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The first really serious opponent of the Ukrainian team in the Nations League turned out to be a rival of our team from another planet. The Ukrainians lost big to the Spanish team with no chances or options. In the performance of the guests in the Madrid match, everything went wrong: from the first to the last minute. This is not an attempt to re-dunk the kitten in a puddle, sadly, it is an offensive and annoying, but objective and logical statement of fact. Below are the main, in our opinion, reasons for the fiasco at the Di Stefano stadium.
We hope that our national team can still draw conclusions from them. After all, the one who did not fall is not strong. Etc. Well, you know.
1. The class of the opponent. You can rejoice as much as you like about the entry of the Ukrainian team into Group A of the Nations League, but at the same time, you need to really assess the strength and level of Shevchenko’s current team. Last Thursday, in the context of the Swiss national team, you could see, if not all, of our shortcomings, mainly in teamwork. The Blue and Whites were not prepared for the high pressure that Petkovic’s team offered from the first minutes of the game. That game was saved for us by the individual action of the leaders of the national team.
On Sunday, the Spanish added the same high individual skill to the high pressure. And speed. There was nothing to cover these three components.
It is possible to gloat to the point of how young Fati tirelessly and gracefully “drove” our entire right flank, “dropping” Tymchik and Krivtsov under the pedestal, along with their dorsal and cervical vertebrae, but at the same time we must understand that the level of the rivals has just risen. Significantly higher. There in the center of the defense is Ramos, we have Krivtsov, there in the center of the field is Alcantara, we have Kharatin.
I guess that’s enough.
2. Lost before the game. There was such a persistent belief that the Ukraine team was not ready for the match against Spain, not only physically, but also emotionally and psychologically. Our players just didn’t know what to do, where to run, who to keep. And it is not just a very early goal that could have undermined the already delicate “mental organization” of the Ukrainian nationals: they would not have missed the match in the opening, they would have lost it later. Because fighting with the “white flag” in the “front” is absurd and useless.
3. Shevchenko lost tactically to Luis Enrique. The team wins, the coach loses.
The match with Spain was perhaps the worst for the national team under Shevchenko’s leadership. Is it just the head coach to blame for the loss? No. But Shevchenko is to blame for exactly how our team lost.
Marlos as sole striker, Lunin on the bench, lack of rotation, leaving the defense to attack with a small pass, Kharatin as Stepanenko’s substitute, Pyatov as libero, that is, the initiator of the attacks (however, the choice of this goalkeeper in particular was this game also raises questions): Andriy Shevchenko’s coaching staff made a lot of mistakes in this game.
Although after the game Andrei Nikolayevich said that one of the main reasons for such a terrible game of his players was that they did not have time to recover from Switzerland, it seems that the “wild dog” was not like that. Or not just there. The Spaniards, in terms of intensity, had an equally grueling first-round match against the Germans, so they were all in the same condition.
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Our coaching staff wanted to play like a memorable match at home against Portugal. But, it turned out that the game plan was chosen incorrectly. Then the team ran, now, for many reasons, it is not working. It was not Shevchenko’s fault, but he, like no one else, knew this fact, because it was already evident in the game with the Swiss that the “blue-yellow” team “was not the same”: it was wet, scattered and the composition was not. it was optimal. But Andrei Nikolayevich thought he will “do just that.” Not out. We were punished very quickly. And it is very significant. Our coach couldn’t get close to his players during the break, he couldn’t rebuild the game, adjust the players, change tactics. Did the national team even have a plan B?
Overall, the coaching staff’s fault in this slap is significant.
4. Loss of Stepanenko. It turns out that in our team there are irreplaceable. And the irreplaceable main is Taras Stepanenko. I remember that we already saw something similar when we played against the Nigerian national team without Taras. Then the fast rivals just smashed our midfield. If it weren’t for luck (and the judge’s person too) and the character shown in the second half, they probably would have lost on that “freight train”.
UAF. Igor Kharatin’s debut (right) was very difficult.
In this case, Shevchenko decided to replace Stepanenko with Kharatin. The Ferencvaros midfielder turned out to be cheesy and is not ready to play at this level. Perhaps it was necessary to release Sidorchuk from the first minutes?
5. They showed us our level. Switzerland did not lose to the Germans in a parallel match. If he loses, you could say that Petkovic’s team is just as desperate in matches against elite rivals like ours. But the Alpine team was a pleasant surprise. Especially after matching the score. This team still has more class than Andriy Shevchenko’s team, which by default cannot be compared to the class of Lev’s team. Therefore, the Ukraine team will have a difficult task to fight in the group for survival.
Let’s face it: if our selection remains in the elite division, this fact should be considered an undoubted success.
It is probably good that Ukraine plays in Group A of the Nations League before Euro 2020. Now we know what to expect as we face the best teams. We hope everyone learns from these helpful lessons …
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