Modern football, high pressure and a bet on Agalarov: how the Russian youth team began the selection for Euro 2023

Cardinal restructuring

The start of the Russian youth football team in the Euro 2023 qualification left two impressions.

On the one hand, the charges of Mikhail Galaktionov, as expected, did not leave Malta a chance at home - 6: 0.

On the other hand, on the road they suffered a major defeat from Spain - 1: 4.

It is worth starting the analysis of the team's actions just with an unsuccessful result, since it gave a reason for pessimistic fans to harshly criticize the team, and also point out a serious difference in the class with the grand.

It is not worth hurrying to scold domestic football players for a number of reasons. Firstly, this game became the debut for the new convocation of the youth team, and the partners had to grind to each other literally on the go. From the previous, relatively stellar, only a few people remained, one of whom is Nail Umyarov. Others were previously mostly content with playing for various youth teams.

But there is no need to talk about a single backbone. Some of them, under the leadership of Alexander Kerzhakov, made their way to the final stage of Euro 2020 U-19 two years ago, which ultimately did not take place due to the coronavirus pandemic. But, for example, in the second group stage, only three people had a permanent place at the base, who took to the field from the first minutes in the match with Spain: goalkeeper Ivan Budachev, defensive player and captain Ruslan Litvinov, as well as central defender Danila Prokhin.

More experienced athletes born in 2000 (Vladislav Karapuzov, Alexander Chernikov, Timur Suleimanov, Hamid Agalarov, Mikhail Ignatov, Kirill Bozhenov and others) played for the previous convocation team with Andrey Gordeev. And Konstantin Maradishvili, who is suitable in age, had only a series of friendly matches for the U-20 national team. Finally, 18-year-old Danila Khotulev made a mark only in the youth national teams U-17 and U-16.

It is not surprising that there can be no talk of any kind of teamwork, especially when compared with the previous convocation, where many have traveled with Galaktionov's path for more than one year.

Now the coach is forced to work with less bright wards.

In the current season of the Premier League, only Chernikov, who enjoys the trust of Viktor Goncharenko in Krasnodar, and Umyarov have a place at the base of the giants.

By age, Arsen Zakharyan, Konstantin Tyukavin and Maxim Mukhin could well play for the youth team, but they are already in demand in the main team.

Decent resistance

In this regard, it was unrealistic to compete with Spain.

A lot becomes clear, even if you just compare the cost of the teams of opponents according to the Transfermarkt data.

The roster of the national youth team is estimated at € 18 million, the Red Fury - at € 115 million. Moreover, one captain Brian Gil, representing Tottenham, costs almost twice as much (€ 30 million) as the entire Russian squad.

Most in 18-21 years old are in demand in the example.

One of the youngest footballers of the team, Jeremi Pino, at 18 managed to win the Europa League with Villarreal.

Then he was accompanied by striker Fer Niño, who went on loan to Mallorca.

Ander Barrenechea took the Cup of the country with Real Sociedad and is already irreplaceable in the team.

Hugo Gilliamon has secured a spot for himself at Valencia's center-back.

And most importantly, many of this group managed to win both Euro U-17 and Euro U-19.

It is not surprising that the fate of the confrontation was largely decided by the individual skill of individual performers of the owners.

The defense of the Russians did not cope with a bunch of Niño-Pino.

The last one was especially good, who scored two goals and gave two assists.

Fer made a double.

Do not be surprised at the fact that the three central defenders of the guests, by and large, did not cope with their opponents.

If Prokhin is regularly celebrated in the Premier League and even played in European competitions, then Litvinov and Khotulev played the minimum number of matches for Spartak and Zenit, respectively, and mostly defend the colors of the farm clubs.

In the confrontation with opponents who regularly enter the field in one of the strongest championships of the continent, they lacked the experience of playing at this level.

And Budachev did not even play a match in the FNL, although there were not many complaints about him.

Nevertheless, Likhachev's wards did not deserve the defeat, even if you trust the statistics. The Spaniards made just five shots on target, but four of them ended in goals. Our asset has nine shots, four of which were on target. By and large, the favorite has realized all the points, but this is also an indicator of the class.

The guests spent the first half at a good level and tried to demonstrate modern football.

They did not sit out in defense, and also included high pressure in a timely manner.

At times, it worked.

Actually, already in the tenth minute, Karapuzov forced the goalkeeper Arnau Tenas to make a mistake, and Agalarov opened the scoring.

Unfortunately, the opponent got it back instantly.

One way or another, the Russians looked decent and could well have scored more.

True, this cannot be said about the second half of the meeting.

Budachev missed three unanswered goals.

Psychologically, the Russians were seriously crippled by the very first of them, when the ball flew into the net after a couple of ricochets.

Amazing rout

It is incorrect to compare the confrontation with Spain and Malta, because these are rivals of completely different levels. In the match with the islanders, Galaktionov's wards did not give any reason to doubt their advantage for a minute - 6: 0. They had possession of the ball about 80% of the time and struck 31 shots on goal, 19 of which were on target. If it were not for the goalkeeper Kane Formosa, the national team could well overcome the bar of ten goals scored. At the same time, the guests did not disturb Maxim Borisko.

However, even such a one-sided meeting allows one to draw a number of important conclusions. Firstly, the hosts, as in Almendralejo, relied on high pressure and literally suppressed the Maltese. And most importantly, this time they had the strength to demonstrate such energy-consuming football throughout the entire 90 minutes. In the end, the team, on the other hand, improved and distinguished themselves three times. The replacement of the coaching staff also worked completely. Kirill Kravtsov scored, and Nikita Iosifov and Kirill Klimov gave an assist.

Secondly, the youth team strives to build a game in attack through short and long passes. In the first matches of the selection, she did not try to simplify and throw the ball forward. Moreover, Agalarov is not a ram-type forward. The Ufa striker with a height of 180 cm is simply not able to push through defenders in the style of Artyom Dziuba and cling to balls, but he bursts into free zones great. This was clearly demonstrated by his first goal against the Maltese. Hamid cleverly opened on the offside line, received an excellent cutting pass from Edgar Sevikyan and threw the goalkeeper.

At the same time, the Russians tried to create an overload on the flanks and from there rushed into the penalty area.

On Tuesday, adjusted for the opponent's level, Daniil Khlusevich played great on the left, eventually scoring two goals.

It is noteworthy that the Arsenal performer this time took the position not of the lateral, but of the flanking midfielder.

Atletico Levante winger Sevikyan also looked good on the opposite side, making a huge number of dribbles.

It remains to repeat: this fight, of course, cannot be taken as an example, but in the match with Spain the national team tried to act in a similar vein, although the Red Fury allowed little.

And this kind of football looks very modern and watchable.

Iridescent perspectives

Even the first two fights showed that this "youth team" has someone to follow, even if it cannot boast of having stars.

First of all, we are talking about Agalarov, who really opened up in the new season.

He scored five goals for the modest "Ufa" (in total, the Bashkortostanians have seven) and in the RPL scorers' race he is second only to Fedor Smolov.

In the youth team, Hamid immediately began to score: first he hit the Spaniards' goal, and then scored a double in the confrontation with the Maltese.

There is no doubt that this is just the beginning for him.

A very powerful selection of performers at Galaktionov and in the center of the field.

The Ignatov-Umyarov-Maradishvili troika is a kind of heart of the youth team.

A special role is assigned to Mikhail, who is called upon to become a playmaker and, thanks to his extraordinary thinking, find options for continuing attacks.

Moreover, in the match with Malta Ignatov did not find a place on the field, but from the first minutes Danil Prutsev came out, receiving much more practice in Wings of the Soviets.

Do not forget about Chernikov from Krasnodar, who missed the start of qualification due to a minor injury.

In defense, a lot will be tied to Prokhin and Litvinov.

In their duet, the former is more responsible for destruction, and the latter for initiating attacks.

In this case, the coaching staff can vary the schemes.

With the Spaniards, the bet was made on the formation with three central defenders, and with the Maltese - with two.

There is no doubt that in the future this team will only improve. In the meantime, she needs time to play around and understand the requirements of Galaktionov. And there are all chances to get to the Euro. Let it be difficult to compete with Spain for a direct ticket to the tournament, the national team is able to take second place and get into the joints. In any case, in a company with Slovakia, Lithuania, Northern Ireland and Malta, Russia looks like a clear favorite. Moreover, competitors misfire with might and main. So, the Northern Irish lost to Malta (1: 4), and then beat the Slovaks with a minimum score.