Based on the results of the League of Nations matches performed by the head coach of the “blue-yellows” Oleksandr Petrakov, as well as the initial stage of the preparation of the national team of Ukraine for the play-offs of the 2022 World Cup. a decision about players that become “unnecessary” in the team’s practice. There were five names on the list: Hemp, Garmash, Buyalsky, Bulets and Besedin. Can someone replace one of these artists? Quite a few. But the choice of the coach and definitely worthy of respect.

But is Petrakov right, and how logical is this choice of five – let’s try to figure it out …

yefim hemp

22-year-old Marijuana Oleksandr Petrakov knows very well from his work with the country’s youth national team that went to victory at the 2019 U-19 World Championship in Poland. It is therefore not surprising that in the 2021/22 season, despite Konoply’s reserve status at Shakhtar, this player is on the expanded roster of national team players.

Konoplya took his chance against Borussia Mönchengladbach, but played extremely unconvincingly. The mistake he made in the 14th minute brought the Blue-Yellows a goal and did not affect the young full back much on offense. It is not surprising that already in the second half, Popov appeared on the field instead of Konopli, and Ilya Zabarny switched to the right “brow line”, who played there in the next training against Empoli.

But right now it is clear that the key figure on the right side of the national team’s defense is Alexander Karavaev, who has only to be on the opposite flank. When Mikolenko and Sobol join the national team on the left, qualified players will be sought in defense, and therefore Karavaev will take his usual position and find someone to insure in an emergency. And Marijuana… Yefim still has a lot of work to do on himself and the next time he has a chance with the country’s main team, he’ll have to hold on to it with all his might, avoiding obvious mistakes and mistakes.

Vitaly BUYALSKY

Buyalsky, 29, recently blossomed at Dynamo and had the best time of his career. In the club, Vitaly is one of the leaders of the team’s offensive, and with Viktor Tsygankov forms a formidable striker duet. But in the national team, Petrakov, after giving Buyalsky the opportunity to play against three opponents (albeit at different minutes), chose to do without this midfielder in the future. Why?

Maybe you shouldn’t be looking for very complex answers to a fairly simple question. Buyalsky in the current national team is like an easel in the machine shop of a metallurgical plant. What Lucescu has managed to create for Vitaliy at Dynamo, although on the spot and under certain circumstances, very different traits and huge differences, this midfielder can bring tremendous benefits. Petrakov does not have time to try and “tie” Buyalsky to the game formations of the “blue-yellows”, frankly, it was unnecessary even in the era of Andriy Shevchenko.

Moreover, Dnipro-1 midfielder Oleksandr Pikhalyonok showed himself well in the May matches, where his skills and character were again much better known by Petrakov, and the last factor can by no means be overlooked! Compared to Buyalsky, Pikhalyonok is a more versatile option for coaching staff on the field. Alexander can not only be useful in the last third of the field and on the outskirts, but also does a huge amount of rough work, which Vitaly does not always work, to put it mildly. Therefore, the Dynamo player again became a hostage to his style of play – a very creative and free figure in the concept that Petrakov chose to try to achieve success at a crucial moment for the Ukrainian team.

Sergei BULETSA

The situation of the 23-year-old representative of Zorya, Sergei Buletsa, is somewhat similar to the situation we have outlined for Buyalsky above. In his club, this midfielder played an important role in the UPL-2021/22, but in the national team Buleza did not have much time and chances to show himself. At the same time, Sergei was injured in the fights with Empoli and Rijeka for not being able to enter the field.

While Petrakov’s abilities are well known for Buletsa, who, unlike Buyalsky, fired up the Ukraine U-19 team at the world championships in Poland in 2019, it is important to understand the level of competition that is essential at the moment. the country’s team is in a conditional position in the middle of the field. Can Buleza beat Malinovsky, Zinchenko or Shaparenko right now? Unlikely. Also, Pikhalyonok, who made incredible progress in the “blue-yellows” camp, which we mentioned above …

Overall, a number of factors led Petrakov to the correctness of his decision to withdraw Buleza from the national team application. And there is a feeling that in the current situation Alexander Vasilyevich and his deputies are considering at least this candidacy.

Denis Garmash

The 32-year-old Garmash has already been knocked out by many, but in the UPL-2021/22 season, Denis managed to rise from the ashes worse than any Phoenix bird. Mircea Lucescu has once again found for Garmash the degree of freedom and confidence he needs in the team, and the veteran football player has fully repaid his Romanian mentor.

Petrakov Garmash could be useful as one of the team’s all-round key players. Denis can play both in the middle of the midfield and under the striker and can come to the fore in attack if necessary. Another thing is that such an inconsistency will lead to the destruction of the already extremely shaky game connections in the team, and Petrakov has absolutely no time for experiments anymore. Obviously, that’s why, despite Garmash’s goal against Rijeka, Denis was deleted from the final list of players who will try to get into the final part of the 2022 World Cup and start the next one with dignity. League of Nations draw.

Artem BESEDIN

Besedin, 26, missed the entire first half of the season due to his cruciate ligament rupture and had to return to the field at the end of the Ukrainian Premier League… However, due to the war, circumstances changed and Artem actually played without a serious country team. Obviously, Petrakov wanted to look at the conditions and abilities of the current Besedin and have such a player in case of some kind of force majeure.

As a result, Besedin spent 70 minutes on the field against Borussia Mönchengladbach, one and a half minutes against Rijeka, not scoring. And overall, her performance didn’t look like what fans were used to. As a result, a logical question arose before Petrakov, which should be left in the team for the role of the nominal third striker (the key forward of the team remains Roman Yaremchuk, who can be replaced by Artem Dovbik almost without loss of quality), who played in the second part of the season in Hansa and positively Daniil Sikan, who deserves critical acclaim, or Artem Besedin, who has barely returned to his former level.

Again, given the fact that Sikan is well known by Petrakov for his work with the country’s junior national team and Daniil’s bigger game practice this season, as well as the selection of the “blue-yellows” coach, it seems quite logical that he is not in favor of Besedin.

note Could Petrakov have actually kicked someone else off the team? As stated above – completely. For example, four goalkeepers remain in the team at the same time, and this can only be called reinsurance. In addition, Valery Bondar was absolutely unimpressed in practice in May, he made a lot of mistakes, but given Popov’s injury and the fundamental problems with the central axis of the defense, shooting in this area is much riskier than removing two or three offensive players. .

It may be so, but Petrakov had the opportunity to assess the situation of almost all his wards, which in current realities is already a positive phenomenon in itself. Of course, the Scots will have an advantage over our team in the continuity of their playing practice, but the Ukraine’s will to win and it has to hurt their character. Now there is no other choice, not just for the football players, but for the whole nation. Victory to Ukraine! Forward to victories!