So here’s to hoping for some hope

As far as the game goes, I expect Bessonov to field his preferred 4-1-4-1, and since I believe Rusol is out again this week it may look something like this:

————Startsev——————
Alsides–Lysytskiy-Klimavicius–Denisov
———-M. Pashaev—————–
L’opa-Nazarenko-Kalinychenko-Rotan
————Vorobey——————

And if Bessonov really wants to piss me off, he’ll throw in Karnoza for Kalini, and Kanibolotskiy beetween the irons.

Dnipro played decently but got nothing to show for it. Vorobey had a goal in the first half correctly called back for offside, and right before the half Nazarenko hit a curling free kick from right outside the box into the post. IMO if the free kick had been struck in exactly the same way, but a few feet further from the net, Naza would have scored, but alas he didn’t. There were also a couple of questionable no calls against Tavria in their own box. So yeah, we definately could have gotten a better result. (Also, Alsides had one decent chance, and he deserves a medal for how badly he missed it. Despite striking the ball with the correct side of his foot on a half-volley for inside the 9-yard box, he managed to knock it out of bounds about 25 yards from the endline.

Tavria on the other hand had a strategy of:
1. Kick the ball upfield
2. Hope Homenyuk can do something
3. Rinse
4. Lather
5. Repeat
6. Have Hajduczek hit a free kick from ridiculously far out into the net:

Admitedly said free kick did go past the young Anton Kanibolitsky, who was making his first first team start, but still, it was pretty sweet.
As far as how Kanibolitsky did, I would say fairly shabby at best. The goal definately could have been saved by simply being better prepared and positioned for it, and he bobbled a few balls that although they did not lead to any serious Tavria chances, needn’t have been bobbled.

Lets talk about Bessonov for a bit. I seem to be developing a bit of a love-hate thing with the guy. On the one hand I like that he’s an arrogant douche. On the other hand he’s well… an arrogant douche. I like that he’s willing to send guys like Shelaev, Shershun, and Mazilu down to the reserves, and I like that he’s giving a shot to young guys like Kaverin, Konoplyanka, Karnoza and Kanobolitsky (Random thought, what the hell is with all the K names). On the other hand I think he’s going too far, and that although youth is good, and the games these kids are getting now will probably help us
enormously beyond this season, it’s detrimental to the current team to have Karnoza starting in the place of Shelaev, who still has much to offer the club, and simply should not be permanently dropped by Bessonov.

I like that he’s an arrogant douch to the media, and calls the players out on their mistakes, on the other hand he’s… well… an arrogant douche, and probably not the funnest person to be around.

Tactically however, there is no love. I originally liked the 4-1-4-1 we’ve been playing, but now it seems that it is only good on paper. I understand that via injuries to Belik and Samodin + the sale of Kornilenko + his refusal to play Mazilu, Bessonov has very limited options at striker, and so for that reason, one striker up front seems to make sense. Only it’s not working, and I can think of a couple of reasons why we would do better with Vorobey and Konoplyanka up front. Firstly, Konoplyanka has shown that despite failing to mark his first UPL goal, he can play well at this level and find chances to score. That being said, I think he would play much better if he were paired up with Vorobey, and had a veteran partner up front to play off of, rather than having to do it all on his own as an 80th minute sub for Vorobey. The problem of course is where do you go when Evgeny loses his legs late on. Kaverin? Rotan maybe? Change your formation? Problem is of course solved after the winter break when we should have Belik back to 100%, and we can buy another striker from the proceeds of selling Mazilu.

Onto the midfield, Naza need to be in the centre, an Rotan need to be on either wing, but beyond that you have many options, in my opinion, Shelaev’s timeout has lasted long enough and he need’s to be brought back to partner Naza in central midfield, and in a 4-4-2 Shelaev provides the defensive cover to allow Naza to be Naza . Kalinichenko would however be my pick on the right wing , as he seems to be superior to his closest competitor Lyopa, and I believe he would get a boost from playing there rather than in the middle.

In defense, Denisov has been solid in left back, and I would do nothing to remove him from that position. Despite Rusol’s stock having fallen very far with me over the past year or two, he’s still an obvious choice at CB, and I would continue to partner him with Lysitskiy as Bessonov has been doing, although a part of me would like to pair Rusol with Igor Lolo, just to see how that would work. Notwithstanding, in January my first priority would be finding a class CB. At right back we are just ridiculous. For whatever reason, Protasov decided that we had a gap at right back. We didn’t but he thought so, so he bought not one, but two great RB’s; Igor Lolo and Alsides. Based on past succeses, Alsides seems like the best choice at RB, although we haven’t had much of a chance to see him, as he’s suffered a couple of slight injuries since he’s arrived.

Lastly, at keeper Kernozenko is the man, at least when healthy, and although Startsev is not in the same class, he’s the clear number two for me. I like Kanibolitsky and think he does have great potential to one day be the Dnipro, and even Ukraine #1, for now I think he just needs a little more time to develop.

Alright, rant over. Forza Dnipro

Talk to you in a few days for a pre match blog off between me and yevy. Au Revoir

Now onto the (hopefully) better days which lie ahead. We play tomorrow against Kryvbas in a game which we really need to win at home. Expected line up is: Startsev, Denisov, Rusol, Lysitskiy, Alcides/Lolo/Davidson, M Pashaev, Rotan, Nazarenko, Kalinichenko, Lyopa, Vorobey (Konoplyanka 78:)

Obviously a big question mark at right back, and it will just depend on who Bessonov thinks is playing best in practice, and is the most fit.

If you feel like watching it, the game starts at 11:00 Eastern time (Don’t forget to set your clocks back!!!) and it should be on 9-channel
Highlights vs. Chornomorets

I got up this morning at six, hoping that Dnipro could get their first win in their new stadium, hopeing that they could continue their winning ways with me as their blogger, but it was not to be, As they succumbed to a 1-1 draw with the Metal Workers of Donetsk, who are uncharacteristically having a much better season than their city mates Shakhtar.

According to Olexiy Belik, our #1 Striker who missed today’s game, we were favorites for this game and that was largely reflected by the superiority we showed against MetaDon throughout the game. It was fairly constant one way traffic excepting a few moments and I do feel a little bit robbed by the result, which was solely due a lack of concentration on set pieces.

I won’t say any more about the action of the game itself, as highlights of all the major moments are below.

Although I do want to talk about our managerial vacancy. Although the Rumour mill is listing several candidates to fill the void, GM Andriy Stetsenko has come out saying that Bessonov will continue to do the job until at least the winter break. Names being floated around as replacements include former Dynamo manager Anatoliy Demyanenko and CSKA boss Valery Gazaev, who is quitting at the end of the Russian season, which would be perfect timing for a move to Dnipro. Former CFR boss Ioan Andone and ex-Chelsea boss Avram Grant are also said to be of interest to Dnipro. The only one of the above I would really rather not have come to Dnipropetrovsk is Demyanenko, and I’m definately partial to getting Gazzaev, in whom we’d have an experienced manager who has had much success in the past.

Bessonov is definately going in a different direction than Protasov was, and lately he’s been emphasizing the potential in our young players, and he’s practicing his preaching by playing not only L’opa, but Linas Klimavicius, Yevgeny Konoplyanka, and Vitaliy Kaverin, all of whom have the potential to grow into excellent players at Dnipro.
A lot is said about the youth of Arsenal, but Dnipro are definately beating their asses in that department, in fact we finished the game with an average outfield player age of just under 22, with 6 players still eligible for U-21 play.

It’s also apparent this 4-5-1 is being favoured, or more accurately 4-1-4-1, and it’s not hard to see why. Maxym Pashaev is fitting in to the holding role very well, and the extra defensive cover is allowing
our full backs to get up and be creative. It also allows Nazarenko to have to worry (even) less about defense, and be creative himself, which is never a bad thing.
Ratings:

Startsev 5<%2