Zenit Golden Double, Spartak Athletics and Semin’s luggage: what experts say about the resumption of the RPL season

"Zenith" wants to receive well-deserved gold medals "

Zenit practically secured a second championship title in a row. For eight rounds before the end of the season, Sergei Semak's wards are nine points ahead of the closest pursuers. And in the semifinal of the Cup of Russia, Petersburgers will play with Spartak. According to the best scorer in the history of the club, Alexander Kerzhakov, the team is able to draw a “golden double”.

- The probability of Zenit winning the championship is 99% or even higher. The pursuers are unlikely to be able to play such a handicap. At the same time, everyone in the team, most likely, is eager to take the Cup of Russia and draw a “golden double”. I think it’s important for the guys to finish the season. First of all, they love football. Secondly, they want to receive well-deserved gold medals without any reservations. And nobody canceled the statistics. Many people have bonuses for a certain number of matches or goals in their contract.

- In the “Zenith” a lot of age-old players. Won't they be particularly prone to injury with such a busy schedule of games?

- Everyone will have a very difficult time. I am not a medic and I can not judge the condition of the players, but it is obvious that they had a long downtime. And it's not even the lack of physical exertion, but the lack of gaming practice. There are fears that a long pause will lead to serious injuries. In my opinion, the current season was better to complete and calmly prepare for the next.

- “Zenith” will lose from the absence of fans more than other teams? Nevertheless, support in St. Petersburg is special.

- Rather, the fans themselves will suffer more in this situation, and the players will be on an equal footing: everyone will play in the empty stands. If we talk about the financial component, “Zenith” will lose less than other clubs, because Petersburgers do not have to complain about the lack of sponsors.

- At the end of June, existing contracts end immediately with eight Zenit players. Will they be able to find motivation for the remaining matches of the season?

- Of course, they will have it at a slightly different level than those who do not go anywhere. I can’t imagine how the coach can count on these players. And if any of them will play with the future team? It’s hard to say how to solve this problem.

Lokomotiv should not sprinkle "

The second line before the resumption of the season is Lokomotiv. However, the team was left without its legendary head coach Yuri Semin this week, and the 40-year-old Serb Milan Nikolic, almost unknown in Russia, took the place of an experienced specialist. Despite this, the former railroad captain Igor Chugainov believes that red-green is able to keep second place.

- I believe that railway workers are able to take silver. Perhaps the team on emotions will keep him. And it doesn’t have to be positive at all. Once Vadim Yevseyev, being a Loko footballer, after scoring a ball, scolded Semin right during the match. So he then said: "Get angry with me, like Evseev." In this regard, the motivation may be different.

- At the end of June, Lokomotiv runs the risk of being left without forwards if the contract with Eder cannot be extended. Do not you think that in such a situation the team will be doomed?

- This should be a headache for the club management. They understand perfectly well that without a good striker a high place cannot be taken. If a team has set itself serious tasks not only in the RPL, but also in Europe, it needs to take at least two forwards. Without them, scoring is almost impossible.

- Nikolic will begin to work with the team only in June. Is it possible to convey their demands to the wards in three weeks?

- Almost impossible. For some time, Lokomotiv will remain a team of Semin and play the season on his luggage. And the first results of Nikolic’s work we will see only in the fall. I repeat, in three weeks it is unrealistic to implement and work out your ideas in training.

- Assume that if Lokomotiv fails to end the season, the Serb will be dismissed?

- It depends on what is meant by failure. After all, there is no question of departure. I don’t think Nikolic can leave. Moreover, Lokomotiv has a fairly good composition, railway workers should not sprinkle. There are teams in the RPL, which will have much harder.

- Will there be enough short clips of railway workers to play in a busy schedule?

- In principle, playing three days later on the fourth is normal. But the teams will have only a few weeks to prepare. It is important whether the players can withstand these loads. God forbid injuries. And when the team is physically prepared poorly, damage begins, primarily muscle damage. So let's see how Nikolic shows himself in this situation. But it will be hard for all coaches, because no one has ever been in a similar situation before. This is a kind of experiment.

Rostov looks no worse than Krasnodar 

Also, two teams from the South of Russia, Krasnodar and Rostov, are fighting for medals. Former Southerners coach and ex-assistant Valery Karpin at Spartak Andrei Tikhonov found it difficult to answer which of them would finish higher.

- I will call the chances for the final success equal. Everything will depend on how the teams enter the season. Yet there was a very long pause. In such a situation, loss of points in the first rounds can become fatal. There are few games left. One or two mistakes - and you can fly by. The factor of chance will solve a lot, because the preparation will turn out crumpled. And so both teams show very nice football, while Rostov looks no worse.

- Both teams are especially strong at home. How will the lack of fans affect them?

- Here it is worth saying that the factor of home walls is leveled. But when you go out to play in the bleachers, you do it calmly and do not get nervous. I can not compare the remaining matches of the season with the control ones, yet the fate of medals and trips to European competitions will be decided in them. Serious money will be at stake. And the lack of fans is a force majeure. Well, if at all we begin to finish the season.  

- Could the experience of Karpin become a decisive factor in the rivalry with the young Musaev?

- That's not the point. Karpin may have serious experience, but we are talking about the whole team. In such a tense ending, it is important to have players who have already sniffed gunpowder in the Champions League, fought for medals in various championships.

- Could it be that Rostov will be left without a number of leaders even if it enters the Champions League?

- If “Rostov” breaks into the group stage of the Champions League, I do not think that the leaders will leave the team. And who should leave? Mathias Normann and Eldor Shomurodov? I think they will not give up the opportunity to play in such a tournament. Plus, the club will receive serious money from UEFA. In fact, they will earn the money that could be gained from the sale of leading players.

“CSKA does not show its maximum”

CSKA has not won the RPL for five matches and has already dropped to fifth place. But the former midfielder of the team Roland Gusev believes that the army team have not yet said their last word. According to him, the wards of Viktor Goncharenko are able to add after quarantine.

- Everyone is on an equal footing. It’s good that the championship will resume, but it’s a pity that the matches will be held in the empty stands. CSKA and its army of fans suffered a serious blow. But I think the army team is still able to break into the Champions League.

I am sure that the wards of Viktor Goncharenko will impose a fight on Lokomotiv and Krasnodar. I believe in these players and believe in this coach. Still, people have ambitions, they understand which club they are in, and what goals CSKA always sets for itself.

- Will the youth of the team play into the hands of the army team?

- To play two matches a week is absolutely normal. CSKA has a young team, the guys will recover quickly. In this regard, problems should not arise. And I have absolutely no feeling that the army team with Goncharenko reached their peak. Moreover, CSKA does not show its maximum. The potential of the young guys collected by Goncharenko is very high. Their progress is a matter of time.

- Will the forced pause benefit Fedor Chalov, who has stopped scoring?

- She will generally help many to rethink her game, including Chalova. But, discussing the lack of goals, for some reason, many scold the attacker, although the point is not only in him. Sometimes a team simply does not have enough aggression, and somewhere - luck. But in the summer the picture may change, perhaps March is not the best month for CSKA. And the fact that the guys know how to play football, they have demonstrated more than once.

“Throughout the season, Spartak looks mediocre”

But Spartak will only have to fight for the victory in the Cup of Russia, since in the RPL the team is only in eighth place. According to the ex-president of the club Andrei Chervichenko, the red and white under Domenico Tedesco do not please the fans with their game. The functionary fears that nothing will change even after a forced pause.

- Objectively, the team in the RPL is not shining too much, even eight points are separated from the fifth place of Spartak. And most importantly, the game of red and white leaves much to be desired. At least, you can use the remaining meetings to build the structure, because the pause between the seasons will be minimal.

- Is it not worth Spartak sacrifice the championship for the victory in the Russian Cup?

- Life shows that if a team donates one tournament to please another, it usually fails in both. Therefore, you need to squeeze the maximum out of each match. At the same time, in the Cup of Russia Spartak will have a very difficult time, because Zenit is waiting for the semi-finals.   

- Can Spartak be called the main victim of the pause? In the spring, the team was in good condition.

- I do not agree with you. If the red and white looked great, they certainly would not go in eighth place. Someone will say that the wards of Domenico Tedesco ran well, only they are not athletes. And in a couple of meetings, red and white was frankly lucky.

In my opinion, throughout the season Spartak looks mediocre. It’s not for them to complain about stopping the championship. If the coronavirus pandemic did not happen, they would not have risen above sixth place. And now Muscovites may have a chance to jump higher. Much will depend on the state of Rostov and CSKA.

- Should the club buy out the rights to Alexander Sobolev so as not to miss it?

- I hardly understand how you can miss the one who, in principle, you do not need. Sobolev Spartak is not needed. What did he show in Moscow? Has he scored at least one goal? Yes, Alexander flashed brightly in the first half of the season, but that was all over. And then, after they paid attention to him and began to be more serious, Sobolev stopped scoring. A good striker must hit someone else's goal in any situation. So the purchase of Sobolev will result in “Spartak” with another waste of money. You just remember how many teams abandoned it. If a person is taken for millions, he must score at least one in three games.