What has UEFA changed?
The European Football Championship in 2021 will be held according to the new rules regarding the formation of the composition of the teams. All Euro participants will be allowed to include in the application not 23 players, as was the case in previous tournaments, but 26. The amendment to the regulations was adopted by the Executive Committee of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), stressing that this is a temporary measure related to the coronavirus pandemic.
All participants must decide on the final application for the tournament by June 1.
However, after this date, it will be possible to make a replacement if it is needed for medical reasons.
New players will not be able to be included after the first match has been played.
In the case of the Russian national team, it will be possible to change players until June 12.
Hungary, France, Portugal and Germany will be in the most advantageous position from this point of view - their application will take its final form only on the 15th.
However, an exception will be made for goalkeepers.
They can be changed throughout the tournament, even if there are one or two goalkeepers in the ranks.
However, if the replacement took place, then the excluded player cannot be returned to the squad, even if all health problems are resolved.
This applies not only to goalkeepers, but also to field players.
Although the teams' entry will be expanded to 26, it will still have to be cut back to 23 players for every single match.
This is already a requirement of the rules of football, according to which 12 substitutes can be added to 11 players in the starting lineup.
At the same time, the requirement that the roster should include at least three goalkeepers remains in force.
Why do teams need it?
Softer rules for the formation of teams for Euro 2020 are dictated by the new conditions in which the tournament will be held. Even in competitions that are organized according to the principle of the "bubble" and in which the most serious security measures are in place, there are cases of infection with the coronavirus, as a result of which athletes have to isolate themselves instead of competing. But at the European Championship, there will be no such centralization - some teams will have to visit up to five different countries and make several flights during the month. This will certainly increase the risk of infection.
The increased applications should somehow make life easier for the tournament participants.
Even if three people are forced to leave the location of the team, this will not affect its strength - 23 players can still declare a meeting.
The national teams may lose at least half of their roster, but they will still be allowed to the matches - the minimum application size for the game is 13 players, including at least one goalkeeper.
Of course, the national teams can use the provided concessions not only in the case of positive tests for coronavirus.
Injured players can also be temporarily removed from the team for one game, and then brought back again.
And the very opportunity to have more players on hand should be to the liking of coaches.
This should have a positive effect on the preparation of the national teams and the tactical diversity of their play.
What's wrong with the new rules?
However, there are some UEFA innovations and some disadvantages.
Firstly, the more teams there are, the higher the infection risks will be, due to which the increased applications were just allowed.
Three extra players may not do any good for their team, but at the same time they will be potential carriers of the infection, from which many can suffer.
Secondly, it will become more difficult for coaches to manage larger teams. All 26 players will not be able to enter the field, but everyone will think that they deserve to be in the squad. An athlete who is dissatisfied with his time on the field always becomes a small problem for the coach, and now there will be even more such players. Two additional substitutions in the match allow more players to play on the field, but this is not always necessary, and the reserve players remain to watch the match from the sidelines.
Finally, if the team has no health problems, the coaches will have to cut off three players before each match.
Fans and journalists will inevitably perceive such footballers as unnecessary for the national team, labeling them as “tourists”.
Such players will not only go out on the field, but even get on the bench, which deprives them of the motivation to spend their time in training.
Teams will have to pay considerable attention to the psychological climate within the team, and the coaches will have to more clearly convey their position on the formation of the squad to the wards.
What should the Russian national team do?
The Russian national team has several options for how to dispose of the three extra quotas.
First, they can be given to young players who can see for themselves what a national team is and what requirements are imposed on it.
In general, it was Stanislav Cherchesov who introduced the fashion for inviting promising football players to the national team, who did not get into the application for the next matches, but trained with her and got acquainted with the internal cuisine.
Now the head coach of the national team has the opportunity to view young players directly on the Euro, without taking away the place from someone from the backbone of the team.
While this tournament is a significant event in itself, the coaching staff needs to keep in mind the preparations for the World Cup qualifiers right now and try to get to know all the players who can benefit from them.
Secondly, the extended application should help Cherchesov to be more flexible in choosing a tactical scheme. Back at the 2018 World Cup, he showed his willingness to radically change the team depending on the next opponent, releasing two central defenders, then three. In order to repeat this trick, which eventually made it possible to achieve victory over Spain and reach the quarterfinals, Cherchesov could stock up on the defensive players necessary to rebuild in advance.
Thirdly, the “extra” places in the national team can be left to the forwards, around whom the fans always argue most actively. Usually Cherchesov invites three clean forwards, and so far Artyom Dzyuba, Fedor Smolov and Alexander Sobolev are confidently claiming this position. But possible injuries and coronavirus infection literally force the coaching staff to abandon the usual framework and call someone else from the attackers so that this role does not suddenly become scarce in the middle of the European Championship.