Former midfielder of Kyiv Dynamo and the Ukrainian national team Serhiy Kovalyets shared his expectations for the Blue and Whites' match against Turkish Samsunspor in the Conference League.
Serhiy Kovaleets— Unfortunately, our football is «lagging behind.» We see this in the performances in European competitions. The most problematic thing is that we play all matches away. If our teams played home games in Lviv, Donetsk, Kyiv, or Zhytomyr, the results would be entirely different — that’s a hundred percent! As it stands, all matches for more than three years have been played away, constantly on the move. And the stands at our so-called home stadiums are almost always empty, there’s no proper support. This brings to mind the famous saying, «There’s no place like home.» And it’s true. We talked about last season in European competitions — saying there’s experience. At that time, Dynamo lost many matches in the new continental club tournament format. The current stage of matches is expected to play a good role — again, in terms of experience. Unfortunately, we lost the first match against Crystal Palace. But I don’t see anything terrible in this defeat, because the opponent was from one of the strongest European leagues — the EPL.
— How do you see the Dynamo match in Samsun?
— If we talk about matches against Turkish clubs, we have better statistics. However, statistics don’t play football. We understand that the match taking place in Turkey predicts a large number of Samsunspor fans in the stadium. Knowing the peculiarities of the Turkish team, I can say that I don’t see anything difficult in today’s confrontation. I feel that Dynamo will not lose this match. I feel our team will play well, as this is not an English, Spanish, or German club. This opponent can be played against and beaten. So from a results perspective, expectations are positive.
— But when discussing the level of Turkish football on the example of Samsunspor, it’s important to remember that Dynamo lost to representatives of lower-level leagues in the current European season — Cypriot Pafos and Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv.
— A valid point. But as it happens, we see that Pafos continues to compete in the Champions League. And they’re playing well. This club has an economic component plus has many high-level legionnaires. There’s stability. The examples of two representatives from the post-Soviet space — Azerbaijani Karabakh and Kazakhstan’s Kairat — also draw attention. These clubs also have qualified legionnaires, and there is competition in the lineup. This once again confirms the fact that there are no weak teams. We simply live in the past when Shakhtar and Dynamo were authorities in Europe and made history. But this history is made from season to season by the players. However, now it’s hard for Dynamo players to manage European matches. Mainly, this is due to travel. And although Oleksandr Shovkovskiy makes rotations, changing many players, the lack of time necessary for rest and recovery seems to have its effect. And when failures occur, we need to consider not only the playing component. The fans will forgive everything except indifference.
— What tactics, in your opinion, will Dynamo choose for the match against Samsunspor?
— I think Dynamo has nothing to lose. They need to act actively, play forward. Individual skills are important here. Many refer to Valeriy Lobanovskyi’s vision of football, work methods, thoughts, and sayings. At some point after a defeat in the Champions League, he said there’s strategy and tactics. Strategy is the choice, and tactics are the application and implementation of the scheme. So, to repeat: there’s also individual skill. It involves the completion of collective work by that or another performer. Unfortunately, in a number of matches, Dynamo players' individual skill in executing goal-scoring moments was zero. But today, it needs to show positively.
— What would you point out as a «minus» in Dynamo’s game?
— I don’t like that Dynamo loses many duels. We lack the desire and the fighting qualities that Dynamo was always known for. Now we lose in midfield, we lose in selection. They say the team has a weak defense. But there’s such a thing as team defense. The whole team defends, not just the defenders. And the team defense in Dynamo’s European matches is not very stable and solid.
— What is your prediction for this match?
— Turkish clubs don’t have players who possess fighting qualities. They are mostly led by legionnaires who come to Turkey to end their careers. We see this with Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe. They play more for the audience and don’t take the ball. Yes, such players play strongly in attack individually, but they do not return in defense. If Dynamo plays correctly regarding transition phases from attack to defense, acts tightly, compactly, selflessly, and extremely attentively on all parts of the field (especially in the holding zone), and finishes all episodes, they will have a chance to win. I think we should win 2:1.
Vyacheslav Kulchytskyi
