Ivan Getsko: "It seems that the Ukrainian national team is not led by the head coach"

Former striker of the Ukrainian national team Ivan Getsko spoke about the reasons that, in his opinion, affected the result of the second match of the Ukrainian national team with Scotland (0:0) in the Nations League. The ex-forward of the Ukrainian national team also shared his views on the prospects of its helmsman Oleksandr Petrakov.

- What thoughts came to you after the final whistle in the match Ukraine - Scotland?

- There were many nuances in this game that I did not understand, Getsko said. — Usually in football there are certain rules and concepts - in particular, that the winning squad does not change. In the match with Armenia, which preceded the meeting with Scotland on Tuesday, everything was fine. Those players who started in Yerevan showed that they are no worse than those who are considered our "stars".

What happened in Krakow? And the same thing happened as a week earlier - in the first game with the Scots in Glasgow, in which our team lost with a score of 0:3. We saw that in the second match with Scotland, the same people entered the field as part of the blue-yellows, who were given the opportunity to rest in order to restore their strength.

It seems that the team is led not by the head coach, but by Yarmolenko and the elite of our football, who believes that she is a little higher than everyone else. So we got what we got. In general, we were in no way superior to the Scots. There were scoring chances both for us and for the opponent. However, we, unfortunately, did not implement ours. Actually, even before the game, I said that we would not beat Scotland, and the score would be 0:0 - for some reason I was sure that our team would not be able to score. And so it eventually happened.

- What were you guided by when making such a forecast?

- I understood: if there were personnel changes, then you should not wait for a successful repetition. Some people came out with the Armenians in our squad, and others with the Scots. It was impossible to change anything in the game with the same substitutions that Alexander Petrakov made at the end of the second half. It was too late to resort to them 5-6 minutes before the end of the match. This should have been done after the first half, replacing the same Yarmolenko. He was "blown away", and he should have been the first to give up his place on the field to another partner.

Malinovsky was not in the best condition either - that's for sure. Why not change players who are no longer in the right condition, say, in the 60th minute? But in no case was it impossible to change Mudrik, I was shocked by this. After all, it was he who was that bright spot that was trying to do something. As for the "fresh" players, neither Yaremchuk nor Tsygankov entered the game at all. They simply did not have enough time for this.

But I repeat: the winning line-up does not change. Petrakov had to be given the opportunity to enter the field in the starting lineup for those players who played against the Armenians. In that meeting, they played at a serious level with good movement. It was not worth it to “break” it by putting up a different line-up. My firm opinion: in the duel with Scotland, there should not have been two players in the "start" - Yarmolenko and Malinovsky. So that both, sitting on the bench, realize that by coming on as a substitute in the second half, when everyone is tired, they will strengthen the game with lightness and freshness and help decide the fate of the match. However, it happened differently...

- Could our team count on a favorable result in the game against the "Tartan Army"?

- She had moments for scoring. Kick the ball and it would be a completely different game. This applies to Yarmolenko, Dovbik, Stepanenko... If you are such a great football player (meaning Yarmolenko - author's note) that you even have the right to lead the team, then score the ball in the first minutes - and remove all questions. Then the game would have had a completely different character. It's a pity for Dovbik - the guy is trying, but he got offside twenty times.

I think it's a lot for a striker. Although it should be noted that he was at the forefront of the attack and there was sharpness on his part. But no more than that. Stepanenko had three real reasons to excel. Twice he did not hit the target after heading, and once after a successful rebound of the ball he shot from his working leg, but did not hit the "frame". I think that of the three moments, at least one Taras should have realized. As for the actions of other units of the Ukrainian national team, you saw that things were not going well from behind either.

The Scots felt confident, kept the ball and controlled the course of the game. There was a segment when they even had an advantage. Yes, and they had their moments. We did not show anything supernatural in Krakow, playing the same way as in the first match. In Glasgow, the opponent understood that he had one chance in a thousand to come out on top and try to keep it. He took advantage of this chance: by applying pressure and persistently moving forward, the Scots made our team make mistakes and scored three goals. In the second meeting, they understood that it didn’t make sense for them to tear and throw, so they focused solely on getting the desired result. And they succeeded. Given the above, we can state that one point in the duel with our team was rightfully won by Scotland.

- Who, in your opinion, was clearly missing in the game with the Scots?

“You can say whatever you want about this. For example, what was missing from Zinchenko, a key high-level player who could strengthen the game. Although we all saw how the same Malinovsky "strengthened" us. The man, who spent almost the entire match on the field, did not strike a single shot at the Scots' goal! And this is about an attacking player who was a "free artist" and did not engage in defensive actions. True, Malinovsky was a creator, having made good passes several times. However, for a player of this level, this is too little.

That is why I see nothing surprising in the fact that such players do not get into their teams. I will say more: in the first match against Scotland, within 15 minutes, I counted thirteen (!) passes to a foreign player. A high-level master has no right to make so many mistakes. Malinovsky's actions in Glasgow, to be honest, shocked me.

- The Ukrainian national team could not cope with the task of taking first place in the group, which would have made it possible to get a ticket to Division A of the Europa League. Do you think that together with the fiasco in the playoffs of the 2022 World Championship, this failure can affect the confidence of the players?

“Football players are well aware of the significance of all these tournaments. As they are aware that such a chance is given to a person once in a lifetime. Consequently, most of the players took to the field and understood that in these three September matches their future fate regarding performances in foreign top clubs could be decided.

However, if they have not found motivation and strength in themselves, then nothing can be done. As they say in such cases, "May those who can". You can't jump above your head, no matter how much you want to. Regarding Alexander Petrakov, I can say that he wanted and tried to do everything in his power to make the result of the team's performance better. However, I am sorry that he nevertheless went on about with our leaders, who were supposed to take the initiative into their own hands and "pull" the team. It didn't work out the way it should have. This is not clear to me.

- How big can the leaders of Ukrainian football have a credit of trust in Oleksandr Petrakov?

- And we have no one else to appoint to this position. Not a single normal coach will come from abroad, because the situation in Ukraine is now so tense that no one wants to work in our team. Even if we assume that such an option is possible, then it is one thing to invite an authoritative and charismatic specialist, and quite another just a foreigner. Such a high position as the helmsman of the Ukrainian national team should have such a foreign coach who is able to understand the mentality of our football. One that could influence such players as Zinchenko and the same Malinovsky. Unlike foreigners, just give our specialists the opportunity to lead the main team - and everyone will want to!

Everyone will say: everything will be fine in the team, we will change the worldview, we will work with a different, more efficient and high-quality approach. But in fact, in Ukrainian football there is no such coach who could make a real top team out of the national team. The return of Andriy Shevchenko? This option today is not even worth considering, because they and Andrei Pavelko now have the wrong relationship. If we talk about the return of Sergei Rebrov to Ukraine, then I do not think that in the near future he will leave Al Ain and leave the prosperous United Arab Emirates in the current situation in our country. In my opinion, this is unlikely.

- What do you think, is it worth the UAF to change Alexander Petrakov for another helmsman of the national team?

— In my opinion, everything will remain as it was. The best candidate, who currently holds the position of the head coach of the Ukrainian national team, cannot be found now.

Vyacheslav Kulchitsky