Is Serhiy rebrov the Real Deal at Dynamo?

SERHIY REBROV HAS MADE A SOLID START TO HIS MANAGERIAL CAREER

Serhiy Rebrov’s Dynamo Kyiv side defeated FC Dnipro at the Dnipro Arena on Sunday to go to the top of the Ukrainian Premier League for the first time in nearly three years.  Dynamo had gone 937 days without topping the UPL, the last time was April 7, 2012 when Yuriy Syomin was still in charge.

Rebrov took over the reins at Dynamo after the resignation of Oleh Blokhin following defeat to Shakhtar in April.  Blokhin’s tenure at Dynamo was a failure as Dynamo failed to win any silverware and failed to qualify for the Champions League.

At the end of the 2013/14 campaign Rebrov ended Dynamo’s long wait for silverware as he secured the Ukrainian Cup, defeating Shakhtar in the final.  Despite defeat to Shakhtar in the Super Cup at Arena Lviv in July, Dynamo have gone from strength to strength.  They remain unbeaten in the Ukrainian Premier League and have beaten both their closest rivals Dnipro (3:0 away) and Shakhtar (2:1 at home) to lead the league by one point from Dnipro.

Rebrov is using largely the same squad left by Blokhin, with the only notable transfer coming in being Polish striker Lukasz Teodorczuk who replaced Brown Ideye who moved to West Brom in England.  Rebrov has put faith into the younger Ukrainian players at Dynamo, with some of the more expensive signings of the Blokhin regime reduced to fringe roles.  Players such as Serhiy Rybalka, have been thrust into the first team and are producing the necessary performances which have propelled Dynamo to the top of the league.  Artem Kravets has taken full advantage of the injury to Diemerci Mbokani and departure of Ideye Brown as he has scored seven goals to become the top scorer in the league so far.  Vitaliy Bulyanski and Mykyta Burda are on the periphery of the squad and have stepped up when required.

Despite the introduction of the younger and less experienced players, Rebrov has been getting performances from the likes of Jeremaine Lens and Youhnes Belhanda and this has been a key to Dynamo’s success.

Rebrov has the faith of the squad and key players are producing star performances.  Andriy Yarmolenko has turned his form up and is willing to work for the team.  Knowing the dangers of Yevhen Konoplyanka, Yarmolenko put in the hard work to assist his full back Danilo Silva throughout the game at Dnipro.  The instructions passed on fromRebrov to his players are being followed and this relationship between manager and player is paying off as Dynamo’s league form is showing.

THE DYNAMO PLAYERS ARE UNITED UNDER SERHIY REBROV

The only blotch on Dynamo’s record since the Super Cup was the 3:0 defeat to Aalborg in the Europa League, Dynamo lost their perfect record in the competition against the Danish side as maybe a whiff of complacency came into the camp.  It served to wake Dynamo up however as the result against Dnipro showed.

It is still early in the season however and Rebrov is still a new face in management.  He has handled the start of the campaign well and most importantly the results have been positive.  It will be a difficult battle for the title however, as Myron Markevychs’ Dnipro will look to bounce back and Mircea Lucescu is a wily old fox and will be sure to turn thefloundering performances of Shakhtar Donetsk around.

Rebrov has an opportunity to avenge the defeat to Aalborg as the Danish side travel to Kyiv this week in Match Day 4 of the Europa League on Thursday evening.

Serhiy Rebrovs Dynamo Record

Competition Matches Won Draw Loss Win % Goals For Goals Against UPL 15 11 3 1 73% 32 10 Ukrainian Cup 5 5 0 0 100% 11 1 Europe League 3 2 0 1 67% 6 3 Super Cup 1 0 0 1 0% 0 2 Total 24 18 3 3 75% 49 16

Article by Peter Chymera, Vice-President of the UK Ukrainian Sports Supporters Club and co-founder of the Viktor Leonenko Hall of Fame. Follow Peter on twitter – @PMChymera89

http://theviktorleonenkohalloffame.wordpress.com/2014/11/03/is-serhiy-rebrov-the-real-deal-at-dynamo/