Former Ukraine national team defender Volodymyr Mikitin commented to Team1 on today's confrontation between Zorya and Gent in the Conference League.
Vladimir Mikitin- The Luhansk side found themselves in a fairly even group. Although unlike their opponents - Gent, Maccabi, who are leading in the championships of their countries, and Breidablik is third, Zorya's players are not visible right now. In my opinion, the fight is expected to be fierce and Valeriy Kriventsov's wards should tune up to win a pass to the next round.
- In your opinion, why Zorya started unsuccessfully in the Ukrainian championship?
- There are several components here. Firstly, because of the Russian aggression Zorya has no opportunity to play and train at home. Secondly, the team left a group of leading players led by Nazariy Rusin, who moved to English Sunderland, and it is difficult to find a quick equivalent replacement for them. Thirdly, because of the frequent changes on the coaching staff, because it takes more than one month for the players to get imbued with the game philosophy of the new leader.
- Will the new coach Valeriy Kryventsov be able to stabilise the game of Zorya, which is still resembling a swinging game?
- He is a competent specialist, and I had the opportunity to make sure that in his previous team, "Metalist 1925", he, as they say, brick by brick put Slobozhans game, which still brings dividends. I think that he will be able to do it in "Zoria", provided that he is given time.
- Now let's return to today's confrontation with Gent. How do you assess the chances of the opponents?
- Before the starting whistle they are always 50-50. And once on the football field, everything is decided by the performance skills of the participants. Who better of them fulfils the instructions of the leaders. Gent is well known to Ukrainian football fans, because at one time its colours were defended by our fellow countryman Roman Yaremchuk. And it was thanks to successful performances for a modest Belgian club that he managed to gain a foothold in the national team of Ukraine, received good press and was sold to Portuguese Benfica. I am sure that the young players of the current Gent also dream to pass such a path to recognition as the leader of the Ukrainian national team. And one of the reasons to loudly declare themselves is to play well today against Zorya.
However, in a similar situation and players of "Zorya", among which are promising - with experience of playing for the youth national team of Ukraine. There is a scoring legionnaire Guerrero. So, the opponents will be very motivated, and we will witness an interesting and tense confrontation. Especially since the opponents have different tactical schemes. We will see which of the leaders is more cunning.
Of course, I would like Zorya to start the group stage with a victory today. I remember that recently in the qualifying round of the Europa League, the Luhansk side lost in the away match against Czech Slavia in all components. However, a week later they almost took revenge with the right score. Consequently, they know how to draw the right conclusions from failures. I hope that during the preparation for today's game with Ghent, the Luhansk side have worked productively on eliminating vulnerabilities and will go to the football field of the stadium in Lublin in a fighting shape and determined to win.
Vasily MIKHAILOV
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