Well-known coach and expert Oleh Fedorchuk shared his impressions of the Euro 2024 qualifying match between Malta and Ukraine (1:3).
Oleg Fedorchuk- If we take the whole game, not the result, it left a mixed impression, " said the specialist. - First of all, let me tell you what caught my eye. Despite the warnings of the coaching staff, our players felt superiority, especially in the centre of the pitch.
Secondly, the weak point of our national team is the play of the centre-backs - in particular, Matvienko. His actions when the ball was conceded are very telling in this regard. The difference in distance of forty metres with a Malta player he should have reduced. If it did not happen, it means that Nikolay is not in the best shape and his speed qualities leave much to be desired. Unfortunately, we have no alternative - and that's a misfortune.
- The coaching staff doesn`t have such a great choice of centre-backs, and then the experienced Serhiy Krivtsov got injured at the wrong time....
- Exactly so. And the central axis of defence is the link, on which the result depends very much. And goalkeeper Trubin, unlike in the game against North Macedonia, looked weak in the match against the Maltese. If on Saturday he was a hero, on Tuesday he became an anti-hero. He conceded a goal and it was obvious that he was nervous.
Head coach Sergei Rebrov was also nervous. It seems to me that against Malta he put too many players who played in the previous match against North Macedonia and therefore did not recover. In my opinion, Sudakov and Zinchenko could have played better in the centre of the pitch. Everything together gave such nervousness.
But the result was helped to a certain extent by the referee, who actually could not have awarded an eleven-metre penalty against Malta. After all, the game moment that preceded it was purely at the referee's discretion. The first ball that flew into the "frame" of the home team was a gift. Therefore, I will say straightforwardly: I did not like the game.
- So, you think that the result 3:1 just by the game does not look convincing?
- Yes. And Rebrov himself said after the match that games against not too strong opponents are always difficult. This is an indicator of class, not skill. The team, which has a higher level, should play more confident and stable.
We always fail in the second game, and this problem has not disappeared in the Ukrainian national team for ten years. It largely depends on the bench. I thought that Serhiy Rebrov would resort to more rotation. The players who did not play against the North Macedonians or spent little playing time in that meeting would be not only "fresher", but also more motivated. However, the head coach did not do so and only thanks to circumstances that did not directly depend on our national team, we managed to win three points. I am referring to the mistakes of Malta's centre-backs. At the same time, we must realise that the Maltese before the meeting with Ukraine also played a tough match - with the Italians. And it is a bit disappointing.
Vyacheslav Kulchytskyy
