Former defender of the Ukrainian national team Vladimir Mykytyn shared his impressions of the Nations League match Georgia - Ukraine (1:1), and also talked about how the Ukrainian national team should play in the final round of the group stage of this tournament against Albania.
“I liked the first half played by the Ukrainian national team. The guests unexpectedly took the lead early on and managed the score well. It was clear that the guests had studied the strengths and weaknesses of the hosts, played compactly, each clearly fulfilling their mission, and the control of the match was with us. And if Mudryk had converted his scoring chance, I am convinced that the outcome of the match would have been decided.
It is hard to say what changed in the guests' mood, however, in the second half, the Ukrainian team did not play as tightly. Since the Georgians were more skillful in duels, free spaces began to appear near our goal. And it is good that, thanks to Zabarnyi and Trubin, we only conceded one goal. After the break, the guests struggled to break out into counterattacks and, skillfully pressing, the Georgians regained possession of the ball and advanced again.
Against Albania, we need to play compactly, as we did in the first half against the Georgians in Batumi, and take advantage of quick counterattacks. Unfortunately, our midfielders struggle with ball recovery under high pressing, which may cause issues near our goal. Therefore, we need to minimize the risk of conceding and rely on the mobility of Mudryk and Zubkov,” said Mykytyn.
Andriy Pisarenko