Comments on: Croatia 2 – 2 Ukraine: Everything Still To Play For

By: yevy

yevy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:16:23 +0000

It’s hard to be underrated when the world’s richest club buys you for £8 million at 33 years old. I like Given, but playing for bad defensive teams has helped him pile up saves and made him look a bit better than he really is. It’s trickier in Cech’s shoes, when you don’t touch the ball for 20 minutes at a time and then have to make a crucial stop. He hasn’t been the same since getting his skull caved in, but for a while I felt he was a notch above even Buffon and Casillas.

As for our keepers, when both are at the top of their game I would pick Bohush over Pyatov. Maybe it’s my Dynamo bias, but Stas was flawless last fall when he was healthy. He pulled an abdominal muscle during winter training and was never going to be 100% until the season ended. With the Shakhtar center backs in front of him, Pyatov is the obvious choice right now, but I hope Bohush gets another chance in September.

By: Marko Jevhenijovich

Marko Jevhenijovich — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:59:47 +0000

Shay Given is not more than an average goalkeeper and the whole world knows that. but that’s just by the way, this blog is about Ukrainian goalkeepers and I just want to remind you on Shakhtar – CSKA and Akinfeevs mistake against Kucher. But that’s also just by the way. Piatov made two mistakes this season in the whole international campaign of Shakhtar: Against Barcelona and Werder. That’s it.

By: Sasha

Sasha — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:18:55 +0000

If you’re gonna laugh, Marko, you can at least tell us why. Shay Given is the most underrated goalie in the world, and deserves to be mentioned in the same breath with Buffon and Casillas. (Cech is the most overrated, by the way). I’ve watched quite a bit of the Russian league and Akinfeev is absolutely phenomenal with crosses and freekicks. I don’t remember a single mistake as gross as Pyatov’s TWO mistakes in vital games (the UEFA cup final and now this game). I admit I watch much less of the Ukrainian league but even in the little I’ve seen Pyatov and Bogush have looked pretty ridiculous at times.

By: yevy

yevy — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:12:16 +0000

In my opinion both Pyatov and Bohush are top class shot stoppers, but they don’t always make the right decision on crosses and tend to give up soft rebounds. I would say the exact same thing about Akinfeev. With more experience they will cut down on those kinds of mistakes. One thing to keep in mind about the Pyatov-Bohush-Shust trio is they are still pretty young in goalkeeper years. Most goalies not named Cech or Casillas peak around 30 years of age.

By: Marko Jevhenijovich

Marko Jevhenijovich — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:24:23 +0000

haha I wanna laugh, Shay Given, haha

By: skillz

skillz — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:44:26 +0000

Definitely want to see Nazarenko, Rotan, and Rusol playing again. Those guys are solid. Not sure if I wanna see Voronin playing though. Everyone wants him to do well, but he can’t find the net for the national team.

By: Sasha

Sasha — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:38:42 +0000

Of course, a great Ukrainian goalie isn’t suddenly going to appear out of nowhere like a mushroom, which means of course we have to do the best with what we have. Also, why would Shovkovsky be our No. 1 if he moved to a different club if he can’t even start for Dynamo?

By: Sasha

Sasha — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:35:07 +0000

What are you talking about, Marko? Goalkeepers don’t get tired. The more games they get to play, the better and more consistent they (are supposed to) become. There are only 2 justifiable reasons for keeping Piatov: one, he gets to play with the very decent centreback partnership of Kucher-Chygrynskiy, his club teammates and two, there’s simply nobody better at the moment. True, I forgot about Shust, but he’s just another run-of-the-mill goalie on the same level as Piatov, Bogush, et al. I’m not asking for a Buffon, Casillas, or Shay Given, but I do want someone only a few notches below, someone like Igor Akinfeev.

By: Marko Jevhenijovich

Marko Jevhenijovich — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:44:09 +0000

In my view you aren’t right Sasha. Piatov is a spectacular Goalie, indeed. His serious problem now is that he just made too many games this season fro Shakhtar. Lucescu put Hudzhamov too few times into the gate and that’s what we, Ukrainians, pay for now. He is simply tired. I hope that he will not play so many times next season. Without being tired and exhausted he is a world class goalie who could play in every club in Europe. About Shovkosky we don’t have to talk, he doesn’t have a stable place, he should change the club and he will be our Number One again. I am also waiting for Bohdan Shust changing the club and finding his old great form. For the game against Kazakhstan I’m looking forward that Bohush plays. He is also a great goalie although he doesn’t have that experience yet that has Piatov.

By: Sasha

Sasha — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:54:41 +0000

A few things I forgot to say: Pyatov plays exactly like this for Shakhtar, so national team nervousness is not a factor here. Also, Shovkovskiy never really impressed me even in 2006 or qualifying (barring that epic PSO against Switzerland of course) so he’s not the solution even if he were in form.