Seems it would be a good idea to condense everything UA (league, Nt, transfers, players abroad) into one thread sense posters and post are far and few between
Not a lot going on regarding transfers. Dnipro1 Yarmalyuk to Brentford. Can't imagine he will see much action with the senior side but good move for him Matvienko to Ajax or Arsenal. These rumors materialize 10-20% of the time Yarmolenko to Rebrov's UAE squad. I don't get it. The money? Is this club looking to win Asian Champions League. Without looking I'm going to say Yarmola becomes the most accomplished player in that clubs history. But Rebrov and Yarmola are both above playing/managing at a club like that. No word on Bushchan, Mudryk, Tsygankov
Zina to Aresenal. Good move for him Dynamo average. No one made a big move for Tsygankov nor Shapa and you kind of see why. They just don't seem to be big money, big club transfers and Surkis chronically overvalues his players
Tsygankov has seemed to plateau some, Shaparenko hasn't even scratched the surface of the type of player he is capable of being. Malinovsky wasn't even on the NT radar at his age. Both need to move abroad if Dynamo don't qualify but Surkis won't sell unless finances are desperate. Zabarniy & Popov is a beastly CB duo but Zabarniy needs to move on as well Vorskla with a great result today v. AIK, they have been an embarrassment for Ukraine every time in Europe so this is a pleasant surprise. Too bad it won't last and they'll likely lose in Sweden, just hopefully won't be an invalid handicap type choke job like Ukraine and them especially are known to do Overall impressive as hell for Dynamo & Vorskla to get results in Europe against 2 established European clubs in their 1st official games in almost 8 months. Simply amazing in a sport that is like fine tuned Formula 1 cars with a summer break of 6 weeks at the elite level. Ukrainian footy was bubbling and coming to fruition and this war ruined much of what could have been a glorious period in time
I thought Vorskla did rather well against AIK (I know, I know, it is just AIK, but it is also just Vorskla)
Zina looked solid in debut for Arsenal. Arsenal broke with the 'lets go with a bunch of rated youngsters' and moving on to 'lets get a bunch of respected EPL vets.' No one is close to City and L'pool. Seems like 4 teams playing for 2 champions league spots. Mykolenko with a goal and an assist at Everton. I was wrong about Myko, I thought he would struggle at Everton and it looks like he is penciled in as a regular. Need to figure out a way to keep track of all the UA internationals abroad. Shved is at Mechelen. He was the next prospect to come out of UA - can't believe he is already 25. Playing mid table Jupiler. Nothing to be ashamed of but really thought he could have been an NT staple. Bezus still at Gent. Which is impressive. Nothing about his game is impressive except work rate
Dynamo with a very fortunate win in Istanbul, but impressive given it was their 1st competitive games since 2021. Important win to secure Europa, now they have a manageable draw with Sturm Graz (Austrian footy on the rise big time tho) this week Ukraine owns Kadikoy btw, we smashed Turkey there in World Cup 2006 qualifiers, Sheva scored 5 goals for Milan there in Champs League, Shakhtar won their Europa there, Shakhtar knocked out Fener in a champs league playoff as well. Sweet karma for Karavaev to score the late winner, he was on loan @ Fener in 2017. Also ugly scenes with Fener fans chanting Putin's name after Dynamo scored although Buyalsky definitely antagonized the crowd... Impressive performance by Vorskla, didn't expect that from them. They concede late goals even more than usual Russian & Ukrainian teams, its like a tradition unlike any other. Given the turmoil can't be that upset and they did extremely well without playing a true home game. Admirable effort that sadly fell just short
Karaev again wow Heroic run from Dynamo so far, will be tough but they should have a chance to advance. Advanced stats of the backline and Shaparenko & Sydorchuk were impressive. Even Besedin got a pretty damn high rating without a goal & assist. Its great to see him playing at a high level again, his injury @ Euro's was gruesome. Crazy how that moment is what paved the way for Dovbyk's breakout performance
Zorya should have disposed of Universitatea much easier than they did. And, to be honest, at the end, Romanians had a couple of chances to get the draw. Zorya looked head and shoulders above the Craiova squad, but have wasted a number of very good chances.
The story of Ukraine Another good result, although Zorya is used to playing as a homeless club for 8 years so not as new as Dynamo or Vorskla doing it. Still they haven't played a competitive game in 9 months that's insane. Go on lads.
Tsygankov set the pace, finally demonstrated some bite in the attacking third. Speaking of attacking third, Zabarniy cruising through like a no. 10. Benefica will be a good measuring stick for this club. UA premier league is on Setanta Sport. Would have been great 15 years ago. I may have to pay the $5 a month for Paramount to watch CL and Uefa cup this year.
Vivcharenko's finishing seemed confident. Dynamo is a different squad these days and it is going to require multiple young guys to step up. P.S. Harmash annoys me. I am hearing that after the game he got involved physically with a Sturm player under the stands.
Lol @ Vivcharenko finishing seemed confident. The touch wasn't ideal, the ball ended up directly under his feet (did well to gather his balance to even get a shot off), and he shot directly at the goalie. If only Ukraine got as lucky with some goals as Dynamo has. Classic g74 take, Rusol was a rock defender in your eyes when he was an absolute liability haha That being said excellent result yet again, miraculous and inspiring stuff. Hard to comprehend they've played 4 games since Dec. 2021, and have won 3 and drawn 1, all while not playing home games. Soccer players are like Formula 1 cars or thoroughbred horses, they never have more than 2 months not playing competitively. Absolutely heroic what the lads have done so far Benfica will be an enormous test, will need some more good fortune to advance. Shakhtar got that bit of fortune last year with Monaco, Dynamo will need to play at peak level and get lucky. Especially without Sidorchuk with a dumb yellow. Him and Shaparenko were excellent again. Ukraine should've started a fresh Sidorchuk v. Wales instead of heavy legged Stepanenko playing 2 games in 4 days, cowardly move not to rotate guys with similar levels Zorya got pounded in Romania sadly. The type of result 1 would expect not playing any games for 8 months and not playing a proper home game. Side note: very unfair for Sherriff (soon to be Novorosiya club) being not allowed to play a home game either in Champs League qualifiers. Assume they played in Chisinau because of the war as well
Well...the positives 1.Dubinchak has looked fairly decent over the course of qaulifiers 2. Tsygankov terrible back pass but was lively in attack 3. Karaviev with a sort of rebirth, has looked really solid 4. Benfica controlled the match but needed a thunder strike and a poor back pass to make it 0-2. The bad 1. Damn, since when did a UA side have to beat a Benfica-type (round of 16 qaulity side) just to get into champions league 2. Shaparenko and Besidin missing. No surprise about Besidin, he needs ball played to his feet to do something he is not a creator. Shapa has been simply missing. 3. Tsarenko still has a growth spurt in him, right?
Tysgankov body language is so pathetic, he's such a mild natured pussy its starting to get annoying. Seemed to have a fire in him the Serbia game where he came on the scene, expressed emotions of desire & joy. He acts so timid all the time now. Great player but not reaching his potential anymore, needs to leave Ukraine asap until he just settles and becomes a new Konoplyanka Shaparenko was good but not great. Again his advanced stats ratings don't matchup with your criticism of him. He was disappointing compared to his standards but definitely not missing. The one who was missing was Sheparaev or whatever the spelling. He looked excellent 2nd leg v. Sturm Graz and the occasion v. Benfica seemed to be too much for him, was practically useless Disappointing result for faux-Dnipro losing the 'home' game v. AEK, can't expect much else when you don't play for 8+ months, Shakhtar steals your coach and you are a homeless club. Still with an outsiders chance in the 2nd leg but looking like they'll play in the Conference Room. Dnipro citizens now robbed of having European Nights for the 2nd time in 8 years. 2014-2016 not allowed deemed to close to Donbas, and here they go again. Ukraine is Pain, all we know is suffering with a few triumphs in between. Well done Usyk, legend.
Predictions 1. Dynamo 2. DHIПРО-1 3. Shaktar Unspectacular Dynamo seems to have the most continuity. If Dovbik stays at Dnipro with Pihalnoyok, gromov, hutsulyak , they will challenge a fairly green Shaktar for 2nd place.
Pathetic performance from Dynamo today, Shaparenko with another high rating although played awful in the 1st half. Ended with like 5 interceptions and 13 ball recoveries. Fvcked up if him & Tsygankov aren't sold so they can grow and develop. Zabarniy needs to go too but no way Dynamo mafia will even sell 1 of those guys Setanta Sports bought TV rights to broadcast every match, their employees were forced to leave the stadium before Zorya v. Vorskla as 2+2 and FootballHub youube channel broadcast the match illegally. Another example of how corrupt and ghetto Ukraine is, and almost guarantees the rumors how lots of weapons brought into Ukraine don't end up where it belongs and are sold on black market. Absolute disgrace but oh so typical for one of the most corrupt backwards run countries in the world
Dynamo tough to watch. A veteran team that cannot hang in champions league. First match delay as a result of air raid warning, Ruh vs Metalist. Metalist have lost all of their south american players from last year. They were likely best team in persha liga history. Rybka of PED suspension infamy is goalkeeper for Metal. Korkishko of euro u19 fame and Korkishko of race baiting brawl infamy also in the squad.
Well, maybe Dynamo is a veteran team that can't hang in the UPL. Popov is hurt again, Zabarniy is likely going to be sold, Besedin playing center forward all means this is going to be a long year for Dynamo. Kornieko injured. The UPL is wide open. The league is far cry from the wild success of the late 00s and before the '14 invasion when Karpaty and Chernomorets were grabbing coeffiecient points - not to mention the big 4. But that seemed like a mirage, olgiarch fueled league, and not indicitave of the talent ukraine was producing domestically.
Euro fiba very entertaining. Giannis, Jokic and Luka will take center stage but right now it's Musa (bosnia), vezenkov (Bulgaria and I think Sac has his NBA rights), Mihalyuk, and Sandro Mumakshvili (Seton Hall) Ukraine looked about as good as I've ever seen them. Against Italy, they were the more athletic, more poised squad. UA took everything to the basket in 4th quarter and Italy settled for contested jumpers. Mihalyuk best player on the floor by a mile. Crazy 3/4 court alley oop to Tkachenko UA has a solid 8 man rotation: Mihalyuk - probably best player in UA history. Len: hasn't been on the floor much in 4th quarter but a proven NBA big Bliznyuk: solid euro gaurd. Decent handle, decent D, decent shot, can get to the basket Sosun: good handle, very qucik, gets to basket with ease but can't shoot, porous D Tkachenko: legit NBA 3 and D guy. Definitely atheltic enough, he could carve out a role in the NBA Horun: solid big, solid back to the basket game, not a fit for today's NBA bur solid game nevertheless Pustovoy, Bobrov and Sydrov nothing special but capable against lesser competition Giannis and Greece tomorrow. Horan and Len aren't quick enough to guard him, likely will see a mix of Babrov and Tkachenko
The young Ukrainian Miners doing work today. Shaktar has assembled (in part through capitulation of other clubs and now has been forced to play) the most impressive group of young UA footballers since 90s Dynamo
Mudryk against Real in a few weeks will be fun. Dovbyk..thanks for the coefficient points. When the war is over, Surkis will be forced out - that's my prediction and may take a number of years
This has been difficult to watch. Malynovskyi makes too many mistakes on the ball, there really is no one to connect to up front. Mudryk tries to do too much on his own and he loses the ball too often. Yarmolenko can only run full strength in spurts. There is no one on this roster who can win a header in either penalty area. Sydorchuk has become useless with age. Shaparenko, Zinchenko, Zabarnyi, Mykolenko, Popov are sorely missed. It's best to forget this game and prepare for the next match.
Seems like it's all overshadowed by the prisoner exchange. Great news Medvechuk going to be diagnosed with major depressive disorder and found with "self inflicted gunshot wound to head" next to a suicide note