Former Ukrainian national team midfielder Yuriy Kalytvintsev talks about the Ukrainian national team.
Yuriy Kalitvintsev- Yuriy Mykolayovych, what do you think of Ukraine's level of play before the start of Euro 2024 through the prism of previous games against the Germans and the Poles?
- Ukraine has already played two quite interesting friendly matches against good teams and the coaching staff has received a lot of important information. The national team showed that it can defend well, although there were some problems with the transitional phases (from defense to attack) in the first game against Germany.
But in the second match, against Poland, the Blue and Yellows have already demonstrated that they can also attack, but there were very serious problems in the back line. That is, I repeat, now Rebrov and his assistants have a lot of information to digest before the start of Euro 2024.
- Ahead of the game with Moldova and the long-awaited Euro 2024. What are your expectations from the game in Chisinau? Are we finally waiting for a victory?
- It's a control game, nothing more. No matter how the game in Chisinau ends, you shouldn't pay too much attention to the final score. Of course, from a psychological point of view, we need our team to win, but this should not be the main goal. The most important thing is to avoid injuries. That's what I mean.
- Can we expect any lineup changes to confuse our group rivals?
- It makes no sense for Rebrov to hide anything now. Today, all our rivals at the Euro have full information about Ukraine, I am one hundred percent sure. Everyone who follows our national team knows its strengths and weaknesses and the potential of its leading players. If Serhiy Stanislavovych still wants to "darken" something in his team's game, it can only be done by changing tactics, not the lineup.
- Compared to the matches against Germany and Poland, will the changes be big?
- Against Moldova, our key players should get enough playing time and practice. As for me, this is very important. Of course, Dovbyk or Tsygankov or Sudakov had enough of it (practice) during the season, but. We have already seen the rotation of Ukraine's squad. Just compare the starting eleven for the games against Germany and Poland.
- In both cases, Lunin did not have a second of playing time. Maybe it's time to give Andriy a chance to play?
- It is likely that he will start this game from the start. I do not exclude this option. However, you and I do not know what Lunin's current physical condition is. He missed the end of the season due to illness(Andriy had the flu - ed. note).
- At the end of the club season, several players not only got sick, but also got injured. Vitaliy Mykolenko, Ruslan Malynovskyi, Roman Yaremchuk.
- Yes. That's what I'm talking about, that all our top players need to be given enough time to be in top shape for the start of Euro 2024.
In general, I'm sure that Rebrov has already decided on the main squad for the Euro. By 90-95 percent. The main thing is that everyone is healthy and, God forbid, no one gets injured in training or against Moldova.
- I agree with you that Serhiy Stanislavovych has already written down the names of those who will play against Romania in the European Championship. However, personally, I do not fully understand the scheme Ukraine will play in the Euros and in the final friendly match. 5-4-1 or 4-5-1?
- Rebrov has already played with five defenders (against Germany, 0:0). And what did we see? Can Ukraine play in an organized manner, play for results? Yes, it can. Yes, the Germans had a few chances at the end of the game, but these were the consequences of fatigue, our guys got a little tired.
What happened in Warsaw against Poland? Serhiy Stanislavovych tested the attacking model of the game, albeit with one forward. Again, Ukraine demonstrated a decent game in attack, but let down somewhere by the performance in the final phase.
I can't predict what scheme will be used in Chisinau. Perhaps there will be five defenders again, which is unlikely, but I do not rule out this option, or maybe Rebrov will try to play with three defenders at all. The only thing I'm sure of is that in the match against Moldova we will not play the scheme for the first match at Euro 2024 against Romania. Moldovans and Romanians are different in strength.
In the game against Moldova, Serhii Rebrov's team is the favorite, it has to dominate. This is the last chance, the last match where you can polish up some mistakes that took place in previous matches and which will not be forgiven at the Euros.
- Ukraine's main problem is defense. This is not only my opinion, but also that of many former national team players. For example, I had the opportunity to talk to Vasyl Kobin the other day, and he said that in the game on standard positions in the match against Poland (1-3), for example, we had a full seam. Will the appearance of Ilya Zabarnyi in the lineup improve the reliability of our defensive redoubts?
- Zabarnyi had a very decent season in the Premier League for Bournemouth. He literally missed a couple of games. He had a very decent physical and psychological load. You see, Zabarnyi is a player of such a level that he can get out of bed and play right away. I believe that he will be a reinforced concrete player in the core of our team for Euro 2024. There are fewer questions about him. And, of course, this will add strength and reliability to our defense.
If we talk about the defense as a whole, then everything is not so simple. With Poland, we saw a quartet consisting of Mykolenko, Bondar, Taloverov and Tymchyk. Do you remember at least one game when these four played together? I don't. We gave the guys practice. Therefore, it is somehow not very correct to assess the quality of Ukraine's defense by one match.
- Let's talk about the offense. Not only in the game against Poland and Germany, but also in most qualifying matches, our national team invariably played with only one striker. Meanwhile, when both Dovbyk and Yaremchuk were on the field together, it looked powerful. It was this duo that pulled out an almost lost playoff game against Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-1). Shouldn't we give Artem and Roman time to have fun together at least in Chisinau, if not at the Euros?
- We are not inside the team. Ukraine with Dovbyk and Yaremchuk really looks very aggressive up front, I agree. However, it's up to Rebrov to decide how to use them better, together or separately, giving each of them approximately equal time.
We have only three strikers in the Euro 2024 bid: Dovbyk, Yaremchuk and Vanat. It seems like a small number, but there is a choice. Again, it is very important that everyone is healthy. No matter who plays Moldova, we shouldn't draw any global conclusions.
- A prediction from Yuriy Kalitvintsev.
- I am sure that Ukraine will win, but by what score... I won't say here .
Viktor Glukhenkyi
