Sudakov under fire? Some defend the Benfica star: “Our defence…” | OneFootball

Fulfilling the schedule with the Ukrainian national team, which last Friday, September 5th, lost the first game against France. Georgiy Sudakov was heavily criticized for his defensive stance. However, not everyone believes that the new attacking midfielder for Benfica should be entirely blamed for the situation.

Strongly criticized for not helping to defend following the first goal by the French, the former forward began by emphasizing that the whole team was caught off guard: “At that moment we were a bit confused. Our entire defense shifted to the right flank to block the opponents, and a series of errors occurred.”

While acknowledging that Georgiy Sudakov was partly at fault in the 1-0 situation in favor of France, the former Ukrainian international points out that the blame 'doesn't lie solely on him': “Yes, Sudakov didn’t run and didn’t come back as he should have. But it’s not just his fault.”

The former forward, who spent part of his career in the Netherlands, noted that no one knew how to react to the counterattack led by Bayern Munich's winger: “Many of our players didn’t see Olise running and just watched the ball. Therefore, it’s wrong to unleash all the criticism on Sudakov.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.