Unexpected conclusions
The 2022/2023 championship, which became the first during the full-scale invasion of Russia, turned out to be really interesting. The fight for the league title until the penultimate round, the ambiguity with the second ticket to the Champions League and the participants in the knockout matches until the last game day, Dovbik’s chance to surpass Mkhitaryan’s scorer record, the derby of two Metalists and inexplicable personnel decisions of the owners of some clubs.
However, if we evaluate the final position of the clubs in the 2022/2023 championship with the way the teams finished the first part of the 2022/2023 season, which was underplayed due to the large-scale military invasion of Russia, several patterns cannot be ignored. As well as it is impossible to pass by several high-profile failures.
No major changes at the top
Firstly, the TOP-5 has not changed. The only failure is the fourth place of Dynamo. Shakhtar kept the first line, Dnipro-1 is again higher than Zorya, Vorskla is fifth, Alexandria is sixth. Kolos finished on his “eighth” position, Rukh finished on the 11th.
We note the rise of Chernomorets, who jumped from 13th to ninth place, and Minai, who rose from 15th position to tenth.
At the same time, only six clubs, if we compare two seasons, scored more points on average in the 2022/2023 championship than in the first part of the 2021/2022 season.
| Club | Season 2021/2022 (average points per match) | Season 2021/2022 (place) | Season 2022/2023 (average points per game) | Season 2022/2023 (place) |
| Miner | 2.6 | 1 | 2.4 | 1 |
| Dnepr-1 | 2.2 | 3 | 2.23 | 2 |
| Dawn | 2 | 4 | 2.2 | 3 |
| Dynamo | 2.5 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Vorskla | 1.8 | 5 | 1.5 | 5 |
| Alexandria | 1.44 | 6 | 1.46 | 6 |
| Kryvbas | — | — | 1.37 | 7 |
| Ear | 1.3 | 8 | 1.2 | 8 |
| Chernomorets | 0.78 | 13 | 1.16 | 9 |
| minai | 0.55 | 15 | 1.1 | 10 |
| roc | 1.06 | eleven | 1.06 | eleven |
| Metalworker 1925 | 1.06 | 10 | 1.06 | 12 |
| Veres | 1.28 | 9 | 1.03 | 13 |
| Ingulets | 0.76 | 14 | 1.03 | 14 |
| metalworker | — | — | 0.73 | 15 |
| Lviv | 0.94 | 12 | 0.43 | 16 |
When stability is bad
Evaluating the performance of Dnipro-1 last season, or rather the failed rush for gold, we noted the stability and experience of Shakhtar. The Pitmen really played the season smoothly and like a champion, even improving their performance in the second part. By the way, another seven clubs managed to perform better in spring than in autumn. Well, the most amazing performances in terms of scoring went well for Zara, Chernomorets and Vorskla.
Seven teams performed worse in the second part of the season than in the first. It should be noted that in the autumn part of the championship, not all clubs played the same number of matches. Of course, it is unlikely that a slightly larger load than competitors can be the main reason for such failures. The example of Metalist, whose already difficult financial situation worsened after the New Year, and who scored an average of 0.6 points per match less in spring than in autumn, is indicative.
The results of Alexandria, who replaced her coach, also sank the same way. Metallist 1925 also seriously passed. Dynamo surprisingly evenly passed both parts of the championship, however, to the misfortune of the white-blues, the first part was played by Dnepr-1, the second by Zorya. Hence the final fourth place.
| Club | First round (points/average per match) | Place at the end of the first round | Second round (points/average per match) | The difference between the first and second circles |
| Miner | 30 (2.3) | 2 | 42 (2.48) | +1 |
| Dnepr-1 | 35 (2.4) | 1 | 32(2) | -1 |
| Dawn | 28 (1.87) | 4 | 39 (2.6) | +1 |
| Dynamo | 30(2) | 3 | 30(2) | -2 |
| Vorskla | 18 (1.2) | 8 | 27 (1.8) | +3 |
| Alexandria | 24 (1.8) | 5 | 21 (1.2) | -1 |
| Kryvbas | 18 (1.2) | 9 | 23 (1.5) | +2 |
| Ear | 20 (1.3) | 6 | 16 (1.07) | -2 |
| Chernomorets | 11 (0.73) | 15 | 24 (1.6) | +6 |
| minai | 14(1) | 12 | 19 (1.27) | +4 |
| roc | 14(1) | 12 | 18 (1.12) | +2 |
| Metalworker 1925 | 17 (1.3) | 7 | 15 (0.88) | -5 |
| Veres | 17 (1.13) | 10 | 14 (0.93) | -3 |
| Ingulets | 13 (0.93) | 14 | 18 (1.15) | — |
| metalworker | 16 (1.06) | eleven | 6 (0.4) | -4 |
| Lviv | 9 (0.64) | 16 | 4 (0.27) | — |
Changing trainers didn’t help.
In the course of the season, six Premier League clubs changed coaches – both Metallists, Lviv and Rukh, as well as Alexandria and Ingulets.
At the same time, Metalist Ordinary and Alexandria changed mentors during the winter break, Metalist 1925 – during the first part of the season, Rukh – in the middle of the second.
If we evaluate the performance of Metallist 1925, Rukh and, possibly, Lvov, several things should be noted. In the first case, the duo Edmar – Golodyuk led the team since the fall. In the second – Vitaly Ponomarev, who replaced Leonid Kuchuk, did not play a full-fledged second part. In the third, Anatoly Bessmertny led Lviv already during the spring stage, although he played more matches with her than Ponomariov. At the same time, the performance of Metallist and Lvov became worse in the second round, Rukh went almost according to the usual schedule.
But Metalist and Alexandria only lost from the change of mentors, judging by the indicators and results. As a result, the Kharkiv side were relegated from the Premier League, Oleksandriya lost their place in European competition. Ingulets did not improve his standings.
Source: Sportarena
I am Ben Stock and I work in Athletistic as an author. My specialty is covering football news and other related topics. I have been writing for this website since the past 2 years, crafting compelling stories with the latest updates in the sports world. My articles have gained widespread appreciation amongst readers due to their accuracy and depth of research.
