Valeriy Lobanovskyy

A figure of colossal footballing importance, Valeriy Lobanovskyy’s impact on the game both in Ukraine and the world as a whole should not be underestimated.
Lobanovskyy has a special place in the hearts of Dynamo fans and players (the stadium is named after him) and he is considered the foremost pioneer of modern day coaching. Interestingly it was another coach Viktor Maslov, Lobanovskyy’s predecessor, who began Dynamo Kyiv’s golden era. Maslov realised that football was evolving and a new style of play was required. He developed the “pressing game” not allowing space to opposing players. The tactically astute Maslov is widely recognized as the coach who developed the 4 man midfield formation, otherwise known as 4-4-2. Under Maslov’s guidance Dynamo Kyiv became hugely successful, eventually dethroning the Moscow clubs who until then had dominated the Russian league. Maslov’s reign at Dynamo Kyiv lasted for six years and within that time he coached the team to three league titles and two soviet cups. Many of his players regularly featured in USSR teams and his tactics were adopted around the world. Maslov left Dynamo Kiev in 1970 and was replaced by Aleksandr Sevidov who won another domestic title in 1971. Two years later former player Valeriy Lobanovskyy was appointed head coach; it was the start of the “golden age” of Dynamo Kyiv.
 

Lobanovskyy was a talented left-winger with Dynamo Kiev in the late 50’s and early 60’s. He was a highly individual player who invented the “banana shot” and excited crowds with is exuberant style of play. Lobanovskyy hung up his boots in 1968 aged just 29 before setting out on a managerial career which would span 32 years. It was a career that would ultimately see the former USSR international gain worldwide recognition.
Lobanovskyy was an immensely gifted schoolboy mathematician who used a pragmatic approach to micro-manage his team down to the smallest detail. Jonathan Wilson describes Lobanovskyy in Inverting the Pyramid as the embodiment of “the great struggle between individuality and system: the player in him wanted to dribble, to invent tricks and to embarrass his opponents, and yet, as he later admitted, his training at the Polytechnic Institute (his University) drove him to a systematic approach, to break football down into its component tasks”.
He turned football on its head. He expected defenders to support his attackers by going on overlaps, and that attackers would come back to help the defence. He instilled in his teams fluidity and flexibility and gave birth to the term “Total football”.
By 1972 a player by the name of Oleh Blokhin exploded onto the scene. He was powerful, fast and blessed with clinical finishing.  He became the top goal scorer in two consecutive seasons: 1972 (14 goals and 1973 (18 goals). From 1972 to 1977 Blokhin finished top scorer in the Russian league five times. The arrival of Lobanovskyy in November 1973 at the age of just 33 heralded an era of remarkable achievements. He won five domestic league titles, three soviet cups and the remarkable 1975 EUFA Cup Winner’s Cup triumph in his first spell in charge from 1974 to 1982.
Dynamo striker Oleh Blokhin became the Soviet Premier League's all-time top scorer with 211 goals, and  made more appearances than any other player in the championship's history with 432 appearances. He was also recognized as European player of the year in 1975.
After a brief spell away from Dynamo,  Lobanovskyy  returned in 1984. He made an immediate impact by leading them to the top of Soviet football. In 1985 Dynamo won the Soviet championship and the domestic cup. A new era of players were now establishing themselves and with the experienced veteran Blokhin pulling the strings Dynamo were almost invincible. Players such as Igor Belanov, midfielder Zavarov , left back Anatoliy Demyanenko and goalkeeper Viktor Chanov steered the team towards the 1986 Cup Winners Cup. Dynamo scored an impressive 26 goals in 9 matches on the way to the final against Atletico Madrid.  The Cup winners Cup final was a one sided affair which saw Dynamo dishing out a footballing lesson which saw them trounce Atletico 3-0.
Lobanovskyy also played a vital role in the success of USSR national team. In his three spells as manager he guided them to a bronze medal at the 1976 Olympics as well as finishing runners-up to the Netherlands in the 1988 European Championships.
Lobanovskyy spent several years in charge of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates in the 1990s but enjoyed little success, but his return to Dynamo Kyiv in 1997 transformed the fortunes of a club that had slumped since his departure.
Between 1997 and 2002 Lobanovskyy created a new generation of Ukrainian talent which included Andriy Shevchenko and Sergei Rebrov. In 1998/99 his young team progressed all the way to a Champions League semi-final. Shevchenko and Rebrov were brilliant for Dynamo and they shared 10 goals on the way to topping a difficult group.  One of the greatest results in Dynamo’s history came against Barcelona at the Nou Camp where they won an incredible 4-0. Unfortunately Lobanovskyy was unable to get his team to the final and they were beaten in the semi-finals by Bavaria.