In the same position: what problems do Spartak and Dynamo need to solve before the final of the Russian Football Cup

"Sweeten the end of the season"

The final of the Russian Football Cup between Spartak and Dynamo should become truly bright and emotional, since both teams have a desire to end the season on a positive note, which was not going well.

The red-whites took tenth place in the RPL and repeated the club's anti-record set in 2003.

Therefore, according to the former goalkeeper of the USSR national team Anzor Kavazashvili, only winning a trophy can smooth out the impression of an unsuccessful performance in the championship for the fans and the team itself.

“If Spartak beats Dynamo, then it will be possible to say that the team has partially, by 20%, completed the task for the season.

But they failed 80%, because the red-whites do not have the right to be on the tenth line in the standings, ”Kavazashvili said in an interview with RT.

However, Dynamo also blurred the ending of the Russian championship.

After the winter break, the wards of Sandro Schwartz even claimed RPL gold, but could not cope with the burden of responsibility, slowed down and, as a result, in the last round they failed to even hold silver medals, falling apart in the game with Sochi (1: 5).

Therefore, as the former defender of the blue and white Alexander Tochilin notes, the teams will psychologically be equally focused on winning the Sunday match.

“Despite the fact that silver medals have been missed, Dynamo can be considered an asset this season, since the last time the team won awards was in 2008, and the Cup in 1995.

So for the guys, winning the trophy is a great chance to sweeten the end of the season.

The same goes for Spartak.

After a generally disastrous performance in the championship, they can rehabilitate themselves in front of their fans.

Still celebrate the centenary of the club.

Therefore, the teams will be in the same psychological state.

Here the only question is who is better suited to this game tactically and physically, ”the specialist explained.

"Equivalent Goalkeepers"

Interestingly, the problems with the selection of players before the last match of the season for Paolo Vanoli and Sandro Schwartz are somewhat similar.

For example, mentors cannot finally decide on the goalkeeper position.

Dynamo have Anton Shunin and Igor Leshchuk replacing each other in the championship.

At the same time, at the last press conference, the coach of the blue and white noted that he would choose the goalkeeper for the final only on Saturday.

Tochilin, in turn, believes that preference should be given to a more experienced player.

This should give confidence to the team.

“If we start from sports moments, in my opinion, Dynamo has two goalkeepers of equal value.

But the role of the captain and leader of Shunin will be one of the trump cards of the blue and white.

Therefore, the final Schwartz, I think, at least will start with Anton at the gate.

He played the most matches for Dynamo, has defended the colors of the team for many years, so the presence of such a player on the field is very important.

This can give a certain confidence not only to the defense, but also, in general, to the team, ”explained the former football player.

Spartak has a similar situation: Alexander Selikhov at the gate, even after recovering from injury, is periodically replaced by Alexander Maksimenko.

The main goalkeeper spent only one match more in the second half of the championship.

Nevertheless, the veteran red-and-white Evgeny Lovchev believes that he should defend the goal in the Russian Cup final.

“Both make mistakes.

But Selikhov still remains number one.

He returned from injury and began to help out.

Maksimenko even somehow got bored.

In general, they are about the same level.

There are problems with the school: they can start up “chiffches”.

But I think that Selikhov will definitely come out in this match, ”the expert noted.

"Protection Without a Master"

Both teams are experiencing problems in defense.

Dynamo conceded 16 goals in the last four rounds, which, of course, is a disastrous figure for the RPL bronze medalist.

Many attribute the failure to the fact that Ivan Ordets left Muscovites.

In the first half of the championship, it was he who led his teammates.

However, according to Tochilin, the problem lies not only in the departure of the Ukrainian, but also in the game decline, which occurred precisely at the end of the season.

“The absence of Ordets, in hindsight, affected the quality of the game in defense.

But here it is still necessary, first of all, to proceed from team interactions.

Dynamo lacked what it was in the first part of the championship, when they played high football and managed to make it difficult for the opponent to move from defense to attack.

The guys put pressure on someone else's half of the field, took the ball and scored goals.

After the break, this was not enough.

Perhaps due to emotions or physical condition.

It’s hard to hold the entire championship at one level, and this decline, unfortunately, fell precisely on the ending.

But here is the Cup, the final, Spartak, the last meeting.

Therefore, I think Dynamo will find the strength and emotions to play their best match this year, ”said the specialist.

Not everything is going well in defense and in red and white.

The team consistently misses the last six matches of the championship, although reliable Giorgi Jikia and Samuel Zhigot operate in the center.

Nevertheless, as Lovchev notes, a coherent game does not work out, because in this line, like Dynamo, there is not enough leader.

"Mistake upon error.

It seems to me that I would have built everything a long time ago if I had been allowed to.

Everyone who has been working with defenders at Spartak for the past ten years needs to collect money back.

Because they didn't teach me anything.

There is no master in defense, the last one was Nemanja Vidić.

No wonder he then played for Manchester United for a long time.

The Serb was a personality, he could shout, arrange.

And now the guys are playing for themselves.

Well, the players, like Pavel Maslov and Nikolai Rasskazov, are of a very low level.

In Spartak, such people should not perform, ”Lovchev is sure.

At the same time, in the attack, according to the specialist, it is Spartak that has the advantage, since Vanoli has more diverse players in his arsenal.

In particular, Shamar Nicholson, who has only recently arrived in Russia, is acting in an interesting way and is still showing his best qualities.

“Sobolev is also a dangerous forward, though one-sided.

But Vanoli has several options: either release one Jamaican and someone under him, for example, Bakaev, or two tall forwards.

True, then you need to have high defenders and work a lot on the flanks.

At Dynamo, Smolov is versatile.

Tyukavin is a football player only in the penalty area.

I talked with Kostya, advised me to diversify the game in order to reach a new level.

In particular, step back.

Try new things in training.

But Smolov and Tyukavin are more predictable compared to Nicholson, ”the ex-defender of the red and white believes.

“They don’t look for good from good”

The point of contact between Dynamo and Spartak is the upcoming transfer window.

Throughout the last week, Konstantin Tyukavin and Zelimkhan Bakaev were actively sent by various media to Zenit.

This is explained by the fact that both players are dissatisfied with the amount of playing time in their teams.

However, experts on this issue are unanimous - none of them should change the club at the moment.

Speaking about the Dynamo striker, Tochilin notes that the competition in the St. Petersburg club is much higher than in Moscow, and it will be even more difficult to play at the base.

At the same time, Tyukavin spends only the first season at the adult level.

“Ambition is, of course, excellent, but there are many examples when a change of club did not lead to anything good for a young football player.

Here, after all, he is his pupil.

And for his age, he is quite trustworthy.

It can be seen that he is in the cage.

In terms of position with Smolov, they are direct competitors - both play the role of a tip.

But Tukavin has everything ahead, he just took the first steps to claim a place at the base.

That's just in competition with Fedor, he must show what he is worth.

Because in Zenit it is much higher.

Not the fact that it will turn out to play.

In his case, you have to work, put everything out of your head, all sorts of agency moments, just focus on football and Dynamo.

And the Cup final is a great opportunity to prove himself, both for him and for other young football players, ”added the specialist.

Bakaev's situation is slightly different.

The midfielder has long established himself in Spartak and is considered one of the best in the team.

However, in the second part of the championship, only in the match with Rostov, he spent all 90 minutes on the field.

Of course, this does not suit the player of the Russian national team.

However, according to Lovchev, the reasons why the midfielder is changed are not related to the lack of confidence on the part of the coach.

“Everyone is surprised why Vanoli, and before him Vitoria, change Bakaev in the 70th minute or don’t let them out on the field at all from the first minutes.

Although he is the best in attack.

He diversifies the game, he can go through, how many assists he made.

But I have a feeling that something is going on inside them.

It seems to me that he asked for more money, but the management is not going for it yet.

After all, they closed Spartak-2.

I think that in any case they will agree.

I see how Bakaev is offended when they change him, but I want to tell him one thing - they don’t look for good from good.

In Zenit, Malcolm plays in his place, and this is a football player of a completely different level, ”said Lovchev.

Strong spirit or philosophy

At the same time, the head coaches - Vanoli and Schwartz - have already met each other in the Russian championship.

The first round was left for the Italian: the red-whites won with a score of 2:0.

According to Tochilin, then Spartak beat the opponent, first of all, tactically.

“They pushed off the opponent.

And the blue-and-whites throughout the season try to act on their own, show their intense, aggressive football, pressing the opponent quite high.

Of course, for the sake of the result, the coach can make adjustments.

Although I doubt that he will depart from his philosophy.

Again, it is interesting to see what conclusions will be drawn from the first match, whether the mistakes have been corrected.

Most likely, this concerns Dynamo to a greater extent, because Spartak will try to repeat the game that he showed in the championship, ”the former Dynamo player believes.

However, according to Lovchev, tactics in Spartak this season does not play a key role, since Vanoli does not have many high-level players.

And the team wins solely due to emotions.

“Let's compare the acquisitions of Spartak and Zenit, Petrograders buy players from the national team of Brazil, Colombia and Croatia, and red-and-white ones from Luxembourg and Jamaica.

Where are these teams in world football?

Now Muscovites have only two great players: Victor Moses and Quincy Promes.

The rest, including the Russians, are average.

And Spartak is the same team.

But the red-whites have been a team all their lives, strong in their spirit.

From the fact that a torsida comes to the stands and makes you run around the field.

On the road, without support, they can drive to a draw, but with stronger teams, they pull out everything they can from themselves.

And this game will be about the same.

The team built by the coach, but slightly shaken, against the sparkling Spartak.

If he scores first, he will win, because then Dynamo will have to open up, and the red-whites have a better attack, ”

At the same time, it should be noted that Vanoli tries different tactical schemes.

There were at least three of them in the last rounds.

Lovchev explains this not so much by the desire to play from an opponent, but by the search for an Italian who is trying to recognize the potential of his charges.

“Previously, Domenico Tedesco made the same moves.

I still could not understand why he puts new players on every game.

And then suddenly, a year later, the coach began to choose constantly the same ones.

Before that, I just figured out who was capable of what.

Vanoli is also looking at everyone now.

No wonder he lets the young guys play.

I think that it is still determined for the future with the composition.

But only in Spartak the coaches have no future.

Moreover, you need to understand what agony he is in when at every press conference he is asked about his dismissal, ”the specialist added.