Mykhaylo Fomenko guided his Ukrainian team to qualify for the tournament with a play-off victory over Slovenia, having finished in the group stage of qualifying in third place.
He will be setting out to improve on a disappointing Euro 2012, when they crashed out in the group stage of a tournament they co-hosted with group rivals Poland.
Tactical setup
With his star players in the wings, he will look to play through Yevhen Konoplyanka and Andrey Yarmolenko, who both have the ability to make any defence look silly with their skills on the ball.
A man capped 24 times by the Soviet Union, he will instruct his team to set up in a 4-5-1 formation when he feels they are under the pump, but is not afraid to push men forward if they are going in search of more goals.
The defensive plans of the former Kyiv player and manager can largely be affected if his two stars do not show a willingness to get back and defend, as they have been found to do so in the past.
Failure to do so against the likes of Germany’s Marco Reus and Poland’s Robert Lewandowski could possibly lead to the Ukrainians being caught out.
READ MORE: Euro 2016 – Ukraine team preview
Previous employments
The 67-year-old has a vast range of coach experience spanning over 30 years. Before being appointed manager of the national team in 2012, he was previously mainly involved in domestic football.
In terms of international knowledge, Fomenko managed the African nation Guinea for a period of only three months back in 1994.
During his playing career he was primarily used as a defender, finishing his career at arguably Ukraine’s largest club Dynamo Kyiv.
Conclusion
Improving on his country’s last European adventure is sure to be at the top of the agenda for the manager, in a group which is sure to give the Ukrainians a major chance of competing for the second qualifying spot alongside Poland and Northern Ireland, with Germany the hot favourites to take out the tournament.
The Ukrainians will play Albania in a final friendly in the lead up to the tournament.
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