Jozsef Szabo: "Shakhtar will last for 15 minutes against Marseille. Maybe for half an hour"

Former Dynamo and Ukraine coach Jozsef Szabo has shared his prediction for the Europa League last-16 match between Shakhtar and Marseille.

- Marseille is the undisputed favourite in this match. And the reason for this is our so-called "spring football". In mid-to-late February, all Ukrainian teams are just getting into the rhythm of the game, while European teams have been playing for a long time. I don't believe that Shakhtar's players will be in really good condition for the Europa League match on Thursday. They will be good for 15 minutes. Maybe for half an hour. No more than that. In the second half, the team will sit down. I believe that if Shakhtar cling to a draw, it will be tantamount to a victory for them. Otherwise, the French should win.

- Actually, even at the training camp, Shakhtar showed mediocre results against sometimes even such little-known teams as Hradec Králové (0-2) or Velež Mostar (2-3).

- There is no need to pay attention to the results in friendly matches. It's a futile exercise. All these control matches are purely important for the coach: the squad is being played, some schemes are being tried, the coach is looking at the newcomers, giving them physical activity. This is not about Shakhtar, but also about the off-season and preparation. "Dynamo also lost more than one game to little-known teams during the training camp. And the other day I read that the coach gave them four days off. What does this mean? Shovkovskyi overloaded Dynamo's players.

- What do you think of Marseille?

- I often watch the French Ligue 1, where they have already played several rounds after the New Year (four - ed.). It's a very decent championship, competitive. Although the referees there occasionally help PSG (laughs) . "Marseille is a serious team. And you shouldn't pay attention to the fact that they are currently in a bit of a crisis.

- Let's get back to Shakhtar. In the winter, the Miners were very cheap, spending 24 million on two Brazilians, midfielders Kevin and Marlon Gomez. Given the amount of the transfers, 12 million each, these guys should be working out their contracts from the first official matches, shouldn't they?

- Most likely, Pušić will not give his Brazilian newcomers a chance to play in the game against Marseille. They only joined Shakhtar in the winter, both of them are young. They still need to join the team. Both Kevin and Marlon Gomez are still strangers at Shakhtar, to put it mildly. So, I expect to see the same Shakhtar players in the match against Marseille who played in the last Champions League matches against Antwerp and Porto.

- Last year, there were a lot of questions about Shakhtar's defence. I have read more than one interview where you criticised the Pitmen's defence.

- Nowadays, it is very difficult to buy a quality centre-back, which means it is expensive. In addition, the player should not be young, not an 18-19-year-old, but an adult, let's say. Back when I was coaching Dynamo Kyiv, we played a French team in Paris. We lost then (2 November, group stage of the Champions League in 1994-1995. PSG - Dynamo 1-0 - ed.) So, then French journalists were surprised that I entrusted a place in the defence to young Vashchuk. They said, how can you do that at such a young age? I remember that in those days they called such defenders, central defenders, "cleaners". But it is rare for a young defender to produce results right away.

All of this is to say that I agree that Shakhtar need a good centre-back, yes, but... I don't see who they could buy, if we are talking about players from Ukraine. Both Shakhtar's centre-backs, Yaroslav Rakitskiy and Dmytro Chygrynskiy, are already of a certain age. And they need to look for replacements now. And we shouldn't forget about the defensive area. There is no one playing there for Shakhtar except Taras Stepanenko. He is the only one who works out in the selection, earning yellow cards all the time, while the rest do not. Therefore, I had questions not only about the defence.

- What do you think of the epic with the fair named after Georgy Sudakov, who was traded, bargained for, could not put a price, and in the end pathetically re-signed a contract with a clause of either 100 or 150 million?

- Mudryk's transfer to Chelsea is still on everyone's lips. Everyone saw that it was a real scam! This is a player who, apart from really good speed, has no other qualities. In the Ukrainian Premier League, he had space where he could run, and players from rival teams did not insure each other. Well, this is the Ukrainian championship. But when Mudryk started playing in the Premier League, that was it. In England, Mudryk doesn't have that kind of space. Everyone has already learnt his style of play. It turns out he can do nothing but run. And how much time has passed...

Now Shakhtar want to sell Sudakov for 100 million. No, dear friends. This will not work anymore. After Mudryk's transfer, no one in Europe will buy a player from Shakhtar for 100 million. If someone gives 50 million for Sudakov, it will be good.

- According to you, Mudryk is a kind of Ukrainian Forrest Gump. He's a guy who runs around to run around. And, you know, I agree with you, because I watch almost all the matches of the Blues in the Premier League. But I remember that at one time, even if I saw it only in the chronicles, Oleh Blokhin was a sprinter. His speed did not bother him.

- Oleg was the best player in the USSR! How can you compare Blokhin and Mudryk? Oh, come on... Blokhin had the ball tied to his leg, he made fantastic deceptive moves: a jerk a few metres, a change of trajectory, the defender gets lost, another jerk in the other direction. And Mudryk just kicks the ball forward and runs. Football is not like running a hundred metres, you have to think.

Viktor Ukhov