A well-known expert Oleg Fedorchuk in a conversation with a Sport.ua correspondent, he evaluated the actions of the LNZ selectors and clarified what Vitaly Ponomarev’s wards can count on at the end of the season:
– I was not surprised by the decision of the LNZ bosses to sell their leading player Prosper Oba in the middle of the season to Shakhtar. The fact that it is a direct competitor of the Cherkastians in the fight for a place on the podium did not stop them. Because currently FC LNZ is a business project. It has been proven that if you act in a balanced and flexible way, you can make good money on the UPL on retreatants.
– But will the departure of the Nigerian affect the performance of the Cherkastians already next spring?
– I think that currently the LNZ club management is not particularly concerned about this. There is still plenty of time before the resumption of the championship, and the sale of the African to the famous “Shakhtar” served as good advertising for the club. Secondly, it is possible that Cherkasy is still counting on serious bonuses from Shakhtar after the next sale of the Nigerian abroad. Therefore, this transfer saga may continue. Well, in the end, as far as I’m concerned, the people of Cherkassy already had a backup option in case of Prosper Ob’s departure.
– Do you mean the appearance of the first “winter” newcomer – Yehor Tverdokhlib from Kryvyi Rih?
– Not only that, because Tverdokhlib cannot be called a “pure” attacker, he acts in a completely different manner than the aforementioned Prosper Oba. Perhaps we are talking about the forward of “Rukh” Babukar Faal or some other legionnaire. We will make sure of this already in January. Although with the same Faal, the helmsman Ponomaryov would have been more comfortable, because it was he who gave the “good” for the Gambian’s move to Lviv when he headed “Rukh”.
You know, it is important that the people of Cherkasy clearly adhere to the adopted tactics: they buy relatively inexpensive football players, who can then be sold profitably. And, of course, one should not underestimate the fact that the departure of Tverdokhlib and Mykytyshyn weakened the position of one of the pursuers – “Kryvbas”.
– In your opinion, how many more performers will LNZ try to strengthen?
– Much will depend on how many performers will leave LNZ in January. I think, in general, there will be 5-6 new recruits in LNZ. It is unlikely that Cherkasy will want to repeat the sad experience of “Polyssia”, where there were contract workers for three warehouses, but there was enough ballast. Therefore, I am inclined to the fact that only competitive players will remain in LNZ.
– Was the performance of the Cherkasy players in the first part of the season a surprise for you?
– I expected that they could “shoot”, but not so much. I thought that the people of Cherkasy would fight for the Eurocup zone, but I somewhat underestimated them. First of all, in Cherkasy they did not miss an invitation to Vitaly Ponomarev and his assistants. His game philosophy, where a lot depends on physical training, suited the players at his disposal as much as possible. The Cherkastians were not distinguished by any tactical flexibility, but they were remembered for their ability to achieve the desired result, thanks to the intensity in the final stage, pressure, and motivation. So far, it has paid dividends, because the visas turned out to be unprepared for these LNZ blanks.
Although I do not think that it will be easier for LNZ in the future, they need to add diversity, because the opponents will have time to study the leader’s game scrupulously.
The advantage was also that LNZ was not involved in the European Cups and had few national team members, so the players were focused only on the performance in the domestic arena. By the way, it is recalled that Vitaliy Ponomarev’s wards won their sensational away victories over Shakhtar and Dynamo, when they were exhausted after matches in the Conference League.
– Then what can the Cherkasy team expect at the end of the season?
– We should still be patient and wait for the leader to strengthen the squad, in what condition the injured will return, in particular, the all-rounder, Roman Didyk. Although, in my opinion, the reserve of points that LNZ has should be enough to try to win the second place, the Cherkasy team can go far in the cup tournament as well. So, I have no doubt that history is being written here.
Earlier it became known who LNZ wants to sign after the transfers of Tverdokhlib and Mykytyshyn.
Source: sport.ua