Former midfielder of Ukraine’s national team Andriy Bohdanov assessed the performance of Kyiv’s Dynamo in the match against Samsunspor in the Conference League.
Andriy Bohdanov— Mr. Andriy, what kind of match did we witness in Turkey? Did you understand how Dynamo intended to defeat Samsunspor during the game?
— I didn’t understand at all. I can’t even imagine what the game plan was. You can clearly see the strategy that Samsunspor’s coach set up and how they intended to win. But as for Dynamo — I truly don’t understand what they played. First and foremost, Dynamo lost this match in speed. Samsunspor players simply tore apart Dynamo’s defense.
— Much was said about Dynamo’s defense not being reliable, and in this game, we also didn’t see any offense...
— Was there any midfield? (Smiles.) I didn’t see a team on the field at all. It’s hard to say anything after such a match. Zero shots on target against Samsunspor in 90 minutes — what more is there to say?
— Around Dynamo, there seem to be two camps: one saying it’s time to fire Shovkovskyi; others say that with this situation and these players, no coach will achieve positive results in the European arena. In your opinion, is the problem primarily with the coach or the players?
— It’s a complex problem. But do you remember when Dynamo first finished fourth in the UPL? Then there was a coach change (Oleh Blokhin was replaced by Serhiy Rebrov at the end of the 2013/2014 campaign — ed.) and with the same players, Rebrov became the champion of Ukraine in the next season.
— The same situation happened with Lucescu’s replacement by Shovkovskyi two seasons ago.
— Yes. So maybe some changes are needed? A potential candidate for Dynamo’s head coach? I don’t want to talk about it, it’s not my profile. The club owner will make the decision himself.
— If we break down Dynamo’s game into components (tactical, technical, physical), can we say that at the moment Shovkovskyi’s team is not ready to compete with their opponents at the eurocup level in any of them?
— The game against Samsunspor provides a clear answer to this question. The Turkish club outplayed Dynamo in all components. I would also note the psychological factor, in which Dynamo also fell short against Samsunspor. This means that the claims of Dynamo being in a psychological crisis are not unfounded. There’s nothing more to add.
Everything is visible on the football field. Eurocups are a showcase where the team and players must prove themselves. Well, that is now the showcase of Ukrainian Premier League clubs in Europe.
— Dynamo has a very tight schedule ahead: a game with Kryvbas, two matches with Shakhtar, another Conference League match, then a game with LNZ. Could we say that the upcoming weeks will be decisive for Shovkovskyi’s tenure?
— I don’t want to make any predictions. There are other people who will discuss this. I can only repeat that Dynamo has a club owner — it’s up to him to decide who should coach the team.
Vladyslav Liutostans’kyi
