– Let’s go back to your second term in Odessa Chornomorets (2022-2024). How significantly has Ukrainian football changed during this period, compared to what was before?
– Of course, it has changed, and there are reasons for that, but I can’t tell you that at that time, or at any time in general… But I can’t say that the UPL was weak. Of course, the level has changed and it was noticeable. Do you remember the team composition of Shakhtar, Dynamo, Metalist, Dnipro… You can list the teams for a long time. So, the teams at that time had football players whose price reached 50-70 million. In the following years, there were simply no legionnaires of this level, precisely because of this the level fell, but not to such a level that UPL could be called a weak league. In no other year would I have called the UPL that way.
– As a coach, was it easier for you to work in the period 2010-2014, when there were quality legionnaires in the UPL, or in the period 2022-2024, when the level of the teams decreased somewhat, as well as the level of the league itself?
– I will tell you that even the approach and coaching work is different here. The approach to the more star players is a little different than the approach you should know to the players who are a little lower level. The approach is different!
– What tasks did the management of the “sailors” set before you in the second term of your stay at the club (2022-2024)? How satisfied are you with that period of your stay at the club?
– I cannot say that I am satisfied! Rather, I am disappointed with this period. We joined the team in January 2022. In about one and a half to two months, we managed to collect and organize the team so that in the middle of February, the “sailors” were a team that I just enjoyed. I enjoyed the work we did and the way Chornomorets played at the 2022 Winter Meeting.
I saw that this team would be simply gorgeous, but the war started in Ukraine. I will tell you one interesting detail, on February 27 we were supposed to play against Mariupol, but the war started on February 24. So, on February 22-23 of that year, we returned from the meeting and I was terribly looking forward to the start of the championship. I was very pleased with how the team is ready for the championship. At the meeting, the team also played creative and interesting football – well, just beautiful. We already understood that the return of that atmosphere awaits us at the Chornomorets stadium. Already on February 22, about 25,000 tickets were sold for the first match of the “sailors” after the winter break. Can you imagine that? 25 thousand tickets. People were waiting for football, but this is what happened in life… War… It was a very serious blow for me.
– February 24, 2022. Full-scale war… Let’s remember that day! How did it go for you? What were the conversations in the middle of the team? What did the leadership of the “sailors” say?
– In the last days before the start of a full-scale war, I was simply obsessed with football and waiting for the renewal of the UPL. I did not even believe that the war would begin, and neither I nor my family prepared for it in any way. That night my wife told me that the explosions had started, and I just couldn’t believe it. It was not until the morning of the next day that I realized that the war had really begun. It happened and it’s not a dream…
We took all possible measures to keep our players safe. I think we won’t remember exactly how everything was there, but if we talk about the direction of those steps… Each of our football players had to think about his family and take some steps. The club helped with everything it could, said Hryhorchuk.
Source: sport.ua