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 The problem is though, it's outdated.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..