Football. ua reflects on the prospects of the Ukrainian as part of Manchester City.

After the match Germany Ukraine (3: 1), a huge amount of criticism fell on the Ukrainian footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko. The footballer himself even reacted to her on his Instagram.

We have already explained the nature of Alexander's mistakes in the match against Germany in our analysis of that fight.. Although here it is still necessary to say that Oleksandr Zinchenko plays in the center of the field only a few times a year when he comes to the national team. At the club, he acts as a left-back, where he performs completely different functions.. And therefore, these errors are quite understandable also due to the lack of proper experience of playing in the center of midfield.

In this article Football. ua analyzes Zinchenko's career and comes to the conclusion that a Ukrainian needs to change his club registration as soon as possible.

Let's remember history. In 2016, Alexander moved from Ufa to Manchester City. Young Ukrainian midfielder signed a five-year contract with the “citizens”. And at that time, this transfer did not cause anything but a smile and bewilderment.

Alexander was immediately sent on loan to PSV to gain experience of playing at a higher level, but in the Netherlands he did not really succeed. Many experts argued that since our guy failed to prove himself there, then there is certainly nothing to do in Manchester City.

After his return from loan, Zinchenko decided to stay at the club and continue to fight for a place at the base of City. In the winter of 2018, Josep Guardiola's team experienced great difficulties as a left-back. Injuries forced the Spanish specialist to look for options in the team's reserve. The coaching staff of the Manchester club saw a way out in the use of Zinchenko on the left flank of the defense.

Alexander began to play regularly and it seemed that he was a lucky ticket for our football player. In the summer of 2019, a new contract was signed with the player for a period of 5 years.

The future of the Ukrainian footballer in Manchester City seemed very bright. Although Zinchenko continued to act as a left-back, neither the fans nor the footballer himself were very upset about this, since the main thing in that situation was to play in the squad, but the position is no longer so important.

We note, of course, the professionalism of Alexander, who worked hard on himself and managed to gain muscle mass and improve his defense skills, which is so necessary to have in his position, especially in England. Zinchenko adjusted to the circumstances and did everything possible to play in the squad.

Only after a while it became clear that no matter how hard our footballer tried, he would not become the second Kyle Walker on the left flank. Speed, endurance, power - it's not about him. And this is what the perfect defender for Manchester City should be on the wing. Benjamin Mendy, who is part of the City, perfectly fits this description, but the player is haunted by constant injuries, and the Frenchman's attitude to football is, to put it mildly, frivolous.

Already, right-back Joao Canselo's play on the left and other searches for options suggest that Josep Guardiola still does not consider the Ukrainian on the left flank in defense in the long run, but only uses him as a temporary option.. And the constant rumors about the possible departure of Zinchenko from the City also do not come out of thin air..

And most importantly, Zinchenko could, and still can, become one of the best central midfielders in the world, although all these years in City he worked on completely different skills.. He developed the qualities he needs to play defensively, not his strengths.. Once again, speed, athleticism, strength - this is not about Zinchenko. He is a smart football player with a high level of intelligence and excellent technical equipment..

The main task of a football player in this position is to assess the situation at 360 degrees before receiving the ball, evaluate all possible options for the development of further attack and choose the optimal one.. This is where our player is strong, which he has repeatedly demonstrated in games for the national team.. And those mistakes in the match against Germany only tell us that Zinchenko plays very rarely in the center of the field, and therefore is not used to being in such conditions. Some will say that the left-back position is not quite typical for Guardiola, and they will be right.. But still playing on the left in defense and in the center of the field are two huge differences..

I have heard the opinion that Viktor Kovalenko has changed a lot over the years spent at Shakhtar. That once upon a time in the team of Alexander Petrakov, Kovalenko was the leader, the person who led the team. But now Victor, surrounded by Brazilians, often plays with one touch, acts as a football player with whom you can beat. He has completely stopped taking the initiative, shifting responsibility and therefore now this is a completely different Kovalenko.

Something similar can be said about Zinchenko. In Manchester City, he plays the role of " If you understand what we mean. Over the years, Zinchenko lost that youthful maximalism, good sports egoism and the desire to "

Just brush up on how he acted in the matches of Ufa against Zenit. How he made his debut for the Ukrainian national team. What scored the debut goal against the Romanian national team. You will see a completely different player - a young, not yet quite physically strong, impudent guy who is aimed at the goal and is capable of great things in attack. Now Zinchenko is already a more mature, balanced and experienced player, but he began to take less risks and take on the game.. The main task in the game for the club was - not to harm.

In December, Alexander will turn 24, and this is no longer a young age and it is time to be determined. It is now clear that in the City the Ukrainian footballer has not been considered for a long time as a candidate for the center of the field.. Satisfying the role of left-back of the rotation of one of the top clubs in the Premier League, is it worth it?

Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne tried his first attempt to gain a foothold in the Premier League in Chelsea. Then the Londoners were coached by Jose Mourinho. He didn't get the required amount of game practice. The Portuguese mentor at that time said that if Juan Mata leaves the club, then De Bruyne will become only a 5th choice, and not 6 for a position in midfield, and therefore he should not hope for a place in the main squad.

At 22, the Belgian decided to leave Chelsea and went to the less status German Wolfsburg for 22 million euros. Kevin needed half a season to adapt. But already in the 2014/15 season, he just tore in the center of midfield in the German Bundesliga, becoming the best assistant with 21 assists. That season Wolfsburg managed to win the German Cup in the final against Borussia Dortmund with the help of Kevin. De Bruyne scored 16 goals and 27 assists throughout the season and was named Germany's Footballer of the Year.

And in the summer of 2015, De Bruyne City paid 74 million euros. The Belgian himself became the leader and main player of the team. And now it is absolutely rightfully considered one of the best football players in its position in the world..

This story was told for a reason. This is a story about how sometimes it is necessary to take one step back in order to then take two steps forward..

If we talk about where it would be nice to go to Zinchenko, then here it is difficult to give an unambiguous answer. Staying in the Premier League would be ideal. After all, then there will be no need to learn a new language and adapt to a new country.. Perhaps Alexander would need to look towards less status clubs that could guarantee him a play in the center of midfield. But at the same time, you need to choose teams that like to play with the ball due to short passes..

The conditional West Ham Yarmolenko with his athleticism, long passes and a bet on power football is clearly not suitable for Alexander. Wolverhampton has already shown some interest in Zinchenko. It is quite possible to imagine our player on the field instead of the same Joao Moutinho. Everton looks pretty now, but there is already a high level of competition in the center of the field, it will not be so easy to get there. The option with Arsenal, where Arteta's old acquaintance works, would be ideal. But again, the question is whether the Spaniard sees a midfielder in our player?

Choosing your next career position is very important. Choosing the right team is the real art. I remember the story of Memphis Depay. The Dutchman, together with his agent, turned to the analytical agency SciSports with a request to find a new team for the player using mathematical modeling.

Four criteria were taken as a basis:.

• playing style (in the case of Depay, he is ultra-attacking);

• compliance of the financial capabilities of the club with the player's transfer value and his requests;

• selection of certain leagues;

• playing time that a football player can potentially get.

Then the football player of Manchester United Memphis Depay received from the analytical company a list of several clubs in Spain and Italy. Also on that list were: Everton, Fenerbahce and Lyon. It turned out that the French were interested in the player's services.

A little later, this transfer took place, and Depay played again as before his transfer to United and even better.

There are a lot of options on how to select a new team.. Agents and other members of the football team must work on this.. One thing is clear - for further growth and development, Zinchenko is simply obliged to leave the current comfort zone, return to midfield and continue his forward movement up.

Sergey Gorbachenko, Football. ua Author: Sergey Gorbachenko.