Renowned expert and coach Oleh Fedorchuk shared his opinion on Dynamo’s recent defeat in the Ukrainian championship match.
Oleh Fedorchuk— Oleh Viktorovych, how do you explain Dynamo’s one win in the last nine championship matches?
— We need to start with Dynamo’s transfer policy. If the club claims its ambitions, then it needs to live up to these ambitions. All actions must be geared toward solving problems. These could be aspects of the game or finding players to strengthen this game. But if there’s a problem and you worsen it (I mean the departure of Vanat), it indicates the absence of a club development strategy. If the team aspires to victories, then everyone, from the doctors to the president, should put in effort. I, as a former footballer and now a coach, know that every team has its shortcomings. But the coach should try to eliminate, or at least mask these moments, so that the opponent cannot exploit them. That is, if your midfield and flanks are weak, you play simply, «to Blohin» (smiles).
You can hide everything except, of course, the play of center-backs and the goalkeeper. No matter what tactics you choose, if there’s a hole in the bucket, the water will still leak. All coaches in the world start their work in a team by building the defense and only then refine their protégés' actions. But if, during a match, defenders create three to four chances... from Popov, from Karavaev, Dubinchak, Mykhaylychko, who breaks records for mistakes, then nothing will work. I don’t recall such poor defenses at Dynamo throughout its history. Unless this issue is resolved, there will be neither consistent play nor results.
We need to look at a defender’s reaction after mistakes. If he panics and starts looking for someone to blame, but doesn’t draw conclusions for himself, then it’s time to part with such a player. This applies to the coach as well. So far, I see no hope in the play of the Kyiv team.
Dynamo is to Ukraine what Barcelona is to Spain, or Liverpool to England, or Bayern to Germany. Every opponent knows that a win against Dynamo raises the team’s status and provides a psychological boost for the future. Everyone wants to mock the ailing lion. I understand that this is painful for Kyiv, but it’s clearly evident. A crisis is like an illness. To recover, you need to find some good medicine. Without it, the treatment will be very long, or perhaps completely futile.
— Dynamo is the most popular team in the country. Can the most popular team fall so low?
— Indeed, a few years ago, I came across statistics indicating that 60% of Ukrainians interested in football support Dynamo. That’s a significant number. Yes, it’s the country’s most popular team. As for your question, unfortunately, it happens. Examples? Milan, Manchester United, last season Bayern. But how long this will last depends on the competence of Dynamo’s leadership. Of course, fans of the capital club find it difficult to accept the current situation since you don’t even need to refer to statistics to confidently say that the team hasn’t had such results in their entire history of national championships, let alone their current performances in European competitions.
Poor results were even present during Valeriy Lobanovskiy’s time in the USSR championship, but everyone understood that a generational change was underway, the team was being rebuilt. Now, you don’t see anything like that.
Take Shakhtar, for example. There was a renovation. They changed the coach, the players, and we see that the «miners» have emerged from the crisis. Yes, they’re unstable, but sometimes they show bright football. Dynamo needs to do something; nothing will come out of nothing.
— Many experts speak of Shovkovskyi’s resignation, but some say it won’t change anything.
— I don’t particularly like to talk about resignations, as I am a coach myself. Sometimes I have been fairly dismissed, and sometimes not, but that’s the profession and one shouldn’t take offense here.
One can again cite Shakhtar’s example when the team won the championship under Ihor Jovicevic, but parted ways with the coach because it wasn’t the kind of football they wanted to see. They kept searching and found a coach who can energize the youth. Yes, he has little coaching experience, but the club decided that Arda Turan can give the team a boost.
I have known Oleksandr Shovkovskyi since our youth, when he worked under Anatoliy Kroshchenko. He is one of the few players who studied well in school, and that’s already deserving of respect. But his coaching decisions are stalling, I see no contact with the players. The team’s lack of will is noticeable, and that’s something a coach should influence. There are no emotions. After the game, you look at the players, and it seems they are already accustomed to such results. Changes are overdue.
— Can Dynamo forget about the championship battle?
— Yes. At least for the reason that Kyiv has not only Shakhtar among its competitors, who are already ten points ahead. LNZ, Polissya, Kolos, possibly Metalist 1925, Kryvbas, Zorya will do everything to take advantage of Dynamo’s weakness and fight, at least for second place.
It’s like in cycling. If there’s a puncture, you can catch up if you’re in good shape after changing it. But when there’s no game and then there are also ambitious competitors, how to catch up with them? Dynamo needs to change many players, but the saddest part is there’s no one incoming. Karavaev, Buialski, Yarmolenko cannot perform consistently for a long time. They have one good game and fail two. Therefore, Kyiv has no chance to defend the championship.
— Oleksandr Shovkovskyi ignored media interaction after the match with Kolos. What does this indicate?
— That he is already ready for resignation. The press is contact with people who might be dissatisfied with you, and when a person doesn’t want to communicate, this dissatisfaction only intensifies. I think it’s the end.
— How can you see the light at the end of Dynamo’s tunnel?
— It’s simple here, if there’s no alternative, you have to grit your teeth and work. There’s no other advice for the team. And the president must think carefully before inviting a new coach, more precisely, which coach. The new coach must have ambitions so that it’s not a temporary worker, but someone who can energetically and organizationally handle the work, who can quickly adapt to our championship and at least boost the team emotionally in a short period since many players probably don’t believe in their capabilities anymore.
— If it were up to you, who would you consider for the role?
— It’s hard to say. I haven’t thought about this question. But emotionally, I really like Arda Turan or, let’s say, Ruslan Rotan. We see how he motivates the Alexandria players, and now Polissya. I’m saying that this type of coach is needed for Dynamo now. A hard worker, not just some authority figure like Lucescu was. The team was crumbling, and he would walk around and act clever. A coach should understand that his career depends on the result. It will be interesting. Often, during such crises, football stars and great coaches are born. Once, an unknown Jose Mourinho was invited to Porto, and he won the Champions League with them.
— There are rumors in the press that if there’s going to be a resignation, then it will be in winter?
— If you’re going to change the coach, you should do it now. A new coach’s arrival gives the team, at least for three to four games, an emotional boost, and then everything stabilizes. What’s the point then in waiting until winter? Before the championship break, the situation could worsen.
Sergii Boichenko
