Competitor for Ionov and partner for Jikiah

Three matches before the end of the qualifying stage, the Russian team almost secured a ticket to Euro 2020. To guarantee at least second place in the group, the team just has to play a draw with Cyprus. In this regard, it is possible that in the remaining matches Stanislav Cherchesov may give a chance to some reservists. It is unlikely that this is to be expected in games with Cyprus and Belgium, but in a meeting with San Marino, which is very likely to decide nothing, the coaching staff can go for experiments.

At the moment, there are several football players in the team at once, whom fans are eager to see in action. Firstly, we are talking about the Spartak midfielder Zelimkhan Bakaev. Despite the fact that the red and white started the season unsuccessfully and were already left without Oleg Kononov, the football player himself leaves the most pleasant impression with his game.

Knowing that Cherchesov does not like to immediately throw newcomers into battle, but gives them time to settle down and get used to the requirements of the team, it is unlikely that Zelimkhan will appear at the start, but he can get playing time. At the moment, the main right midfielder of the national team is Alexey Ionov, but the advantage of Bakaev in comparison with the competitor is age. Zelimkhan is seven years younger and, of course, able to become the main player of the national team for the long term.

If Ionov enjoys Cherchesov’s confidence, then another Rostov footballer, Dmitry Chistyakov, only got a call. The rapid progress of the athlete is amazing. Six months ago, he played in the FNL, and now he is fighting for the championship and is invited to the national team. And the coaching staff may well try an unyielding high footballer in action, given that there have always been problems with central defenders in Russia.

At the moment, the place of George Djikia is not discussed in this position in the national team, but his partners may well change. Last year, after the World Cup, he was Roman Neustedter, and this year, Andrei Semenov. But his positions in the team are not unshakable, and Akhmat, in contrast to Rostov, shows unsuccessful results. Thus, Chistyakov should be ready to enter the field.

A good selection of forwards and a chance for Karavaev

Cherchesov may also try new business in the area of ​​defense. First of all, we are talking about the right flank. The place of Mario Fernandez at the base is beyond doubt, but a naturalized Brazilian can well get a rest, because in CSKA he has to play without replacements and break into three fronts at once. Vyacheslav Karavaev, who returned to Russia from Europe, is ready to replace him. The pupil of the army at the dawn of his career was forced to leave his native team, because he had no chance to win the competition against Fernandez. Now he will try to do it in the national team. Sergey Petrov, who has become a very important element for Krasnodar, but is absolutely not in demand in the national team, may come out on the opposite edge.

Finally, changes in the composition can be expected in the attack, because the best scorer of the Czech championship Nikolai Komlichenko and one of the best RPL snipers this season, Alexander Sobolev, are waiting for their chance. Both are young and talented. But the team is not yet for various reasons Fedor Chalov and Fedor Smolov. It seems that such a rich selection of cool hitters in Russia has not been around for a long time.

However, the same Chalov, as Cherchesov explained, does not suit the team for tactical reasons. The specialist builds the entire game in attack through the high “pillar” of Dziuba, who takes the upper hand in a large number of martial arts and performs discounts on partners. In addition, Artyom himself often moves to the flanks to free up space for teammates.

And in this regard, Sobolev and Komlichenko are much more similar to Dziuba. Both high and textured, fight well on the "second floor". So Cherchesov will not have to rebuild the game model for them. At the same time, Nikolai already got his chance. He made his national team debut in a match with Scotland - he replaced shortly before the end of the meeting.

In the next fights Komlichenko can provide much more playing time. But Sobolev’s exit is still unrealistic, since for him this call to the national team is the first. And Cherchesov repeatedly noted that even a minute on the field in a T-shirt of the national team must be earned. Stanislav Salamovich always allows players to get used to the requirements of the national team first. The same Komlichenko was first called back in May, but entered the field only a few months later.