Artem Chobanian
Since the very beginning of 2008, Yuri Semin, the new Dynamo Kyiv coach, has made a series of changes to the tactics of the club which have allowed young players their chance to claim a permanent place in the first team. Dynamo have improved so far under Semin, and there is no doubt that the next generation have played a large part in this.
Young talents like Artem Milevsky, Oleksandr Aliev, Taras Mihalyk, Artem Kravez, Vitaly Federiv, and Oleh Dopilka have shown accomplished performances, scoring, creating assists, and generally playing in such a way as to suggest they have massive potential.
From the youngsters most involved, one of the best is Oleksandr Aliev.
Oleksandr Aliev was born February 3rd, 1985 in Russia. Height 173 cm, weight 72 kg. Attacking Midfielder/Forward.
The youngest debutant at Dynamo has been at the club since 2002. Already in the Aliev trophy cabinet is that Ukrainian title from 2004 and 2007, and the Ukrainian Cup in 2003 and 2007. Aliev has played almost 30 matches for Dynamo in the Ukrainian Premier League, and scored 5 times. Also spent three seasons in the Dynamo Kyiv’s second team and scored 57 goals!
Aliev’s star first shone during the European U20 championships several years ago. He and his teammate Milevsky showed classy football and helped Ukraine defeat all their opponents except a very fine Netherlands team in the final.
He is not very tall but as many smaller players do he makes up for it by buzzing constantly around the pitch and working twice as hard.
During those U20 championships, the Ukrainian team played like gods and did not give any chances to their opponents. At that time, football journalists and agents noticed this young player and his talents. Among his gifts, we must mention exceptional running speed and his ability to score fantastic free-kicks. In some matches he scored from 35-40 metres leaving the goalkeepers wondering how that small player’s kick could be so strong.
Occasionally appearing in main Dynamo Kyiv team, Aliev proved he had the talent for the senior squad, but the Dynamo coaches before Semin had not believed in him. Aliev and others of his peers had been kept in the second team for three years, though their performances were very good and deserved to be noticed by the coaches. For three long years, Aliev had been scoring for the second Dynamo team, occasionally appearing in the senior team, and showing his ability to quickly integrate into the team’s gameplan.
With the appearance of Semin, Dynamo began playing differently. Young players like Oleh Gusev, Oleksandr Aliev, Artem Milevsky and others proved they could influence the result of the match. They knew each other so well, and fitted together like a hand in a glove; Milevsky playing in the centre of the attack, Gusev and Aliev on the wings. Now old strikers like Maxim Shazkih and Diogo Rincon are on the bench waiting for a chance to stake their claim once again.
In several games, Semin has been lucky to win, but in general, he and the fans do not have any complaints about the attackers and Aliev in particular. Starting as he did from the beginning of the second part of the 2007/08 season Aliev scored 5 times and assisted in 7 scoring attacks. Some of his strikes from free-kicks hit the bar and post, so really he was unlucky not to score more.
Another thing that has helped him is Dynamo’s style of play changing under Semin. The thing is that for years Dynamo have played very cautious football, scoring once or twice and then settling on the territory near their goalkeeper and forgetting about attacks. When Andrey Shevchenko and Sergei Rebrov played for Dynamo, there had been other wonderful players that all together were one complete scoring machine, moving forward and back as a well-oiled mechanism. Now Semin is building the same kind of team and hopes the young players will contribute to this greatly.
In one of his interviews Semin said, “I believe in Aliev, Milevsky and other youngsters. They will make Dynamo a strong team and will bring glory to Kyiv again. The only thing I worry about is that it’s quite possible that after Aliev becomes a mature footballer, the club will sell him and we’ll have to find an equal substitute…” Of course, there are many players who can replace Aliev, but will they find their place in the team?! Will they be a link in the chain called Dynamo Kyiv?!
However, there is one more important question. Suppose Aliev is the best player for Dynamo this season. Let’s suppose he will even become the best striker… But when the time of Champions League comes, will Aliev play as well as he does now? The thing is that there is a big difference between the domestic championship and European competition. Aliev will encounter strong and powerful defenders, fast and quick-witted full-backs, so it’s a big question now whether he will cope with these problems.
Many coaches that decided to rebuild their team had to give up a lot waiting until the new blood could grow and perform at the required level and be ready to do battle in the UEFA Cups.
Oleksandr Aliev has contributed a lot to Dynamo Kyiv since he broke through at the end of last season, and will surely be one the prominent players in the team if Yuri Semin manages to make him a good striker and create a new powerful team, with Aliev as a true leader of the attacking line.
