Ingulets head coach Vasyl Kobin told us what he expects from the 4th round of the Nations League match between Ukraine and the Czech Republic, which will take place today in Wroclaw.
Vasyl Kobin (photo: ffz.org.ua)- The Ukrainian national team has won its first victory in the League of Nations - over Georgia. What do you expect from the game against the Czech Republic?
- We will definitely be inferior to the Czechs in standard positions and in the fight, but technically our team is better. Let's see. It will be very important what plan the coaching staff chooses for the game, and how events will develop on the field from the first minutes. Therefore, it is difficult to predict anything here. You also need to understand what kind of lineup we will have and the Czechs will have. Each coach will make plans for a separate game, because the result is very important.
It may be that the Czech Republic will give us the initiative and play in the transitional phases. All the more reason for us to win and play as the first team. We have fast players and we can take advantage of that. It will be difficult to open a saturated defense, but I think we have a chance. I believe that our team will win.
- What is your forecast and specific score for the match?
- 2-1 in our favor.
- Vasyl Vasylovych, you have played right back for many years. How would you assess the performance of your young colleague Konoplya against Georgia?
- I think Yukhym did an excellent job. His most important task was to neutralize Kvaratskhelia. And he coped with it. Khvicha struck few shots and rarely took over the game. Konoplya neutralized him, of course, not without the help of his partners, who provided good insurance.
- What is your subjective opinion: Is Konoplya the strongest right back in Ukraine right now, or are there other candidates, like Tymchyk?
- I believe that Konoplya is the strongest in this position at the moment. Of course, Tymchyk has his own strong qualities, but if we take it in general, Yukhym has more good qualities. Tymchyk somewhere lacks a confident game, although he is more efficient, faster and does more work, but Yukhym understands the game better.
- There are a lot of discussions now about who is better: Mudryk or Kvaratskhelia. Mykhailo scored the decisive goal in the national team match and looked brighter, but at the club level Khvicha looks much more confident. What is your opinion?
- Here you need to understand the structure of the team's game, under which to take a particular player. My opinion is that Kvaratskhelia is stronger than Misha in the positional game, and in space, in counterattacks, there are few equal to Mudryk. There are few players with such speed and the ability to work with the ball at such a speed.
Hvicha is more suited to a team that constantly plays number one and needs to hide a strong defense. In a game where the team has little space and a large crowd of players, Kvaratskhelia has an advantage over Mudryk. But in space, Misha is stronger.
Andrii Piskun
