Former Dynamo Kyiv forward Viktor Leonenko shared his thoughts on the Ukrainian national team's 1-2 defeat by Albania in the opening round of the Nations League.
Viktor Leonenko- Viktor Yevhenovych, why did the Albanian national team fail?
- This is not a failure, but our level. I don't understand why many people think we have the best team in history. The best team does not make three shots on goal against Albania!
We are used to playing useless ball control. Rebrov needs to look for the problem - why there are no chances. If there are no chances, it means that our players are not particularly good. Let's have a better tactic on the counterattack than this rolling around. Rebrov should remember how Barcelona used to beat Dynamo in our time, but even then we had chances. And now - nothing!
I'm not going to curse our national team, but Rebrov needs to draw conclusions and think about how to create chances. We either need to play bolder or change players. Maybe we should play with two strikers.
Otherwise, we have a bunch of midfielders, and Sudakov, Brazhko and Shaparenko were not visible at all. I understand the clubs. They want to sell their players for a lot of money and that's why they praise them, but after the match with Albania, Sudakov and Shaparenko will definitely become cheaper.
We talked and talked about not repeating the result with Romania, and in the end we lost 1-2, and we could have lost by a bigger score.
- Which of the players is no longer up to the level of the national team and who can Rebrov call up to strengthen the game? Maybe we should take a closer look at Hutsulyak, Nazarenko, Krasnopir?
- I don't interfere with the squad and I'm not going to tell Rebrov what to do. I don't want to do his job.
- What can you say about the goals in yesterday's match?
- We scored a stupid ball from a corner. We also scored one when the Albanian goalkeeper made a mistake. Konoplya scored an accidental goal because we had no chances. After the substitutions, we had more shots, but they did not pose a threat. The Albanian goalkeeper did not have such saves as Trubin. What did the Albanians not do, even played with their heels!
But I'm not even interested in analyzing this game, because in 90 minutes we created one and a half chances.
- By the way, what do you think of Kabaev, is he capable of replacing Mudryk on a full-fledged basis if Mykhailo is playing so inexpressively at Chelsea?
- Does he play there? We only write about the rugby player here, although in England he is constantly cursed. Of course, Kabaev can replace him. Although after yesterday's game, I don't like anyone in the Ukrainian national team at all.
- But did you notice anything positive for yourself in yesterday's match?
- The only thing I liked about the Ukrainian national team was Tsygankov's hairstyle. He must have fallen asleep in the hairdresser's. Or maybe he's growing dreadlocks, like African-Americans in the NBA. I see that all the players now have their temples trimmed, and it's not just our team. Did they feel like punks?
- Rebrov said after the match that there was no team on the field, but why did the coach never take the blame? Isn't he responsible for the team?
- This is a question for him. Fomenko used to say that here, may he rest in peace. He also believed that the team was always to blame, but not the coach.
- Do you think Rebrov will finalize his three-year contract with the national team after the failure at the Euros and the disastrous match against Albania?
- They are friends with Shevchenko, so he will probably finish it. Although, if everyone starts criticizing him, he may not finish it. But then he'll have to pay a penalty, and I don't know if the UAF has the money for that. I think Rebrov will finalize his contract.
- What do you expect from the match with the Czech Republic?
- There is nowhere to retreat. If the Georgians beat them confidently, then maybe we will beat them. Let's see. I don't want to guess now.
Andrii Piskun
