Why I’m Concerned: Ukraine at EURO2016

There are several reasons as to why I’m concerned about Ukraine’s EURO2016 campaign.

Sevilla and Konoplyanka

I’ve always been skeptical as to why Yevhen Konoplyanka isn’t receiving consistent playing time with Sevilla and the reasons we’re hearing from the press are troublesome. Some ascribe this to a lack of understanding “team dynamics and play” while others are stating that there are poor relations between Konoplyanka and some his teammates. If I were to take a guess, I’d assume that this season is a very hard one for the player considering the rigorous schedule in La Liga and the fact that there are many more games in La Liga when compared to the Ukrainian Premier League. Needless to say, Ukraine needs Konoplyanka in top form prior to the tournament, not only in a physical sense, but also in a psychological one. Game time is an absolute must.

Still struggling to find a striker

The everlasting problem of finding a consistent striker for the Zbirna is another growing concern. Oleksandr Gladky is simply not good enough for an international team (as of now) and I attribute this to Shakhtar’s reliance on the midfield for creating and scoring. The system that they played with Teixeira essentially saw Gladky as a placeholder upfront who was meant to score rebounds.

Artem Kravets’ gamble with Germany troubles me despite a promising start to his loan with Stuttgart. We’ve still got several months to go before the EUROs and while Kravets does play second fiddle to Seleznyov, he also needs lots of playing time to remain in-form — just in case something happens.

The coaching staff ignores Marko Devic who has been performing relatively well for Rubin Kazan; Pylyp Budkivskyi has shown that he’s still way too raw to play for the Zbirna; we’re yet to see the return to form of Roman Zozulya.

Cross your fingers and hope nothing happens to Seleznyov over the next months as he will most likely be the preferred choice of the coaching staff for most matches.

Finding the midfielder that will link Konoplyanka and Yarmolenko

The experimentation in midfield has seen Ruslan Rotan, Denys Harmash, Serhiy Sydorchuk, and several others attempt to provide the link between Konoplyanka’s left side and Yarmolenko’s right. These individual players all have their strengths, but also their weaknesses. Going into the EUROs, I’d love to see some stability with that central attacking midfield role in the 4–2–3–1 that we’re playing. For now, 34-year old Rotan is the man for me.

Play the kids at the EUROs

Fomenko’s conservative tactics will most likely see the youngsters remain on the bench. Europe needs to see the talent that we have in Zinchenko, Kovalenko, Petryak, etc. Likewise, these players need to see Europe and get a taste of confidence and major tournament experience, because before you know it, they will be the flag-bearers.