Famous Ukrainian coach Volodymyr Sharan assessed the application of the Ukrainian national team for the September matches of the League of Nations.
Goalkeepers: Georgii Bushchan (Dynamo), Anatolii Trubin (Benfica, Portugal), Andrii Lunin (Real Madrid, Spain)
- Serhii Rebrov settled on the three players who were on the national team's roster during the Euro finals. How can we evaluate this decision on a ten-point scale?
- I believe that this is the right choice, because I no longer see an alternative. Riznyk, Volynets is not. Yes, Andriy Lunin does not play in the club, but we understand that he does not play because of Courtois' presence there. There are no comments on Trubin and Bushchan now.
- And who should be the "number one" in the games with Albania and the Czech Republic?
- Anatoliy Trubin's Benfica did not have any decisive opponents to analyze at the start of the season, but he showed himself well at the Euros (in matches against Slovakia and Belgium). So Trubin should be in goal for the Ukrainian national team.
Defenders: Mykola Matvienko, Yukhym Konoplya, Valeriy Bondar (all from Shakhtar), Oleksandr Tymchyk, Denys Popov (both from Dynamo), Vitaliy Mykolenko (Everton, England), Ilya Zabarnyi (Bournemouth, England), Maksym Taloverov (LASK, Austria).
- The application includes eight defenders. How do you assess their list?
- It's a good choice. I don't see any alternative here either. Yes, Karavaev is not called up. He is old, there are enough similar performers in the midfield, but Karavaev has the skill of versatility. Oleksandr constantly plays at the same level, he is fast, he joins the attacks a lot. He is definitely not worse than Konoplya, who is not impressive at the moment with his performances for Shakhtar. If we are talking about the central area, there is no alternative. Score: 9.
- Don't we have too few wing backs? There are nominally only three of them: Oleksandr Tymchyk, Yukhym Konoplya and Vitaliy Mykolenko.
- On the left, there is also Zinchenko, who, like in the club, can cover a place in defense, not in the middle line. There are two players for each position, and here Oleksandr can be considered a left back. Then we get a two-for-two ratio. There are three players in the support area, in the attack and, of course, in the goalkeeper's position. But the two outfielders we have are fine.
- Vladyslav Kabayev is regarded in the press as Mykhailo Mudryk's understudy. Could the debutant be a substitute for Mykolenko?
- Even if he plays from the defense, no. Kabaev doesn't play defense like Tymchyk or Konoplya, for example. Karavaev is more suitable for this, but he is not taken.
Midfielders: Andriy Yarmolenko, Mykola Shaparenko, Volodymyr Brazhko, Vladyslav Kabayev, Oleksandr Pikhalenok (all - Dynamo), Taras Stepanenko, Heorhiy Sudakov (both - Shakhtar), Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal, England), Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea, England), Serhiy Sydorchuk (Westerlo, Belgium), Ruslan Malinowski (Genoa, Italy), Viktor Tsygankov (Girona, Spain).
- What is the situation with the midfield?
- Dynamo failed to beat Salzburg in the Champions League, but in the UPL I like Kyiv and Oleksandriya the most. At the center back position, there is Brazhko, who looks good, and Stepanenko. Taras has little playing time, but he is experienced. But I haven't seen Sydorchuk in the Belgian league - he played only one match for Westerlo. What is his condition? What kind of injury is it? If he was called up to the national team, it means that they checked with the club's medical service or the player himself and received optimistic information.
Perhaps the point is that we no longer have a center back of this caliber. Now Ivan Kalyuzhnyi from Oleksandriya is doing well, but the choice still fell on Sydorchuk and I have doubts about this decision. It's time to refresh the national team. There are also doubts about calling up Malinowski.
On the flanks are Tsygankov and Yarmolenko. Andriy is already considered an age-old player, but I still like him for his work and desire on the football field. Yes, he may not be enough for 90 minutes, but the team definitely needs him and he should be in the national team at least until winter.
On the left flank we have Kabaev and Mudryk. If Mudryk is not called up to the national team, I don't know . Here is the score: 8.
- Returning to the topic of the flanks. Could Maksym Khlan, who played at the Olympics, play in the national team?
- In general, yes. We could take him and then we would have five wingers. I've already said that I would like to see the national team freshened up, so Khlan is also being considered. But I'd rather see Oleksiy Hutsulyak and Oleksandr Nazarenko from Polissia. They are fast, play on the attack, and perform well in the style of play that Serhii Rebrov professes.
Forwards: Artem Dovbyk (Roma, Italy), Roman Yaremchuk (Olympiacos, Greece), Vladyslav Vanat (Dynamo, Ukraine).
- In the attack, the selection is also quite standard. In the application: Dovbyk, Yaremchuk and Vanat, while Sikan again remained on the reserve list...
- Everything is simple here - there are no better ones. Score: 8.
Reserve list: Dmytro Riznyk (Shakhtar), Bohdan Mykhailichenko (Polissya), Oleksandr Svatok (Austin, USA), Vitaliy Buyalsky (Dynamo), Oleksandr Zubkov, Danylo Sikan (both - Shakhtar)
- In addition to the strikers, we also have a reserve list. We have already mentioned the names of players who should be included in the first team. And who would you include in the reserve?
- Ivan Kalyuzhnyi or Kyrylo Kovalets (Oleksandriya).
Oleksandr Shcherbatykh