Return of the legend: why CSKA should sign a contract with Zhirkov

Unexpected confession

After the end of Euro 2020, domestic football fans resigned themselves to the fact that the seemingly irreplaceable and eternal Yuri Zhirkov ended his career.

Firstly, at the very beginning of the tournament, the 38-year-old football player received another serious injury - he injured his thigh muscle.

This incapacitated him for several months.

Secondly, in the summer the contract of the defender with Zenit expired, and the club did not renew it.

The winner of the UEFA Cup in the summer transfer window did not find a new team, and it is not a fact that he was looking for it.

Nothing was reported about interest in the veteran and the media.

If they wrote about him, then in a slightly different vein: so, at the end of August, news appeared that Zhirkov was banned from training at the base in Novogorsk, since the Russian national team had arrived there.

And in September, Yuri was declared for the club of the Amateur Football League "Aminevo".

It seemed that after this return it was definitely not worth waiting for.

All the more surprising was the statement of the athlete about his desire to continue his career in an interview with one of the YouTube channels.

According to the native of Tambov, he has fully recovered from his thigh injury and is doing well.

“Now I am doing it on the sly.

Everything is fine.

We will think further.

At the moment, training takes me only a few hours a day, the rest of the time I devote to children and family.

It's cool without football, but I could play for another year, ”admitted the bronze medalist of Euro 2008.

Experienced master

It is difficult to say whether the footballer will succeed in realizing his plan, but when discussing possible options, one cannot but recall CSKA, which has become dear to him.

CSKA acquired Zhirkov in early 2004, and in five and a half years he became a legend for the club.

With red and blue, Yuri won the UEFA Cup, and also four times became the champion of Russia and the owner of the Cup of the country.

On the one hand, such a step is a serious risk.

The veteran has not entered the field since June, and taking into account the pause in the championship, he may be left without practice for more than six months.

It will be extremely difficult to return to the field after such a long outage at 38 years old.

Yes, and in Zenit in the spring, Yuri was content with the role of a substitute - only two appearances in the matches of the Russian Premier League, which were already decisive for the Petersburgers.

The club cannot be unaware of the long history of the defender's injuries.

Since June 2013, he has suffered seven different injuries, two of which were serious.

Even during the home World Cup, he dropped out due to problems with Achilles and ended up missing five months.

The next major international tournament ended with a thigh muscle breakaway.

On the other hand, 12 years after leaving for Chelsea, Zhirkov, despite his age, is still able to help the Moscow team. First, the team has been lacking a quality left-back in recent years. Georgy Shchennikov, the main player in this position, misses a large number of meetings. For example, in the current season, he played only two fights, and most of the time he was recovering from a bruised shin.

In the absence of the 30-year-old pupil of the club, the nominal midfielder Ivan Oblyakov is forced to close the gap. And last year, Viktor Goncharenko used another midfielder - Bakhtiyor Zainutdinov. Oblyakov as a whole copes with the tasks assigned to him. So, in the current RPL draw, he is one of the best in the army team in terms of the average number of both tackles (2) and interceptions (1.6). At the same time, it does not do without productive mistakes. For example, in the match with Dynamo, Ivan allowed Arsen Zakharyan to easily beat himself on the edge. As a result, Jaka Biyol broke the rules on the front, and the judge appointed a penalty, which the opponent converted.

In addition, the need to use a non-core player in defense deprives Aleksey Berezutsky of a strong footballer in midfield.

Shchennikov's return to the 11th round match with Ural did not improve the situation.

Georgy looked poorly even at the level of an outsider and regularly allowed his opponents to enter his zone.

Almost all the danger of the Yekaterinburg people went through this flank, and Biyol had to regularly insure his partner.

Zhirkov's arrival will help solve a difficult personnel problem.

The footballer is quite capable of playing the spring part with a minimum number of substitutions, because the team does not participate in European competitions and, without taking into account the Cup, plays only in the RPL.

And a veteran who knows how to correctly lead himself to the season is able to pull one game a week even at 38, given the enormous experience.

It makes no sense to wait from him for raids along the entire flank like ten years ago, but there is no doubt: the most experienced performer will close his edge and bring reliability into the problematic line of defense of the red-blue. At the same time, the veteran feels equally comfortable in the formation with both two and three central defenders.

And even though Zhirkov recently had no practice at Zenit, when the need arose, he showed excellent physical readiness. So, from November 1 to December 5, he hit the base of Petersburgers in the Premier League and the Champions League six times and spent more than 70 minutes on the field on average. Here it is necessary to add two meetings in the Russian national team in the League of Nations with Turkey and Serbia. In both, the UEFA Cup winner played "from ring to bell." Then, in total, Zhirkov took part in nine fights in 35 days (in four - entirely).

In the national team, Yuri remained indispensable at all.

Last year, he had eight meetings in his asset (all - in the starting lineup), and this year - five.

If not for the injury sustained during Euro 2020, the statistics could be even more convincing.

At the same time, on the eve of the tournament, Stanislav Cherchesov spoke about the incredible form of the ward.

“He will be able not only on June 12, but also on June 16 and 21.

He was ready to play for 90 minutes today.

Recent trainings show that Yuri has reached his level.

We gave time to work at the training camp.

Today everyone saw what class this player is.

We cannot refuse such, ”the coach emphasized.

And Zhirkov's injuries after the 2018 World Cup were practically not bothered.

From January 2019 to June 2021, he missed only four days due to tendon inflammation.

New leader

Also, in the person of its former defender, CSKA will get a new leader.

At the moment, from the “golden team” that won the UEFA Cup in 2005, only Igor Akinfeev continues his career in the team.

He regularly tries to prompt young partners, but it is one thing when the goalkeeper, who is not always heard during the game due to the noise of the stands, is one thing, and the field is another.

Someone will say that such a role is not suitable for the bronze medalist of Euro 2008, since he is a taciturn and modest person.

But even the very presence of such a master with Chelsea experience should have a huge impact on young players.

Consider at least Zhirkov's professionalism, which allowed him to finish playing to almost 40, despite a large number of injuries.

An experienced defender may well become a conductor of the coaching ideas of Alexei Berezutsky, especially since he, like Akinfeev, is well acquainted with him.

Previously, they played together not only in CSKA, but also in the national team.

From the side of the club's management, the decision to invite Zhirkov will also look quite logical, because they have always tried to return former players.

And here we are talking not only about the brothers Berezutsky and Ivica Olice.

So, Oleg Kornaukhov, Oleg Malyukov, Oleg Dolmatov (he headed the red-blue in 1998-2000) and Valery Minko are currently working in the army sports school.

The UEFA Cup winner is now at a crossroads. In the aforementioned interview, he honestly admitted that he did not know what he would do after the end of his career. And CSKA can lend a helping hand to the defender. Even if, over time, he does not get a position in the coaching staff of the main team, he may well start working with children, especially since he himself admitted that he is interested in it. And a trainer with such a wealth of experience is capable of raising a large number of serious masters.

As for the fans, most of them should be delighted with the return of the footballer, who gave them so much joyful emotions in the second half of the 2000s.

Fans are unlikely to immediately accept the athlete who managed to play for Anji and Zenit, and also admitted that he wanted to move to Spartak.

But he himself will get the opportunity to come to terms with them before the end of his career and hang the boots on a nail in the club in which he took place as a football player.