The national team of Ukraine will start the selection with a match against England. Two months ago, there were no questions about the composition. There was an obvious line-up for Wembley. Injuries, declines in the handicap will add to the thoughts of the acting coach of the national team. It is necessary to decide on players in several positions.
Ruslan Rotan (photo: uaf.ua)Goalkeeper. The main goalkeeper of the national team was Heorhiy Bushchan. He played at the last Euro. Was the main one during the qualification for the WC. Andriy Shevchenko and Oleksandr Petrakov entrusted this position to the Dynamo goalkeeper.
Zhora underwent an operation to remove a herniated disc. God willing, he will return to the general group after the national team matches.
Shakhtar goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin became the hero of the matches against Rennes in the 1/16 finals of the Europa League. Despite the age of 21, Trubin already has the status of the main goalkeeper of the club, the youth team, and the Champions League. Only after "Renne" did he become a little unreliable. Made a mistake in the match against Mynai. Missed 7 at De Kuip from Feyenoord. If he "swim" in England, then the national team may be hurt. There is an assumption that psychologically Trubin may not be ready for this game.
His competitor Andriy Lunin is a deep substitute of Real Madrid. He only plays when Thibaut Courtois is out. The last time this happened was in the fall, when the Belgian goalkeeper had problems with the sciatic nerve. Lunin didn't spoil the porridge, but he didn't show a super game.
To summarize, Trubin has an advantage in game tone, and Lunin has psychological stability. Against the youth team of "Branford", Rotan allowed Luna to play a half. I think that he wanted to see him in the game, because Trubin knows well from working together in the youth team.
Central defender. Ilya Zabarny is not yet ready to play. In this way, the pair of the national team of Ukraine, Zabarniy-Matvienko, broke up. It is necessary to find a replacement for the former leader of the "Dynamo" defense.
Everything is not very simple here, because you have to face Harry Kane. The Tottenham striker scored a goal in the last match against Italy, we got from him in the Euro quarter-finals.
To shut Harry down, you need to play well on the second floor, to be physically challenged. These are definitely not Mykola Matvienko's strongest points. Therefore, a lot will depend on the choice of his partner.
Rotan called up the main defenders of "Dnipro-1" Eduard Sarapiy and Oleksandr Svatko. Dnipro residents are not very impressive in spring. There is little left of the autumn sample. The defensive line isn't particularly impressive either.
Svatok scored for "Branford" from a corner. But this component has never been his strong point. He can read the game better, has leadership qualities. Sarapiy has not yet played for the national team. But only in this season did he declare himself.
The general problem for Svatk and Sarapius is obvious - they have never played against forwards of this class and against teams of this level. Do not have a single match for the national team. Here you can also add the stadium and the number of spectators. I don't know if they are ready for this.
All is not well with Denys Popov from Dynamo. The level of his game wants better. "Dynamo" has conceded 3 goals in three UPL matches and has played to zero only once. Denys does not look like the new leader of the defense after the departure of Zabarny.
For a power struggle, he is best suited to play against Kane. But the game form and club affairs want to be better.
In the match against Branford, Rotan used the Svatok-Matvienko pair in the first half. Popov and Sarapiy played in the second half. The level of the opponent did not give an opportunity to check the reliability of the defense. If they play Matvienko with Svatko, it looks very risky. Popov has more experience.
Selection of wingers. Rotan needs to determine how to properly use Andrii Yarmolenko, Viktor Tsygankov and Mykhailo Mudryk at the winger position.
Yarmolenko is the team captain. He has not played for his club in recent weeks due to injury and was looking to recover for the match against England. From Friday in the general group. So there is a chance to play. But it is clear that this will not be a complete match. Even with a game shape, Andriy could not play full matches.
Tsygankov moved to "Girona", where he is currently performing successfully. Became one of the leaders of the Catalan team. Scores and assists regularly in recent matches. Currently on an emotional rise due to the birth of a son.
Mudryk moved to Chelsea for 70 million plus bonuses. He has one assist for the new club. The Ukrainian does not always have a stable playing practice.
It is not easy to determine which of the three will end up on the bench. Yarmolenko is the captain, leader and symbol of the national team. He has been in the national team for a long time. Has authority. For the acting coach of the national team, it is somehow not right to put such a football player in the reserve.
Tsygankov does not know how to intensify the game. Now the former Dynamo is in fantastic form. But he never particularly knew how to successfully enter the game during the game. Viktor had such a role during Petrakov's work. But it's not his. He is not alone with such problems.
More than anything, the game at Wembley will be built around Mudryk and his speed. The national team will look for space, and Mykhailo's sprinting qualities can become the basis here. Playing on equal footing with England is very risky.
I believe that a possible option here could be to go into the game without a pure forward, or with a false nine. The game form of Roman Yaremchuk and Artem Dovbyk is not very convincing at the moment. They don't have much of a chance against John Stones and Harry Maguire. Maybe then it is worth trying the Wise Man in the role of a false nine? Mykhailo already had such an experience at Chelsea. Tsygankov scored his two goals in the last match against Rayo, which the forward scored from close range in one touch. Our trio of Yarmolenko, Tsygankov, and Mudryk can try to confuse the opponent. It will look more interesting than trying to ram the opponent's defense with Dovbyk and Yaremchuk.
Serhii Tyshchenko
