Leaders to the team! Krivbass and Polesie are rocking the UPL, but their leading players are not on Rebrov’s list. For now?

12 rounds of the distance are no longer a joke, and at the head of the UPL are yesterday’s middle peasant Krivbass and the debutant of the tournament Polesie. The brilliant work of Vernidub and Kalitvintsev allowed them to get ahead of the giants and reveal many football players. But are there any among them whom Sergei Rebrov should pay attention to?

Let’s try to figure it out.

For your attention – a selection of the most stable and progressive players of the sensational leaders of the Ukrainian Football Championship for the 2023/24 season.

Daniil Beskorovainy

• 24 years
• central defender
• 12 matches, 3 goals in UPL 23/24

The first on our list is a football player, not a newcomer to national teams. Back in 2019, under the leadership of Alexander Petrakov, Beskorovainy became the world champion among youth. Since then, I managed to play in several clubs of different championships – the Slovak DAC, the Kazakh Astana, until I made a symbolic and beautiful transfer, ending up in the club of my hometown.

Krivbass under Vernidub Sr. experienced several defensive transformations, and Daniil was an important part of these processes. Together with the former left-back of FC Alexandria Stetskov, Beskorovainy created such a solid duo that even Vernidub Jr. was able to end his career with a calm heart.

Beskorovainy’s qualities are a combination of physical strength with a good understanding of the game. Daniil is great at set pieces (three goals are not an accident) and has the makings of a quality pass over different distances. Although at one time he got to the World Cup in Poland, not least because of his involvement in the national team and Mikolenko’s injury, Beskorovainy proved that he is a top-level player.

In recent years, according to insider information, Celtic, Lazio and Dynamo have shown interest in him. However, Krivbass perfectly understands the player’s potential and has a long-term agreement with him.

• Who are the competitors? Matvienko, Zabarny, Popov, Sirota, Bondar
• Need it? Yes! Matvienko is out of shape, others are injured. It can be useful because it clearly has advantages over potential competitors in the form of the status of a reinforced concrete main player in one of the leading UPL clubs.

Maxim Zaderaka

• 29 years
• winger, attacking midfielder
• 12 matches, 6 goals, 1 assist in UPL 23/24

Zaderaka was always considered promising at FC Alexandria, he managed to change several clubs, but still could not feel like the leader of his teams. It is in Krivbass that he experiences his best times. Doubles with Kolos and Metalist 1925 – one of his former teams, the title of Player of the Month in the UPL, the status of a joint leader in the scoring race, according to the Wyscout index Zaderak is the best right half of the championship. All this makes me add Maxim to the list, but there is one “but”.

• Who are the competitors? Tsygankov, Zubkov, Rusin, Voloshin, Yarmolenko
• Need it? Only in the event of a great coincidence of circumstances: if things don’t go well for the legionnaires, injuries will again wipe out our experienced leaders, in a word – Zaderak in his current state is a distant choice. However, we do not abolish the possibility itself because we know the unfortunate injury rate of our leading players.

Oleg Kozhushko

• 25 years
• striker, winger
• 11 matches, 6 goals in UPL 23/24

Another promising player, but Vernidub began to justify them. Kozhushko went through the Dnepr school, had his chance in Dnepr-1 Mikhailenko – even during the times of Supryaga and Balanyuk. However, for a long time Oleg was forced to make his way, to look for his place – he even forgot that this meant becoming the main one…

This season, Kozhusko “broke through” – with Buyalski and Zaderaka he is among the top scorers, although, to be honest, he is not an “orthodox center forward”. Oleg’s profile is to play in space, from deep or even from the flanks. But the circumstances were such that he got a chance in Krivbass in attack and now Debelko plays under him in the back, and not vice versa, and Kozhushko scores a surprisingly important goal against his ex-teammates, defeating them in the regional derby.

• Who are the competitors? Not Dovbik – not the same profile at all, but Vanat, Sikan, even Yaremchuk – quite
• Need it? Regarding Kozhushko, global conclusions should be drawn no earlier than after this full season, but he can be taken into account. We don’t have enough scoring attacking players to completely discount a player who scores more than 0.5 goals per game in a season.

Denis Boyko

• 35 years
• goalkeeper
• 11 matches, 6 clean sheets, 6 goals conceded in UPL 23/24

Boyko “stagnated” at Dynamo, that’s a fact. And that he missed the game and has something else to say is confirmed by his performances in Polesie. Although the ex-Dynamo and ex-Dnieper did not receive a “warm bath” in Zhitomir – the main one was Shakhtar graduate Kudrik, a good goalkeeper, they signed the goalkeeper of the Nigerian youth team Aniagboso, Denis won the competition and became the main one – and irreplaceable..

More than half of the UPL matches were clean sheets, the post-match series for the cup with FC Alexandria was won. In every match, Boyko pulls off several difficult shots, and although age is age, and the flaws have not gone away, we will not be surprised at all by Denis being called up as a reserve goalkeeper. An experienced player adapted to the national team with constant playing practice is a serious argument.

• Who are the competitors? Buschan, Trubin, Lunin, Riznyk, in the future – Nesheret
• Need it? Firstly, there is injury – unfortunately, no one is immune from it. Secondly, there is no certainty how the season of our foreign players will turn out. For example, Lunin is a reservist in Real Madrid without a chance – both under Courtois and under Kep. Thirdly, to form a team, a player like Boyko may be needed as the most experienced among the three goalkeepers.

Boris Krushinsky

• 21 years old
• central and left midfielder and defender
• 12 matches, 1 goal in UPL 23/24

When Krushinsky was placed in completely different positions in PFC Lviv, many believed that he was just a son of the regiment, with whom holes were being plugged. However, already under Dulub it was clear that an extraordinary footballer was growing. Equally versatile and stable, with a good shot, with the ability to play smoothly in different tactical schemes and with different configurations of his lines.

Polesie had a completely played out middle line, but Krushinsky managed to win the competition from Ogiri himself and often the coaching staff goes to a certain restructuring of the center of the field in order to use him, Tankovsky and Kushnirenko at the same time. What could be a better argument?

• Who are the competitors? Defenders, left-backs, central defenders
• Need it? Firstly, a high-quality all-rounder is always needed, especially with stable playing practice. Secondly, Krushinsky’s potential has not yet been revealed to 75%. He has room to grow, and who knows where the limit of his capabilities is. To be honest, now it’s impossible to even say with certainty in which position he will be best, because he knows how to do his job well at about three points on the field. In the future, it can definitely grow to foreign championships and a wide application for the national team.

Sergey Chobotenko

• 26 years
• central defender
• 11 matches in UPL 23/24

The graduate of Zaporizhzhya football managed to visit Dynamo and Shakhtar, and Polesie snatched him from Koloss after many attempts to sign him. Chobotenko justified the hope – he created a good duet with Shabanov, and even the experienced Gitchenko – the absolute leader of the Zhytomyr team during the First League – was in reserve. What can we say about the same Jarju, who, having just arrived in Ukraine, discovered that the club had played center defense.

Chobotenko is a fairly tenacious and cunning defender. He knows how to play ahead, by reading the situation. The experience of playing for the youth squads of the giants gives him the opportunity to integrate as much as possible into the team of the national team, and the status of the main one gives him advantages over someone who is talented, but does not regularly play for the giants.

• Who are the competitors? Matvienko, Zabarny, Popov, Sirota, Bondar
• Need it? Everything is the same as with Beskorovainy – it may be necessary, because he clearly has advantages over potential competitors in the form of the status of a reinforced concrete main player in one of the leading UPL clubs.

Philip Budkovsky

• 31 year
• attack
• 10 matches, 3 goals in UPL 23/24

Not the most obvious choice – a veteran forward who has been tested by the giants and played in the First League last year. However, this is the story with Budkovsky. If it weren’t for the injury, we would even confidently say that the team needs him right now. Budkovsky is the same “forward tower” that defines the style of Polesie. Without him, neither Arielson nor Chastal provide the necessary tenacity in the fight for the ball, constant assistance to the attack through discounts and short passes.

And Budkovsky himself, a Kiev resident who went through Shakhtar’s school and even foreign championships, is a player who doesn’t need to explain anything to the national team, he was already there and was even useful at times. Let us repeat our opinion, if it weren’t for this unfortunate injury with which he played against Dynamo, there would now be a lot of talk about Philip and the national team.

• Who are the competitors? Not Dovbik, Yaremchuk
• Need it? Of course, we understand the abyss between La Liga players and the veteran from Polesie, but Budkovsky can become a reliable backup and replacement for our large forwards. In this capacity, he is probably the only one of his kind in the modern Premier League. Neither Klimchuk, nor Filippov, nor Stepanyuk – and any other unexpected options will not suit the texture.

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Of course, as a disclaimer, it is worth noting that the situational leadership of Krivbass and Polesie does not mean that we directly demand that all these Stepanenkos, Karavaevs, Popovs be expelled from the team. We understand perfectly well what prospects Sudakov, Bondarenko, Brazhko, and even the same Voloshin, Neshcheret or Vanat have. However, understanding the phenomenon of new UPL leaders, we wanted to introduce you to those Ukrainian players who are the leaders of these teams, as well as understand their prospects.

Also, we deliberately did not mention Smolyakov from Polesie or Kuzyk from Krivbass, who are already on Melgosa’s list for the Ukrainian youth team. They are already on the radar, and their further development will depend entirely on the progress and stability that these guys will demonstrate with Vernidub and Kalitvintsev.