An ode to Valeriy Lobanovskyi - honoring his legacy and reviving Ukrainian football - chapter 3 - Dynamo Kyiv & Ukraine

[karanhsingh]

Just now, Cheez3y said:

This also helps immense.

Really good first season.

Pretty excited that you already took over the NT too.

Cheers. I now have 4 Senegalese players in my squad (started with 2) so building a nice little group there.

[13th Man]

Think you’re right to keep Diatta as a CB. His finishing ability is tempting, but maybe he’s also a CB you can throw up front when you’re down in the final minutes and he’ll throw himself about.

Like the change to the narrow 4-4-2. It’s been a while since I used a shape like that, but I like the movement you’ll get. The mez and CWB will be an interesting combination I think.

[karanhsingh]

30 minutes ago, 13th Man said:

Think you’re right to keep Diatta as a CB. His finishing ability is tempting, but maybe he’s also a CB you can throw up front when you’re down in the final minutes and he’ll throw himself about.

Like the change to the narrow 4-4-2. It’s been a while since I used a shape like that, but I like the movement you’ll get. The mez and CWB will be an interesting combination I think.

Yes i think you're right. Thanks the early signs are quite encouraging. I do think that over time I'll need smarter players for some of these roles though as they are all "roaming". 

[13th Man]

17 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Yes i think you're right. Thanks the early signs are quite encouraging. I do think that over time I'll need smarter players for some of these roles though as they are all "roaming". 

Agreed. The intelligence is key, but the roaming is also key for the system you’re looking to create.

[karanhsingh]

Okay so before we get back to the NT, a quick early season update from the club. We started off with the most frustrating week I've had on this save and in a long time.

Firstly, finishing 4th meant we had to enter the qualifiers for the Conference League and do not get into the group stages directly. Okay, I thought, how bad can it be? The answer - very. We draw easily the BEST side in the entire list of qualifiers PSV Eindhoven - essentially a Champions League team for some reason in the Conference.

Not only that, we have to play them while the team is under-going huge changes, with a raft of players missing through injury or being away at the Olympics. 

First leg away from home. 20 minutes in and we are 3 goals up. I could not believe what I was seeing - was grinning from end to end! But from there, it all began to go wrong. We lost our concentration and somehow conspired to concede 5 goals without reply. Absolutely threw it away! But what a ridiculous game of football.

Not only that, we then have to play Dynamo Kyiv away in the league days later with an absolutely threadbare squad! What kind of fixture list is this?! We basically had no chance. And I really wanted to put one over them, for obvious reasons.

So to cut a long story short, our European "adventure" had a premature end in the middle of August this year. Bitterly disappointing and undeserved. But to the team's credit, they have put it behind them and since gone on to put together a strong run of results.

Supriaha has been excellent since joining, and is currently both our top scorer and also for the league. This means for the first time ever in this save, we currently find ourselves at the top of the league standings. Next up as you can see, a massive game at home vs Shakhtar Donetsk.

[SinlessCity]

That's a really rough draw against PSV - interesting that Gotze is there... Looks like the boys did alright and you just got a really unfortunate qualifier.  Totally unfair fixture schedule to then play a massive game a few days later!

The Shakhtar game will be huge if you can get one over on them at home... Hopefully see a response after losing to Kyiv.  And who knows, maybe another good domestic cup run on the cards!

[DavidBeckham]

Great start to the save, and what a lovely theme this is too. KUTGW mate!

[deltablue]

Great start to the season. I know club and country saves can be a lot to handle sometimes.

[karanhsingh]

5 hours ago, SinlessCity said:

That's a really rough draw against PSV - interesting that Gotze is there... Looks like the boys did alright and you just got a really unfortunate qualifier.  Totally unfair fixture schedule to then play a massive game a few days later!

The Shakhtar game will be huge if you can get one over on them at home... Hopefully see a response after losing to Kyiv.  And who knows, maybe another good domestic cup run on the cards!

Thanks! We have played the games and will have another update up as soon as we get to the end of the year. I would really enjoy a title challenge this season but at the same time won't be too disappointed if we just cement 3rd spot. 

4 hours ago, DavidBeckham said:

Great start to the save, and what a lovely theme this is too. KUTGW mate!

Thanks bud! Appreciate it. 

37 minutes ago, deltablue said:

Great start to the season. I know club and country saves can be a lot to handle sometimes.

Yes it can be a bit non-stop that's for sure! But enjoying it so far. 

[karanhsingh]

We drew the big game at home 0-0, although I must say we should have won it. Still, I guess a measure of the progress the club is making.

[karanhsingh]

Apart from the above game, we have dropped points only one other time in the league through to the winter break. You'd think that should be enough to keep us at the top of the table.

No is the answer. These are the margins when you are trying to compete with Shakhtar. And of course we still have to play them away.

I think we will be competing for 2nd spot with Dynamo Kyiv. Hopefully we can beat them to it and get their manager sacked along the way.

We are also through to the Quarters of the Ukrainian Cup where we will, of course, face Shakhtar again. Away. The fixture computer hates us this season.

[SinlessCity]

20 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

We drew the big game at home 0-0, although I must say we should have won it. Still, I guess a measure of the progress the club is making.

Better xG, looks like you got stronger as the game went on.  Hard lines, but a draw is still an amazing result.  The progress is there.  What would you say is the main difference between you and them at this point?

20 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Apart from the above game, we have dropped points only one other time in the league through to the winter break. You'd think that should be enough to keep us at the top of the table.

No is the answer. These are the margins when you are trying to compete with Shakhtar. And of course we still have to play them away.

I think we will be competing for 2nd spot with Dynamo Kyiv. Hopefully we can beat them to it and get their manager sacked along the way.

We are also through to the Quarters of the Ukrainian Cup where we will, of course, face Shakhtar again. Away. The fixture computer hates us this season.

Some quality wins in there, very much in the mix for the title, or at the very least a 2nd place finish.  How does your run-in compare to Shakhtar's?

Good luck in the cup!  Time to avenge last seasons outcome!

[karanhsingh]

3 hours ago, SinlessCity said:

Better xG, looks like you got stronger as the game went on.  Hard lines, but a draw is still an amazing result.  The progress is there.  What would you say is the main difference between you and them at this point?

Some quality wins in there, very much in the mix for the title, or at the very least a 2nd place finish.  How does your run-in compare to Shakhtar's?

Good luck in the cup!  Time to avenge last seasons outcome!

Thanks bud! I'm definitely very happy with the teams performance against shakhtar. Of course in terms of resources and player quality they are still way ahead. But we are catching them up. 

In terms of the run in the big difference is that they still have to play Kyiv away from home so that's our big hope. But i think we will have to have a perfect final 12 games. 

[Hootieleece]

Great Work! I was lurking (reading on my phone) and not posting while almost off the grid visiting my father the past two weeks.

I also reread "Inverting the Pyramid" while away and I think you are doing Lobyanski justice so far, but I think you may want more "generic" roles for your players so that that can interchange more.

Here's to hoping you get the "Perfect" Month!

 

[karanhsingh]

10 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

Great Work! I was lurking (reading on my phone) and not posting while almost off the grid visiting my father the past two weeks.

I also reread "Inverting the Pyramid" while away and I think you are doing Lobyanski justice so far, but I think you may want more "generic" roles for your players so that that can interchange more.

Here's to hoping you get the "Perfect" Month!

 

Thank you! Yes i do believe the more recent 4132 is a better tribute to him than the earlier 433 setup. Lets see what else I can do. The midfield players are mostly interchangeable. 

Hope you had a good trip!

[13th Man]

Shipping 5 after being 3-0 up is rough, but also just a truly unlucky draw.

Doing well in the league, even if unseating Shakhtar’s looking like a long term project! They just won’t lose…

[karanhsingh]

1 hour ago, 13th Man said:

Shipping 5 after being 3-0 up is rough, but also just a truly unlucky draw.

Doing well in the league, even if unseating Shakhtar’s looking like a long term project! They just won’t lose…

Cheers, I guess we basically need to have almost the perfect season domestically to do it.

[karanhsingh]

Switching focus from club to country briefly, here is a look at our current Ukraine squad:

As you can see, I have managed to work in some Rukh players into the squad. I am trying to make it a point to pick players on their playing performance on the pitch for their various clubs, and not just attributes. The ones who have lost their place in the squad are those simply not getting any games at club level. (I wish there was more interaction possible with your players at international teams).

The only important player missing from the above list I would say is Tsygankov who has been injured and also enduring a torrid time at West Ham. He is moving to Fiorentina soon so let's hope that things get better for him.

Now these are the absolute key players for us who will be deciding our fortunes on the pitch -

Mykhaylo Mudryk - he's become world class in my save and is somehow still at Shakhtar. I have to build the team and the tactic around him.

Illia Zabarnyi - moved from Kyiv to Chelsea on the save and is now genuinely a world class CB. Future Ukraine captain for sure.

Anatolii Trubin - starts as goal-keeper for Lazio in my save and we will definitely need him to be at his best for the big games.

Heorhii Sudakov - he is our best striker as things stand as is a top player for Shakhtar - however who partners him up front is still open for debate.

Screenshots of these guys are in the spoiler below.

And here is the tactic that I am playing with the NT - as I said designed to get the best out of Mudryk who plays as a SS for his club too. Also there being no good winger in the squad apart from Tsygankov meant I was more than happy to go with a narrow diamond.

Spoiler

[karanhsingh]

It's been a mixed bag of a start with the NT so far.

We first start with the UEFA Nations League B groups.

A pretty frustrating opening set of matches as we dominated every single one of those games. And more often than not, we had to fight back to just get a draw. That being said, the last minute come-backs in Turkey and Albania were particularly thrilling. Come to think of it, we had decisive late goals in almost every game.

Also we seem to be absolutely specializing in conceding from corners. I don't know what it is as the set pieces are set up the same way as for my club sides. Essentially we need to absolutely hammer the opposition to have a chance of getting anything from the game.

The draw against Turkey did however mean that we managed to finish top of the group, and therefore get "promoted". One thing's for sure, we will need to be able to take our chances much better when we come up against the big boys.

Also, the qualifying groups for the WC 2026 were drawn.

Definitely not an easy draw that, with Slovenia and Kosovo both capable of mounting a challenge. Also I found out that only 6 of the 10 second placed teams will get to go to the world cup so it's certainly not going to be easy. 

Our first match-up - away in Slovenia.

And it could not have gone worse frankly. An early red card from Malinovskyi set the trend for the game. Sesko scored in first half stoppage time, heading home from another bl**dy corner. We pushed very hard in the second half but failed to score, with Jan Oblak landing up as the MOTM.

A horrible start to the qualifying campaign which now likely means that we will need to have a perfect 100% record in all the other games bar the Germany double header to hope to qualify.

[karanhsingh]

And now let's switch back and have a very quick update from the club:

A good start to the 2nd half of the season, even if we deservedly crashed out of the cup away against Shakhtar. Apart from that though it's been a set of resounding wins, without even conceding a single goal.

And the incredible news is that over the same period Shakhtar have somehow conspired to draw 2 games which means we are now at the top of the league! It is all going to come down to the next game where the top two face off against each other.

[karanhsingh]

The big game - Shakhtar Donetsk vs Rukh Lviv

And so it all came down to this moment... did we have what it takes to really stand up when it counted? Shakhtar were going to go for it, they needed a win to get back on top of the table (teams are sorted by results between teams rather than GD in Ukraine). 

I did my customary big game tactical tweaks and then switched highlights to "extensive" for this game. We start off brightly and are the better team in the opening exchanges. However we cannot make a break-through, their defense is very strong.

Then out of absolutely nothing in the 33rd minute - they flight in a free kick and one of their players flops to the floor. Penalty given - absolutely comical decision! I am fuming. This is not right... but then, Kucheruk makes the save from Mudryk! He dives across goal and parries the ball away. A huge boost for us! It's 0-0 at HT.

Second half begins and it's more of the same. Both sides have their chances but we definitely have the better of it overall. And then in the 64th minute once again the referees conspire to give the home side a dodgy penalty. This is getting absolutely ridiculous now! They've clearly bought them off! We have no chance now... or do we? Unbelievably, Kuckeruk makes the save AGAIN! This time its Traore who is denied. The game is still goalless. 

A few moments later though, Shakhtar produce the move of the match which sees them go up 1-0 after a brilliant combination move involving Mudryk and Neres. This will still be a massive kick in the teeth but at least its not a ridiculous penalty.

Buoyed by our general performance and inspired by our super-human keeper we push forward. We throw 3 strikers on and chase down the equalizer. And it finally arrived with a well-placed finish from super sub Moustapha Sane! We are drawing the game and more than good money for it.

Shakhtar then have a man sent off - Tyler Adams for 2 yellows - it looks like the ref has finally come to his senses. We switch back to attacking and push forward in search of a winner, but it does not arrive.

Full-time - it's a 1-1 draw and we maintain our 3 point lead over them at the top of the table. We have definitely "arrived".

 

[Tilling]

Artem Milevskyi!! God I used to sign him on every iteration of FM whilst he was at Kyiv, so many Everton saves with him up top back in the day...

Exciting looking run-in, hope you can bring home the title!

[karanhsingh]

13 minutes ago, Tilling said:

Artem Milevskyi!! God I used to sign him on every iteration of FM whilst he was at Kyiv, so many Everton saves with him up top back in the day...

Exciting looking run-in, hope you can bring home the title!

Thanks bud! I too have fond memories of him 

[DaNascimento]

maybe you could use something like this for your offensive?

Spoiler

 

[karanhsingh]

15 minutes ago, DaNascimento said:

maybe you could use something like this for your offensive?

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Nice! Interesting that he was produced by Benfica.

[DaNascimento]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb karanhsingh:

Nice! Interesting that he was produced by Benfica.

If just checked. They have an affiliate club (more a school) in Ukraine "Benfica Kharkiv Football Academy" from where they get every year some ukrainian youth prospects. Nazarenko and Kovalchuk are the brightest spots in my save so far.

Spoiler

 

[karanhsingh]

19 minutes ago, DaNascimento said:

If just checked. They have an affiliate club (more a school) in Ukraine "Benfica Kharkiv Football Academy" from where they get every year some ukrainian youth prospects. Nazarenko and Kovalchuk are the brightest spots in my save so far.

  Hide contents

 

Very interesting! I had no idea. Let me check what their affiliate is up to in my save. 

[13th Man]

So now we know why Shakhtar are undefeated! They’ve paid off the officials! Well done getting a draw against them when they were gifted two penalties.

Now you need to use your position as the national team manager to convince Mudryk to leave Shakhtar…

[karanhsingh]

1 hour ago, 13th Man said:

So now we know why Shakhtar are undefeated! They’ve paid off the officials! Well done getting a draw against them when they were gifted two penalties.

Now you need to use your position as the national team manager to convince Mudryk to leave Shakhtar…

Ha! Honestly I'm fine with him staying at Shakhtar as they play him as an AMC and not out wide. 

Also long term these saves get boring if you don't have a strong domestic rival so a part of me hoped the men in orange can keep it going. 

[noikeee]

Ooof, so close to the league title now. Getting knocked out of Europe early might've been a blessing in disguise! 

[karanhsingh]

3 hours ago, noikeee said:

Ooof, so close to the league title now. Getting knocked out of Europe early might've been a blessing in disguise! 

Maybe! Although with just 30 league games it's made the season a bit too short for my liking. 

Come to think of it, I'm surprised that Ukraine has not introduced some sort of a championship phase like some of the other leagues. 

[13th Man]

13 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Ha! Honestly I'm fine with him staying at Shakhtar as they play him as an AMC and not out wide. 

Also long term these saves get boring if you don't have a strong domestic rival so a part of me hoped the men in orange can keep it going. 

What? You want a challenge? What fun is that?

[karanhsingh]

11 hours ago, 13th Man said:

What? You want a challenge? What fun is that?

I know right 

[HugoLazgo12]

Wow Rukh are challenge from Title with Shakhtar

maybe this could be the time that Rukh will break Shakhtar and Dynamo Dominance

[SinlessCity]

On 25/07/2022 at 09:05, karanhsingh said:

The big game - Shakhtar Donetsk vs Rukh Lviv

And so it all came down to this moment... did we have what it takes to really stand up when it counted? Shakhtar were going to go for it, they needed a win to get back on top of the table (teams are sorted by results between teams rather than GD in Ukraine). 

I did my customary big game tactical tweaks and then switched highlights to "extensive" for this game. We start off brightly and are the better team in the opening exchanges. However we cannot make a break-through, their defense is very strong.

Then out of absolutely nothing in the 33rd minute - they flight in a free kick and one of their players flops to the floor. Penalty given - absolutely comical decision! I am fuming. This is not right... but then, Kucheruk makes the save from Mudryk! He dives across goal and parries the ball away. A huge boost for us! It's 0-0 at HT.

Second half begins and it's more of the same. Both sides have their chances but we definitely have the better of it overall. And then in the 64th minute once again the referees conspire to give the home side a dodgy penalty. This is getting absolutely ridiculous now! They've clearly bought them off! We have no chance now... or do we? Unbelievably, Kuckeruk makes the save AGAIN! This time its Traore who is denied. The game is still goalless. 

A few moments later though, Shakhtar produce the move of the match which sees them go up 1-0 after a brilliant combination move involving Mudryk and Neres. This will still be a massive kick in the teeth but at least its not a ridiculous penalty.

Buoyed by our general performance and inspired by our super-human keeper we push forward. We throw 3 strikers on and chase down the equalizer. And it finally arrived with a well-placed finish from super sub Moustapha Sane! We are drawing the game and more than good money for it.

Shakhtar then have a man sent off - Tyler Adams for 2 yellows - it looks like the ref has finally come to his senses. We switch back to attacking and push forward in search of a winner, but it does not arrive.

Full-time - it's a 1-1 draw and we maintain our 3 point lead over them at the top of the table. We have definitely "arrived".

 

Well done mate, it's in your hands now.  The FM Gods were conspiring, but Artem had other ideas.

Tougher fare in the National job - do you think it's down to anything in particular?  The players, formation, a mix of both?

[karanhsingh]

9 hours ago, HugoLazgo12 said:

Wow Rukh are challenge from Title with Shakhtar

maybe this could be the time that Rukh will break Shakhtar and Dynamo Dominance

You are about to find out!

20 minutes ago, SinlessCity said:

Well done mate, it's in your hands now.  The FM Gods were conspiring, but Artem had other ideas.

Tougher fare in the National job - do you think it's down to anything in particular?  The players, formation, a mix of both?

Regarding the NT - I think we have a quality team but the strikers are not clinical enough. It's definitely not the formation. Also this conceding goals from set pieces is just bad luck I guess.

[karanhsingh]

So after the Shakhtar draw, we completed a clean sweep until the final day of the season... which was a shocking 0-2 home defeat against Chornomorets. 

BUT - this was indeed enough to win the title already before that game! Because Dynamo Kyiv did us a huge favour by beating Shakhtar in the preceding round. Here is the final league table:

So had we lost that game against Shakhtar, we likely would have lost the league as well on GD. Anyhow, celebrations it is!

And finally, the Shakhtar era of domination comes to an end:

[deltablue]

Excellent!

[karanhsingh]

What a season from the boys. Time for a few mentions for my players of the season - 4 of whom got into the league team of the season as well (surprisingly the orange brigade had 5).

Vladyslav Supriaha has proved to be the absolute best bargain signing I have made. Dynamo Kyiv were absolute idiots to let him go! He finishes with 31 goals, sharing the golden boot for the league with Eddie Nketiah (after being 4 ahead on the final day), and of course he's also broken into the national team.

He was ably supported up-front by fellow Vladyslav Kulach who is the perfect pressing forward and foil for him. Kulach finishes with 13 goals and 11 assists. I like to think they have been my equivalent of the Shevchenko-Rebrov partnership from the 90s.

Dmytro Haras - what a find! 11 goals, 15 assists from midfield, along with an average rating of 7.76, easily walking home with the young player of the season award. Cannot wait to see how this kid develops in the future!

And for the defense of course I have to mention the wonder-kid, Ismalia Diatta who is a beast and clearly too good for this level. The big question is, how long can we hold onto him?

[karanhsingh]

Finally, as you can see, Artem is also now looking every bit a top manager. 132 games managed with a 64% win rate. A continental A badge along with a very good and growing reputation. And a well-rounded mix of attributes as well. Seems to be the right time for a new job?  

[karanhsingh]

Finally.

[karanhsingh]

End-game is here.

Had to take a pay-cut as well 

[13th Man]

Congrats on the title!  Huge win for you.  A sea of green (wins) other than those two matches against Shakhtar.

A bit surprised at the move, but it seems like Kyiv just has the bigger budget...and I guess the save goals and all that.

[karanhsingh]

19 minutes ago, 13th Man said:

Congrats on the title!  Huge win for you.  A sea of green (wins) other than those two matches against Shakhtar.

A bit surprised at the move, but it seems like Kyiv just has the bigger budget...and I guess the save goals and all that.

Thanks! 

Well apart from the save goals, Kyiv definitely has the stronger squad and importantly a great academy with a high % of their first team being youth products. Depending on how long i run with this save, that will be an important factor. 

Also even with all the recent success we were barely hitting 5k attendance in home games at Rukh and losing money consistently - so i was seriously doubting how much potential the club and city both really have. Even Kyiv have been doing "just" 20k attendances but i am hoping we can push that to the 30-40k levels with time. 

[13th Man]

Just now, karanhsingh said:

Thanks! 

Well apart from the save goals, Kyiv definitely has the stronger squad and importantly a great academy with a high % of their first team being youth products. Depending on how long i run with this save, that will be an important factor. 

Also even with all the recent success we were barely hitting 5k attendance in home games at Rukh and losing money consistently - so i was seriously doubting how much potential the club and city both really have. Even Kyiv have been doing "just" 20k attendances but i am hoping we can push that to the 30-40k levels with time. 

That all makes complete sense.  Funny you had to take a pay cut, but the youth products makes a huge difference, especially when you factor in the national team emphasis.

[karanhsingh]

31 minutes ago, 13th Man said:

That all makes complete sense.  Funny you had to take a pay cut, but the youth products makes a huge difference, especially when you factor in the national team emphasis.

Yes exactly. That's the hope. The youth we were getting through at Rukh was trash that's why I never even posted about them. 

[SinlessCity]

Brilliant way to end your Rukh career.  I'm glad to see all of the hard work was rewarded with the title!

Respecting the save goals, all the pieces came together at the right time for you... They must have known you were interested!

I'd have been curious to see how you fare against Rukh next year if someone other than the AI was in charge... AI will probably ruin them!    Will you go back in for any of the players? 

Looking forward to the next season!

[karanhsingh]

2 hours ago, SinlessCity said:

Brilliant way to end your Rukh career.  I'm glad to see all of the hard work was rewarded with the title!

Respecting the save goals, all the pieces came together at the right time for you... They must have known you were interested!

I'd have been curious to see how you fare against Rukh next year if someone other than the AI was in charge... AI will probably ruin them!    Will you go back in for any of the players? 

Looking forward to the next season!

Thanks! 

Yes sadly I think you are right about the AI... I am definitely going back in but already been priced out of a move for top scorer Supriaha. Update on the transfer window soon!

[Cheez3y]

Briliant stuff at Rukh.

Excited to see you at Dynamo.

[karanhsingh]

Just now, Cheez3y said:

Briliant stuff at Rukh.

Excited to see you at Dynamo.

Thanks bud!