Former Dynamo forward Viktor Leonenko expressed his opinion on the situation with the strikers of the Ukrainian national team ahead of the Euro 2024 play-off qualifying match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Viktor Leonenko- Did Rebrov call up the best forwards?
-Rebrov has called up the best players at the moment. Do we have anyone else? What difference does it make who he called up if Dovbyk will play anyway. I think Rebrov will look at the physical condition, besides, Dovbyk scored more than any of our strikers. In the second half, Sikan or Vanat will replace him.
- Why not Yaremchuk?
- Because Yaremchuk scored too many goals for Valencia, and I'll keep silent about Brugge. His goal to Real Madrid? Well, what now, did life work out? He scored only four goals in 23 matches. I think the national team doesn't need him at all now, because he's not fully ready.
He is sick at Valencia, then plays, then doesn't play, then isn't ready, then something else. Yaremchuk is like Mudryk in this respect. It seems that Valencia are working as tractor drivers, since they signed Yaremchuk after his failure at Brugge. He didn't show anything at Benfica either, but it's harder to play in Portugal, so we can make a discount.
- Vanat is now the best scorer in the Ukrainian league, that is, he leads the table of the most accurate.
- Don't tell me "the best scorer in the Ukrainian league". We already had one of them - Kulach - who turned out to be useless. Vanat is still the same.
We have no idea who plays where and a low level of players who can hardly be called footballers. In order to please the fans in some way, the Ukrainian champion needs to get into the Conference League, and the Champions League is out of the question. In the UPL, it's impossible to single anyone out.
Do you think Vanat, the UPL's top scorer, has a lot of offers now? I think not. Did he prove himself in European competitions? No, he hasn't. He constantly bumps into defenders, gets incomprehensible yellows and reds, breaks goalkeepers.
- What is your opinion of Sikan?
- He is the same as Vanat, only slower. They are both weak.
- Shakhtar fans bash Sikan a lot, demanding that Pušić play Traore in the starting line-up.
- I think they still can't forgive Sikan for his miss on an empty net in the match against Celtic, although he did everything right at that moment, trying to pass to Bondarenko, but his technique failed him. I think Traore is stronger than Sikan, although he looks a bit heavy. Traore is better at tackling balls than Sikan.
- Dovbyk hasn't scored for Girona for eight games in a row. It's a wake-up call.
- It's just that we like to make stars out of players who have not yet developed. We need stability, not to score 20 goals in ten matches and then sit without any effective action for eight rounds. If I hadn't scored eight games in a row, Sabo would have gone mad, and Hryhorii Surkis would have taken me to the woods.
- Is Dovbyk a top striker or not?
- He is a promising striker, but we need to work with him a lot. Dovbyk hasn't won anything yet and hasn't done anything to be considered a top forward. You need to score over two or three years, not just shoot and disappear.
- But Dovbyk scored a lot at Dnipro-1 and became the top scorer in the UPL.
- He did well to score at Dnipro-1, but a lot of his goals were from the penalty spot, and even controversial ones. This point smears his scoring.
- Do you see a second Leonenko among Ukrainian forwards?
- It's not for me to say, but most likely there isn't one and there won't be one in the near future. If one appears, I will tell you. So far, none of our strikers has anywhere near the starting speed I had.
- The leader of Bosnia is the aged Djeko. Is he still able to spoil the nerves of our defenders?
- Djeko is dangerous in the game on the second floor, from set pieces and with his experience. Therefore, Ukraine needs to commit fewer fouls. Shakhtar were also preparing for Aubameyang, but somehow they didn't get ready. The same thing could happen with Jacko.
There are no forwards of Jacko's level in Ukraine. Dovbyk hasn't reached it yet and he has a long way to go. Jacko, unlike Dovbyk, proved himself in serious clubs, not in Girona.
I want Ukraine to make it through. We have more chances, but everything happens in football, from injuries to refereeing, which equals the odds. Plus, we play away from home. I will be rooting for Ukraine and wish us success.
Andriy Piskun
