Last season, Dynamo could easily claim the title of the most attractive RPL team.
In a very short period of time, Sandro Schwartz instilled in her a bright attacking, modern style and made matches with her participation mandatory for viewing, and was also able to create an ideal soil for the development of young talents.
In this situation, the star of Arsen Zakharyan lit up, Konstantin Tyukavin made progress, and Fedor Smolov found a second wind.
But with the arrival of Slavisa Jokanovic as head coach, the blue-and-whites are rapidly turning into an unremarkable team that does not even come close to using the potential of its performers.
The departure of the mentor from Moscow was a kind of end to a very bright and short period in the history of Dynamo.
The German in the shortest possible time taught the team to play in the spirit of the times and put football in it, which not only made the fans fall in love with itself, but also provoked the emergence of young stars.
Thanks to him, the same Zakharyan turned not only into a bright attacking midfielder of the league, but also became one of the main players in the Russian team.
And it's not just about his skills and performance.
Valery Karpin did not hide his intention to take an example from Liverpool, which also relied on active counterpressing.
But it was precisely his principles that Schwartz taught his wards.
It seemed that a logical continuation of the development of Dynamo would be to invite a coach who preaches the same style.
Let the blue and white failed the end of last season, but there was no reason to change course.
The failures were associated primarily with the loss of key performers in the center of defense and the inability to acquire worthy replacements, as well as the instability of young athletes.
And at first it seemed that Jokanovic was almost an ideal successor to Schwartz.
The Serbian preferred attacking football, including in strong championships.
This was clearly seen during his time at Watford and Fulham.
The Summer Residents were not only the most productive team of the Championship in the 2016/17 season, but also the leaders in possession of the ball and shots.
It was logical to expect that at Dynamo, Jokanovic would not betray himself and would build a superstructure on the foundation created by Schwartz.
However, the Serb suddenly decided to go in a different direction.
Under him, Muscovites abandoned possession, stopped pressing and focused on defense, becoming one of the most closed representatives of the championship.
After five rounds, the blue-and-whites take the last, 16th place in terms of the number of shots on average per meeting (10.2), 15th - in terms of control percentage (43%), and although they are fourth in goals scored, but almost a third of them fell on blows from the spot (3/10).
Serious problems and with the creation of moments.
If we remove the penalties, then in terms of expected goals (NPxG) they are only in 13th position (4.37).
For comparison, at the end of last season, Dynamo took first place in shots (16.2), third in goals (53), and eighth in possession (50.5%).
And in NPxG, they became fourth (38.99), losing only to Zenit, CSKA and Sochi.
As you can easily see, there has been a noticeable regression in absolutely all indicators, with the exception of one - implementation.
Now Muscovites are in first place in terms of the difference between predicted and scored goals, which indicates the excellent form of Smolov and Grulev, as well as the masterful execution of penalties.
In addition to blue and white, only the army team and Rostovites managed to take advantage of all three chances.
However, depressing statistics are not the only reason for disappointment.
Here, too, football is sharpened for defense, which is not only unspectacular, but also does not contribute to the development of athletes.
With a limited number of touches, it is much more difficult for them to express themselves and develop from a technical point of view.
In this case, experienced players who are able to use minimal opportunities to excel come to the fore.
For example, the same Smolov, who during his stay at Lokomotiv learned to cherish the moments and squeeze the most out of everyone.
Fedor is able to succeed in such conditions, but Zakharyan and Tyukavin still do not look as bright as before.
And if Arsen, who receives much more time, is still trying to keep the bar high, Konstantin has not yet succeeded.
In five rounds, he left the bench three times, and he started the match with Wings of the Soviets at the start,
but was not marked by effective actions.
In 95 minutes, he worked out 0.13 xG and shot on goal once.
It is all the more surprising that even with such a game, Dynamo regularly scores points and has one of the best starts in recent years.
The team scored nine points and did not suffer a single defeat, which has not happened to them since 2008.
True, in this they were significantly facilitated by a favorable calendar.
Among the rivals of the blue and white were two debutants of the Premier League - "Torpedo" and "Torch", uncompromising middle peasants in the face of "Wings of the Soviets" and "Rostov", as well as only one top-class opponent - "Krasnodar".
And it was in the game with a direct competitor that they demonstrated the most cowardly and insipid football, which was unlikely to please the fans.
The Blue and Whites only had 35.7% of possession and lost on all key metrics.
Perhaps such caution of Muscovites does not bother their management and fans much yet, but in the future it may become a serious problem.
Smolov and partners are unlikely to be able to use all the half-moments until the end of the championship, and the judges will continue to appoint 11-meter shots on an industrial scale.
Sooner or later, Dynamo will regress to the average sales values, and in this situation it will hardly be possible to maintain productivity in the absence of an abundance of dangerous attacks.
It remains to be hoped that Jokanovic's decision to practically give up playing the first number is temporary.
Perhaps the reason is the lack of confidence in the defensive line, which has recently been left without a number of important performers.
At the end of last season, problems in the center of defense largely caused the failure of Dynamo, which first missed the chance to compete for gold, and then completely left with bronze.
Perhaps, with the advent of the conditional Cesar Montes, the Muscovites' mentor will gradually begin to shift the emphasis towards the attack and subsequently come to his favorite dominant style.
But so far there are no prerequisites for this, and they are unlikely to appear after the sixth round.
In it, Dynamo will meet with one of the leaders of the championship - Spartak, who is trying to act from a position of strength.