Musaev’s possible resignation and a chance for the red and white to save the season: what is the interesting match between Krasnodar and Spartak

Kuznetsov's debut and momentum for the team

Perhaps, at the end of August, few people could have expected that the Moscow Spartak, after 11 rounds of the RPL, would go in ninth place with 11 points behind the leader. At that time, the team, though hastily, but qualitatively strengthened and won five consecutive victories in all tournaments. Fans of red and white even for a while stopped recalling Oleg Kononov's jacket.

However, as often happens in Spartak, the situation has changed rapidly. First, the metropolitan team flew out of the Europa League, then at home lost to Zenit in a crucial match, and then literally rolled downhill, and after four defeats in the RPL in a row Kononov was dismissed.

Since it was difficult to quickly find a replacement for him, Sergey Kuznetsov, Kononov’s assistant, was appointed acting head coach. Obviously, he will play the role of a temporary worker and is unlikely to remain in a responsible post, although in relation to Spartak this option cannot be ruled out, because in a similar situation Massimo Carrera accepted the team three years ago.

It is unlikely that a tactical revolution can be expected from Kuznetsov, but Kononov’s departure can shake up the team, as often happens, and give it the necessary impetus for the match with Krasnodar. Meanwhile, the game with the Southerners is to some extent crucial for the red and white, because the next defeat can make Spartak lag behind the first five critical. Although after 11 rounds it already amounts to 9-11 points, which will not be so easy to play at a distance. Therefore, it is simply impossible to lose points red-white again.

The problems of Spartak in the attack and Krasnodar without de Villena

As already noted, the 37-year-old Kuznetsov is unlikely to introduce anything radically new in Krasnodar. In particular, it will be extremely difficult for him to solve the problem of choosing an attacker. Andre Schürrle will miss the match due to a cold, and Esekiel Ponce has still not fully adapted to the team. But there is simply no other option but to release the Argentinean in the starting lineup at the coaching staff. Therefore, much will depend on the actions of the striker, who in the first matches for Spartak showed at least a good ability to cling to the ball.

From the depths of Ponce, technical Zelimkhan Bakaev and Reziuan Mirzov or Lorenzo Melgarejo will support. In this case, the main struggle can unfold in the center of the field. And here Spartak has options. Firstly, a couple of days before the game, Roman Zobnin received little damage during training and it is not yet known whether he will be able to enter the field on Sunday.

If the injury to the midfielder turns out to be serious enough, he can be replaced by Alex Kral. However, it is still difficult to say something definite about the abilities of this player, since he only recently appeared on the team and did not manage to prove himself. There was only a feeling that the Czech is not strong enough in destruction and partly duplicates Gus Thiel. In the same match with Ural, when no one had yet thought about Kononov’s resignation, the newcomer made many mistakes. Thus, if Kral comes out at the base, the team may have problems in the base zone.

However, Krasnodar was not without losses in this zone. In the match against Arsenal, an optional red card in the last minutes was received by Tonni de Villena, who quickly became the base footballer for the southerners, performing the most important function of moving the ball forward. Nobody is capable of fully replacing him today, but Murad Musaev, apparently, has to choose between Daniil Utkin and Ruslan Kambolov. The latter looks stronger in destruction, but not too good in creation. An exit in the base zone of John Houdni Fjoluson, as in the match with Getafe, is nevertheless seen as an emergency measure.

Concluding the conversation about the loss of teams, “Spartak” just will not enter the field Samuel Gigot. The participation in Ayrton’s match, which was replaced due to an injury during the break with Orenburg, is also in doubt. If the Brazilian fails to enter the field, his place on the left flank of the defense is likely to be taken by Andrei Yeshchenko, which will add reliability to the team in defense, but will reduce the attacking potential on the left. But there are also possible options, such as reaching a workable Melgarejo in this position.

• Murad Musaev
• © Julia Chestnova / RIA News

The crisis of the hosts and the mood of Ari

It is worth noting that if Spartak has already lost its head coach, then Krasnodar runs the risk of going through this procedure in the near future. Southerners suffered four defeats in the last five matches in all tournaments, which put Murad Musayev under attack.

The situation in which the young coach found himself can be compared in some ways with the situation of Kononov. The specialist also received a number of new players at his disposal in the summer and was forced to actually build a new team on the fly. While this process is going on quite painfully despite the fact that the star recruit of the club Remy Cabella received a serious injury.

In addition, absolutely everyone makes mistakes: the previously reliable goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, the experienced central defenders Alexander Martynovich and Urosh Spaic, and high-class attack players.

In this regard, the match with Spartak could turn out to be fatal for Musayev, because the next defeat can push Sergei Galitsky to personnel changes. On the other hand, the owner of Krasnodar has always been considered a rather patient leader who is not used to cutting off his shoulders and drawing conclusions based on one unsuccessful series.

He perfectly understands that in the summer the team underwent a major restructuring and is forced to play almost on the move. In such a situation, it is not surprising that a series of victories gave way to a series of defeats. “Spartak” passes through a similar period, and in this regard, the Sunday match will become a kind of meeting of comrades in misfortune.

However, “Krasnodar”, at least, has someone to score goals. And it's not about Marcus Berg, whose double in the match against CSKA is so far the only bright spot for a short period of the Swedish performance in Russia, but about Ari. The striker who recovered from the injury demonstrates good shape and scored five points for performance in the last four matches of the RPL.

And at Spartak, the naturalized Brazilian will have a special mood, because it was in this team that he began his career in Russia and left it not without scandal. Let Valery Karpin, with whom the player had a conflict, have not been in the club for a long time, the striker will still not miss the chance to upset the former team.

The statistics of meetings with Spartak also testify to the striker’s special motivation. He scored seven goals in ten games against the red and white gates of Krasnodar and Lokomotiv. And in the last home meeting with the red and white striker earned a red card for hitting his head in the face of Gigot. So Ari will surely be full of desire to upset Spartak again and interrupt the successful series of red and white in Krasnodar. The metropolitan team has not lost here for five years and during this time won three victories.