Trust in newcomers and room for experimentation: what is interesting about the composition of the Russian national football team for the match with Kyrgyzstan

Why are so many newcomers and young people called in?

The final list of the Russian team for the match with Kyrgyzstan is notable primarily for the large number of newcomers and youth.

Of the 28 people called up to the national team, 12 did not play a single match for it - almost half of the team: Mikhail Kerzhakov, Roman Yezhov, Sergey Borodin, Daniil Utkin, Artyom Makarchuk, Ivan Lomaev, Maxim Glushenkov, Stanislav Magkeev, Alexander Silyanov, Daniil Khlusevich, Nikita Krivtsov and Alexander Kovalenko.

And immediately nine people represent the provincial "Wings of the Soviets" and "Rostov".

At the same time, some experienced performers were not in the roster, for example, Fedor Smolov and Alexei Ionov and legionnaires.

You can understand the decision of the coaching staff.

A comradely confrontation is the best suited for a review of recruits.

On the one hand, entering the field in a national team shirt is always responsible.

On the other hand, the level of the opponent allows you to experiment.

Karpin got an excellent opportunity to personally observe the performers he was interested in and try them in action in order to understand how they correspond to the international level.

They, in turn, having received the chance of a lifetime, are obliged to give all the best at 100%.

However, one should not prematurely draw conclusions about the total rejuvenation of the national team.

If she had to meet with a better opponent, the roster, for sure, would be different.

With a high degree of probability, most of the newcomers will not be able to gain a foothold in the national team.

However, some, for sure, will prove their worth to the mentor and remain in the cage.

Why did Karpin call two age goalkeepers?

If there are enough young athletes in the lines of defense and midfield, then the goalkeeper turned out to be an alloy of youth and experience.

The call was received by 23-year-old Matvey Safonov and Ivan Lomaev and 35-year-old Anton Shunin and Mikhail Kerzhakov.

The invitation of the last two surprised the fans a lot.

The Dynamo goalkeeper did not play for the national team after the unsuccessful Euro 2020, where he failed the match with Belgium and lost his place at the base to Safonov.

And the Zenit goalkeeper had never been involved in it before.

It is curious that at his age or older, only six people went out in the national team shirt: Sergey Ignashevich, Yuri Zhirkov, Stanislav Cherchesov, Alexander Mostovoy, Marinato Guilherme and Roman Sharonov.

Obviously, both do not pretend to push Safonov out of the starting lineup.

Matvey is having a great season and leads the RPL by a wide margin in terms of the number of saves (47).

For comparison, his age competitors are not even in the top 6 in this indicator, and Lomaev is in fourth place.

However, Shunin and Kerzhakov are able to help a young colleague, share their rich experience with him, give him the necessary tips, while not fighting him for a place at the base.

Over the years, age-old goalkeepers have always been called up to the national team, who, among other things, formed the right atmosphere in the team: Sergey Ovchinnikov, Guilherme, Sergey Ryzhikov and others.

Who will close the left flank of the defense?

If in most positions the headquarters will hardly risk using debutants from the first minutes, then in some positions it will simply have no other choice.

For example, we are talking about the left flank of the defense.

Under Karpin, he was most often closed by the versatile Fedor Kudryashov, but the 35-year-old player announced his retirement from the national team in the summer.

And even if he hadn’t done this, he still wouldn’t have received a call for a match with Kyrgyzstan, like two other football players playing in the Turkish championship - Magomed Ozdoev and Artyom Dzyuba.

The most likely replacement for him may be Artyom Makarchuk.

The graduate of Baltika is progressing at an incredible pace in Sochi and in less than a year has become an indispensable performer of one of the strongest teams in the country.

He does a huge amount of work and is able to play both according to the scheme in four defenders, and to cover the entire flank in the arrangement with three central ones.

Moreover, Makarchuk equally successfully acts both in the performance of direct duties and in creation.

In the current RPL draw, he already has three assists.

In addition to him, Daniil Khlusevich is able to close the left edge.

The profile position for a native of Crimea is the right flank, but in Spartak it is used on the opposite side.

It is noteworthy that the newcomer of the red-whites actually ousted the much more experienced Maciej Rybus from the base.

Like Makarchuk, Khlusevich is able, without knowing fatigue, to plow the entire edge for 90 minutes.

In addition, he noticeably added to the destruction.

Daniil is the best in the Red-Whites in terms of the average number of tackles (2.3) and the third in interceptions (1.4).

For comparison, in seven matches for Spartak last season, both indicators were exactly one.

Will Karpin try a bunch of Rostov Utkin - Glebov in midfield?

Experiments are also possible in the top three midfielders, if Karpin decides not to change the scheme.

The absence of Alexander Golovin, who, as a rule, was irreplaceable under him, opens the way for him to do this.

If the presence of Dmitry Barinov in the support zone does not raise questions, then debutants may well be located higher.

For example, the coaching staff has the opportunity to try a bunch of Rostov Daniil Glebov - Daniil Utkin.

The first was already called up to the national team by Karpin and even came on as a substitute in the most important qualifying matches for the World Cup with Cyprus and Croatia.

In their case, the mentor will not have to puzzle over how to combine the strengths of the wards, because they have already played well in Rostov.

Glebov has three points on the “goal + pass” system (1 + 2) in the RPL, and Utkin has seven points (3 + 4).

Plus, the appearance of the latter is a guaranteed quality in the execution of set pieces.

The midfielder is capable of both delivering an accurate free kick himself, which he has repeatedly demonstrated, and performing an ideal serve on a partner.

Only in the current RPL draw, he assisted Nikolai Komlichenko three times in this way.

The national team also has enough other tall players who can play well with their heads, for example, Alexander Sobolev.

Who will play on the edges of the attack?

It is very curious who will play on the edges of the attack.

In recent matches, Karpin used Zelimkhan Bakaev and Alexei Ionov.

However, the first one receives a minimum of playing practice and this season the RPL has played for Zenit for only 258 minutes.

The second one did not receive a call to the national team at all and, in addition, has long crossed the 30-year milestone.

One of the positions with a high degree of probability will be closed by the versatile Arsen Zakharyan.

He played three matches in the national team on the left (with Croatia, Malta and Slovakia), but in Slovenia he came on as a substitute in the end to the opposite side.

On the right, Karpin may well try one of the four pupils of Chertanovo in the application of Roman Yezhov.

He clearly shows himself in the composition of the "Wings of the Soviets" and in two incomplete seasons has established himself as a hard-working performer with incredible speed.

In addition, he regularly assists partners.

In total, Ezhov already has five assists and four goals in the RPL.

Possibly, Roman will become the next leader of the Samarans who will leave the team.

In the summer, there were rumors about a move to Spartak, but the transfer has not yet taken place.

Is there a chance for the fans to see the duet of forwards Chalov - Sobolev?

Finally, it will be extremely interesting to watch how the coaching staff uses the three forwards at their disposal: Alexander Sobolev, Nikolai Komlichenko and Fedor Chalov.

The call of the latter looks fully deserved and gives him a chance to gain a foothold in the national team.

After all, for all the time the best scorer of the RPL-2018/19 played only three matches for her.

The last time he entered the field in a national team jersey was in a friendly match against Moldova in 2020.

In the current RPL draw, Fedor not only scores regularly (five goals), but also noticeably added to the game.

For example, in terms of the number of passes under attack by partners (1.9), he is second only to Jesus Medina in the team.

However, this concerns Sobolev even more.

Under Guilherme Abascal, the football player, who for a long time was considered exclusively a ram-type forward, taking his toll at the expense of growth and power, turned into the Russian prototype of Harry Kane.

He, like Chalov, plays a lot in the pull, and gives out great cutting passes to teammates.

This season, the player has already completed four assists and is leading in this indicator along with Malcolm, Utkin and Medina.

However, Karpin is more likely to release Chalov from the first minutes.

Last fall, he also preferred Sobolev, Artyom Dziuba and Anton Zabolotny, a short, but well-acting Smolov.

Therefore, Alexander can come on as a substitute in the second half, when the opponents get tired.

But it would be extremely interesting to look at a bunch of Spartak and CSKA forwards.

At the beginning of the 2000s, the duet of Dmitry Bulykin and Alexander Kerzhakov performed well in the national team.

The first one won the horse fight and dropped the ball on a partner who ran to the opponent's goal at high speed and scored.

Sobolev and Chalov can look no worse given their progress in creation.

Another thing is that in their teams they are on the cutting edge alone.