--- title: "\"Now I Understand Him Well\": Leonid Buryak Recalled Working with Lobanovskyi at Kyiv Dynamo" description: "In an interview with Sport RBC.UA, Leonid Buryak recalled working with Valeriy Lobanovskyi at Kyiv Dynamo: the coach demanded maximum discipline and unity, and Buryak truly appreciated many of his decisions only after becoming a coach himself." date: 2026-09-23T06:38:00.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/leonid-buryak-lobanovskiy-dynamo-memories-en tags: [leonid-buryak, valeriy-lobanovskyi, dynamo-kyiv, football, interview] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # "Now I Understand Him Well": Leonid Buryak Recalled Working with Lobanovskyi at Kyiv Dynamo ![Leonid Burakh in a Kyiv Dynamo shirt recalling his work with Valeriy Lobanovskyi](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/23/leonid-buryak-lobanovskiy-dinamo-vospominaniya/leonid-buryak-lobanovskiy-dinamo-vospominaniya-1.webp) ## 🎯 Key Points - In an interview with Sport RBC.UA, Leonid Buryak recalled working with Valeriy Lobanovskyi at Kyiv Dynamo and emphasized that the coach strove for a single mechanism within the team and did not tolerate any "trivialities." - Buryak admitted that in his youth he perceived some of Lobanovskyi's demands differently, and his own coaching experience allowed him to reassess the coach's decisions in a new light. - Despite possible disagreements, Buryak underscores Lobanovskyi's unquestionable authority and the effectiveness of his system. Leonid Buryak, a legend of Kyiv Dynamo and the Ukraine national team, shared his memories of working under Valeriy Lobanovskyi in an exclusive interview with [Sport RBC.UA](https://sport.rbc.ua/ukr/football/teper-yogo-dobre-rozumiyu-leonid-buryak-lobanovskogo-1790145228.html). According to the footballer, the coach built the team's play as a single mechanism and did not tolerate any "trivialities" in it. Buryak emphasized that it was precisely Lobanovskyi's attitude to football that remained the most vivid impression from their time working together. ### A Special Attitude to Football "His attitude to football. There were no trivialities for him. He demanded a great deal from the players and wanted the team to function as a single mechanism," Buryak said. It was this approach, in the player's recollection, that defined the character of the squad: Lobanovskyi strove for maximum discipline and cohesion, where every player understood his role in the overall system. This method, as is noted in football circles, allowed Dynamo to maintain a high level of play for years and achieve stable results. ### A View from the Inside: From Player to Coach Buryak admitted that in his youth he perceived some of the coach's demands simply as "the coach's job." However, his own coaching experience allowed him to look at Lobanovskyi's methods in a new light. "When you are young, you perceive some of those demands simply as the coach's job. But then, once you start coaching yourself, many things become clear in a completely different way," he added. Thus, the perception of the strictness and details that once seemed excessive gradually transformed into an understanding of their practical value. ### Unquestionable Authority According to Buryak, the relationship between the player and the coach was not without disagreements: they could have different views on certain matters. At the same time, Lobanovskyi's authority remained unquestionable for the player. "Of course, we could have different views. But he was a coach whose authority I recognized. He had his own system, and it delivered results," Buryak said. In Buryak's view, the key argument in the coach's favor was precisely the effectiveness of his system. ### Conclusion: Reassessing Decisions over Time Summing up, Buryak noted that today, having gained his own coaching experience, he evaluates those decisions of Lobanovskyi's differently, which in his youth had raised questions. "I think that today I already understand many of his decisions well, which in my youth I might have perceived in a completely different way," the legendary footballer concluded. His remarks became yet another testament to how Lobanovskyi's methods, once criticized, have over time gained recognition as part of the classical school of Ukrainian football. ## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification - ["Now I Understand Him Well": Leonid Buryak on Lobanovskyi and His Decisions](https://sport.rbc.ua/ukr/football/teper-yogo-dobre-rozumiyu-leonid-buryak-lobanovskogo-1790145228.html) - Первичный источник: эксклюзивное интервью Леонида Буряка с прямыми цитатами об отношении Лобановского к футболу, едином механизме команды и переоценке решений наставника после собственного тренерского опыта. - [Buryak: "Lobanovskyi Had the Gift of Uniting the Squad"](https://football.ua/ukraine/22476-burjak-lobanovskyjj-obladal-darom-splachyvat-kollektyv.html) - Контекстное подтверждение темы: Буряк характеризует Лобановского как тренера, способного сплачивать коллектив, что согласуется с цитатой про «единый механизм». - [Buryak: Under Lobanovskyi We Either Won 1:0 or Won 6:0 – There Were No Other Options ...](https://www.ua-football.com/ukrainian/news/1736191665-buryak-pri-lobanovskom-my-libo-pobezhdali-so-schetom-1-0-libo-vyigryvali-6-0-drugih-variantov-ne-bylo.html) - Дополнительный контекст: другая цитата Буряка о результативности системы Лобановского; не противоречит основному тексту, а дополняет его. - [Buryak: Dynamo Has Become Stronger, and It Will Be Even Better Going Forward](https://www.ua-football.com/foreign/champions_league/1753857319-buryak-dinamo-stalo-silnee-dalshe-budet-esche-luchshe.html) - Дополнительный контекст: другая цитата Буряка о результативности системы Лобановского; не противоречит основному тексту, а дополняет его. ## ❓ FAQ ### Q: What did Leonid Buryak call the main thing about working with Valeriy Lobanovskyi? **A:** Buryak noted Lobanovskyi's special attitude to football: there were no trivialities for the coach, he demanded a great deal from the players and wanted the team to function as a single mechanism. ### Q: Why does Buryak evaluate Lobanovskyi's decisions differently now? **A:** According to Buryak, in his youth he perceived some of the demands simply as "the coach's job," and his own coaching experience allowed him to understand and appreciate many of the coach's decisions in a new light. ### Q: Were there any disagreements between Buryak and Lobanovskyi? **A:** Yes, Buryak admitted that they could have different views on certain matters, but he recognized Lobanovskyi's authority unquestionably, noting that the coach had his own system that delivered results.