Head coach of Ukraine’s national-team Oleg Blokhin answered numerous questions of Ukrainian and Georgian journalists at the press-conference that took place right after the match between our team and Georgia finished. The mentor of the ‘blue-yellows’ noted that he bears the entire responsibility for the outcome of the match. He also mentioned the footballers who, in his vision, failed to complete the instructions of the headquarters.
Wasted responsibility
“This is me who bears the responsibility for the outcome, - Blokhin said. – No one shifts it away from me for the drawn match which doesn’t suit us at all. But the footballers have no right to make the slips we’ve seen in the match. One won’t see such faults even in child schools. The footballers should come up with responsibility to what they do but not to fool around on the field.”
Georgians as example
The coach of Ukrainians warned: if some player has no drive - he should tell about it in now and stop coming to national team from now on. In that case he’d better involve young newcomers, as the Georgians do. “Let’s say, I will put Kravchenko, Hladkiy and Chyhrynskiy, then their possible mistakes might be interpreted from the point of age and lack of experience. In the second half Georgian squad let 16-year-old Kenia out, and 18-year-old Siradze. And half of my team participated at the World Cup whereas now they make such blunders!” – Blokhin was emotional to answer.
Waiting for changes?
After the question whether some changes in Ukrainian squad will be provided for the match against Italy on 12 September, the mentor retorted: “Who should I substitute? You keep offering me your candidates in the main squad. I’m tired of it. Why don’t you take my place, while I’ll be telling you who to put, and who – not. Blokhin is not that man to accept someone’s instructions. I can’t answer your question right now. We should look at today’s match once again, to analyze it. Only after this I can give an answer.”
Percentage of performance
The mentor of the ‘blue-yellows’ considers that his team completed only 80 per cent of task in the match against Georgia. In his vision, the footballers stick to the plan only during first 20 minutes. After the goal Ukraine’s national-team stepped back to their own side thus providing space for their opponents who are good with the ball.
Not all lost
At the end the coach was asked about his vision of Ukraine’s prospects in this qualifier. As one of the main opponents, that is Scotland, won the match with Lithuania 3:1. “Let’s first play with Italy, then we’ll speak about our chances. Mind that we got a second-leg match and we’ll meet Scotland again. I’m enthusiastic and I believe not all is lost”, - the mentor concluded.
