Former Dynamo Kyiv coach Oleksandr Hatskevych analyzed the performance of the Ukrainian national team at Euro 2024 and answered questions about his former club.
- Oleksandr Mykolayovych, you were sure that the Ukrainian national team would make it to the playoffs of the European Championship, but it turned out differently. In your opinion, why did Serhii Rebrov's team fail to qualify for Euro 2024?
- The team has already received so much criticism, well-deserved criticism. If you shit yourself, you should be able to listen to criticism. How did the national team take it? I have two opinions.
Yes, it seems that the team turned the game around against Slovakia in the second half, but it was necessary to press, given the goal difference. But for some reason, the coaching staff decided to play to maintain the result, rather than to increase the difference between goals scored and conceded, which could have helped them reach the playoffs in the future. You should not be afraid to take risks in order to achieve your goals and results.
If not for Trubin, we could have forgotten about the national team after Slovakia. Before the first goal, there were moments when the goalkeeper really saved.
In all matches, the first half is a disaster. Not only at the Euros, but also remember the games with Macedonia, Iceland, Bosnia. The first 45 minutes are a failure.
- Why do you think the first and second halves are so different for the Ukrainian national team?
- I can't say here. Some non-football people come to the fore in the national team. There is a lot of talk about Platov, a certain model of players who fit the structure of the opposing team. But you need to start from your game and your players. And not from what clubs they play in, what their characteristics are, but the best players at the moment should be in the national team. But a lot of attention is paid, as I understand it, to these characteristics, which are not clear who determines them.
- Wasn't it a shame when you played quite well against the Belgians and stumbled against the lower-ranked Romanians?
- The match with Belgium showed that the Ukrainian national team is not yet able to play for the result and win against one of the strongest teams.
Yes, we changed the tactics, but it also implied that Rebrov would play with three central defenders. We saw this in the game against Germany, when the task was not to concede. But when to score...
There are a lot of questions. And the group was a working group and the national team of Ukraine had to come out of it. The fact that we scored four points but didn't make it out is the tournament's rules for today. I don't know if there was an underestimation or what it was in the first game, but look at how Mudryk takes the ball and reacts to its loss.
- Football is about personalities. Were all our players ready for Euro 2024?
- No, and not only for the first game, but also for all the other matches. The same Dovbyk and Tsygankov, it seems that they are completely emaciated. Vita's injury probably affected the result. But the fact that they showed nothing in the first game...
Sudakov was not ready for the championship at all. The goalkeeping issue is entirely the choice of the coaching staff, it is clear that Rebrov makes the final decision, so there are more questions than answers and the criticism is fully deserved.
After the "departure" of the Ukrainian national team, the championship is over for me.
- The first game was shocking for many (a 0-3 defeat against Romania). Rebrov entrusted Lunin with the goal. As a result, Andrii topped the ranking of the worst players in the group round of Euro 2024. Is this natural and why did he fail at Euro 2024?
- It is clear that this is Lunin's assessment of the game with the Romanians - when you make two productive mistakes, nothing good will happen. After the first missed goal, Zinchenko identified who made the mistake. Matvienko was also wrong when he set up his goalkeeper. Perhaps Lunin should have played more reliably, but Matvienko was also to blame. However, Zinchenko determined that the goalkeeper was to blame. It is clear that this game was a big disadvantage for Lunin. But whether he is the worst player in the tournament or not is subjective.
- Why did Rebrov decide to play Lunin rather than Trubin in the game against Romania?
- Such questions can be asked to the goalkeeping coach and Rebrov.
- You mentioned Dovbyk and Tsygankov in our conversation earlier. A lot was expected from Artem in the tournament as the best scorer in La Liga. And here is such a pale game. How can this be explained?
- This is a difficult question. He cannot burn out, he has enough experience and won the sniper race of the Spanish championship. But this is the national team, there are different requirements than in Girona. Maybe the guys were not in the right physical and psychological condition after the season.
And, of course, it was greatly influenced by the fact that most experts and journalists assumed that with such a mediocre group that Ukraine had, with the selection of players that is currently in the national team, there would be no problems reaching the playoffs. But as it turned out, we were all wrong and the coaching staff was also wrong.
- You talked about the selection of national team players. Yarmolenko himself said that this is the best generation of national teams. Many experts and journalists also believe that today's national team of Ukraine is the strongest in history. What do you think about this?
- What has this team won? This team was one of the last to qualify for the European Championship. And I strongly disagree with this definition, this cliché. To be considered a strong team, you need to win something: a League of Nations group, qualification for the Euros or the World Cup. That's the minimum. Then we can talk about a strong team.
But these clichés... Believe me, these players, who spend more time on the Internet than in a bar (laughs), care more about what is written about them, that they are strong. But they haven't won anything yet and haven't achieved anything.
- Who surprised you among the players of our national team at the European Championship?
- Zabarnyi played very well and with great quality, as always. He is one of the players who maintained his level of quality. Kolya Shaparenko, yes, was "swinging" for a long time, but against the Slovaks his goal and energy for the game, passes behind his back, helped. It was clear that he was starting to return to his best form, which he had before the injury. And, unfortunately, this championship ended quickly for him.
Malinowski and Yaremchuk, when they came on as substitutes, enhanced the game.
- And who did not like the Ukrainian national team, besides the already discussed Lunin?
- Sudakov was a failure. Until Mudryk learns to play for the team, and will rely on speed alone and, like a "headless horseman," rush forward, nothing good will happen. He needs to add to the mutual understanding of the game with his partners, and not rely only on speed and shot, which we saw only in the game with Iceland, but at the Euros we did not see anything from him.
Given his capabilities, there can be no complaints about Taras Stepanenko. The criticism that has been poured on him... I do not agree with this.
Shakhtar's players, if you look at it that way, were not ready for the championship either. Konoplya, for example, who was replaced by Tymchyk. Yes, it is difficult to say that Oleksandr played more effectively, because many flank passes do not find their recipients. I was at the game in Poland, when Ukraine played the Poles, and Tymchyk probably had 20 passes during the whole game, and only one was accurate. What quality can we talk about and how can a striker meet the ball in such a situation?
- In September, Ukraine will play in the League of Nations. At first it seemed that we should win the group with Albania, Georgia and the Czech Republic without any problems. But these three teams showed themselves quite well at Euro 2024. Do you think we can win the quartet in the League of Nations?
- After the European Championship, everyone will be more careful with their predictions (Laughs). All these national teams have shown that they are strong teams. God willing, conclusions will be drawn and the performance at the Euros will be analyzed. And most importantly, success takes time and patience.
- Dynamo is actively working to strengthen its squad. How would you assess the transfer campaign of Kyiv this summer?
- As for Pikhalenko, he is a well-known and experienced player, quite good at the UPL level. How he will be used and in what position by the Dynamo coaching staff - I will be interested to see for myself. But he is a quality player and can play from deep, playmaker. This is a good acquisition for Dynamo.
As for Bragar, I will say that he is an active guy and should compete. But will he be able to withstand it? This is another question, because not all players manage to play at Dynamo.
I haven't seen the Colombian Seballos, I don't know. In my time, there was a problem with strikers, now with central defenders. Competition will definitely not hurt, because not getting into European competitions does not benefit Dynamo. I can't say which tournament Dynamo is ready for today, the Champions League, the Europa League or the Conference League. But Dynamo should definitely play in European competitions.
- There was also information that Dynamo offered Zorya Andrievskyi or Shepelev to choose from with a surcharge in exchange for Guerrero. Do Kyiv really need this striker?
- A good striker will never hurt. It will be possible to vary tactics, play two forwards.
Vanat is a great forward for the UPL, he is effective. But for European competitions, you need a more powerful player. Even for competition, because who else is there but Vanat? Young Ponomarenko?
- Probably, Lazio in Rome watched the game of the national team of Ukraine against the Slovaks at Euro 2024, when Shaparenko scored a goal and gave an assist. And they are even reportedly ready to pay ten million euros, but the player himself is not particularly eager to move to Serie A, but hopes to play in the UPL. Do you think Mykola should leave Ukraine? Or should he stay at Dynamo?
- We are just guessing, judging by the rumors, but there is no statement from Shaparenko or Dynamo that Lazio has made an offer. It's just a shake of the air.
Should he leave? The sooner a player leaves, the faster he will adapt to the new championship and reach a new level. But what decision and offer will be made regarding Shaparenko, we will know only in the future.
- In the Champions League, Kyiv will meet Partizan, which played in Moscow in a friendly tournament of "friendship and brotherhood" and, in general, Serbs consider Russians to be a fraternal people. Should our team expect provocations in the matches with them?
- Let's talk about football. Each team prepares as best it can. I don't want to talk about it. There are good people and bad people everywhere. Only on the football field in the rivalry between the teams in two games will it be decided who will go further.
We once played with Partizan in the Europa League group and that game was without spectators. The guys need to be prepared for this as well. Yes, they have experience of playing in front of empty stands. But today these are different teams.
Where Partizan are training should not be a concern for Dynamo players. We need to prepare well for these games, because Dynamo with Lucescu failed in European competitions, and we want to see the team in the group stage. That's all.
- Is Dynamo able to get past Partizan?
- I don't know what Partizan is now. I'm not interested in Partizan today.
- Will Kyiv be able to make it to the main stage of the Champions League?
- Let's be honest. If Dynamo goes further in the Champions League, it will be unseeded and it will be very difficult to get through in this case. Kyiv played in the Champions League for two years and got five out of 30 points. Probably, each team has its own tournament. We need to be honest, but it is clear that the financial side is important.
Speaking only from this point of view, I wish Dynamo to play in the Champions League. But, as Lobanovsky once said, we need to be competitive. We can get to the main stage of the Champions League, but what will we represent there? Therefore, I wish Kyiv to get into the group in the tournament where Dynamo will set the goal of reaching the playoffs. There is a tournament for every time and generation.
And just to get there and take one point in six matches... In my understanding, this is wrong.
- You said that you were planning to return to Ukraine in early summer. But you haven't arrived yet. Why and is it worth waiting for you?
- I would not like to talk about this topic. There are some personal matters that need to be completed here. I understand that you need a clearer answer, so I'll say that I'm coming soon .
Yevheniy Chepur