The presence of fighting spirit, self-confidence and loss of concentration: what impression did the match of the Russian national team in Istanbul leave

Change of scheme and exit of Zabolotny

Stanislav Cherchesov surprised both opponents and fans in the match with the Turkish national team.

The head coach relied on a three-center-back formation, which he has not used since March 2019.

It is noteworthy that then she also did not bring success to the team, and the meeting with the national team of Belgium ended with a score of 1: 3.

True, comparing that composition of Russians with the current one is not entirely fair, because it has changed by almost half.

The most tangible losses were captain Artyom Dzyuba, as well as Alexander Golovin and Mario Fernandez.

I was also surprised by the fact that Daler Kuzyaev unexpectedly took the place of the right lateral, and not his teammate Vyacheslav Karavaev or Roman Zobnin, who also entered the field from the first minutes.

Yes, the Zenit midfielder also had experience playing in this position, but recently he has acted closer to the attacking line.

At the same time, the Spartak midfielder spent the entire start of the championship in this role, and only with the arrival of Victor Moses again found himself in the pivot zone.

Nevertheless, the most unexpected thing was the appearance of Anton Zabolotny in the starting lineup.

The last time the Sochi striker entered the field in the national team jersey was a little less than a year ago - on 20 November he spent 21 minutes in the final meeting of the first season of the League of Nations.

Then the Russians lost to the Swedes and could not take first place.

At the same time, both Fyodor Chalov, who started the game with the Moldovans, and one of the best scorers of the RPL, Alexander Sobolev, remained on the bench.

Speed ​​football and high pressure

Given the three-center-back formation, one would have expected the guests to be more cautious.

Nevertheless, Cherchesov's wards increased the pace from the first minutes and began to play the first number, which surprised the opponent.

At the same time, it is especially worth noting Alexei Miranchuk and Denis Cheryshev, who constantly confused the opponent's defenders.

The Atalanta midfielder regularly moved from the right flank to both the center and the left edge, acting as a free artist, and the Valencia midfielder sometimes even found himself in the place of the center forward.

One of these changes of positions ended with his dangerous blow, and the second ended with a goal scored.

The episode with a goal is worth special attention for the reason that it became possible thanks to the high pressure and tactical preparation of the guests.

The Russians were clearly aware of the fact that the Turks were playing the ball from the gate through a pass at a risk and covered the opponent in a timely manner.

Miranchuk played in the tackle, Kuzyaev burst into the penalty area at a speed and gave a pass to the center forward Cheryshev, who had again shifted to the place.

It should be noted that the Russian national team continued to play modern football with high pressure not only in the end of the first, but also in the second half.

And this despite the fact that already in the 24th minute she was in the minority.

All this speaks of the incredible physical readiness of the players, which is especially surprising during a pandemic, when athletes are increasingly complaining of fatigue due to a super-busy schedule.

Removal of Semyonov and the state of grogg

Of course, the most discussed moments of the meeting were the controversial decisions of Shimon Martsinyak, who first removed Andrei Semyonov, and then appointed a penalty kick at Guilherme's goal.

Both verdicts of the Polish referee really raise serious questions and make us think seriously about the need to implement the VAR system not only in European competition and major international tournaments, but also in the League of Nations.

UEFA is actively promoting its new brainchild and did not sacrifice it even in a very difficult period.

In this regard, ensuring maximum objectivity during games seems extremely logical.

However, the most interesting is the eight-minute segment after the removal of Semyonov.

There was an impression that domestic footballers turned out to be morally unprepared for such a development of events and completely lost the threads of the game.

Although, in fact, the loss of Andrei did not confuse the cards too much and did not force them to resort to using an unusual scheme.

The team moved to a formation with four defenders, where Zhirkov and Kuzyaev remained at the extreme position, and Kudryashov moved to the central position.

Nevertheless, during these eight minutes, the Russian national team allowed the Turkish team to almost completely take control of the ball (66.2% - 33.8%), inflict just under half of all their hits in a match (7 out of 18) and score twice.

All this speaks either about psychological problems, or about the absence of a leader who can bring partners to their senses.

Perhaps it was at this moment that Artyom Dziuba's absence on the field affected, and his replacement, Dzhikia, could not cope with his task.

The absence of Sobolev and illogical replacements

The negative aspects also include the indistinct game in the last minutes of the meeting and unnecessary yellow cards.

So, due to the bust of "mustard plasters" the decisive match with Serbia is guaranteed to be missed by Zobnin and Kudryashov, which will automatically lead to serious problems.

Roman is the engine of the team and the most important element in the middle line, and Fedor is one of the main contenders for the role of the main defender.

But if the proven Kuzyaev may well come out in midfield, then in defense you cannot do without betting on youth.

So, Igor Diveev and Roman Evgeniev can make up a pair of Dzhikia, who have one match for the national team for two.

As for the blurry ending, the reason is seen not only in the fatigue of the key performers, but also not the most logical substitutions.

In the last 20 minutes, Cherchesov released four fresh players onto the field, but none of them could be remembered for bright episodes.

Anton Miranchuk and Alexey Ionov were not productive in the place of attacking midfielders.

Daniil Fomin, on the other hand, touched the ball only six times, while receiving a yellow card.

The greatest questions are raised by the appearance of Alexander Erokhin.

The Zenit footballer went out of his way and was unproductive as a clean forward.

He was not successful in riding duels (three won out of seven) and often made mistakes in passes (only 3 out of 11 were accurate).

This is more than modest against the background of Zabolotny, whom he replaced.

Anton once again confirmed that he is very good on the second floor, which is only confirmed by nine won aerial martial arts - more than anyone else.

Among the substitutes, only Alexander Sobolev could boast of such productivity, but the Spartak striker remained on the bench. 

Fighting spirit and hope for success in Belgrade

Nevertheless, the match with Turkey, although it ended in the defeat of the Russian national team, still left a positive impression.

At least, thanks to the inflexibility of the national team and the will to win, which were especially evident after the removal.

Cherchesov's wards spent more than 65 minutes in the minority, but at the same time they practically did not concede to their opponents in the number of shots on goal (16 - 18), and even surpassed in possession of the ball (50.8% - 49.2%).

The past meeting demonstrated that the Russian national team is capable of playing modern football and fighting on equal terms with rivals of equal strength, even in the absence of a number of key players.

In particular, we are talking about Dziuba, who has recently become an integral part of the team.

Of course, the exit from defense through long passes did not go anywhere, but other options were also involved, which was a pleasant surprise.

All this gives hope for the team's successful performance in the final game with the Serbs in the League of Nations.

If Cherchesov's charges are able to act in a similar vein in Belgrade, then they are quite capable of taking away three points and achieving a promotion.

The team of Lyubisha Tumbakovic is not famous for its stability and may not be ready for such an intense manner of playing by the enemy.