- What do you think of the drawing outcome?
- Considering that we were unseeded and knew we would play the first leg at home, we’ve got normal opponent. I really hope fans will be back to the stadium by our home game against Brugge.
Even the desired Champions League looked like something ordinary without supporters. It wasn’t a football carnival. We participated in the most prestigious club competition in Europe, but emotions were a bit pale. Anyway what’s important is that our players have got significant experience.
Mircea Lucescu is a great motivator. He doesn’t divide competitions into major and secondary ones.
Speaking about Brugge, they’re very decent opponent. They’ve defeated Zenit twice and played in a draw against Lazio twice in the Champions League.
Still we have our own silver bullets. I really hope Mister will prepare the team for this battle. The only problem is that Belgian side will have more game practice as their domestic league will restart in January.
- Beside reputation and financial bonuses, Europa League can benefit Ukraine in terms of ranking points.
- I really hope both Ukrainian teams will each far in the Europa League and thus will gain enough points so that the UPL winner had a through ticked to the Champions League.
We’re totally able to fight for the domestic league title. Dynamo have definitely made a step forward, comparing with the previous season. We’re at the top of the UPL table.
- Where will the team be getting ready for the second part of the season?
- On Sunday I had a long meeting with Mircea Lucescu. We discussed all issues concerning training process, transfer issues etc. It was a meaningful talk and I can tell the details.
As for the training camp, players will gather in Kyiv on January 10. Then they’ll have a medical examination and several training days. On January 15 the team will leave to the UAE to have the first training camp. On January 26 they’ll come back. U-21 and U-19 performers will have a chance to work with the first team.
From January 29 till February 8 Dynamo will be training in Turkey. Youth team will be accommodated not far from the first team. Upon the return to Kyiv Dynamo will get accustomed to the climate and then will start getting ready for the game against Olimpik.
At the training camp we’ll definitely play some friendlies that will be broadcasted on YouTube. We don’t have any secrets from fans.
- Speaking about transfer politics, have you found the common ground with the head coach in this regard?
- As for transfer politics, Mircea Lucescu has stated: “If you want immediate results, we need to enforce the team. If you’re ready to wait, you’ll have to wait for another year”.
But that’s what people are – direction of the club and supporters. Everyone wants to see proper results here and now. That’s why we’ve decided we’ll enforce positions that need enforcement. Our scouts are working and we’re doing our best to reach a new level.
But I must say that we won’t sign players just for the purpose of quantity. We have a lot of talented youngsters.
- Recently the TV show of Olexandr Denysov informed that Yevhen Krasnikov is searching for new players for Dynamo. Is that true?
- I don’t want to insult anyone, but I need to clarify things. We hadn’t been interacting with “Football” channels for a while and, as we can see now, we were right. At some point COVID-19 pandemic made us come to terms with each other. We did these channels a favor for the sake of football itself. We wanted people to have at least some football information.
But now the CEO of “Football” channels feels it’s okay to express speculations about Dynamo. First of all I mean the information concerning me allegedly inviting Yevhen Krasnikov back to our club so that he helped us with transfer issues. Last time I talked to Yevhen on my birthday (November 22) as he called to congratulate me.
Krasnikov decided to leave Dynamo as he wanted to focus on his new club – FC Metal. I didn’t try to make him stay. He did a good job and helped us find two decent performers – Sidcley and Tche Tche. Sidcley will be back to Dynamo and he’ll get a chance from Mircea Lucescu.
Speaking about the information from Denysov, I’d like to say the following. When “Football” channels’ journalists do interviews with me, why don’t they ask: “When was the last time you met or talked to Yevhen Krasnikov?”
What we get is misinformation. After each interview we see different speculations nobody asked me about. If you want to work with us, change your approach. It’s not okay to misguide people and spread misinformation.
- After Sidcley and Tche Tche Dynamo practically forgot about the Latin American market. Is that a coincidence of conscious decisions?
- Latin American vector isn’t as effective in Dynamo as in Shakhtar for example, where Brazilians practically have expatriate community. But we have other strength – our academy. There’re many trainees of the club in the first team.
18-year-old Illia Zabarnyi features for Dynamo and Ukraine national team. That’s not a coincidence. I agree that a lot of players got infected with COVID-19 or got injured, which gave youngsters a chance, but that matters is that they’ve used this chance.
Young players must constantly make headway. We have Zabarnyi, Popov, Mykolenko, Shaparenko… Viktor Tsyhankov, who’s missed quite a while due to injury, has scored 10 in the first part of the season, but still that’s not everything he’s capable of! I’d say he demonstrates 60 per cent of his potential.
Supriaha needs to regain confidence by scoring a couple of goals. He must focus on Dynamo and forget about foreign clubs. He’s a talented forward, who must work and believe in himself. Besedin is about to come back which means we’ll have a fierce competition.
- Before the winter break Dynamo played a tough match against Kolos and lost 2 points. But football was secondary in this game and it wasn’t the first case. VAR and weird referee’s decision were in the limelight again. What was that?
- First of all I want to summarize the game from the point of view of football. Kolos did a great job. They fought till the end and deserved what they’ve got. I respect such teams.
Now let’s talk about what I’ve seen as a president of the club and supporter. I think referees can make mistakes, it’s a part of the game. But refereeing must be consistent. One can’t penalize similar fouls differently! If referee sent Shepelev off, he had to send Selezniov off in the first half for identical foul!
VAR has given Ukrainian referees new opportunities. They consult with VAR when they want it. If Mircea Lucescu didn’t come to the midfield as we faced Kolos, referee would continue that mess.
We want consistent fair refereeing that would let teams play football instead of checking VAR all the time. When we have an important match, Monzul is the referee and Romanov is VAR. There’re some mistakes and misunderstandings all the time.
The UAF must understand that the attitude to all clubs must be equal. Players see and understand everything. And then they go to national teams’ camps and some conflicts arise.
We won’t keep silent anymore and watch referees doing total lawlessness on the field. Let us and our opponents play football fairly!
