FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
Founded 1918 - the oldest club in the UPL this season.
Last seasons finish: 4th in the Ukraine Premier League. Qualified for the Uefa Europa League Play off Round.
Along
the banks of the river Dniper lies a team that are emerging as a new
force in Ukrainian football. With a big fanbase and big names within
their ranks, everything was going great as the club were approaching the
final furlong to last seasons UPL season. Flying high in 3rd with just a
handful of games remaining, they buckled under the pressure as Metalist
powered on and Dynamo doing just enough to keep them out of the
Champions League berth they craved.
Under the reign of Juande
Ramos, who needs to introduction, steadily Dnipro have assembled a good
mix of Ukrainian and foreign players and have certainly a good soild
team to pick from. Stars such as Eugene Konoplyanka have drawn interest
from all over Europe; this however is having a negative affect on the
club as the fall out continues and Konoplyanka is finding it tough to
get himself on the pitch as he makes his intentions of moving clear.
Ramos
also is coming under pressure. The collapse at the end of the season
was met with unimpressed comments from multi-Ukrainian club owner Igor
Kolomoyskiy and fans alike. Despite this he has remained adament that he
is the one to take them to the next level. They have made a steady
start this season; dropping only 5 points from a poissible 18 and lie in
3rd place after six games. There is still an awful long way to go
however with Dynamo Kyiv's poor start to the season by their standards,
they may see an opportunity to capitalise on last season's ending.
Players
that Nomme will certainly need to keep eyes on is of course the
aforementioned Konoplyanka. It's not just his pace and exceptional
technical ability that makes this Dnipro side tick, but with club
captain Ruslan Rotan pulling the strings from midfield, they have
excellent options. This is before I can come to the likes of Giuliano
who supplies Dnipro's varied and at times frightening front line. Up top
you have the choices of Roman Zozulya - current Ukrainian
internationalist; over 100 UPL goals and currently joint top scorer with
five goals from six games man Eugene Seleznyov, experienced Brazilian
Matheus and Nikola Kalinic who has 17 caps for Croatia aged just 25.
If
they do find themselves on the back foot; defensively they have good
options also. Regular Czech national squad player Ondřej Mazuch has
quickly settled into the first team at Dnipro with Croat Ivan Strinic
helping out at left back. Douglas, signed from Vasco De Gama has arrived
from Brazil during the summer and has already played in eight games
this term at centre half. Artem Fedetskiy may be one of the most
improved players within the team. Having been loaned out previously, he
has proved his worth to the club and his technique and drive forward
from right back is becoming a very good weapon.
Quick round up of season so far:
Dnipro 3-0 Arsenal
Illichivets 0-2 Dnipro
Dnipro 1-3 Zorya
Volyn 1-3 Dnipro
Dnipro 1-0 Hoverla
Sevastopol 1-1 Dnipro
Wednesday, 21 August 2013
Tuesday, 2 July 2013
FC Dynamo Kyiv..did I get Oleh Blokhin wrong?
This is a sort of follow up to my previous entry, posted just after the last game of the season, which you'll probably be better reading first but I'll be covering most of that here anyway.
I dunno, I'm starting to be more convinced about Dynamo's chances of doing something this season. It may be the new signings, who admittidly I don't know a huge amount about, but as I pointed out before, it was needed, badly. There was some debate about who Blokhin should bring in; foreigners or Ukrainians, a debate that most teams in every country have. Blokhin has done both and I'm convinced he's going to let the young Ukrainians have a go at proving themselves, which I think is great. I don't mean players like Bezus and Selin - they are internationalists - but young guys like Bogdanov, Makarenko, Kalytvyntsev, Kravets and Sydorchuk. Of course you'd expect some of them to be in the Dynamo-2 side or be loaned out, after all there are other big money signings who wouldn't take to kindly to be sitting on the bench as opposed to a bunch of unexperienced youngsters.
So now here's my thoughts on the squad. I did this in the last entry but I'll do a little more in depth this time; starting with the goalkeeping situations and work my way down the pitch.
I'm not particularly worried about the goalkeepers; Blokhin got rid of Denys Boyko! Whey! Maksym Koval is continuing his development and is now the established number one in my book, of course the legendary Sasho cannot be ignored and still gets a regular game, and never lets the club down. I don't expect many changes this season although when Sasho finally hangs his gloves up may be sooner rather than later.
Defence is still a worry. With Taras Mykhalyk leaving, that is a major concern for me. I know it's reasonably still early doors, but trying to piece together a suitable defence is proving rather difficult. Vida has been pretty solid since his arrival in the winter and will quite rightly be first choice right back. Left back is up for grabs in my opinion. With no Taye Taywo, you're looking even at the two defenders that were out on loan last season; Betao and Goran Popov. Both are reasonably ok, have proved they are good enough to play at this level but I wonder what plans Blokhin has for them. He must have some idea as unless there's a new left back coming in, he will have to draft one of them in.
Khacheridi simply cannot be sold, under any circumstances. Lose him and there goes the spine of the whole team. The other centre half spot is again up for grabs. Vida can play centre back, which could pave the way for Danilo Silva to get back his place at full back, I don't think that's the worst move in the world but realisticly you'll be looking for a more solid, experienced back alongside Evhen.
My views on the midfielders is full documented and I don't think Oleh has listened to them. It's still quite congested and in a way it is frustrating because there's a good player in all of them somewhere. The two holding players will be Denys Garmash who I gave a LOT of stick to before last season but he has been the most improved player in the entire sqaud for me, and one other. I'd have laughed in your face if you told me he'd be one of the players in the team you could rely on but he's proved me wrong. I think the other should go to Vukojevic and I'll need to explain this one. The other player, and who I think will get that spot is Miguel Veloso. Veloso came with quite a good reputation from playing in Italy and is a regular for the Portuguese national side. I simply cannot think why. Every time he plays, he does the same things over and over. He came as a "dead ball specialist", and I think has scored one free kick, at PSG in the champions league when Dynamo were 4-0 down. His deliveries from corners and free kicks are often dreadful and makes me wish Aliyev didn't fall out with Blokhin as he is a proper free kick taker. Veloso can pass the ball well enough but isn't a tackler and doesn't have a chance at dictating the play. If Dynamo are struggling, he will not improve things. Vukojevic on the other hand is far more consistent and reliable. Not only can he score a few, he gets forward, helps back, tackles and gets onto the ball as much as possible. There's no hiding from him.
The signing of Belhanda raised a few eyebrows, not only the style in which he was bought (hijacked another move at the eleventh hour and just sort of turned up at the Zenit game and said I'm a Dynamo player), but the fact a big money signing (12m euros he cost) has came in with both winger positions obvious (Yarmolenko on the right cutting inside, Gusev the same on the opposite). I think Belhanda will take Gusev's spot and I have to say I'm looking forward to see what he can do. If anything it's a good move in terms of strengthening that area as it is quite thin in terms of options.
Towards the end of last season saw the rise of Lukman Haruna. He exploded onto the scene with his goals and excellent performances and has nailed down the "AMC" role to himself. Niko Kranjcar, who has a good start to last season then dissappeared, will have to work his way back up the pecking order in that instance, as will Roman Bezus.
Up front has seen two new strikers appear on the scene; Jermain Lens and Dieumerci Mbokani. Both comes with decent reputations from Netherlands and Belgium respectivvely. Dynamo normally play with just the one striker, Brown Ideye, so it will be interesting to see how that develops. Ideye is an established scorer in the UPL and I don't think he'll take kindly to being replaced if that indeed does happen, however both Lens and Mbokani must be tried out to see what they can bring to the table.
So here's my stab at how the 11 will look like:
-------------Koval
Danilo Silva, Vida, Khacheridi, Popov
--------Garmash Veloso
Yarmolenko-Haruna-Belhanda
------Ideye/Lens/Mbokani
There's still a defender or two needed there as pointed out but I think that's solid enough. Obviously I wouldn't have Veloso in there but it's inevitable that he will. That was the shape Dynamo played last season so that is what I based the formation on.
In terms of the league; I think Dynamo have taken notice that Metalist last season wasn't just a one hit wonder. They will invest heavily and also have the Champions League to entice players, something Dynamo don't have. Shakhtar continue their policy of signing Brazilians in Willian and Fred but are having a real battle to keep Mkhitaryan, the standout player of the UPL last season without a shaddow of a doubt.
Right I'm working in just over an hour and I need my lunch. Thanks for viewing, god spead and Вперед Динамо))
I dunno, I'm starting to be more convinced about Dynamo's chances of doing something this season. It may be the new signings, who admittidly I don't know a huge amount about, but as I pointed out before, it was needed, badly. There was some debate about who Blokhin should bring in; foreigners or Ukrainians, a debate that most teams in every country have. Blokhin has done both and I'm convinced he's going to let the young Ukrainians have a go at proving themselves, which I think is great. I don't mean players like Bezus and Selin - they are internationalists - but young guys like Bogdanov, Makarenko, Kalytvyntsev, Kravets and Sydorchuk. Of course you'd expect some of them to be in the Dynamo-2 side or be loaned out, after all there are other big money signings who wouldn't take to kindly to be sitting on the bench as opposed to a bunch of unexperienced youngsters.
So now here's my thoughts on the squad. I did this in the last entry but I'll do a little more in depth this time; starting with the goalkeeping situations and work my way down the pitch.
I'm not particularly worried about the goalkeepers; Blokhin got rid of Denys Boyko! Whey! Maksym Koval is continuing his development and is now the established number one in my book, of course the legendary Sasho cannot be ignored and still gets a regular game, and never lets the club down. I don't expect many changes this season although when Sasho finally hangs his gloves up may be sooner rather than later.
Defence is still a worry. With Taras Mykhalyk leaving, that is a major concern for me. I know it's reasonably still early doors, but trying to piece together a suitable defence is proving rather difficult. Vida has been pretty solid since his arrival in the winter and will quite rightly be first choice right back. Left back is up for grabs in my opinion. With no Taye Taywo, you're looking even at the two defenders that were out on loan last season; Betao and Goran Popov. Both are reasonably ok, have proved they are good enough to play at this level but I wonder what plans Blokhin has for them. He must have some idea as unless there's a new left back coming in, he will have to draft one of them in.
Khacheridi simply cannot be sold, under any circumstances. Lose him and there goes the spine of the whole team. The other centre half spot is again up for grabs. Vida can play centre back, which could pave the way for Danilo Silva to get back his place at full back, I don't think that's the worst move in the world but realisticly you'll be looking for a more solid, experienced back alongside Evhen.
My views on the midfielders is full documented and I don't think Oleh has listened to them. It's still quite congested and in a way it is frustrating because there's a good player in all of them somewhere. The two holding players will be Denys Garmash who I gave a LOT of stick to before last season but he has been the most improved player in the entire sqaud for me, and one other. I'd have laughed in your face if you told me he'd be one of the players in the team you could rely on but he's proved me wrong. I think the other should go to Vukojevic and I'll need to explain this one. The other player, and who I think will get that spot is Miguel Veloso. Veloso came with quite a good reputation from playing in Italy and is a regular for the Portuguese national side. I simply cannot think why. Every time he plays, he does the same things over and over. He came as a "dead ball specialist", and I think has scored one free kick, at PSG in the champions league when Dynamo were 4-0 down. His deliveries from corners and free kicks are often dreadful and makes me wish Aliyev didn't fall out with Blokhin as he is a proper free kick taker. Veloso can pass the ball well enough but isn't a tackler and doesn't have a chance at dictating the play. If Dynamo are struggling, he will not improve things. Vukojevic on the other hand is far more consistent and reliable. Not only can he score a few, he gets forward, helps back, tackles and gets onto the ball as much as possible. There's no hiding from him.
The signing of Belhanda raised a few eyebrows, not only the style in which he was bought (hijacked another move at the eleventh hour and just sort of turned up at the Zenit game and said I'm a Dynamo player), but the fact a big money signing (12m euros he cost) has came in with both winger positions obvious (Yarmolenko on the right cutting inside, Gusev the same on the opposite). I think Belhanda will take Gusev's spot and I have to say I'm looking forward to see what he can do. If anything it's a good move in terms of strengthening that area as it is quite thin in terms of options.
Towards the end of last season saw the rise of Lukman Haruna. He exploded onto the scene with his goals and excellent performances and has nailed down the "AMC" role to himself. Niko Kranjcar, who has a good start to last season then dissappeared, will have to work his way back up the pecking order in that instance, as will Roman Bezus.
Up front has seen two new strikers appear on the scene; Jermain Lens and Dieumerci Mbokani. Both comes with decent reputations from Netherlands and Belgium respectivvely. Dynamo normally play with just the one striker, Brown Ideye, so it will be interesting to see how that develops. Ideye is an established scorer in the UPL and I don't think he'll take kindly to being replaced if that indeed does happen, however both Lens and Mbokani must be tried out to see what they can bring to the table.
So here's my stab at how the 11 will look like:
-------------Koval
Danilo Silva, Vida, Khacheridi, Popov
--------Garmash Veloso
Yarmolenko-Haruna-Belhanda
------Ideye/Lens/Mbokani
There's still a defender or two needed there as pointed out but I think that's solid enough. Obviously I wouldn't have Veloso in there but it's inevitable that he will. That was the shape Dynamo played last season so that is what I based the formation on.
In terms of the league; I think Dynamo have taken notice that Metalist last season wasn't just a one hit wonder. They will invest heavily and also have the Champions League to entice players, something Dynamo don't have. Shakhtar continue their policy of signing Brazilians in Willian and Fred but are having a real battle to keep Mkhitaryan, the standout player of the UPL last season without a shaddow of a doubt.
Right I'm working in just over an hour and I need my lunch. Thanks for viewing, god spead and Вперед Динамо))
Sunday, 19 May 2013
Dynamo Kyiv - My View
So Dynamo have finish third this season - the worst finish since the Ukrainian League was introduced. I have to say it doesn't come as a surprise.
I put it down to two things; Dynamo going backwards obviously but also the strength of the rivals; Shakhtar, Metalist and Dnipro. Shakhtar are light years ahead of Dynamo as it stands, both in terms of players and financially. They are owned by the richest man in the country, which helps, but it's not as if Igor Surkis has money issues. A former Ukraine coach said the other week that he puts it down to the stability of the players and management of the clubs; Shakhtar have had Lucescu as manager for several years now while Dynamo have had a few different managers in that time; Gazzayev, Semin, Luzhny and now Blokhin. It may be unfair to judge Blokhin now as he's only been in charge over the past 6 or so months but the same patterns and mistakes are forming. Perhaps next season may prove different once he has a summer under his belt.
One thing that was said when he took charge was that he wanted to change the way Dynamo play, he wanted to revert back to the old style of the 70's known as "the Lobanovskiy way". After all, who better to implement such a style when he was a graduate of it. The problem is though, it's outdated. Football and footballers have changed, dramatically, and it's impossible to get away with half the things now than that of the Valeriy Lobanovskiy era.
Onto the squad; in my opinion there are a lot of flaws. While it's no problem having a terrific young goalkeeper in Maksym Koval, this position needs a vastly experienced head. With Shovkovsky retiring, that's now gone - a consistent, reliable number one. As for that impostor who came on today to replace Koval when he got sent off, Denys Boyko, I cannot believe he's still at the club. Undeniably a terrible, terrible goalkeeper.
At the back, it's not the worst situation with the strong back two of Mykhalyk and Khacheridi. The latter has his moments of stupidity but is rapidly improving in my eyes. Vida looks a not bad full back and Danilo Silva is solid enough. Future investment perhaps in terms of Selin so it'll be interesting to see how he handles the step up.
Midfield is a cause for concern, in the middle in particularly. You know what to expect with Gusev and Yarmolenko and now with Lukman Haruna coming along brilliantly, there's a couple of other options. I'm sorry but Miguel Veloso is not good enough. I've watched a lot of Dynamo this season and he hasn't had one good game. For a "set piece specialist", they are pretty terrible. Denys Garmash has improved no doubt over the past season but let's be honest, he's a fruitcake. I'd wager he'll get sent off in every Dynamo-Shakhtar match from now until he leaves. Niko Kranjcar just sort of appeared today, he hasn't been seen since he signed during the summer. Vukojevic is out on loan at Spartak and are wanting to sign him. He's miles better than Veloso and is without question the best holding midfielder in the squad.
Up front Brown Ideye is the main threat and again, decent back up is sparse. Marco Ruben is not good enough and neither is Mehmedi, Escobar or Dudu. Roman Bezus is a decent striker but nothing more. I remember a few seasons back Dynamo were going to burst the bank to sign Oscar Cardozo from Benfica; these are the kind of signings Surkis has to finance to be able to be near Shakhtar again. Not fannying about signing players from, with respect, Vorskla Poltava. Quite why Blokhin got Lucas on loan from Karpaty; who never played at all and it literally destroyed Karpaty's goal threat altogether, is a mystery.
As far as I can see, this season only comes out a couple of positives. It looks like Blokhin may be there to stay and he's laying down the foundations in terms of style of play and his signing policy of signing young, enthusiastic Ukrainians which the fans were wanting. Lukman Haruna is a great player who's been the starlet since March. Yarmolenko is still at the club which is absolutely essential.
So it's Europa League Qualifiers next season. On the bright side, it's more chance of them drawing a British team and thus I could go and see the away leg..
I put it down to two things; Dynamo going backwards obviously but also the strength of the rivals; Shakhtar, Metalist and Dnipro. Shakhtar are light years ahead of Dynamo as it stands, both in terms of players and financially. They are owned by the richest man in the country, which helps, but it's not as if Igor Surkis has money issues. A former Ukraine coach said the other week that he puts it down to the stability of the players and management of the clubs; Shakhtar have had Lucescu as manager for several years now while Dynamo have had a few different managers in that time; Gazzayev, Semin, Luzhny and now Blokhin. It may be unfair to judge Blokhin now as he's only been in charge over the past 6 or so months but the same patterns and mistakes are forming. Perhaps next season may prove different once he has a summer under his belt.
One thing that was said when he took charge was that he wanted to change the way Dynamo play, he wanted to revert back to the old style of the 70's known as "the Lobanovskiy way". After all, who better to implement such a style when he was a graduate of it. The problem is though, it's outdated. Football and footballers have changed, dramatically, and it's impossible to get away with half the things now than that of the Valeriy Lobanovskiy era.
Onto the squad; in my opinion there are a lot of flaws. While it's no problem having a terrific young goalkeeper in Maksym Koval, this position needs a vastly experienced head. With Shovkovsky retiring, that's now gone - a consistent, reliable number one. As for that impostor who came on today to replace Koval when he got sent off, Denys Boyko, I cannot believe he's still at the club. Undeniably a terrible, terrible goalkeeper.
At the back, it's not the worst situation with the strong back two of Mykhalyk and Khacheridi. The latter has his moments of stupidity but is rapidly improving in my eyes. Vida looks a not bad full back and Danilo Silva is solid enough. Future investment perhaps in terms of Selin so it'll be interesting to see how he handles the step up.
Midfield is a cause for concern, in the middle in particularly. You know what to expect with Gusev and Yarmolenko and now with Lukman Haruna coming along brilliantly, there's a couple of other options. I'm sorry but Miguel Veloso is not good enough. I've watched a lot of Dynamo this season and he hasn't had one good game. For a "set piece specialist", they are pretty terrible. Denys Garmash has improved no doubt over the past season but let's be honest, he's a fruitcake. I'd wager he'll get sent off in every Dynamo-Shakhtar match from now until he leaves. Niko Kranjcar just sort of appeared today, he hasn't been seen since he signed during the summer. Vukojevic is out on loan at Spartak and are wanting to sign him. He's miles better than Veloso and is without question the best holding midfielder in the squad.
Up front Brown Ideye is the main threat and again, decent back up is sparse. Marco Ruben is not good enough and neither is Mehmedi, Escobar or Dudu. Roman Bezus is a decent striker but nothing more. I remember a few seasons back Dynamo were going to burst the bank to sign Oscar Cardozo from Benfica; these are the kind of signings Surkis has to finance to be able to be near Shakhtar again. Not fannying about signing players from, with respect, Vorskla Poltava. Quite why Blokhin got Lucas on loan from Karpaty; who never played at all and it literally destroyed Karpaty's goal threat altogether, is a mystery.
As far as I can see, this season only comes out a couple of positives. It looks like Blokhin may be there to stay and he's laying down the foundations in terms of style of play and his signing policy of signing young, enthusiastic Ukrainians which the fans were wanting. Lukman Haruna is a great player who's been the starlet since March. Yarmolenko is still at the club which is absolutely essential.
So it's Europa League Qualifiers next season. On the bright side, it's more chance of them drawing a British team and thus I could go and see the away leg..
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