Famous commentator Ihor Tsyhanyk commented on Ukraine’s draw in the Nations League match against Georgia, noting the tactical structure of our team.
"Rebrov played with two holding midfielders. He placed Shaparenko alongside Brazhko, rather than above him. Brazhko was responsible for one flank and protected the full-back, while Shaparenko played further right and covered Konopli’s position. Today we played our classical Ukrainian football with two holding midfielders. And we played an ideal first half.
What was Rebrov’s problem? I realize this now. He is currently experiencing a bit of a hangover of faith in our footballers. When he came in, he wanted to build the type of football he had at Dynamo and Ferencvaros, where there were many legionnaires and many qualified players. He watched how the Ukrainian national team played under Shevchenko, but there were different players there who played at a higher level. There were Konoplyanka, Yarmolenko, Marlos, Stepanenko, Kryvtsov. It was a different team, more experienced footballers who played in a quality league with quality legionnaires. And there was competition.
When Rebrov arrived here, he thought he could replicate that. He started to bring in a new generation, but these footballers are shamefully weaker than those who were before them. This is a pity, it’s a problem. The qualification for Euro was very difficult for us. We played well in all the matches, playing defensively. After the match with Romania in the European Championship, Rebrov understood that we need to play a different kind of football. Against Albania and the Czech Republic, we still played possession ball and lost two matches. Rebrov realizes that these footballers can only play this kind of football—defensively.
I agree with Rebrov, who said at the post-match press conference that he doesn’t understand how so many promising counterattacks can go unrealized, and there were many of them. We scored an inhuman goal. It was a coincidence, but the counterattack itself was correct. We just mishandled the ball and the moment," said Tsyhanyk on his Youtube author program.