“The quality of the Russian national team's play was not bad”: Kirichenko on the defeat from Sweden, Sobolev's debut and Kutepov's mistakes

"There was a lack of intelligent action in the final stages of attacks."

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 Should you be taken seriously

- Probably, every defeat does not add positive emotions.

On the other hand, the quality of the game performed by the Russian national team was not bad.

The only thing was that there was a lack of reasonable actions in the final stages of the attacks.

There were many approaches, but execution was lacking.

This was especially striking in the end, when we could not “find” a football player in someone else's penalty area.

In the first half, on the contrary, in several episodes it was not possible to strike an accurate blow to Artem Dziube and Mario Fernandez.

It is difficult to say whether this is due to the absence of Zelimkhan Bakayev.

Perhaps if he entered the field from the first minutes, and he would have failed.

- You said that the team lacked the last pass.

Didn't it seem to you that Anton Miranchuk, who was in charge of this component, sometimes took over the game too often, for example, delivered inaccurate strikes.

In this regard, can we expect Bakaev to hit the base for the match with Turkey?

- Hard to tell.

One can only speculate here.

Yes, Anton struck several blows, but I do not see this as a problem.

When a footballer goes out to the operational space in the center and shoots on goal, this is absolutely normal.

Yes, both Anton and Alexey Miranchuk can send the last transmission, but only if there is an addressee.

And if it is not there, why not break through?   

- In the first half, the Russian national team outplayed the rival, but after the break everything changed.

Is this primarily due to the departure of the team leaders - Dziuba and Magomed Ozdoev?

- Firstly, the Swedes started to play stronger.

The Scandinavians have released two fresh players, including Kristoffer Olsson from Krasnodar, who has given a good amount of work in midfield.

The game began to go through him in many ways.

Well, Dziuba's departure had an effect.

Yes, he didn't score, but he acted very useful, actively clung to balls and earned fouls on himself.

In the second half, all this became less.

“I don’t think that the Russian national team has big problems in defense”

- Were you surprised by the appearance in the center of defense of the Russian national team of the duet Ilya Kutepov - Fyodor Kudryashov, despite the fact that the former has not played for the national team for two years, and the latter has recently been acting on the defensive flank?

- What other options were there?

Try Alexander Zhirov?

I can not say anything about this footballer, the last time I saw him when he was still playing in Russia.

Andrey Semyonov?

He missed the last match of "Akhmat" and, for sure, they decided to keep him.

I think in the next meetings of the League of Nations Semyonov will return to the squad.

As for Kudryashov, he is a good left-footed defender who played a lot in the center of defense.

In my opinion, Cherchesov's choice is quite normal.

I didn't see any big problems in the defense of the Russian national team in the game with Sweden.

- But in the episode with the first conceded ball, it was Kutepov who did not keep track of Alexander Isak.

- The Swedes opened an account thanks to the standard drawing.

I would rather point out not the mistakes of Russian footballers, but the excellent presentation of Sebastian Larsson.

He got a strong good cross into the zone where it is very difficult for the goalkeeper to play at the exit.

Soslan Dzhanaev tried to intercept the ball, but he flew at too high a speed.

Perhaps, Kutepov also failed to "jump back" a little earlier.  

- Didn't it seem to you that Ilya was sometimes frankly nervous?

In his passive several unsuccessful passes and "cut-offs" in his half of the field.

- I agree.

But Cherchesov lets the guy play, since he rarely takes to the field at Spartak.

Moreover, Ilya himself, judging by the words in the media, is unhappy with the situation.

In this regard, Stanislav Salamovich is a fine fellow.

In the same way, he supported Daler Kuzyaev, who was left without a club for several months.

This is a normal practice, especially a friendly match.

- Judging by the latest information, repeated tests of Giorgi Jikia and Marinato Guilherme for coronavirus gave a negative result.

However, won't the possible absence of Spartak's central defender become a problem for the national team?

It seems that without him, the team's defense lacks order.

- I repeat, I do not think that the Russian national team has big problems in defense.

Did the Swedes create a lot of chances?

In addition to the goals scored, they had only a couple of chances to excel, and then after the mistakes of the Russians.

Do not inflate the problem.

It's okay.

I think everything will be fine in the matches with Turkey and Hungary.

"No one in Russia knows how to cling to the ball like Dzyuba"

- Soslan Dzhanaev played at the gate the first game in the national team in four years.

In your opinion, after this meeting he is able to compete with Guilherme and Anton Shunin?

- I think all the goalkeepers who are called up to the national team are ready to enter the field.

These are Guilherme, Shunin, and Dzhanaev.

Please, almost the entire qualifying round of Euro 2020 was played by Marinato, but in recent matches he was replaced by Anton.

In my opinion, we have no problems in the goalkeeper line.

Indeed, in addition to the above three goalkeepers, there is also Alexander Belenov from Ufa.

- Zenit midfielder Andrei Mostovoy made his debut for the national team on Thursday.

How would you rate his play on the right flank?

- He was active and fast.

In principle, Mostovoy acts in the same manner at Zenit.

But, I repeat, in the attack, the players of the national team, including Andrei, lacked meaningfulness when entering shock positions.

Where it was necessary to make a cross, a serve was performed.

Where a blow was required, there was an unsuccessful pass.

Mostovoy, in several episodes, was also unable to find a solution, which caused discontent on the part of Cherchesov.

- Another debutant of the Russian national team, Alexander Sobolev, scored a goal.

But, if we ignore the goal in the end, did you get the feeling that the Spartak striker was mostly cut off from his partners?

- Let's start with the fact that no one in Russia knows how to cling to the ball like Dziuba.

This is one of the strongest qualities of Artyom.

Sobolev has his own advantages.

He scored and, in principle, tried to escalate the situation in someone else's penalty area, often engaged in single combats.

As a powerful forward, Alexander fulfilled his task.

- Can we expect that with this goal Sobolev will stake out the place of the first substitute in the national team's line of attack?

- You shouldn't differentiate the squad like that, because the coaching staff looks at the condition of the players, and also each time, depending on the opponent, chooses a certain tactical scheme.

It is clear that any team has a backbone, and Dziuba in the national team is its backbone.

However, I, for example, would not rule out the option in which Artyom can play together with Sobolev.

It's good when you have a choice.

- At the same time, with the departure of Dziuba, the game of the Russian national team went wrong.

Isn't the national team too dependent on Artyom today, considering that he is already 32 years old?

- I would not talk about excessive dependence.

In principle, we can say that the national team depends on any football player.

Yes, Artyom has his own strengths, but he does not have those advantages that partners have.

As for the match with Sweden, I don't think that the decline in Russia's game was due to Dziuba's departure.

Rather, the Scandinavians have added.

They started doing a lot, in particular, getting out of the pressure.

So let's assume that the opponent had a good meeting.

- Another veteran Yuri Zhirkov played on the left flank in the match against Sweden, both in defense and in midfield.

In what position is it still more useful for the Russian national team, given the return to service of Denis Cheryshev?

- It was clear from Denis's game that he had not yet gotten into optimal shape.

It was felt that Cheryshev still has a lot to add physically.

It is no coincidence that the Valencia midfielder entered the field for only half an hour.

But, perhaps, they decided to save him for the next matches.

And there can be no questions for Zhirkov.

Yura is a true all-rounder, able to close any position, both in defense and in midfield.

At the same time, he always acts intelligently and technically.

Zhirkov could have scored the Swedes, but Karl-Johan Junsson miraculously reacted to his blow.