Maybe they do highlights they were right The impact of Vyktor Tsygankov since he has made a place in Míchel Sánchez’s starting eleven is unquestionable. The Ukrainian striker, in three games against Almeria, Athletic Club and Getafe, signs brilliant records of one goal and three assists. In this last section, he added one per game, being decisive in the last meters of the white-and-red attack. As it was when he wore the shirt of the Dynamo of Kiev.
Arrived almost two months ago
Tsygankov was officially announced as Girona’s new player on January 17, in the middle of the winter market. From the first moment, however, both the sports director, Quique Cárcel, and the coach, Míchel Sánchez, asked for “patience”. The footballer, without speaking or understanding the language and without playing minutes since November, needed a logical period of adaptation. In full filming, all those expectations that were promised with his arrival are being fulfilled.
“He has a lot of potential and I think our style of play will benefit him. He has stood out on the right side, playing as a substitute, with many goals and a good strike. He has ambition for the goal, he averages 10-12 per season along with 7-8 assists. These are very important numbers. He will give us alternatives in attack”, commented Cárcel regarding the qualities of the Ukrainian, who gradually entered Míchel’s plans, but if he continues like this, he will hardly leave.
Tsygankov, days after landing, already traveled to Real Village to start getting to know the customs of a dressing room that has welcomed him with open arms. The striker did not participate in that defeat, as he did not the following week, in the Catalan derby against Barça. Tsygankov, however, was being educated in the philosophy and style practiced by Michel, who has taken care of him throughout. With insistence, copying talks and repetitions, the white-and-red coach has been explaining to him what are the guidelines that a footballer of his profile needs to fit into this very particular ecosystem. Working without the ball and what to do with it at your feet. When to go to the spaces. Where to generate superiority. What time is right for demarcations. When to go down to receive. What movements must be made and with what intention.
In silence, the Ukrainian has worked, processing all the new information for when it was time to make decisions, these were the right ones. Tsygankov has done it. After the two games without participation, he made his debut in Montilivi against the Valencia, entering with twelve minutes remaining. He was seen as slow and a bit rushed, as if trying to teach a lot in a very short time. We remember the words of Quique and Míchel: “patience”, regarding a footballer whose operation was closed for five million and 50% of a future sale for Dynamo Kyiv. Tsygankov has a market value of €22 million, the highest in the squad by far.
Understand the game
Little by little, Tsygankov has been revealing himself. In Cadiz he enjoyed 27 minutes, but the team no longer had much to do, losing the way they lost, a clear 2-0. There he let himself go a little more, despite not having a clear impact on the game. In the weekly training sessions, however, he raised his voice more. He understood what he had to do and why he had to do it. Míchel believed it was time to give him the first title and the Ukrainian has not disappointed.
He was decisive in the spectacular night that Girona experienced against Almeria (6-2), participating directly in two goals – he scored one and gave the other – and in a third that was annulled . Tsygankov scored his first official goal with the de Montilivi in the 34th minute, in an empty net taking advantage of his good placement between the rival centrals inside the area and a precise assist with the head of Riquelme. It meant 2-0, then. A brilliant and effective spur at the same time made Javi Hernández’s 4-0 possible, after a great triangulation with Castellanos and a good diagonal from the Ukrainian, which made the presence of the Madrid full-back undetectable for to the Andalusians, after a move that made all the sense in the world.
Variety of records
What best describes Tsygankov’s abilities, beyond the occasional appearances at one point or another in the game, is his attitude and constant participation in Girona’s offensive and defensive plays. You don’t see him disconnect and he starts the games plugged in, as he demonstrated in the second consecutive tenure, in san mameswhere he only needed four minutes to assist Aleix Garcia: a feint and a move inside at the exact moment allowed theUlldecona he only had to hit the finish line.
The variety of records of the Ukrainian continued in the Coliseum, giving oxygen to Míchel’s team in a counterattack in which, in addition to talent, he also had faith. With a first control he generated an advantage over his defender, Omar Alderete, and assisted with his right to Castellanos, who only had to push the ball into the net. Tsygankov, who has a great start and more than decent top speed, has made the difference in attack in the 65, 80 and 90 minutes completed in the last three games. In Getafe, in fact, he played the entire game for the first time. Your signing is welcome.