Famous Ukrainian coach Oleh Fedorchuk shared his thoughts on the situation with the defenders of the Ukrainian national team ahead of the Euro 2024 play-off qualifying match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- Are you surprised by anyone among the players called up to the defensive line?
- Absolutely not, except for Taloverov. He was probably called up for the future. Rebrov is a long-term national team coach and already thinks ahead. Although, Rebrov doesn't have much choice. We have only three sources of players: legionnaires, Dynamo and Shakhtar.
- Did Mykhailychenko from Polissia really deserve the call-up?
- Two or three players are always called up in order to inspire and give others a signal that the coaching staff is watching everyone. Mykhailychenko is one of them. I didn't notice any great performances from him at Polissia, especially as the Zhytomyr team didn't prepare well for the season.
Dubinchak: Still, Mykhailichenko is a decent and tougher defender. Dubinchak is a very attacking player. But we have a problem in defence.
- What is it?
- The problem with wing players, both at Dynamo and Shakhtar. This problem has existed for five to seven years. As a rule, foreign players play this position in the national team.
- On the right are players from our league, Konoplya and Karavayev.
- They are more attacking players, and our national team does not always play in such a way that we can field attacking defenders. There should always be a defender on hand who can play reliably in defence. In Shakhtar's game against Marseille, Konoplya ran forward well, but the balls were missed from his area and Gocholeishvili. Reliability in defence is not Konoplya and Karavayev's best quality.
- Rebrov called Karavayev to the main team list and Tymchyk to the reserve list, and only then transferred him to the first team. Why?
- Tymchyk is a very injured player, he has few long series in the squad. This always worries a coach, especially the national team coach, who has no time to experiment. That's why, first of all, they call up those who are less prone to injury. Moreover, Rebrov is a graduate of the Dynamo school, and Lobanovsky's main style is to keep the squad stable.
- Why do you think Rebrov doesn't call up Bezkorovainyi, who is doing well in Kryvbas?
- Bezkorovainyi did not impress in the second part of the season. Even in the game against Obolon, there are questions about him, Obolon created quite a few chances through his area. But I think Bezkorovainyi is definitely in Rebrov's virtual cage.
- But Bezkorovainyi was not called up to the national team before, when he played consistently at Kryvbas.
- He is no longer a young player to be simply encouraged by a call-up. Bezkorovainyi has leadership qualities, and if he is called up, he should be used. And then who to replace: Zabarnyi, who has proven himself well in the Premier League, or Bondar, who needs to be given the opportunity to recover from serious injuries? Besides, chemistry is always important in defence.
- Which of the defenders, apart from Bezkorovainyi, is close to the national team?
- Only Bezkorovainyi and Svatok, I don't see anyone else. Against Italy, Svatok was one of the best players in our national team. At first, no one considered him, and then he was invited to the key game, and the man did not disappoint.
You can't not invite a player after such a game. If not for the injury, Rebrov would have called him up for sure. Most likely, instead of Taloverov. I don't understand at all why Taloverov deserved to be called up to the national team. So what if he is the main man in LASK? We shouldn't discount Rakytskyi either. If there is a force majeure, Yaroslav will definitely not be superfluous in the national team.
- Do you think Rebrov will ever risk calling up Rakytskyi?
- He will only take the risk when there is an urgent need, but so far there is none. If someone gets injured on the eve of a key game, Rebrov will call Rakitskiy. He doesn't need to explain for a long time. Such players can come, help and leave at any time. Moreover, he knows all the players in the national team, he is familiar with the coaching staff and the training system. Personally, I am positively surprised by Rakitskiy. I was very pessimistic about his return to Shakhtar, but I admit I was wrong. The guy works hard and brings value to Shakhtar. He has already overcome his over-emotionality, like Garmash.
- Let's make a prediction for the starting defence line. Who will play on the left?
- There will be no experiments in the line-up, Rebrov will rely on reliability. There is no alternative to Mykolenko on the left. He is a high-level footballer. You can't call up a legionnaire and not play him, it always hurts the player's price, and Rebrov has been in his shoes.
- The central pairing.
- Matvienko - Zabarnyi. In the second half, I think Bondar will come on instead of Zabarnyi, because Ilya is having a tough season in the Premier League and his fatigue has already accumulated.
- Who will start on the right in defence?
- Konoplya. Despite all his disadvantages, he is in very good shape now and plays well in attack. On the right, we will have an attacking wing. Karavayev: He was converted from an attacking midfielder to an attacking defender only out of necessity. This is definitely not his role. And Konoplya is a pure attacking defender, younger, physically stronger and better with his head than Karavaev.
- Rebrov has set up a scouting department in the national team and invited analyst Hlib Platov, who used to work for Dnipro-1, to be his assistant. What does he want to build in the national team?
- I don't think it will change anything dramatically. The form of one player can replace all the scouts and assistants put together. A good example is Bayern Munich. There are scouts there like wild dogs, and what? It's a tribute to fashion, nothing more. It's getting to the point where it's getting ridiculous: outfield coaches, corner coaches, and soon they'll probably come up with coaches for captain's armbands, leggings and boot laces. There is Wyscout and other scouting and statistical websites - you just click a button and all the player's statistics are in front of your eyes. Creating a scouting department is just an extra expense for the UAF. There is a saying: "An excess of information is worse than a lack of information". When there are many advisers, it is also bad. In the national team, the work of scouts should be done by the coaching staff.
Andrii Piskun