Jozsef Szabo: 'Nations League is just a substitute for friendly games'

Former coach of Dynamo Kyiv and the Ukrainian national team, Jozsef Szabo, shared his expectations from the Scotland-Ukraine match as part of the postponed first round of the Nations League.

- It seems to me that the chances in this match are 50/50. Petrakov complains that many players of the main team are out of order. I want to reassure - nothing terrible happened. The League of Nations is just a substitute for friendly games. Moreover, in these matches you can check the guys who do not always play in the first team.

Most Scottish footballers play every third or fourth day in the Premier League. Therefore, they will not be very fresh. We must take advantage of this. Plus, we are better in technical terms and our footballers are more skilled. Scotland is a strong, strong team. They receive us at home in front of their fans who will drive them forward, and the most important thing for our team is not to flinch. They will play long passes behind the back of the defenders, and not through a short pass. There will be a lot of struggle. This is what they are strong at.

There may be two tactics. We will start pressing immediately after losing the ball, or we will move to the middle of the field and there we will already meet the enemy. Both tactics have the right to life. We have Yaremchuk. After he moved to Brugge, his efforts are visible. Moreover, he always showed a good game in the national team. I will also note Yarmolenko, however, I did not see how he plays with Rebrov, but he is the leader of the national team. I expect him to score in this match. Mudrik will look good with Scotland, because the opponent will open zones for him. The Scots will not sit at their gates with ten men with home fans, they will try to attack. They will have a lot of failures in defense, and Mudrik, due to his speed, will have to run away somewhere.

Their players will immediately try to cover us after losing the ball. There will be a lot of struggle and long passes. The main thing is not to give in to them in this component. This is such an old English football. The current Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City play differently - in passing and with ball control. I note that the Scots are not very good at defending themselves. Need to take advantage of this.

Our losses? Zinchenko and Shaparenko are the main players in the mid lane. Buschan is the main goalkeeper. Of course, this is a loss for us. The absence of Sable is not so critical. I don't know what Malinovsky looks like now. Apparently, he has some kind of conflict with the Atalanta coach. In the last game, he went out for five minutes. I was already surprised - how is it? After all, he scores, gives back, is efficient. I think he will leave Atalanta in the winter, especially since there is a demand for him.

I don't know if Tsygankov is ready now. They write that he was not released from Dynamo, so he plays carelessly. But a football player cannot enter the field and just stand for 90 minutes! Either go out on the field and give yourself to the game, or don't go out at all! I used to say that Tsygankov is growing as a footballer and will leave for the Premier League, but now I have changed my mind. We see how football players are met in England and Italy - they hit all the heels, do not allow the ball to be received. These championships do not suit Tsygankov. In general, I don’t advise him to go to the Premier League, there is very tough football. I think the best option for Tsygankov is Belgium, Holland, maybe Germany.

Forecast? We will not have four or five main players. It's too much. Therefore, I will risk betting on a draw,” said Jozef Jozefovich.