Setanta Sports commentator and journalist Ihor Boyko commented on Ukraine's defeat in Glasgow (0:3) on his Telegram channel.
Ihor Boyko"Aleksandr Petrakov himself said after the match. He also said that it was also his fault. The football players did not pass the test, but the coach is still to blame. However, in defining his mistake, Petrakov was not quite right: the mistake was not that he trusted them, not that he did not prepare, but that he put them all together.
Both Bondar, Pihalyonok and Mudryk actually played their first match when there were demands on them. The match against Ireland in the summer did not matter at all due to the fact that there were only substitutes. No one took it seriously then.
Now you can search for claims. They are all on the surface.
Wise man. The louder they talk about the Wise Man, the more attention is paid to him by rivals. Before his injury, Patterson did not retreat a single step from the Ukrainian winger, then he was attacked by two and sometimes three. Such close supervision is a recognition of his abilities, but also a very serious test.
It was difficult for the wise man at the beginning, and towards the end of the meeting he was already lost and even confused. Just a few good moves in almost minutes and no cheating. What he said before the match - Mudryk is currently a football player who best demonstrates his abilities in a small part of the game. He will do as much in 15 minutes as in 90 minutes, but his actions in 15 minutes do not need to be multiplied by 6 to get the result of what he will do in 90 minutes.
Pikhalyonok. Pace-pace-pace. And especially the pace in the second part of the match, when the trio of poppies in the center of the field runs and presses, and that's all.
Cooper. The central defender, at the moment when he is pushed, must stay on his feet until the end, and not fall, lifting these same legs up. This is not a recommendation, not a rule - it is the law.
When Bondar has the ball and there is no one around, he can do everything, but in everything else there are an incredible number of problems.
Dovbyk. He worked a lot not only for himself and his statistics at Hampden Park, but also for the team. However, he lacked decisiveness in the attack. The striker should be a goal threat, but he was stuck in a battle with Hendry and McKenna, where he didn't have much of a chance.
There is a stupid unwritten rule in Ukrainian sports and football in particular: we have to show that we are not worse than them. Actually, that's why Ukraine always plays better against the stronger ones, because it's better with words than conventional Armenians. In the context of Dovbyk, he wanted to show that he can push with the powerful Scottish centre-backs. So what?
Mykhailichenko. There are fewer requirements here because he played under pressure and did everything he needed to do for a backup who won't get a bigger role anyway. In this case, "didn't fail" is enough.
It is clear that it is wrong to criticize only the youth and reservists. Leading players like Yarmolenko, Stepanenko and Malinovsky also failed to rally the team, but this post is only about those who got their chance.
In addition, the coach is still to blame. Is there any point in arguing with Petrakov?
For example, both goals after standards are the fault of the coaching staff - they did not react to the appearance of Dykes. They did not close the sky.
The result is, in fact, qualitative enough to draw conclusions. 0-1 would be an unfortunate failure, and 0-3 with three shots on goal is a failure. It is much more effective to draw conclusions this way.
The attitude towards the match in general is kind of strange, towards sports in general. If they win, well done, but if they lose, it's okay - there are more important events where victories are needed. Who knows if it's good or bad. Maybe both good and bad. But it is,'' Boyko wrote.
