ever been a time when Dynamo lost points in four consecutive matches. Although, for example, in the match against Metalist 1925, in the first half, Kyiv dominated, many things went well. In the second half, it seemed as if 11 new players had come out. I think there’s a lack of order within the team. But that’s already a matter for the coaches.
— Indeed, it is the trainer’s job to make adjustments in the team’s performance, which became worse in the second 45 minutes. Another question arises...
— I don’t know why this happens; I just state the facts. The players should figure it out within themselves. They represent a big club, but watching their game, it often seems that it’s some peripheral team. This cannot happen; the team stopped in the second half. Maybe they need to be shown the history of Dynamo, who played there and how. The multimillion army of Dynamo fans is probably upset by such play and results right now.
— Maybe most of the players do not match the level of a club like Dynamo?
— That’s another question. But at the same time, we shouldn’t underestimate Metalist 1925, who also took points from Shakhtar. I can only tell the Dynamo players that they cannot play so weakly as they did in the second half. The players lack character.
— What do you say regarding Shovkovskyi’s statement about Yarmolenko?
— It’s hard for me to comment on this without knowing the whole situation from the inside. Again, in my opinion, something is not right within the team for this to happen.
— Recently you said that changing the head coach is the easiest thing to do. But if we look at Dynamo’s game, there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel.
— I don’t want to justify Shovkovskyi. The result is the head coach’s responsibility. Last season, Dynamo became the champion. The backbone of the team remained. Yes, now in the championship, the team is not losing, but I don’t see the kind of play that was a bit earlier. Therefore, it’s not just the coach’s fault.
— I can’t remember when Shakhtar was beaten in the championship as they were by LNZ?
— No matter what anyone says, the departure of Kevin and Sudakov affected the potential of the miners. These players set the tone for the team’s game. Moreover, do not forget that currently, many players in the team are injured. Flights and transfers... Probably, the night in Lviv was not easy for the Brazilians due to the rocket attacks by the Russians. And that’s how such a result comes about. However, I was surprised by such a score. Shakhtar bought players for a serious amount. Our less authoritative clubs can only dream of such transfers. However, money, as LNZ has shown, does not play football. Shakhtar was dissected yesterday.
Despite all the problems, Shakhtar and Dynamo have no right to play so weakly, considering that many of their players will be heading to the Ukrainian national team.
— LNZ’s victory in the last match — is it Vitalyi Ponomariov’s talent?
— First of all, the coach set the team up, and this is very important in confrontations with such strong opponents. Moreover, the Cherkasy team has players of decent level. So everything is justified.
Serhii Demyanchuk