"He should follow the example of Ronaldo": why Dzübe should not pay attention to criticism

Goal "drought" Artem Dziuba was one of the main topics after the resumption of the football season in Russia. Last year was one of the best in the career of Zenit striker - he regularly hit the opponents' goal, scoring a total of 20 goals in various tournaments. However, the football player managed to score the last time in an official match almost six months ago - on October 25. Then he realized a penalty in a match of the Europa League with Bordeaux. Since then, Artyom is not happy with goals, although he regularly takes to the pitch.

Moreover, even in control meetings in the winter, he distinguished himself only once. In late January, Dzuba managed to upset "Rostov" in the Cup "Match Premier". In official fights, the dry forward striker has 1102 minutes. Jubilee mark Artem crossed in an unsuccessful game with "Villarreal".

At a difficult moment for Artyom, many fans and experts began to criticize the recent hero of the World Cup. Repeatedly expressed the opinion that the athlete is in bad shape.

And in this situation, the coach unexpectedly stood up for Dziuba, under whose leadership the footballer issued a magnificent world championship, - Stanislav Cherchesov.

“Look at what position he plays. We must be objective - Artem goes in the back. At the same time, if you study the statistics on the match with “Ural”, Dzuba participated in about 50 martial arts, and Serdar Azmun at 16. Sergei Semak knows better how he uses Dzuba, so the question is better to ask him. It is clear that the goals are important too, but in the game of the 19th round of the RPL Dzuba, for example, Emiliano Rigoni helped to distinguish himself, ”the specialist said.

Role change and huge loads

Cherchesov actually explained to the fans the role of Dziuba in the constructions of Zenit. With the arrival of Azmun, the forward really began to act a little from the depth of the field. Semak tried to arrange both attackers so that they could show their strongest qualities.

As a result, Dziuba, as before, leads a huge amount of riding combat and helps the team to keep the ball. At the same time, he no longer drags the ball alone to someone else's punishment, because there are players at the disposal of the coaching staff who can do it no worse than he does. The same Azmun, like no other, knows how to find free zones on the approaches to foreign possessions and solve many episodes at speed.

In the spring in St. Petersburg, they do not get tired to admire an Iranian who scored five goals in five debut games in Zenit. Meanwhile, it was Dziuba who played a big role in such a successful debut of Serdar, which distracts the attention of opponents and helps the partner break into the free zones. Unfortunately, such actions of Artyom are not always appreciated.

In addition, we must not forget that Dziuba remains the real leader of the team and the soul of the company. He does everything so that the newcomer joins the team as soon as possible. In particular, the Iranian said that the best football player of Russia in 2018 was one of the first to congratulate him on his transfer to Zenit.

If we consider 1102 “dry” minutes of the attacker, we must remember that most of them came at the end of last year, which Dziuba played out literally through force.

In 2018, a huge burden fell on him. After the World Cup, Artyom practically did not rest. The athlete himself decided to return to the location of the team as soon as possible in order to start working with Semak.

It is not surprising that in the fall the soccer player passed and stopped scoring. He himself admitted that he was not in the best physical condition. So, Dziuba said that because of excessive physical exertion, he sometimes even had a fever.

But despite this, Artyom continued to enter the field and help both Zenit and the national team. For example, in the current RPL season, he missed only one match, and in the 18 remaining ones, he invariably entered the field from the first minutes. And he could not afford to take a break, since Alexander Kokorin was in a detention facility, and Anton Zabolotny is not yet able to fully replace him.

At the end of November, the player’s body could not stand it, and he was injured. Dziuba had every right to take a short pause and, finally, take a break, but he decided to force a recovery to help the team in the most important match of the League of Nations with Sweden and played in Stockholm for 90 minutes.

“It’s worth understanding the Artyom series”

They are not inclined to unduly panic about the “dry” Dziuba series and the experts interviewed by RT. Thus, the famous coach Valery Nepomnyashchiy, under whose leadership the attacker advocated “Tom”, stood up for the former ward.

“Only Semak and Zenit fans are entitled to criticize Dziuba’s game. I think that Artyom’s “dry” series should be treated with understanding. Everybody knows a fact: the next year after the Olympic Games among athletes, as a rule, is unsuccessful. So Artem after the extravaganza at the home world championship is in decline.

On the world championship he spent too much moral and physical strength. But before the start of the tournament Dziuba was not even a football player of the starting lineup of the national team. He is able to demonstrate the game, which he showed at the World Cup, but constantly keep such a high level given to units, ”the trainer said in an interview with RT.

According to the specialist, Dziuba began to score less due to the changed tactical scheme of “Zenith” and the arrival of Azmun in the team.

“Serdar is more mobile and fast footballer. Artyom is rather a link. He interacts well with partners, constantly straining defenders. It turns out that Dziuba, firstly, acts in the interests of the team, and secondly, helps Azmun. And the goals will come sooner or later. Should he score once or twice, and everything will work out. Now excessive pressure fetters a football player. But there is nothing to scold him for, ”Nepomniachtchi added.

"Look at Cristiano Ronaldo"

The ex-striker of the Russian national team Dmitry Bulykin also agreed with him, in his career he also occasionally experienced recessions and goalless series.

“It is clear that Artyom is doing a lot of rough work, which is not too noticeable for ordinary citizens. He wins a huge number of horse combats, saves balls well.

Bright debut in the composition of the “Zenith” Azmun - this is the merit of Dziuba. He is no longer a “spearhead” and has fewer moments, but he helps the Iranian. But still, the main indicator of utility for the attacker is scored goals, ”the expert emphasized.

Bulykin also answered the question when Dziuba’s goalless series would stop, and advised him to follow the example of Cristiano Ronaldo.

“The main thing is to survive this moment. Almost all the players of this role go through this. It remains only to continue to work and wait for a good moment, and he will definitely introduce himself. It is worth scoring once, and confidence will return.

Recession after the World Cup? Look at Cristiano Ronaldo. Every year he proves something and does not reduce his requirements. There are such football players. There are also attackers who have consistently hit the gates of rivals from season to season for many years. Artyom should take an example from them, work and overcome the crisis, ”said Bulykin.