The head coach of "Minaya" Volodymyr Sharan predicted the starting lineup of the Ukrainian national team for the match against England in the qualifying round of Euro 2024, which will be held next Sunday, March 26 in London.
Vladimir Sharan. Photo by Yu.Goalkeepers: Andrey Lunin (Real Madrid), Anatoly Trubin (Shakhtar), Nikita Shevchenko (Alexandria)
- Trubin will definitely play. He is a good goalkeeper. Seven missed goals from Feyenoord? Every goalkeeper should be able to cope with it. I think he`s psychologically solved it and everything will be ok. It's not his fault in those goals, maybe except for one.
Defenders: Alexander Karavaev, Denis Popov (both Dynamo), Nikolay Matvienko (Shakhtar), Vitaly Mikolenko (Everton), Ilya Zabarny (Bournemouth), Eduard Sobol (Strasbourg), Alexander Svatok, Eduard Sarapiy (both Dnipro-1), Denis Miroshnichenko (Alexandria).
- Of course, against England we would like to see Zabarny, but he has missed a lot because of injury, he hasn`t played for a long time, so I think that Matvienko will be paired with Popov or Svatok. Against the English, Popov may play, he has a more confident head, and plays with the standards. But I`m more inclined to Svatok as he can lead the defense. I judge by the Ukrainian championship.
Mikolenko will play on the left in defense. Vitaliy is a quality player, he is good in fighting, the more so he plays in the APL and is familiar with English soccer.
On the right there is a choice between Karavaev and Miroshnichenko. Miroshnichenko is well-known to me, I invited him to Alexandria. He is psychologically stable, but Karavaev is more experienced. Everything will depend on whether Rotan will risk letting in Miroshnichenko, a debutant, in such an important game.
I personally like Miroshnichenko because he plays more offensively. Our national team likes to control the ball, getting out of defence by short and middle pass, and Miroshnichenko looks better in this aspect than Karavaev, so I put my money on him.
Also, he has a good way out of the defense to attack, he can hold the ball and accurately pass to his teammate. In terms of one-on-one fighting, playing one-on-one and head-to-head, Karavaev looks better. In terms of physical conditions at the moment both players are equal.
Midfielders: Taras Stepanenko, Georgiy Sudakov, Artem Bondarenko (all Shakhtar), Serhiy Sidorchuk, Vitaliy Buyalsky (both Dynamo), Alexander Pikhalyonok (Dnipro 1), Andrey Yarmolenko (Al-Ain), Ruslan Malinovskyi (Marseille), Alexander Zinchenko (Arsenal), Viktor Tsygankov (Girona), Mikhail Mudrik (Chelsea), Yevgen Konoplyanka (Krakovia).
- Knowing Ruslan Petrovich Rotan and his attacking soccer, I do not think that with the England national team we will play with two supporting defensive players. My opinion is that Stepanenko will play the bottom prop and top left - Zinchenko. Oleksandr is the leader of the national team and Arsenal. He is a beauty in this regard. We just can't do without him!
The only question is who will play in the center on the right - will it be Malinovskiy or Pikhalyonok? If Dovbik will play, it is better to put Pikhalenok. They have a great understanding. But Malinovskyy is also a great player, he plays in a good team in a strong championship. Against England, we will not be able to attack and control the ball all the time, we will have to think about defense, and Malinovskyy is more aggressive player, with a good shot from long range. I think Malinovskyy will be put in the starting lineup against England. He has experience and chemistry with Zinchenko and Stepanenko. And Pikhalenok will be available in the second half as a sub, he is very good now at Dnipro-1.
The right winger will play Tsygankov. Victor is very good now - he passed the adaptation period in Girona, scoring, giving, giving. And most importantly, he has speed. These factors give us confidence. We haven`t seen Yarmolenko for a long time, so it`s hard for me to judge about him, besides, he is just recovering from injury.
On the left side Mudrik will definitely play. I do not see any alternative to him.
Forwards: Roman Yaremchuk ("Bruges"), Artem Dovbik ("Dnipro-1").
- At the moment Dovbik looks better and more stable than Yaremchuk. I am sure that Dovbik will be in the starting lineup. However, we should keep in mind that the UPL is weaker than the Belgian league. In any case, Dovbik is a great forward.
Composition of the Ukraine national team according to Sharan: Trubin - Mykolenko, Matvienko, Svatok, Miroshnichenko - Stepanenko - Mudrik, Zinchenko, Malinovsky, Tsygankov - Dovbik.
