"The headache of the coaching staff is the attackers": Rakhimov on Sobolev's form, Ignatov's potential and Maksimenko's pause

- After the butterfly in the last seconds in the match with Rostov, Alexander Selikhov defended a draw for Spartak in Leicester, reflecting a penalty.

Is this a valid claim to become number one?

- Sometimes the goalkeeper just needs to give a pause so that he can get rid of the negativity.

Alexander Maksimenko has a lot of it, especially after the match in St. Petersburg.

Therefore, there is nothing wrong with the current castling.

Selikhov has been playing all the games for too long due to injury.

I'm sure he really wanted to get back into action as soon as possible, but this process was delayed.

He looked good in the match against Leicester, but one successful game does not say anything.

Nevertheless, I am sure there will be no reverse replacement of goalkeepers in the match with Lokomotiv.

- How to be in this case Maksimenko?

- He needs to stay calm and keep working.

He demonstrated his decent level for a long time.

Now the goalkeeper needs a break to reload.

It is very important not to lose confidence in yourself, because the psychological pressure was decent.

This is how I see this situation as a specialist.

So far, the coaching staff is doing everything absolutely right.

It is important for goalkeepers to make it clear that nothing terrible has happened.

- Trio of central defenders of red and white Maximiliano Kofrie - Samuel Gigot - Georgy Jikia looked quite reliable in England.

What do you think, shouldn't Rui Vitoria stop experimenting with Nikolai Rasskazov? 

- It all depends on the state of the listed players.

The Frenchman at the end of the match with Leicester looked like he was in pain.

The Russian also had problems.

I think this trio should take to the field on Sunday against Lokomotiv, if they do without injuries.

Defenders are usually not changed either if they are played.

And fatigue is inevitable.

A good psychological background after meeting with the British should help.

- Wouldn't it be better to use Ilya Kutepov as a substitute in the center in case of damage to the main defenders?

- It is difficult to answer without being in the team and not seeing the situation from the inside.

Probably, in the training process, something happens that does not quite suit the coach.

He has his own vision.

We know that Kutepov knows how to play, he was in the national team at the World Championship.

It seems to me that everything here is in the hands of the Russian himself.

He needs to add that arrogance, aggression that is inherent in defenders when they are fighting for a place in the squad.

If this happens, another boost for Spartak will appear.

- That is, Rasskazov, perhaps, is fighting more for a place in the squad?

- No no.

I cannot say which of them is fighting more, since I am not on the team.

There are just some drills where the defender's skills need to come first.

I have to see how he plays one-on-one, whether he is inferior in speed.

Lots of details and nuances.

Therefore, it would be wrong to express your opinion, it may be wrong.

- Roman Zobnin has not been in the best shape lately and is merging with the general mass of players on the field ...

- And he is not alone. This can be said about a number of attacking football players of Spartak. We perfectly understand what the situation is in the team. Whoever says anything, it affects the guys, because they see and hear everything. Another point is important here: the coaching staff tries to unite the players so that they cope with the negativity. It is very difficult to get out of a situation where there are no victories, no play, pressure from all sides.

A positive result was achieved in the match against Leicester.

Now it is important to secure it.

But some, for sure, will have a fear of losing.

To get rid of internal pressure, you need a winning streak.

As soon as there is more self-confidence, mistakes will go away with the last pass and with a one-on-one beating.

This is not an easy process, but now there is a great opportunity to catch up with the leaders and arrive at the location of the national team in a good mood.

- Mikhail Ignatov now looks almost the sharpest of Spartak midfielders, although from the first minutes he appears on the field not so often.

Shouldn't you start trusting him more?

- The boy declared himself very well. I am glad that it is almost always visible. Sometimes, you give a football player a chance, and he falls out, is completely lost. When Ignatov is on the pitch, Spartak is adding up. Mikhail has a lot of good qualities: he knows how to hold the ball, give the last pass, and shoot. He has very good prospects. But you need to understand: what happened yesterday is of no interest to anyone. It is necessary to consolidate this game, and then it will turn out to become a solid footballer of the base.

It seems to me that Vitoria trusts Ignatov, but the competition in the team is not the smallest.

Ruslan Litvinov looks good in the center of midfield, Nail Umyarov recovered from the injury.

The coaching staff has a lot of headache now, what to do with the players who have either lost confidence or don't look very good physically.

I'm talking about Alexander Sobolev and Jordan Larsson.

The first is not in that form, and the second cannot find itself in any way.

Plus Ezequiel Ponce is injured.

Coaches need a backbone, not just the 11 players who enter the field at the start of the match.

From time to time it is necessary to change a lot in the game, to strengthen the team's actions.

And here is a very important bench.

- Should this situation induce Vitoria to give Giorgi Melkadze a chance?

- He also took a long time to recover from an injury and only recently started working in a general group.

If he is physically ready, I think he will definitely get his chance.

As far as I understand and see, the coach is counting on many players.

And Melkadze is a footballer who can both create a moment and realize it.

He is quite strong, able to do a lot and naturally wants to gain a foothold in Spartak.

- Given the problems with organizing the attack, what tactics should Spartak follow in the match against Lokomotiv?

- Spartak has enough creative players: the same Quincy Promes and Larsson can solve the episode alone. Of course, the tactics are chosen by the coaches. If you act like you did with Leicester, then the players need to learn to endure on the pitch. Although I don’t think that at home the red-whites will play number two, in England they stepped on their throats. But this kind of football, as it turned out, can also bear fruit. Although the midfielders made a lot of losses and counterattacks, as such, there were not so many: the pair was brought to its logical conclusion in the opening, another one occurred already in the 92nd minute.

Lokomotiv tries to cover the opponent faster, give less time to think, regardless of where the ball is.

The players defend themselves with a block that moves very actively forward into the ball zone.

But guessing what tactics the coaches will choose on the derby is very difficult, much will depend on the physical condition of the players, the availability of fresh players.

There are a lot of details and nuances here, given the fact that both teams played away on Thursday night.