Remarkably, the football segment of the information space in Ukraine has transformed since the start of the new season. If at first the characteristic leaks could be assessed as isolated incidents, over time what’s happening began to resemble the results of systematic work more and more. Work that has one precise, albeit slangy name: “mocilovo”. In this case — the “mocilovo” of Kyiv’s “Dynamo”. Different methods in various directions, but continuous and, I repeat, by all external signs — systematic.
Photo — Alexander PopovAnd if I am right in my assessment of the situation, the immediate question arises: who in Ukrainian football needs such “mocilovo” from “Dynamo”, and who benefits from the results of such “mocilovo”? And how “difficult” it is to find answers to these questions... So “difficult” that it’s almost funny to ask them.
However, let’s talk simply about the systemic nature of the “mocilovo”, so that we understand the coordinate system into which we have been drawn.
Sports Performance of “Dynamo”
Kyiv’s “Dynamo” is currently being literally destroyed for four consecutive draws in the Ukrainian championship. And before that, they tried to destroy them for three draws. And before that — for two. And even earlier — for the first draw in this series. There is, of course, some objective criticism, which undoubtedly has its place in the situation with the current results and play of the team, but the overwhelming majority of what is present in the information space — this is precisely “mocilovo”.
What has been said about the club, the team, and the players: “the team 'Dynamo' has nothing”, “now 'Dynamo' is a mess”, “there’s a split in the team at 'Dynamo', and it’s a nightmare”, “Brazhko needs to go to the youth sports school and learn to play football again”, “this is a paper champion”, “a grand scandal at 'Dynamo': Yarmolenko ran away from Shovkovsky”. This is analysis, this is objective criticism, just top-notch!
But what is actually happening, if we speak about results and the tournament situation? In reality, we have, firstly, the start of the season, where only 8 out of the 30 UPL rounds have been played. Secondly, at this moment, “Dynamo” is only one point behind the first place. Therefore, to sincerely (!) say in this situation that everything is lost — to put it mildly, is inappropriate. So there are immediately big, huge doubts about sincerity. Nevertheless, in the media, the considerably amplified thesis “everything is lost” is directed at “Dynamo”.
And against this backdrop, after the last round of the championship, an amazing, illustrative contrast arose. Not just illustrative — literally shouting. While “Dynamo” drew with “Metalist 1925” (1:1), “Shakhtar” suffered a large defeat to LNZ (1:4), and during the match trailed 0:3. However, while “Dynamo” is being trampled for such a result, regarding the fiasco (which cannot be called otherwise) of “Shakhtar” — it’s all quiet and calm. Quiet and calm in a situation where we’re actually talking about a rout from the 12th (!) team of last season’s Ukrainian championship. By the way, the same quiet and calm existed in the media when “Shakhtar”, like “Dynamo”, also drew 1:1 with “Metalist 1925”.
Someone might want to say: wait a minute, this is already the fourth consecutive draw for “Dynamo”. Yes, it’s the fourth. “Dynamo” lost points in four matches. But “Shakhtar” has also lost points in three matches, having one defeat against them. So what — is there a significant difference for a tournament spanning 30 rounds? I repeat, “Shakhtar” currently has only one point more than “Dynamo”.
Or is key significance not related to the number of points, but the word “consecutive” concerning the team’s draw results? And what if “Dynamo” does not lose a single point in all remaining matches of the championship and becomes the champion, to what place will this “consecutive” then apply? Football is such a magical world that it features even things that are hard to imagine, let alone four consecutive draws.
Creating Scandalous Situations
Balanutsa, Kravets, Yarmolenko-Shovkovsky, Bilovar. You don’t even need to say anything, just the mere enumeration is enough, right? And when was this entire sequence formed? A month and a half, two months, or even less. Oh, how tightly, how suddenly (!) scandalous markers began to emerge. Why is that?
Moreover, in each of these situations, either, again, the real state of affairs is being massively exaggerated, or loud/scandalous statements are made without any specifics.
Take, for example, Kravets, who, as if he jumped out, like a demon from a snuffbox, spoke so much about “Dynamo” that for several days it seemed nothing else was happening in Ukrainian football and nothing else mattered. But at the same time, he didn’t say anything specific. Nothing. Zero, zip, except for “loud” declarations. Which, by the way, I’m sure will now cost him dearly: which club president will risk signing a character who might pull such a stunt?
In the situation with the story of Shovkovsky and Yarmolenko during training, it is enough just to recall the level of toxicity of the “blogger” who authored this leak and keep in mind that after this, Shovkovsky continued to field Yarmolenko in the lineup and repeatedly appeared with him at press conferences. But what will all this matter if such a leak can be massively “hyped” in the information space?
A lot has been said about Bilovar, and I have written a separate text on this topic. Therefore, I will only say one thing now. I think everyone saw the banner about Bilovar in the “ultras” sector of “Karpaty” during the match with “Dynamo”. Do you know that this banner had previously appeared in the “ultras” sector of “Alexandria” during their home cup match against “Dynamo”? Or its exact copy. Draw your conclusions (if you wish and are interested in independent assessments).
Or the story with the label “son-in-law” regarding Kristain Bilovar. Why was there no attachment to Yuriy Vernydub when he had not just a son-in-law in his team, but a whole son playing, huh? Or is that different? Of course, it’s different — what is currently happening regarding “Dynamo” is definitely different. Moreover, Vernydubs — this is just the first example that came to mind — one of many.
At the same time, there’s a simple question: who to put in place of Bilovar now? His dominant foot is right, while Taras Mihavko and Aliu Tiara are left-footed. Yes, among the central defenders, there’s also Denis Popov with a right dominant foot, but he has been injured for a long time, and when he was fit, he and Bilovar actually took turns starting in the lineup paired with Mihavko. But who cares when the entire media is filled with “son-in-law”?
Outright Manipulations
Beyond that, the image of “Dynamo” players is simply distorted with outright fakes. People are deliberately slandered. One illustrative situation was the leak of a video about the conversation of “Dynamo” defender Oleksandr Karavaev with an unnamed character after the recent match with “Metalist 1925”. Everything was presented in such a light that the footballer was rudely communicating with a fan. And, of course, this leak was immediately disseminated where it needed to be and how it should be. But it turned out that there is one “small” nuance in this story.
It turns out it all started with a structured attack on Karavaev from someone present at the stadium. I deliberately won’t call him a fan of “Dynamo”, because it’s clear that with such an attitude towards a team player, he can’t be a fan. This person began to intensely provoke Karavaev, insulting him, including using obscene language. And at some point, Karavaev, who all this time patiently signed autographs for “Dynamo” fans and didn’t refuse them a selfie, couldn’t take it anymore. He responded to the jerk man-to-man, which is absolutely normal given the overall context of the situation (!).
But the video was leaked to the network “slightly” edited — exclusively from the moment Karavaev starts talking. Convenient, isn’t it? And typical.
Exactly the same story occurred regarding Yarmolenko’s communication with a small fan who addressed the footballer by the nickname “Yarmola”. Here I can personally share what happened from the very beginning because I was a witness: at that match, I was working, including as a photojournalist, and I was right behind the goal where the “Dynamo” reserve players, including Yarmolenko, were warming up.
So, as soon as the “Dynamo” players from the bench came to warm up, one of the little fans began to shout: “Yarmola! Yarmola!” Expecting that he would come to the stands and leave his autograph on the poster. Of course, this could not happen during the game (especially during the warm-up featuring Yarmolenko himself). And it’s entirely natural that Andriy continued warming up, showing no reaction to what was happening. But the fan didn’t back down: “Yarmola! Yarmola!”. This went on so long and was so loud that everyone nearby paid attention to the situation. After a few minutes of continuous cries of “Yarmola! Yarmola!”, Andriy finally couldn’t stand it (which, under these circumstances, was an absolutely normal response), approached the fan and politely (!), simply as an adult (!), explained what pertains to the unwritten rules, the foundation of life for civilized, educated people. This was a completely appropriate comment from an adult, as if Yarmolenko had made a remark to a child who threw a piece of paper on the asphalt instead of a trash can.
But what went out from this story? Exactly: only the ending of the story. And everything was presented in such a way that Yarmolenko immediately “leaped” to the stands, barely hearing “Yarmola” from there.
Manipulation, absolutely identical to the one that was used in the story with Karavaev. Just like that, as they say.
Such completely simple (I would even say, primitive) techniques create distorted images for the public, inventing what does not exist in reality. In this case — rumors are crafted about the moral character of “Dynamo” players, and then from that verbal mess, a fake construct, for example, about the “complicated, unbalanced psychological state of 'Dynamo' footballers, in which they are unable to solve tasks on the football field” is molded.
In conclusion. Everything written in no way negates the fact that “Dynamo” currently has problems both with its game and with its results. Everything written in no way negates that objective criticism is needed in this situation. But everything written is about something completely different, that has nothing to do with either result or game problems, or football at all.
Alexander POPOV
