Performance Review: Mykhailo Mudryk

Was his performance as woeful as social media made out?

Mykhailo Mudryk v England (H) - 09/09/2023 -90 minutes played

As you will all have seen by now, I love looking at statistics because they give you a good indication of the facts. By no means can you take them at full value as I also believe in the ‘eye test’ and how somebody performs can be determined in so many ways.

The stats:

Only 25% of Ukraine’s attacks came down Mudryk’s (Left) flank. This I believe is due to Ukraine trying to go 2-on-1 on to Ben Chilwell because England were not playing a natural left winger, in James Maddison. As evidence with their goal.

Attacking and passing - Not enough of the ball.

Passing Accuracy: 88% (7/8 passes complete)

Touches: 19 - This is an issue of playing for a weaker side against a team that dominate the ball (although do nothing with it).

Dribbles: 0/2 - The issue with this is that it does not account for things like drawing a foul, which to me is a successful dribble as you have won your team an advantage.

Defending and duels - Pinned in their own half a lot.

Clearances: 1/1

Headed Clearances: 1/1

Recoveries: 4

Ground duels: 1/3 (33%)

Fouled: 2

Positive match notes

First Half:

Mudryk didn’t touch the ball much due to England’s pure dominance and Ukraine being unable to break out of their own half.

The first real touch of the ball he had, he receive the ball played a quick one-two and then took on two players before passing the ball into Zinchenko. Just after that he stood Walker up took a touch past him and drew a foul to relieve some pressure from his team.

Defensively, he always there ready to cover and assist his full back and his work rate was really good

Second Half:

Having beaten Walker for positioning and pace on a couple of occasions early in the half it was only Harry Maguire making two crucial interceptions that stopped Mudryk from being behind the England back line.

From a Ukraine corner that got headed out to the edge of the area he beat Rashford to the ball who lunged in and made a clear foul on the player, only for the ref to not give anything, it would have been an excellent goal-scoring opportunity for Ukraine.

Overall Summary:

Overall this was a very average performance from Mudryk, his ball control and first touch left something to be desired. His ability to get himself involved in a match is questionable at the minute.

His confidence looks shot to bits, he isn’t doing the thing he knows and we know that he is good at, which is always the first sign of somebody who has lost confidence.

He needs to work on his dribbling, in tight areas especially. He also needs to learn when to drop his shoulder and run in behind to receive the ball rather than attempting to come short all of the time.

Do I think this was as bad of a performance as people branded it on Social media? No.

Was it a good performance? No.

Does he need time and confidence given to him? YES!

He has a lot of raw ability that if coached properly (like Poch does) can elevate him in to a top level player.

Patience……

I have a comparison which should hopefully breathe some patience into the situation….

In Heung-Min Son’s first season at Spurs (under Poch), he came in to a new league had a slightly injury ridden start and was limited to 40 appearances in all competitions at an average of 46 minutes per appearance. He contributed 13 goal, which was 8 goals and 5 assists. With only 5 GC’s coming in the PL across 28 appearances.

Spurs did have a Europa league campaign that year which helped Son for minutes and GC’s and have him some less pressurised minutes.

I hope you enjoyed this and please let me know who else and what else you would like to see from these types of profiles!

Luke Rushbrook