Renowned football expert Oleksandr Sopko shared his impressions of the Ukrainian national team's performance in friendly matches with Germany (0:0) and Poland (1-3), and assessed the prospects of the Blue and Yellows for Euro 2024.
Oleksandr Sopko- I should note that I personally am not happy with what the Ukrainian national team played in sparring matches with Germany and Poland. In my opinion, there are two explanations for what we saw: either the coaching staff of the "blue and yellows" is fogging and misleading the rivals in the Euro 2024 group, or unsuccessful tactical and personnel experiments are being conducted
Let's talk about the possible tactics of the national team of Ukraine at the European Championship, our team can use the option with Brazhko. Brazhko is able to act in the center of the field and bring significant benefits to the national team. Brazhko's last match for Dynamo Kyiv, in which he was more of an attacker and played as a support player in the national team's qualifiers, was a bit confusing. Apart from Brazhko, I don't see anyone else in this responsible position in the Ukrainian national team for Euro 2024.
Another point: the option of playing with two powerful forwards. It happens that it is necessary. However, success in this case will depend on the condition of Roman Yaremchuk. The presence of the Tsygankov-Dovbyk link-up on the right flank is reassuring. This is the locomotive of our team. Their chemistry and understanding allows us not to worry about the potential of the Ukrainian national team in attack.
As for the staff... Mudryk was under a lot of pressure during the 2023-2024 season, there were a lot of expectations from his game. But the Premier League is a difficult tournament, and Mudryk is a specific football player. I would like to note that Mykhailo is a brilliant performer, and it is difficult to imagine the Ukrainian national team without him. For all his shortcomings in the game, with insufficient actions in defense, in selection, Mudryk always has an episode when he can make the whole game. And one more thing - Mykhailo is looking forward to Euro 2024... I really liked how he played against Iceland, when he moved to the center, played a pass, cleared the area for Mykolenko.
Most likely, Konoplya will play in the center. There are questions about his defense. Yukhym needs to improve his reliability, be tougher and faster. If Konoplya does this, then, given his value in attacking combinations, he will significantly increase his transfer value. I believe that Tymchyk is much inferior to Konoplya because he is not as effective in attack.
The situation with goalkeepers is special. Lunin pulled out the season for Real Madrid. However, there is a certain nervousness in his actions, and, unfortunately, Andriy will have an unpleasant aftertaste from not participating in the Champions League final. By playing for the Ukrainian national team at Euro 2024, Lunin will again have to prove his status. But... A goalkeeper at this level must be one hundred percent confident.
As for Trubin, I note that he really played a lot for Benfica, but he did not have time to get tired... At the European Championship, you need a lot and, importantly, to confidently lead the defense, to shout at the defenders. I am not sure that Trubin is fully ready for this. There are also certain problems with Bushchan, who in 70-80 percent of UPL matches was virtually out of work, without pressure. And at Euro 2024, there is a different rhythm and pressure, and Bushchan is inferior to both Lunin and Trubin in terms of readiness for such a tournament.
Who will build the game? It's time to talk about the midfield of the Ukrainian national team. Shaparenko, Zinchenko, Malinowski, Sudakov - each of them is strong in his own way, each is able to independently decide the fate of any match. The only problem is their anthropology. At the European Championships, there will be such matches in which you will need to impose your game, not give in in a power struggle, demoralize the opponent with physical activity. Unfortunately, this is not their thing...
However, we will not get away from this - the Ukrainian national team will have to withstand significant pressure from Romania and Slovakia. The players of these national teams have been accustomed to power contact wrestling since childhood, and it will be very difficult for our guys. The fact that Zinchenko and Malinowski have not played much in the UPL and Serie A, respectively, is also not in favor of the Blue and Yellows. But it is very good that Sudakov and Shaparenko are in good shape at the end of the season.
I hope to see the Zabarny-Matvienko duo in the center of defense. Ilya Zabarny is especially needed for the Euro 2024 team - a pillar of defense. Matvienko, which is good news, added to the game in all the final matches of the UPL season of 2023-2024.
A good and healthy atmosphere in the team is important, so the presence of reputable players - Yarmolenko, Sydorchuk and Stepanenko - in the application is extremely necessary. Of course, it is up to the coach to decide who and for how long to play, but I believe that our veterans can always come out for 10-15 minutes and even decide the fate of the match.
As for the younger players, Vanat and Taloverov could be the opening acts of the European Championship in Germany. I am sure that such a fast and light forward as Vladyslav Vanat will definitely come in handy in one of the three group stage matches.
A few words about Roman Yaremchuk. He has a great desire to play and show his best at Euro 2024. Of course, he needs to find his own club, and perhaps this will happen after the European Championship, hopefully thanks to his matches for the Ukrainian national team. Roman is literally rushing to the field, so we wish him good luck.
Oleg Leonchuk
