The role of the leader and reunification with Slutsky: why the transition to Rubin could benefit Dziuba

The new year promises to present fans with at least one intriguing transfer story. It's about Rubin's acquisition of Zenit striker Artem Dziuba. Until recently, such a transition was difficult to imagine, because the forward was one of the leaders of the Petersburgers. However, at the moment he has lost his guaranteed place in the starting lineup and is sometimes forced to start matches from the bench. In addition, on June 30, 2022, the veteran's contract with the club expires.

Several sources reported at once about the departure to Kazan. According to one of them, the ex-captain of the Russian national team is not happy with the role of a substitute and really wants to leave. Allegedly, he even agreed to a salary cut. Other media writes that the extension of the agreement with the striker is not personally approved by the head coach of the reigning champions Sergei Semak. Krylia Sovetov forward Ivan Sergeev can replace Dziuba.

One way or another, Artyom's transfer to Rubin is able to benefit all parties. The footballer himself at 33 will receive serious motivation. The loss of a place in the starting lineup of Zenit was a blow for him. The attacker was not used to being in the reserve and did not hide his dissatisfaction with the current situation. In Kazan, he will have the opportunity to prove that St. Petersburg was in a hurry to write him off, and he still remains the strongest in his position in the country.

And as you know, Dziuba gives out his maximum exactly when he has a serious irritant.

This is clearly confirmed by his entire career: the feud with Valery Karpin at Spartak, the conflict with Roberto Mancini at Zenit and the desire to prove to Stanislav Cherchesov his need for the national team at the home world championship.

At these moments, the athlete was especially energized and brought great benefits to his teams.

Moreover, the forward will receive another serious irritant after the red and white in the face of St. Petersburg.

There is no doubt that if he leaves for Kazan, he will be tuned in to the matches with the former team in a special way.

And now not only Muscovites will suffer from his precise strikes.

Perhaps the only drawback of Dziuba is his age. In August he turned 33 .. But right now Artyom remains one of the best strikers in Russia. In the current RPL season, the forward has ten goals in 17 matches. With this indicator, he ranks second in the top scorers' race of the tournament, behind only Hamid Agalarov from Ufa (13). And in terms of the number of points according to the "goal + pass" system (10 + 4), it is in the lead.

Even the transfer to the reserve did not affect the veteran's performance. In five matches of the national championship, he was content with substitutions and in them he managed to distinguish himself twice and give the same number of assists. And in the away match of the Champions League with Juventus, he helped score Serdar Azmun, appearing on the field during the game. If you study the advanced statistics, the forward is in the top 5 RPLs in both xG (expected goals) and xA (expected assists): 7.42 and 3.45. That is, he is still capable of both realizing the moment himself and helping his partners.

When talking about older footballers, as a rule, they list the number of their injuries. Dziuba, despite his anthropometric data, rarely fell out of order. In 5.5 years at Zenit, he missed only 11 games due to various injuries and, in the worst case, spent three weeks in the team infirmary. In the current season, he failed to enter the field only in the confrontation with Dynamo. A few days earlier, the striker suffered an ankle injury in the match against Chelsea and simply did not have time to recover.

The colossal load that fell on him in recent years did not affect the health of an experienced athlete. For example, last season he took part in 34 meetings with Zenit and, in terms of the number of minutes spent on the field, finished third in the team after Douglas dos Santos and Vilmar Barrios. To them it is necessary to add regular departures to the Russian national team, where the footballer was also indispensable under Cherchesov.

Another important factor that can contribute to Dziuba's transfer to Rubin is his excellent relationship with the head coach of Kazan, Leonid Slutsky.

They worked together in a national team and became really good friends during that period.

The specialist made a bet on the forward of Spartak, and he thanked him with an excellent game.

The striker's six goals in qualifying for Euro 2016 under Slutsky helped Russia reach the final stage of the tournament.

After Slutsky left the national team, he and Dziuba continued to regularly communicate and tease each other on social networks.

It is curious that the mentor himself recently spoke about the football player in an interview with Ksenia Sobchak.

“I can tell about my conclusions from working with Dziuba.

We are friends with him, we have a super relationship, but I can objectively evaluate him.

If he was entrusted to raise the fallen banner, he did not see a person who would be better off carrying this banner.

But if suddenly you do not count on him, he will use all his enormous creative power for destruction.

And this is an involuntary reaction.

He doesn't want to do this, ”the specialist explained.

However, in Rubin, having received a place at the base, Artyom is guaranteed to spend his strength on creation.

And for the deeply respected Slutsky he will fight twice.

In Kazan, a striker of this level will definitely be in demand.

In the current season, the team is not showing the best results.

She finished the year with three defeats in a row in the RPL and dropped to tenth place in the standings.

Now the team is separated from the zone of butt meetings by only three points.

One of the main reasons for the decline is attack problems.

In the championship, Slutsky's wards scored only 23 goals and, according to this indicator, occupy only the eighth line.

This is not surprising, because the main goalscorer Djordje Despotovich suffers from injuries and took part in only ten matches, in which he scored one goal.

The same number of times the rivals were upset by Herman Onugha, who was called to replace the Serb.

And Ivan Ignatiev, who was once considered one of the main young talents of the country, did not score from the game for more than two years.

Extremely motivated Dziuba is able to give new partners an impulse and revive Rubin's game ahead.

With his arrival, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Andreas Dreyer will also be more useful, because Artyom regularly moves to the flanks and interacts there with wingers and extreme midfielders.

Yes, and “Zenith” the departure of the former leader will only benefit. Firstly, the forward is not getting younger and it is difficult to bet on him with an eye to the near future. While the striker continues to score, even when he comes on as a substitute, but without the ball he is no longer able to do the amount of work that Semak requires. It is no coincidence that in the Champions League, the specialist in half of the cases relied on the young and fast Serdar Azmun. With the arrival of Claudinho, the coaching staff is trying to rebuild the team's game. Now the focus in the attack is on the interaction of technical Brazilians and an Iranian capable of breaking into the free zones. This tactic worked perfectly at home against Chelsea. Slow Dziuba doesn't fit her at all.

Artyom himself, as Slutsky said, is not one of the players who are calm about the transfer to the reserve. He already expressed his attitude to what happened in the RPL match with Dynamo, when, having scored the ball, he loudly cursed at Semak. There are no guarantees that this will not happen again in the future, and the presence of the veteran on the bench will not become a "time bomb" for the team.

The disadvantages in the athlete's possible transfer to Rubin are obvious. Firstly, it is not at all a fact that after 5.5 years of playing in the strongest team in Russia, it will be interesting for him to play for the team fighting for survival. The striker is used to solving problems of a completely different level - to fight for the championship and play in European competitions. In Kazan, you will have to forget about it and be content with little. Do not forget about the big family of the football player, which will probably have to be transported to another city from the beloved Northern capital.

Rubin, relying on the 33-year-old performer, is also taking risks. It is obvious that in the future Dziuba will only slow down and appear less and less on the field. You can count on him to spend a couple of seasons at a high level at best. In this case, the invitation of the age striker looks extremely controversial. It is much better to pay attention to young Russians, for example, the already mentioned Agalarov or Vladislav Sarveli from Wings of the Soviets.

And it is not at all a fact that Zenit will agree to let go of one of the leaders of the team.

In 234 matches for Petersburgers in all tournaments, he scored 105 goals and continues to benefit the team.

It can be assumed that Artyom will eventually become more calm about the role of a substitute and turn into a joker who will appear on the field at a difficult moment for the team, when it is necessary to hack the opponent's saturated defense and simplify the game.

In addition, a cheerful open striker is the soul of the team and communicates warmly with many partners, including legionnaires.

Finally, in the summer, Azmun's contract expires, and it is not at all a fact that the Iranian will extend it.

In this case, the club is unlikely to accept the departure of two strikers at once.