Artem Chobanian

 

Is there a crisis in world football or does this game become more integrated, universal and level? Every new season brings new players’ and clubs’ names that “break the rules and traditions” defeating some famous and strong team like Real Madrid or Manchester United. I guess we should all rejoice at the fact that the leagues in Europe become more professional from year to year and we can see matches between a British club and a team from a second division of some country where the rivals are almost equal.

This leads us to the changes in the Ukrainian Premier League where one of the favourites experiences so much trouble gaining a positive result that it’s almost impossible to watch the games without physical pain spreading all over the body.

In Ukraine there have been two great clubs — Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv. I think everybody in Europe knows that now. However, with the course of time the teams in the league began acquiring experience and with investments in football they can now purchase nice players from abroad and invite highly qualified coaches to help to drive their team up the table.

There are now Metalist Kharkiv, Vorskla Poltava, Arsenal Kyiv, and Metalurg Donetsk that always provide a tough test to the two biggest clubs in the land. So, what’s going on in reality? Are the favourites getting weaker or the rest of the clubs just getting stronger? Or both?

Shakhtar began the championship as the victors of the previous season. The team signed some quality players from Ukraine, like Evheniy Seleznev and Rustam Hudzhamov, and from Brazil, like Luis Adriano and Marcelo Moreno. So, the first match and the test of a newcomer — FC Lviv, a semi-amateur club that have progressed so quickly it took them only four years to get to the Premier League. Shakhtar were defeated 2:0 in the game where FC Lviv’s players were so firm of purpose to show their best qualities that in the end they didn’t believe they had actually won. The papers in Ukraine printed headlines like DO YOU KNOW WHAT TEAM BEAT SHAKHTAR? — NO, AND YOU?

But that’s nothing. “You win in Boston and lose in Chicago”, Ernest Hemingway used to say. Well, one of the greatest writers would have been wrong in this case. In the following matches Shakhtar managed to win only once with four draws and two losses. They lost to Vorskla 1:0, had almost been beaten by Metalist, but managed to escape and end up in 2:2 draw at home. Then again 2:2 against Metalurg Zaporizhzhya, even a goalless match in Dnipropetrovsk… The club is now in 11th place and with it there is already a fear for the future of this season, despite most of it yet to be played.

Well, the pundits can say there’s still nothing to worry about, Shakhtar will return to their normal state and will soon be among the top teams in Ukraine. Fortunately for Shakhtar there has been a break in the championship for the national team’s matches and then the Champions League games. These days were good for Shakhtar and their first match in the Champions League proved that. Basel were smashed and the quality of the performance produced by the Ukrainians was so high that it has given all at the club hope they will qualify from the group stage easily.

But not all is so simple here. Ok, perhaps the triumph against Basel revived Shakhtar and gave them a renewed taste for victory? Then why did Rinat Ahmetov, their billionaire owner, start searching for a new coach for his team? Why do the players not want to answer the questions about Mirca Luchescu and his future at Shakhtar? And what’s the difference between the Champions League and the Premier League?
 

All these questions are not easy to answer. Recently Shakhtar did not manage to defeat Arsenal Kyiv and disappointed again with goalless draw in the league. What has happened? I can recall Anatoly Tymoschuk’s words from his latest interview when he declared that after the battles against such clubs as Bayern Munich and Manchester United it’s very difficult, if possible, to switch to the clubs from the home league. So, is that true? Is the Premier League too weak for Shakhtar and there’s no incentive for them to play well against domestic teams? Sounds ridiculous, especially after matches like the last one, where Shakhtar couldn’t win again.

I guess we should look at the broader problem. First, such leagues as the Russian and Ukrainian ones get stronger and that’s the reason for the wonderful performances by the teams from Russia and Ukraine in the European arena. Second, at the same time, not-so-strong clubs gain experience and improve from month to month and that leads to victories against the stronger and more famous teams. And these grand clubs just do not realize how much better their rivals in the domestic championship have become!

There’s a simple rule in sport: if you play one game against a weaker opponent, you win; if you play 100 games, somewhere between the 15th and 20th you lose one, then again, and again, and again. What’s happening? The matter is that your opponent is learning and getting more skilled in playing against a stronger rival like you and you lose your edge and skills playing against a weaker contestant. But that would never happen if you, as the strongest, knew about the possible consequences of the games against the weakest ones.
 
You want examples? Ok. Remember Kaunas that beat Rangers? The Scottish team underestimated the team from nowhere, the place they perhaps had never heard of before. But then other teams learnt from the defeat of that famous opposition and recently Sampdoria crushed Kaunas 5:0. I wish all the best to Kaunas, but it seems like they will not make it further in the UEFA Cup.

Did you see Roma against CFR Cluj? Liked it? I tell you, other teams in the group will not let Cluj do whatever they want on the pitch. The revenge for Roma will be painful and not because other teams are Chelsea and Bordeaux, but just due to the fact that no sound minded coach will let his players be at ease in the games against the Romanian side. Let’s wait and see.

Perhaps I have gone too far from Shakhtar, but that’s the general state of affairs in Europe, I guess. I assume it’s good. The more teams become stronger, the better football we’ll get. Shakhtar’s coach seemed to have been poured over with a bucket of cold water after the match. He refused to comment on his team’s performance saying only that Arsenal Kyiv, as all other teams in the league, played against Shakhtar as if it were the last game of their lives. But what did he expect?! It’s always like this: the weaker ones play with more desire against the stronger rival.

Shakhtar Donetsk have lost face in the league and all pundits are debating now on what should be done to return the champions to their normal state. Mirca Luchecku is getting ready to pack his things and leave the club, the players are distressed, the fans are furious, football in Ukraine is becoming better and more even. Time will show if these changes will do good to Ukrainian football.