Rostov will play to win ": Ledyakhov on Zenit's problems, Karpin's attitude to CSKA and Dynamo's aggression

"In Europe, Russian teams look ugly"

- Who has more chances to win in the confrontation between CSKA and Rostov - the fresh southerners or the army team who started the season well, but played a tough match in the Europa League on Thursday?

- CSKA is used to playing in a similar schedule and playing matches in three days on the fourth.

For the army, this is not a problem.

On the other hand, Rostov had a week to fully prepare for the game.

Therefore, I cannot say that one of the teams will have a serious advantage.

An equal game awaits us, and everything will depend on who will act better in attack.

- At the same time, in the match against Spartak, Rostov demonstrated a purely defensive football.

Can we assume that Valery Karpin's charges will choose the same tactics for the game against CSKA?

- If this kind of football brings results, they may well rely on it again.

But I think the yellow-blue will actively put pressure on the opponent.

Plus CSKA just a few days ago played the hardest match with Feyenoord and lost.

Accordingly, the team will not be in the best psychological state.

Rostov will play bolder in the attack. 

- Can we say that the army team in positional attacks are better than Spartak, and therefore will have more chances to hack Rostov's defense?

- I would not say that.

Look how many strikers of the red and whites have scored, and how many - forwards from the army.

As part of CSKA, other people's gates are mainly hit by Nikola Vlasic and Konstantin Kuchaev.

Another thing is that Goncharenko's wards have added in team actions.

At the RPL level, they show good football, which can not be said about their performance in European competitions.

I think the game will be equal.

- Why do CSKA look worse in the Europa League than in the RPL, because they got quite feasible opponents?

- The problem is that the teams representing Russia in European competition are for internal use.

Participation in the Champions League and the Europa League is an indicator of the level of domestic teams.

There they look just ugly.

This is our championship.

We need to improve on the domestic championship in order to remain competitive in Europe.

And CSKA fails there for the second year in a row.

- Can we assume that the red and blue, having matured, will no longer allow unexplained misfires in the RPL, as in the previous season?

- I thought such moments were a thing of the past, but the match with Feyenoord was in a negative mood.

It seems that the old problems have returned.

Again, in the RPL CSKA shows a high-quality game and has a good selection of performers by the standards of the championship.

It is no coincidence that they come first.

I think the team will fight for the championship to the end.

Three or four teams, which are currently fighting for medals, will determine the fate of the gold awards.

- Can we say that this meeting will be special for Valery Karpin, given his Spartak background?

- Such moments are a thing of the past for every coach.

Three points are awarded per game, and it doesn't matter who your opponent is - CSKA, Spartak or Zenit.

I don't think that Karpin will have any special attitude towards the army team.

Naturally, Rostov will play to win, but no one knows how it will turn out.

- Did you expect Rostov to recover so quickly from the loss of a number of leaders and continue to fight for medals, and even beat the leading Spartak?

- For the red and white, that meeting was probably the worst of the season at the moment.

And for “Rostov” the game is staged, despite the departure of the leading players.

Here you have to look for a long time.

On a short stretch, the yellow-blue points are gaining, but it will be possible to sum up the results only after the end of the season.

"Age is not a hindrance to a good coach"

- “Zenith” and “Krasnodar” approached the full-time match pretty exhausted and tired.

Will it not turn out that the fans will witness not the most striking spectacle?

- Both Zenit and Krasnodar are in the first place not in the best psychological state.

But the southerners, among other things, are very weak in the championship.

I think they shouldn't use fatigue as an excuse.

Murad Musaev's wards, having won bronze last season, were well aware of what awaited them in the Champions League.

But for some reason we talk about fatigue all the time.

In Europe, to play games in three days on the fourth is in the order of things.

It is clear that the teams there have more saturated rosters.

There is no such thing in Russia.

We have a clip of 15 people and that's it.

This, perhaps, also affects.

And Krasnodar will need to go out and play to win in order to rehabilitate themselves for the defeat at Sevilla.

- The match in Spain is a real shock for the Krasnodar players.

How can a coach set up the team for the next meeting after such defeats?

After all, football players are real people and cannot forget about everything at the snap of their fingers.

- They are professionals and get paid for it.

In general, the problem of mood was invented in Russia.

In Europe, coaches do not motivate players to play well.

The guys just have to go out on the field and do their job.

- Cayo Pantaleano made a gross mistake in the game with Sevilla.

Is it worth it to release the player after this, or is it better to give him a rest?

- This can only be determined by Murad Musayev, who is in constant contact with the Brazilian and knows his strengths and weaknesses.

And Kayo is still making some pretty common mistakes.

Let's not forget that he is a remade protector.

The Brazilian spent most of his career in the middle of the field, where you can make losses.

In defense, you have no right to do this.

Caio sometimes flirts with the ball.

But I think he has very good data.

He just needs time to fully adapt.

But Krasnodar has no time.

- Don't you think that the southerners now need a more experienced coach than Musaev?

- Experience is not enough not only for the coach, but for the team as a whole.

Many guys were injured, but this is not an excuse.

In RPL Krasnodar, after 13 rounds, takes only tenth place, ten points behind the first.

Here Musaev's work entirely depends on the results of the southerners.

But in this situation, I would not look at age.

Young people have to start sometime.

Julian Nagelsmann at 33 brought Leipzig to the Champions League semi-finals.

Musaev is 36. Age is not a hindrance to a good coach.

- Many accuse Sergei Semak of the fact that Zenit shows rather monotonous football with him.

However, in the match against Lazio, the Petersburgers tried to combine and possess the ball.

Did the coach start the changes during the season?

- They may be, but Zenit lacks a clip.

Moreover, there is a shortage of both high-quality Russian footballers and high-class legionnaires.

The club bought Wendela for € 40 million, but so far he does not impress me, as well as Malcolm, for whom they also paid € 40 million. In the RPL he looks like a good performer, and in European competitions we have not yet seen what the Brazilian is.

So it turns out: "Zenith" seems to have strengthened, but in fact there is no gain.

Semak is forced to rely on the same performers.

Dejan Lovren arrived, a quality defender.

But so far the Croat does not show his leadership qualities.

- Dziuba gave an assist in the match with Lazio, but he looked hard enough.

Is it just the fatigue everyone is talking about, or are there other problems?

“We can only guess what form he is in.

Everyone says that Dziuba has accumulated fatigue, but Stanislav Cherchesov claims the opposite.

But, firstly, Artyom has not been able to score for a long time.

And secondly, now his movement is not the same as it was a year or two ago.

Then he moved a lot and created moments.

Now there is none of this.

As for Dziuba's age, in Europe at 32, many sign good contracts.

"You shouldn't admire too much Loko's performance in European competitions"

- Lokomotiv in the Moscow derby will play with Dynamo after a draw with Atlético.

At the same time, in the RPL, the railway workers suffered two defeats in a row. 

- It cannot be said that the team before that confidently beat everyone in the RPL.

In the championship in September-October, she won four wins with a minimal advantage in the score.

Yes, the red-greens scored points, but they were difficult for them.

Plus, Loko still has players who have a certain class.

In the matches with Atlético and Bayern, everything depended on the mood, and it turned out to be outrageous among the railroad workers.

Another thing is that Munich and Madrid did not take the Russian team seriously and played half-leg.

Therefore, you shouldn't admire Loko's performance in European competitions too much.

- It turns out that the team lacks the mood for RPL matches?

- Silenok too.

Again, our teams are not used to playing in this mode.

Marko Nikolic also has problems with the clip.

Basically, there are 14-15 people who can play.

There are simply not enough people to rotate, and it is very important.

- How can you assess the work of the Serbian coach at Lokomotiv?

Has he shown himself to be a flexible enough specialist?

- To some extent, yes, but I don't see any serious changes in the team's game.

Of course, there are positive aspects, but not global ones.

I think that under the leadership of Nikolic, the red-greens will continue to play defensively.

On the other hand, the club has made a good acquisition in the person of Zé Luis.

By the standards of the RPL, this is a very decent footballer, and he did not get lost in the Champions League.

- In the last RPL match with Sochi Nikolic left Ze Luis and Anton Miranchuk on the bench.

Should we expect rotation from him in derby too?

- It's a double-edged sword.

In Sochi, the guys were given a rest, and Lokomotiv lost.

In the derby with Dynamo, the railroad workers cannot lose points, because they have suffered two defeats in a row in the RPL.

Leaders can be released on the field from the first minutes, but the question is: in what state will they be?

- Fyodor Smolov has not scored for Lokomotiv since the end of September.

He did not look the best in the game against Atlético.

Don't you think that the coaching staff should be given a chance to Vitaly Lisakovich?

- Smolov is a more experienced footballer of a fairly good level.

Lisakovich is a young guy.

When Vitaly appears on the field, he almost always scores points for performance.

But it's one thing to play at the base, and another thing to come out on the bench.

- Dynamo won two victories under the leadership of the new head coach Sandro Schwartz.

Have you already noticed some changes in the game of the blue-white with the arrival of the German specialist?

- While they are small.

The blue and white play very aggressively in the opponent's half and try to move the ball quickly.

This is striking.

But you need to understand that with the arrival of a new coach, footballers always want to prove themselves.

Let's see what happens in the long run.

The game with Lokomotiv is defining for Dynamo.

- What tasks are Dynamo able to solve in the current season with the existing squad?

- They can compete for getting into European competition.

The composition of the team is qualified.

In addition, a foreign coach came.

According to the club's budget, the blue and white are obliged to make their way to Europe.

- Given the freshness of Dynamo players, can we assume that they will act as the first number in the derby?

- I think Dynamo will immediately turn on high pressure to stun Lokomotiv.

Moreover, the coaching staff of the blue and white knows perfectly well that the opponent's bench is quite short.

Probably, Schwartz's charges will play from a position of strength.