Andriy Shevchenko’s modern methods have revolutionised Ukraine | Jonathan Wilson

The coach has drawn on his Italian schooling to improve the team and takes on England at Euro 2020 with a flexible squad

Five years ago, Ukraine lost 1-0 to Poland in Marseille to complete a miserable Euros campaign in which they lost all three games and failed to score. Their football was leaden and uninspired, predicated on three lumbering holding midfielders and the vague hope that either Andriy Yarmolenko or Yevhen Konoplyanka might do something spectacular. Yarmolenko remains but as Ukraine prepare for a European Championship quarter-final, almost everything else has changed beyond recognition.

The man responsible is Andriy Shevchenko, but there was a sense of trepidation when he was appointed after the last Euros; his only coaching experience had been as assistant to Mikhail Fomenko in that tournament. But Shevchenko’s vision of football is very different to that of Fomenko. Having played for Milan and Chelsea, his vision of the game is a modern one.

Related: ‘We are not afraid’: Ukraine’s media get ready for England showdown

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