Andrii Demchenko, the Ukrainian coach of Georgian Dynamo Batumi, shared his reaction to the draw for the Nations League in the 2024/25 season, which saw the Czech Republic, Albania and Georgia become Ukraine's group rivals.
Андрій Демченко- Andrii Anatoliiovych, how would you assess the draw for the Nations League for Ukraine? What are our chances of reaching the elite division?
- A decent group, all equal teams. The Albanians, Czechs and Georgians can be a surprise. But for me, Ukraine is the favourite. We have a good coach and I expect the team with Rebrov to progress. The Ukrainian national team now has a good mix of youth and experience.
- What do you think of the other teams?
- I think the most uncomfortable opponent will be the Czech Republic, they have good players. The Albanians are "horny", in a word, men - they fight to the last. Georgia shouldn't be discounted either. All opponents should be respected, but the class of Ukraine's players is the highest in this group.
- In addition to Georgia, we could have been drawn from the fourth basket with Turkey, Greece and Kazakhstan. Is Georgia the best option?
- Turkey stands apart, it is the strongest team in the fourth basket. Batumi is located next to Turkey, sometimes I manage to watch Super League matches, and I can say that it is a strong championship. Qualified foreign specialists and legionnaires came there, and the level of local players began to grow rapidly.
Georgia, Greece, and Kazakhstan are all teams of the same level. Kazakhstan is now on the rise, and this team is no gift either. A new coach came in and made a splash. They made a lot of noise in the Euro qualifiers.
- Tell us about the Georgian national team, how does this team play?
- Personally, I don't like the defensive football that Willy Sagnol sets for the team. From the very first days, he chose a defensive scheme - 5-4-1 or 5-3-2. Sagnol motivates this by the fact that he does not have fast and old centre-backs.
But the Georgian national team has a very strong attacking force, they have great guys up front, so I don't like the fact that Sanyol is playing them from a defensive position. The Ukrainian national team can play with Georgians and beat them.
- So we'll have to break down the opponent's strong defence?
- That's exactly right. Georgia will sit in their penalty area, closing off free zones, and there will be a positional game. We have individually strong players who can play one-on-one, so I don't think Georgia will cause us many problems. But anything can happen in football, you need to respect your opponent and prepare well for the match.
- Which players can you single out in the Georgian national team that we should be wary of?
- The best footballer in Georgia is, of course, Napoli's Kvaratskhelia. I would also mention Davitashvili from Bordeaux, Mikautadze, who plays in Mecca on loan from Ajax. There are good wingers and full-backs. For example, Azarov and Gocholeishvili from Shakhtar, who include wingers.
- What is the weakness of this Georgian team?
- These are two experienced central defenders - Kvirkvelia and Kashia. They are old guys, all over 30, and they have low speed. Our team must take advantage of this.
- Who is called up from your team to the Georgian national team?
- Right-back Mamuchashvili, earlier Gio Tsitaishvili was also called up.
- Can you tell us about them?
- These are the leading players of Dynamo Batumi. Mamuchashvili is a stable, strong guy, a very strong footballer. No wonder he is constantly called up to the national team. Now Gocholeishvili plays more in his position in the national team, but I am sure that this year Mamuchashvili will be a good competitor for him, he is growing before our eyes.
For a long time, Tsitaishvili was on loan, but now the situation has settled down, and we have entrusted him with a place in the main squad. Gio is getting a lot of game practice, you could say he is recharging his battery and regaining his former conditioning. He is a talented guy.
- Why wasn't Tsitaishvili called up to the Georgian national team for the last matches?
- I don't know. Maybe there were stronger players or the head coach was not impressed with Tsitaishvili. But Gio is working well in my team, I'm happy with him.
- Do you think you can buy his contract from Dynamo Kyiv?
- Dynamo Batumi is more of a springboard to Europe. If we see that we can resell him for more money than we bought him for, then why not? Football is also a business. We'll see how it goes. First, we need him to play consistently, score goals and his price tag will start to rise.
- From which player of the Ukrainian national team do you expect a bright game in the Nations League?
- We now have a lot of players playing in the top championships - Zabarnyi, Mykolenko, Zinchenko, Mudryk, Yaremchuk, Malinowski, Tsygankov, Dovbyk, Trubin, Lunin. There are also good players from the Ukrainian championship - Sudakov, Matvienko, the ageless Stepanenko, who is still at the level I like him very much.
Can you imagine what kind of gang we have? I think that under Rebrov's leadership, the national team will become even stronger every year. Now we have not a team, but a dream. Every coach wants to work with such material. Everyone plays abroad, in leading roles.
The only exception is Mudryk, but he is still a young guy, looking for himself. He jumped a lot of steps when he moved from Shakhtar to Chelsea. It is difficult to adjust in such a short period of time. But Mudryk is a good guy, he fights, he struggles. I like him.
Andriy Piskun
