The discussion of the Euro 2024 playoff grid and the chances of the favorites is losing sight of the conversation about the big disappointments of the tournament. Ignoring the fan attachment, the national teams of Ukraine and Serbia can safely be attributed to them. The Sport correspondent figured out what unites these two teams and what way out of the situation they should borrow from Russia.
The most hopeless footballOf course, no one in their right mind said that the Serbs and Ukrainians would be able to aim for victory in the Euro. This is too difficult a tournament, where the most complex puzzle must come together, and, as a rule, there are no «outsiders» on the podium. Greece-2004 is an exception, but one that proves the rule. However, judging by the applications of both teams, fans had every right to expect noise in the playoffs and justification for the “dark horse” status.
In fact, everyone was again captured by names and numbers. Let's start with Ukraine. So what if Mikhail Mudrik is worth more than the entire Romanian national team? So what if Andrei Lunin recently, albeit temporarily, became Real Madrid's number one? So what if Artem Dovbik became the top scorer of the Spanish championship? It's a hackneyed truth, but it works flawlessly every time — football is played by teams, not names and money. In fact, the Ukrainians showed some of their potential in the victorious match against the Slovaks, managing to achieve their usual comeback. They had everything they could to beat the Belgians, fortunately, they can confidently be called “the wrong ones.” The result is panic ahead, lack of a game plan, lack of understanding of what to do with the ball in front of the goal. Looking at the same Dovbik, you can’t help but wonder — is this really the top scorer in La Liga?
Everything written above can be extrapolated to the Serbs. A high-status roster, cool speeches before the start of the tournament, and even points scored at the start — all this is even more encouraging. Then there is emptiness, both in the eyes of the players and in the table in the “points” column. I’ll forgive you for the perhaps too loud and non-expert assessment, but when you have Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic playing in front of you, and Dusan Tadic and Sergei Milinkovic-Savic under them, you simply do not have the right to score one goal in three games. I repeat — you have no right! It’s clear — Euro, pressure, we play as our opponents allow… But, it seems, no one else showed more hopeless football at this European Championship.
Now to the point. In this situation, there is no need to take it out on some players. Even so, it’s mostly not their fault. The Euro is a short-lived tournament where it is not the skills of the players that come to the fore, but teamwork, meticulous organization of the gaming and everyday (!) process, and team unity through various mechanisms. And only then the production of a game plan with all that it entails. This can be seen in the national teams of Austria, Slovakia, Romania, Turkey and even Slovenia. But not in Ukraine and Serbia. All that can be said about their game is chaos, and far from being controlled. “Maybe they’ll figure it out on their own”—isn’t that what Sergei Rebrov and Dragan Stojkovic thought? If so, then we will no longer be surprised by the news that the Ukrainians, after the defeat from the Romanians, politely asked Rebrov to leave the national team’s locker room.
Remember Gus All this leads to one thought: these undoubtedly talented teams need to find a normal foreign coach. Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti are not needed here to restore minimal order in our heads, in the team, and in the federation. Any thoughtful specialist will be able to build a work process in a few months or a year without slipping into protectionism towards leaders and without bowing to big names from the football bureaucracy. A striking example of this is Willy Sagnol. Only the lazy did not see off the Georgian national team from the Euro, and now it is the conqueror of Portugal and a participant in the playoffs.
Perhaps Ukraine and Serbia also need to understand that betting on their legends is a dead end? Okay, the Ukrainians, one might say, were in captivity of illusions after reaching the quarterfinals of the last European Championship. But the stubbornness of the Serbs is really difficult to understand. No one disputes the contribution of Rebrov and Stojkovic to world football, but a great player does not equal a great coach.
Perhaps it’s a matter of a stubborn desire to prove that what is native is better than what is overseas? That we can figure out football ourselves without inviting foreigners? This reminds me of something. This is exactly the path that Russian football followed in the late nineties and early 2000s. It got to the point where they took over almost all the coaches from the top of the championship. The final point for the Russian Football Union (RFU) was the failure to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. That's when Guus Hiddink was invited, about whose achievements there is probably no need to write again.
Yes, then there were generally unsuccessful periods of Dick Advocaat and Fabio Capello, but Hiddink he did the most important thing — he made it clear that there is nothing wrong with inviting foreign coaches. Football is too inclusive and global to be squeezed into a friend-or-foe framework. If functionaries from the Serbian and Ukrainian federations come to this, then at the next tournaments we can see the best versions of their teams. You just have to hurry — such talented generations are not born every ten years.