Wales leaves for the World Cup, Ukraine is left alone with its problems. Sport Arena analyzes what changes can be expected in our team
“Our meta is 2024”. We have again changed the numbers on the old flip-board, so that the Ukrainian national team, after the defeat in Cardiff, can focus on the easy matches of the Nations League and slowly think about qualifying for the next big tournament – the European Championship in Germany.
In the meantime, several questions remain at once – someone, without waiting for the World Cup in Qatar, may end their international career, it’s time for someone to move from the youth team, and the coaching issue may again become open after not entering the 2022 World Cup .
Who has already said his word in the team
A number of veterans played out in the national team in the hope of Qatar 2022. First of all, two goalkeepers – 37-year-old Andriy Pyatov (101 caps) and 34-year-old Denis Boyko (7 matches). Young rivals began to actively press both of them: Boyko had already lost the fight in Dynamo to Buschan (No. 1 in the national team), Pyatov began to lose a lot of playing time in Shakhtar to Trubin, who had an excellent time in many matches in the Champions League. The main thing is that Bushchan, Riznyk from Vorskla, Trubin and Lunin were realized in the national team. If the latter resolves the issue of playing practice, which he sorely lacks in Real Madrid, the veterans will definitely be able to calmly say “Thank you and goodbye” to the national team.
Definitely say goodbye to the national team naturalized Brazilians: 34-year-old Marlos (27 matches, 1 goal, 6 assists) and 35-year-old Moraes (11 matches, 1 goal, 1 assist) returned to their homeland, they hardly have anything to do in the championship of the warring country, and local youth have grown up in their positions in the national team.
It is extremely unlikely that the national team will need another 32-year-old Evgeny Konoplyanka (86 matches, 21 goals, 11 assists). Tsygankov, Zubkov, Mudrik close the wingers for many years to come, while 32-year-old Andriy Yarmolenko (107 matches, 45 goals, 22 assists) is unlikely to end his international career – the last year has proved that he is vital for the national team. In case of a successful change of the club, our record holder for “goal + pass” will definitely enter the new qualifying round. Why in the case of Kono we leave a small probability? He extended the contract with Cracovia, and if he returns to the optimal team, he will help in certain segments of the distance.
32 year old Denis Garmash (31 matches, 2 goals, 2 assists) is clearly not needed by Petrakov with Zinchenko, Malinovsky and a full set of forwards. He himself is unlikely to announce his retirement, and the situation in which he may be needed cannot be ruled out.
Our age legionnaires (31-year-old Artem Makarenko, Roman Bezus) objectively lose to the existing young competitors and cannot boast of an upsurge in club business. We mentally move them to a very, very distant reserve. We send Yaroslav Rakitsky and especially Ivan Ordets there – the Matvienko-Zabarny pairing took place, and the presence of Sirota and Popov makes the center back vacancy completely closed.
There are still a few veterans left – for example, 32-year-old Taras Stepanenko, 31-year-old Sergei Sidorchuk, 30-year-old Alexander Karavaev. But all of them are needed, the support zone is our weakness, we have an extremely little competitive position with outdated masters. Stepanenko and Sidorchuk, even in the worst aggregate state, are better than their competitors, except that the headquarters will reach the “floating” center in the Zinchenko-Malinovsky-Shaparenko configuration. We do not have a right-back as a class, even in the youth team the best of them is a boy who grew up in Spain from the depths of the Segunda. So we close the issue on these points.
Who is waiting for the national team
What is good about the staffs of Shevchenko and Petrakov is that they readily responded to the progress of young players, therefore there are only a couple of players who can consider that they have not yet waited for a well-deserved chance in the national team. This is, first of all, the 21-year-old defender of Slavia Maxim Taloverov. Next to Kacharaba, he made very serious progress, proved his level in the youth team – he will definitely need to be played in the next official matches.
The second is a 20-year-old Vladislav Vanat. The brightest opening of the Dynamo spring tour, a good impression from the loan in Chernomorets, the records of the U-21 and U-19 tournaments were broken. The first team needs such a striker, and definitely more than, say, Sikan, who did not impress in the Hansa. At the moment it is.
We also expect further progress from Konstantin Vivcharenko, Anton Bol, Mikhail Mikhailenko and even – yes, yes! – from Vlada Spouses (why – we explained in detail here). However, their success in the national team will depend entirely on club progress, and there is no getting away from the fact that a player’s prospects are only potential, and his disclosure is a matter of everyday work in his club. Then interest will come from the headquarters of the No. 1 team.
What will happen next with the coach of the national team
Contract with Alexander Petrakov UAF signed until December 31, 2022. Originally, that is, according to this logic, he will have the June matches of the League of Nations, and even the beginning of the qualification for Euro 2024. If he is ready to continue to work in the national team, and the UAF agrees with this, there will be chances to be rehabilitated for Wales.
Wherein Sergey Rebrov Officially, he is also in no hurry to prolong his agreement with the Emirati Al Ain, it lasts until June 30, 2022, although, according to TaToTake, he has already done this. A year ago, when the contract with the Shevchenko national team ended, Rebrov had already managed to sign an agreement with Al Ain. This became a hindrance to his possible work with the national team. He has such a dream, therefore, it will not be surprising if the association tries to present him in a new capacity in the summer – perhaps with his entry into office at the end of the predecessor’s contract.
The key decision is that the coaching issue will have an impact on the entire strategy of the national team. Here the fate of 3-5 years of Ukrainian football will be decided. On the side of Petrakov, there is a much greater experience of working with national teams. On the side of Rebrov there is a large club practice, including abroad, as well as a much more significant football name. By leaving a difficult group, Petrakov won a lot of fans for himself, however, in the playoffs, the team did not achieve 100% of the result, creating many chances in Cardiff, but failing to turn the game and achieve the desired result.
In nine matches, Petrakov lost only once, but he also won – only three times. There was a lot of nervousness in the game of the national team, too many draws and results that were not brought to a logical conclusion during the game. We are accustomed to treating Petrakov as “acting” – a temporary performer, but meanwhile he has been working in the national teams for so long that he can be considered one of the most experienced coaches in working with age teams in Ukraine. His period will be remembered for several brightest fights, but at the same time for tough misunderstandings with Malinovsky, the expulsion of Buyalsky, Besedin and Garmash, farewell to the naturalized Brazilians. And so far – an understatement. Will management give him a “second run”? One of the highlights of this summer.
Bogdan Gryschuk
Source: Sportarena
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
