The Russian national football team ahead of schedule solved the problem and became one of the first to guarantee a ticket to the 2020 European Championship. After losing to Belgium at the start of the qualifying tournament, Stanislav Cherchesov's wards pulled themselves together and held seven subsequent meetings in the same breath, ending with a total goal difference of 25: 1. Twice the fighting Scots and unyielding Cypriots were beaten, and the Kazakhstani showed the most serious resistance, but even they lacked the luck to defend a goalless draw.
However, two matches before the end of the qualifying cycle, some fans of the Russian national team have rather conflicting feelings. Firstly, for many, such a confident entry into the championship of the continent was a real revelation, because earlier domestic athletes often only achieved the task in the final rounds or even brought things to friction.
So, on the eve of the triumphant Euro 2008, the Russians until the last took third place in the group, but thanks to two consecutive misfires of England were able to go to Austria and Switzerland. Four years earlier, a ticket to Portugal brought them a goal by Vadim Evseev in a butt match with Wales.
Against this background, the performance of the Cherchesov wards can really be considered impressive. They practically did not allow themselves relaxation and easily dealt with less skillful opponents, with which serious problems had previously arisen. It is enough to recall draws with Moldova in 2014 and with Armenia in 2011. The fact that he managed to teach his football players not to lower the bar and to approach every game with all responsibility can be attributed to the unconditional merits of the coaching staff.
But in many ways, it was the low level of resistance that became the key to the success of the Russian team. By the will of the lot, she fell into a rather weak group, in which Belgium was the only real danger. For comparison, just look at the group where Ukrainians, Portuguese and Serbs ended up, or the one where the Irish, Danes and Swiss compete.
It is all the more remarkable that in their main match in the group, the Russian team was unable to oppose anything to a more stellar opponent. The meeting at the Rua Baudouin stadium ended with the score 3: 1 in favor of the hosts, and Cherchesov's team had practically no chance of success. Eden Hazard and the company dominated the field, demonstrating the difference in class between the teams.
Thus, now the national team is in a kind of semi-position. She has already learned to methodically and confidently beat teams that are much inferior to her in mastery, but she looks rather uncertain in games with peers and more venerable teams. An example is the control match with Germany, which ended in defeat with a score of 0: 3, or not the most successful duels with Sweden in the League of Nations. So, in 180 minutes, domestic football players never upset Robin Ulsen and did not take the chance to break into the elite pool.
This could also include meetings with the Spaniards and Uruguayans at the World Championships, but then the Russians have not yet gained that confidence in their abilities that appeared after their home World Cup. Nevertheless, in the confrontation with the “red fury” they practically did not think about attacks and gained the upper hand rather thanks to moral-volitional qualities and luck, and the charrua completely defeated.
One of the main problems is the lack of candidates for the role of central defender. At the moment, only George Dzhikia fully meets the level of the national team, while the rest look noticeably weaker.
Maxim Belyaev is not happy with the stability of the Arsenal, and Roman Neustedter cannot break into the foundation of Dynamo, which occupies the penultimate place in the RPL standings. At the same time, Dmitry Chistyakov has not yet been able to gain the trust of a mentor, and once the representative of the foundation, Viktor Vasin, can not fully recover from injuries. Against the background of the above-mentioned competitors, Andrey Semenov from Akhmat looks more advantageous, but no more.
The flanks supplement the problem of the defense line. Undoubtedly, Fernandez and Zhirkov are football players of the highest class, but each of them is famous primarily for his actions in the alien half of the field. When playing on a collision course, they often make serious mistakes. This was perfectly noticeable in the match with Belgium, whose wingers easily left CSKA and Zenit lateral out of work. All three goals were scored after passing their zones, and experienced Yuri also allowed Azar to earn 11-meter.
It should be noted that over the past year and a half, the game in standard terms has become a real weakness of the national team. So, starting from the home World Cup, the Russian national team conceded 18 goals, ten of which were the result of successful execution of corners, penalties and penalties. At the same time, 11 goals account for three goals.
One of the main weaknesses of the Russian team seems to be the complete lack of plan B in the attack. At the moment, the success of the team depends on the actions of its two leaders - Artyom Dziub and Alexander Golovin, the first of which is the central figure in the attacking actions, and the second is the main organizer of the game, linking the whole team together. Of course, to the honor of Cherchesov, it is worth noting that he managed to find the perfect combination of football players that could bring her the result at this stage. But in case of problems, he has nothing to surprise the enemy.
This was perfectly noticeable in the match with Kazakhstan, which was extremely unsuccessful for the Russians. At a difficult moment Cherchesov did not dare to change the scheme, in connection with which the team continued to fight against the wall of the clearly arranged defense of the guests. Even at such a difficult moment, he did not dare to switch to the scheme with two forwards, but managed with replacements in position. As a result, success was obtained due to the efforts of the same Golovin and the brilliant Fernandez, who recalled his goal in the quarterfinals of the World Cup with Croatia.
Thus, at the moment, Dziuba and Golovin are practically uncontested in the national team. Cherchesov’s football is completely and completely imprisoned for long casts on the Zenit striker and his absence, or an unsuccessful game, can completely decapitate the team. This was clearly seen in the confrontation with Sweden, where the ex-defender of Krasnodar Andreas Granqvist “ate” Dziubu.
As for Alexander, at the moment, none of his partners can perform the same functions. The Miranchuk brothers, although famous for their organizational skills and creative thinking, have not yet been able to demonstrate this to Cherchesov. At the same time, in terms of the volume of work, they are much inferior to the two-core Monaco midfielder, which is equally useful both in front and behind.
As a result, the confident performance of the Russian team in the Euro 2020 qualification tournament is cause for pride and shows that Cherchesov did an excellent job, not allowing his wards to succumb to euphoria after the mundial. However, in order to achieve higher goals and a successful performance in the tournament, he needs to teach his football players how to fight on equal terms with opponents of the highest level, as Guus Hiddink did in his time
Cherchesov has more than enough time to practice with star vis-a-vis. Already on November 16, the Russian national team will host the Belgian team in their field, and then will hold a series of control meetings ahead of the Old World Championship. It is hoped that in the spring of Dziuba and the company will be able to once again test their strength in the battle with the strongest.