It is understandable as both of them have managed to change play of their teams within quite a short period of time.
So, the forthcoming battle of ideas, skills and talent looks very interesting.
Motivators
On October 26 2014 EA Guingamp fans were leaving the stadium with their heads down feeling desperate. Their team was actually flattened by OGC Nice – 7:2. Goal and assist of Claudio Beauvue didn’t help the Red-Blacks avoid humiliation.
Still Jocelyn Gourvennec didn’t lose control in that situation and his performers won the following domestic league fixture against SC Bastia. After that Guingamp defeated Dinamo Minsk in the Europa League – 2:0. This period of time was crucial for French side. Eventually the team demonstrated unbeaten streak that included eight matches.
Serhiy Rebrov also didn’t wear sackcloth and ashes after unexpected defeat against Aalborg BK within the Europa League group stage – 3:0. Five days later the White-Blues outplayed FC Karpaty Lviv in the Ukrainian Cup and then hammered FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3:0 and thus came out on the Ukrainian Premier League top.
Spring factor
Jocelyn Gourvennec and Serhiy Rebrov are getting their teams ready for face-to-face matches differently. Guingamp winter vacation finished on January 2, after which the team got back to the national cup and domestic league. Results they demonstrate are impressive!
Gourvennec’s men have won seven games out of ten and lost only two. One more fixture ended in a draw. Goal difference is 18-8. This has let the head coach of the team state: “I can’t say we have some plan, but our results mean that we are making headway dynamically. We are glad that we’ve made an impressive leap forward (8th place in standings)”.
The White-Blues gathered on January 12, but of course they haven’t played any official matches so far. Still they’ve had 12 sparrings at training camps in Spain (W-6, D-4, L-2, goal difference – 20-10).
Serhiy Rebrov has commented upon results Kyivans have demonstrated: “Our aim wasn’t to win friendlies by all means. We had certain task in each sparring and players have coped with them”.
The game will arbitrate them
Both young coaches (Gourvennec is 42, Rebrov is 40) have mentioned their opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.
Jocelyn Gourvennec has characterized the White-Blues the following way: “Dynamo perform in euro cups every year, so they are much more experienced. Kyivans have won their group with only one defeat against Aalborg BK. They haven’t lost a single game in domestic league. They are great team. Still Dynamo have had only training camps so far. We must demonstrate impressive play at home arena and I’m sure we’ll do our best. Success in the Europa League is very important for us. There’s no other tournament where we can get such experience”.
In his turn Serhiy Rebrov has mentioned following aspects of Guingamp play: “They have orderly defense and effective counterattacks. Guingamp forwards are really fast, they score a lot. There’s no easy way to reach the Europa League knockout stage. We’ve watched a lot of French side matches and analyzed them”.
So, Dynamo are about to play their first official game in 2015. On Thursday at 22:05 the White-Blues will face EA Guingamp. No one knows how many times we’ll hear the Europa League anthem after that. That depends upon Serhiy Rebrov’s men.
Oleh Zadernovskyi
Copyright © 2015 FC Dynamo Kyiv
