– Oleg Viktorovych, it is natural that the main sensation happened in the match “Dynamo” – “Poltava”. Is the defeat of Kyiv in this context not a surprise?
– This is 100% unexpected. For my practice and how much I follow football, I do not remember that a change of coach in the team did not lead, at least for at least three or four rounds, to an increase in aggression, efficiency and attitude of the players. That’s why it’s a sensation for me. Moreover, not the result itself, but how Dynamo acted. Even with the score 0:0, it was felt that the Dynamo team was underperforming. By and large, the home team had no scoring opportunities. Each player transferred the responsibility to the partner. It feels like the team is simply demoralized, it is not ready to fight.
– “Dynamo” renewed its own anti-record, losing the fourth match in a row in the championship…
– This indicates the instability of the system. Any club, organization is based on systemic relations. Therefore, the problem here is not the coach, you need to dig deeper. Ihor Kostyuk is having a hard time right now. It is difficult for me to understand how to work in such a team. There are no leaders. The eyes must catch on something. Whichever team line you take, there are problems everywhere. This is not a local crisis, but a systemic one.
– And you need to solve problems quickly. It is somewhat unusual to see “Dynamo” in the middle of the tournament table.
– These communist approaches, so to speak, should be thrown away. Men should always speak in a masculine manner, and women should always speak in a feminine manner. It is necessary to get rid of ballast. It’s like in a hot air balloon, in order to rise, you need to drop sandbags, no offense to some football players, but that’s what needs to be done in “Dynamo”. The club went down for several years, and now everything has collapsed. In all European clubs, the position of sports director is almost key, but not in Dynamo.
Dynamo. Ihor Kostyuk (in the foreground) – In your opinion, should we wait for global reconstruction in winter?
– I think the management does not have the funds for serious reconstruction. There can be two options here: to choose a class manager, that is, a coach who could make cardinal decisions, and not just manage the training process. And you need to raise your own reserves. In this situation, it can help.
– Can Ihor Kostyuk become this coach-manager?
– If he is given such an opportunity. We see how it all began. Before the game with Poltava, I said that everything would depend on the result. But after such a match, the chances decrease many times. I would like Kostyuk to succeed. I feel sympathy for this coach. By the way, I still remember him from the time when he was working in Lokomotiv, and then Oleksandr Shpakov invited him to Dynamo. Kostyuk has many advantages, both coaching and human, he deserved a chance. But there is one nuance. The coach, in his first match at the helm of the first team, gave the main players the opportunity to correct the situation, but they could not do it. And this is a sentence to catch up with Oleksandr Shovkovskyi – the team is not physically ready. Kostyuk had two days before the match with Poltava, he could not change anything globally. But the next match will be Kostyuk’s game. A coach should think about his career.
– Shakhtar also lost points. Could you have assumed that “Kryvbas” would be able to slow down “miners”?
– Everything is not smooth at “Shakhtar” either. The team is mainly composed of Brazilians. And they are more focused on the European Cups. That is why the people of Donetsk do not always manage to play successfully after matches in the European arena.
But Kryvbas, especially its head coach, should not be discounted in this match. Patrik van Leeuwen’s work in “Metalist 1925” did not go well, but now in Kryvyi Rih everything is the opposite. This is his team, which is disciplined and clearly follows the mentor’s instructions. Kryvyi Rih sometimes pleasantly surprises. Yes, the guests were a little lucky, but this luck still needs to be earned. Therefore, “Kryvbas” has the right to fight for the prize place.
UPL Polissya – Zorya – After the last round, who are the main contenders for a medal for you?
– You don’t need to be an oracle in this matter (smiles). Of course, there are three teams. Number one is, of course, Shakhtar. In second place in terms of chances, I still see Polissya, since Zhytomyr has a good team and a stable financial situation. And on the third – LNZ. First of all, the Cherkasy team has a noticeable coaching job.
Who else can challenge these teams? I have already said about Kryvbas. Metalist 1925 have slowed down, but they won’t just give up. Unfortunately, to date, “Dynamo” does not fall into this cohort. If Kyiv jumps to the third place, then in this case it will be good luck for them. Although, you can think and throw all your efforts into winning the Cup of Ukraine in order to guarantee your participation in the European Cups. But LNZ, “Metalist 1925” and even “Bukovyna” can also think about it.
From the point of view of Ukrainian fans, there is a good start in the championship right now, but from the point of view of Dynamo fans, it is a disaster, there is no other word for it.
– Thanks to the victory of “Poltava”, the struggle in the basement of the tournament table intensified. What schedules do you see there?
– I don’t think that anything has changed globally for Poltava residents. I believe that five teams (“Poltava”, “Olexandria”, “Epicenter”, “Rukh”, “Kudrivka”) will fight for survival to the last. For probably the first time in many years, we have essentially no middle class. Almost half of the distance has already been covered, and no one can feel at ease. This applies both to the competition at the bottom of the tournament table and to the fight for prize places.
UPL 14th round 28.11.2025
“Obolon” – “Kolos” – 0:0
29.11.2025
LNZ – ”Kudrivka” – 1:0
“Veres” – “Karpaty” – 0:0
30.11.2025
“Alexandria” – “Rukh” – 0:1
“Epicenter” – “Metalist 1925” – 0:0
“Polissya” – “Zorya” – 2:0
01.12.2025
“Dynamo” – “Poltava” – 1:2
“Shakhtar” – “Kryvbas” – 2:2
UPL 2025/26 tournament table after the 14th round
Source: sport.ua