The Ukrainian national team has started preparations for Euro 2024. In Nuremberg, Serhii Rebrov's men drew 0-0 with the hosts of the European forum, the German national team. We asked former Ukraine forward Oleksiy Bielik to evaluate all the highlights of the Germany vs Ukraine match.
Alexey Belik
- The Ukrainian national team has played its 10th match against the Bundesliga and has never won. What do you think of the German national team?
- The German national team is always a very strong and organised team. For me, England and Germany are the favourites for the upcoming Euro 2024. They have a lot of experienced players representing the top clubs in Europe. There are also fantastic youngsters from Bayer Leverkusen, Stuttgart and Hoffenheim. I think Nagelsmann has a great mix of experience and youth at the moment. Yes, we know that Kroos will retire from the national team in a month, and perhaps Muller and Neuer will end their careers in the Bundesliga. The German national team coaching staff has a good selection of players in all positions.
- However, 4 players from Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund did not play against our national team.
- They are. Rüdiger, Kroos, Schlotterbeck and Füllkrug are resting after the Champions League final. Even without these masters, the German national team is a very aggressive team. They know how to play both with and without the ball. The German team's pressure is simply brought to automaticity.
- Let's move on to the Ukrainian national team. Our team's 5-4-1 formation surprised many people. What do you think of this tactical formation?
- I wouldn't be so categorical: Serhii Rebrov tries different variants of the game in sparring. For example, at the European Championships, if Ukraine leads 1-0 in a match against Belgium, he will know how to play with 5 defenders. God willing, in the play-off round, where there will be strong opponents, we will also need to play skilfully in defence. I am sure our coaching staff will analyse and model everything.
- Why did we do nothing but defend in the first 20 minutes of the match? Only once did Mudryk escape on the counterattack.
- We don't know what Serhii Rebrov's plan for the game was. And you should always remember that there is an opponent. How they play is also important. You can't criticise our team too much, it's a friendly match and on the field of the German national team.
- What did you like about our team's performance?
- I saw that we have quality players both in attack and defence. Mudryk, Tsygankov and Dovbyk can break through any defence. With Romania and Slovakia, we will have a different game, where we will control the ball much more than in Nuremberg. And we will create more chances at the other goal. I think we have strong full-backs - Konopolya and Mykolenko are good in attack. And the 5-4-1 formation can easily be transformed into a 4-3-3 formation.
- Are the statistics of this match informative? Shots on goal - 27-6, on target - 5-3?
- Numbers never lie. I repeat, we do not know what plan the coaching staff has chosen for the game. It is unlikely that we wanted to respond with an attack to the Germans' attack. It will be difficult to leave the Bundestim without the ball when such masters as Gundogan and Wirtz play there. We need to strive to play like the top teams and match them. Of course, the hosts created chances at Trubin's goal, but the score was 0-0. We need to learn from such a game.
- But not all of our leaders played either - Lunin, Mykolenko, Sudakov and Dovbyk were not included in the starting line-up...
- Yes. Instead, we tested the capabilities of some guys who have not played much recently - Yaremchuk and Zinchenko, for example. And Stepanenko did not play much at Shakhtar in the spring. Plus, it doesn't hurt to test Svatko's capabilities in such a confrontation.
- Who is the most useful player of the Ukrainian national team for you in this match?
- Anatolii Trubin. We all know his level. In Nuremberg, he saved us several times. It's good that the Ukrainian national team has three good goalkeepers. The fact that Trubin is progressing is Lunin's merit. The fact that Courtois is such a top player is Lunin's merit. Competition is always good.
- Who is our number 1 goalkeeper now?
- For me, it's Andriy Lunin. He plays in the best team in Europe - Real Madrid. Let Serhii Rebrov look at all the goalkeepers in sparring matches and make the right choice.
- Are three sparring matches of the national team of Ukraine enough for quality preparation for the European Championship?
- Yes, it is. It's good that all the opponents are diverse. Germany is strong, where you can see our defensive play. Poland is our equal, where we can simulate a different game and Moldova is weaker. In Chisinau, we can and should play offensively. So the choice of sparring partners is excellent.
