Former Dynamo forward Viktor Leonenko shared his thoughts on the first playoff match of the Nations League between Ukraine and Belgium (3:1).
Viktor Leonenko— Viktor Yevhenovych, how did you find the game?
— First of all, I congratulate Ukraine on the victory. But we continue to play well only for one half. The first half was toothless and boring. It felt like they were playing on ice because for some reason, they kept falling. After the first half, I wanted to throw the TV out and go to sleep.
But the second half — that’s another story. It’s good that we can change half the team, but I didn’t understand why Rebrov left Sudakov on the field. He must know something. We could have changed our entire attack with confidence in the first half; only Tsygankov was trying something.
The Belgians didn’t show much either, just — pathetic ball control in the first half, but in the second — the Belgian chocolate melted, and we ran. A big boost to our victory was given by the opposing full-back, whom Hutsuliak robbed. This added courage to our team. But we need to learn to play two halves, not just one.
— Why did Belgium look so weak?
— In Belgium, only Courtois, De Bruyne, and Lukaku are playing, and all the others are frankly "passengers". In the second half, we simply outpaced the Belgians.
— Who would you give the "Lion of the Match" award to?
— In the first half, I didn’t see any lions, but in the second... I need to think. I would give the "Lion of the Match" to Zabarnyi because the third goal should be the most important in the two-match confrontation. Illia also played reliably in defense. It was Kaluzhny who didn’t cover Lukaku when he scored.
— Who, in your opinion, dropped out of the game in our team?
— In this game, Sudakov didn’t drop out, but he disappeared without a trace. Shaparenko, apparently, was sitting in a tattoo salon during the first half; I didn’t see him at all. And these are the most expensive players in the UPL! I wonder how much the club presidents will value them after this match.
Zinchenko also dropped out of the ensemble in the first half of the meeting. Arsenal has already figured him out; now he is the third option for the left-back position in the "Gunners" after Lewis-Scally and Kalafiori.
— In this match, Konoplia and Sych got injured. Was it an accident or improper preparation?
— Of course, it was an accident. Konoplia fell on his ankle, and Sych has a problem with his knee.
— What do you think of Zinchenko as a right-back?
— Does he even know that he needs to make runs? Zinchenko, although he assisted the goal, wandered around the whole match instead of running. We have veterans like Salenko who walk like that, but he is 55 years old, while the blonde is 28.
— What do you say about the strikers — Yaremchuk and Vanat?
— I liked more the one who scored, and that is Vanat. In the second half, our entire attack should be credited. A completely different game started when Rebrov made the substitutions.
— Do you think the "jokers" from the first match, like Hutsuliak and Vanat, should play from the first minutes in the second match?
— Ideally, Hutsuliak and Vanat should play because they proved to Rebrov that they are better than those who started. But it is still unclear whether Dovbik will recover.
This game showed that Rebrov 100% guessed wrong with the starting lineup because in the first half, we didn’t create anything, despite the fact that the Belgians didn’t show anything.
— But Rebrov guessed with the substitutions.
— It would have been hard not to guess with the substitutions when you change half the team. Even a blind person could see that after the first half, the entire attack needed changing, and that’s what Rebrov did.
— There were many substitutions in the second half, but Yarmolenko still didn’t come on.
— That’s already a question for Rebrov. If he calls Yarmolenko, he thinks he is fit. My opinion is that Yarmolenko should have long since made way for the young players in the national team. Some think he is useful in the locker room, but to push someone, you need to be the best, not just older. Who will say that Yarmolenko is the best right now?
— Wasn’t Shakhtar’s speed greatly missed on the left flank?
— In the first half, the ball was controlled by "Belgian chocolate", so Mudryk would have run back just like Yaremchuk. There weren’t many counterattacks. Why even mention Mudryk? Let him first sort out his doping issues.
— What do you think about the goalkeeper position? Before this match, Trubin was the main one in the national team, but Lunin came out yesterday and played confidently.
— We have no problems with goalkeepers. All our goalkeepers are about the same level.
— Lunin played more confidently yesterday than Courtois. Do you think Andriy can compete with the Belgian for the starting goalkeeper position at Real?
— That’s a question for Ancelotti. I believe that Lunin has no chance of winning the competition against Courtois. The Belgian is top level.
— What’s your prediction for the return match?
— I think we will go further. It turned out that Belgium can be beaten. We showed that we are not weaker and even stronger than them. I won’t guess the score because I’m not an idiot. But Rebrov needs to think about something so that the team plays two halves, not just one.
Andriy Piskun
