Ukraine make it into the round of 16 of the Euros for the first time in their history. In the luckiest ‘out of their own hands’ way, Andriy Shevchenko’s side finished third in their group, but thanks to their goals scored, they are through to the knockouts. Good thing too, if they had finished second in their group, they had Italy, the tournament’s brightest team in the group stages, waiting for them.
Instead, Ukraine will face Sweden in Glasgow on Tuesday 29th June, so they do have time to rest and prepare. It was their goal scored that have got them this far, but against Sweden, they must improve on their leaky defence with any hopes of making the quarter-finals. Shevchenko’s tactics have to be right, but more importantly, his team selection must be as well.
In this tactical analysis, we are going to look at why their victory against North Macedonia was their only convincing win thus far, who needs to start versus Sweden, and how they can balance attack and defence to a convincing degree.
Stepanenko needs to start
If one thing was clear from the Austra match, it was that Ukraine look much better with Taras Stepanenko in the side. His screening in front of the backline provides a solid platform to build from, and it allows Oleksandr Zinchenko and Ruslan Malinovskiy agency to roam forward without worry that there is insufficient protection behind them. This is not to say Serhiy Sydorchuk is a poor defensive-midfielder, but the drop off in quality between himself and Stepanenko is significant.
Sydorchuk does not have the mobility or reading of the game of a Stepanenko, which is fundamentally required of a #6 at this level of football. In the Austria game, Sydorchuk was exposed against the likes of Bundesliga star Marcel Sabitzer, Christoph Baumgartner, and Konrad Laimer. He struggled to track their movements off the ball and was punished for it on a few occasions in the match.
Sydorchuk here is almost a sitting duck. Both Laimer and Sabtizer moving around him makes it easy for Xaver Schlager to begin the passing triangle.
