“The only chance to save the season”: experts on the importance of the trophy for Spartak, the future of Vanoli and the class of CSKA legionnaires

In the 1/4 finals of the Russian Cup at the VEB Arena, Moscow CSKA and Spartak will meet.

From the match on Wednesday, if you rely on the standings of the Russian championship and the last rounds of the RPL, it is hardly worth expecting an extravaganza in terms of the quality of the game.

The army team failed the confrontation with Ufa, Ural and Khimki.

A penalty in stoppage time (2:2) saved us from defeat with the Yekaterinburg team, and the Moscow Region team defeated the red-blues for the first time in history (4:2).

The wards of Paolo Vanoli are also not impressive yet: a draw with the bloodless "Rubin" of Leonid Slutsky and a defeat from "Krasnodar", for which, after the departure of the legionnaires, young people play.

Even Lokomotiv, which obviously stalled in the second half of the season, managed to beat Spartak.

Therefore, if you look at the facts, on Wednesday the fans are waiting for a mediocre match between the two teams experiencing problems.

However, the Moscow derby always stands apart from other meetings.

Adds motivation to the players and the fact that this is a game right through.

Suffice it to recall the last quarterfinal of the Russian Cup in 2020.

Then the teams also demonstrated not the highest quality game during the season.

Nevertheless, the confrontation in Tushino turned out to be bright and emotional.

"Spartak" was able to pull out the victory in extra time thanks to an accurate shot by Jordan Larsson.

At the same time, the red-whites remained with ten men after the removal of Ezequiel Ponce.

"Match for years to come!"

- journalists wrote in their reports, recalling dangerous moments, a brawl on the field and an unexpected outcome of the confrontation.

We must not forget that Spartak has already lost twice to CSKA this season.

Moreover, the last time quite recently - in February (0:2).

And the red-whites certainly have a great desire to rehabilitate themselves in front of their fans.

For the army team, winning the match is not only an opportunity to give great pleasure to the fans, but also to confirm that past successes were not an accident, but the true alignment of forces today.

“Vanoli’s adaptation period has been a little longer”

The quarter-final is also very important for Spartak's coach Paolo Vanoli.

So far, the work of a specialist as a head coach raises questions.

In seven matches under the leadership of the Italian, the red-whites scored eight points.

Only Dmitry Gunko had a worse start - only four points, and the team slipped from third place in 2014 to fifth.

This can't help but worry.

So, two-time winner of the Russian Cup Yuri Kovtun believes that it is time for the team to show the result.

“The management is pinning their hopes on the Italian and, for sure, when choosing a coach, they relied on some of his qualities.

But Vanoli's adaptation period dragged on a bit.

What is the problem?

We often talk about the lack of good players, although transfers seem to take place regularly: they invite foreign players, promising Russian youth.

Any coach needs time, but Spartak always wants to achieve success faster, ”admitted Kovtun.

The former goalkeeper of Spartak and CSKA Ruslan Nigmatullin is skeptical about Vanoli.

In his opinion, the red-whites traditionally do not have stability, and the invited foreigners are no stronger than the Russians.

“Perhaps the club wanted to repeat the history of Carrera.

Fedun has recruited many Italian-speaking advisers, and for some reason he thinks that these people understand football.

It seems to me that they are not stronger than our specialists, but the owner cannot trust them either, since people already take advantage of his gullibility, or unwillingness to delve into matters.

There are many sycophants, as now, ”said RT Nigmatullin.

At the same time, if you continue to draw parallels with other coaches, Domenico Tedesco began his journey at Spartak in the same way, with whom the red-and-whites became RPL silver medalists.

So the situation can not yet be called catastrophic.

Nevertheless, knowing the desire of both the leadership and the fans to win, no one excludes that the match with CSKA could be decisive for Vanoli.

According to Nikiforov, this is the problem of any big club - the mentor must show the result here and now.

“The red-whites always want to fight only for the first places.

It didn't work out this year.

And in teams like Spartak, they don’t give a lot of time to specialists.

In Europe, let's take the same "Barcelona", "Real", if the team starts to fall, then the coach is quickly changed, so everything depends on the result.

And I think if Spartak is knocked out of the Cup, this option is possible, ”the specialist added.

“If Spartak loses, a difficult period will begin for the team”

The centenary of Spartak is another important factor that puts pressure on the team.

The anniversary year turned out to be unsuccessful in the Russian championship.

Therefore, the victory in the Cup of the country is the only chance for the management to smooth out the negative that the fans have in connection with the constant scandals that take place inside the club and splash out.

As Kovtun notes, this should be an additional motivation for the team.

“Even as a legionnaire, you need to come to the club and know its history.

Therefore, the anniversary of Spartak should be sufficient motivation for all the players and coaches of the team, without exception.

Of course, it can be assumed that the Russians have more of this charge.

But everyone should give up on the field in such matches. 

Is beating CSKA the only chance to save the season?

Naturally, success in this confrontation opens up good prospects for winning the trophy.

Everyone understands this, they want it.

If Spartak loses in the Cup, then a difficult period will begin for the management and coaching staff.

There will be more negativity towards the situation in the club for those who are worried about the team, ”the three-time champion of Russia believes.

I agree with Kovtun and Nikiforov.

In his opinion, at the end of the season, the red-whites need to throw all their strength into the fight in the National Cup.

“This year, “Spartak” does not shine for the championship, as well as third or fourth place.

So it would be nice to take the Cup.

Especially on the 100th anniversary of the club.

I think that the red-whites will fight for the title.

At least I really want this, ”admitted the former defender.

So psychologically in the derby it will obviously be easier for CSKA.

Yes, the army team is also unstable.

But the sword of Damocles is not yet hanging over Alexei Berezutsky's head, and in general, the club's management is trying to give the head coaches a job.

Of course, there are strange stories, as with Ivica Olic, but this is rather an exception to the rule.

“In terms of the game and composition, CSKA is stronger.

But it's a derby and a cup."

In addition, the position in the RPL standings allows the army team to maintain theoretical chances for the championship even after three unsuccessful matches.

However, even third place is already a good result after last year's failure, when the team did not qualify for European competition for the first time in 20 years.

In the current draw with a young coach and not the most stellar line-up, CSKA again managed to return to the leading positions.

At the same time, the red-blues had a very successful transfer window, strengthening with four good players at once, which is unanimously noted by all specialists.

Jesus Medina, Jean-Philippe Gbamin, Yusuf Yazici and Jorge Carrascal quickly established themselves as creative footballers.

In Spartak, only Shamar Nicholson shines among the newcomers.

However, according to the ex-defender of CSKA Alexander Grishin, it cannot be said that stars were invited to the Russian championship, just the level of the tournament today has become too low.

“Yazici did not play at Lille, but he came here and plays good football.

Gbamen was sitting on the bench at Everton.

This speaks of the low level of football in Russia, since substitutes from Europe come and begin to come to the fore.

Yes, CSKA had a successful transfer window and was able to improve.

But again, we see that the first matches were played well, and then problems began, ”said Grishin.

With the arrival of legionnaires, indeed, in the game of CSKA there were questions to the defense.

In the last rounds, the army team began to miss a lot: in three matches, seven goals have already flown into the gates of Igor Akinfeev.

According to Grishin, this is quite logical.

Thanks to the acquisitions, the team began to act more actively in front, which means that zones for counterattacks appear in defense.

“It does not happen that the team plays at the gates of others all the time and does not allow moments at their own.

In the match with Ural, the red-blues missed the opponent twice and scored against them both times, ”explained the specialist.

Based on this, we can assume that the fans will see a lot of goals on Wednesday, while CSKA still have more chances to win the derby.

Even former Spartacists, like Nikiforov, think so.

“In terms of the game and composition, CSKA is stronger in this situation.

But this is a derby and a Cup.

It is clear that I will root for the red-whites and wish the team victory.

However, the army team looks better, ”summed up the winner of the Russian Cup.