Mudryk blamed for making Chelsea and Arsenal target look bad

Tom Weber

• 17 Jun 2024 15:30 BST
• 3 min read

Ukraine endured a nightmare start to Euro 2024 against Romania and a lot of the blame was pinned on Chelsea star Mykhailo Mudryk.

The Ukrainians looked completely unrecognisable in their opening Euro 2024 game against Romania, with the underdog storming into a 3-0 lead in 57 minutes.

Despite Ukraine boasting the bigger names, none of them managed to really show up, with winger Mykhailo Mudryk and his best friend Georgiy Sudakov, one of Europe's most in-demand players pretty much invisible.

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At halftime, with Ukraine 1-0 down after a Nicolae Stanciu wonderstrike, BBC pundits Thomas Frank, Ashley Williams and Danny Murphy expressed their disappointment with Sudakov's performance, but a lot of the blame for it was pinned on the unpredictable Mudryk, who is yet to show that Chelsea made a good investment with their €70 million signing of him.

Mudryk has no end product

"Sudakov hasn’t been at his best," Brentford boss Frank said of the Arsenal and Chelsea target. "Maybe it’s because it's his first big international tournament. He’s young. He’s not been that involved. He needs to get in the box."

This prompted an intriguing response from Williams. "I just wonder with Mudryk, with his end product, sometimes as a midfield player, you’re not going to gamble because you’re not sure if there’s going to be an end product. You don’t know if he’s going to dribble it, get to the byline, come inside and shoot."

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"You’re not sure. So as an attacking midfielder or a central midfielder, maybe you’re not going to make that 40-yard run because when Mudryk is on it, you’re not sure if he’s going to put it in the correct areas."

"He’s been OK," Frank replied. "I don’t think they’ve been setting him up enough. I would like to see him in more one-on-one situations. Give it to him! He’s a fantastic one-on-one player."

"They’ve not made a game plan to get him on the ball," Murphy concluded. "They’re just playing. If it goes to him, it goes to him. He’s got unbelievable pace, he’s got skill, he can beat anybody, give him the ball."