The match between Krasnodar and Spartak is attractive not only because of the volume of the names of the teams that meet. Thrill with a couple of interesting facts.
The first fact is that in the first round of the RPL, seven teams won at once, and only two of them had to play in the 1st round of the Cup between them. If anyone forgot, then Spartak beat Orenburg (3: 2), and Krasnodar took care of Dynamo (3: 1).
Reports on the matches of “Dynamo” and “Spartak”:
The second fact is that both teams have come a long way in the last Cup: Krasnodar reached the Super Final, Spartak flew in the semi-final stage.
Whichever way you look at it, it’s a central coincidence. Considering that we have already touched on Spartak’s actions in the new season, today we will focus on Krasnodar, under Vladimir Ivich, definitely deserves less attention.
Spartak vs. Zenit and CSKA:
The results of the 1st round for the RPL favorites. Zenit, CSKA, Spartak – who has the most problems?
Under Vladimir Ivic, Krasnodar began to act more shrewdly.
The Serbian specialist was able to achieve balance in the game, something that Spartak does not have now, the quality of the game in attack that far exceeds the level of actions in defense. Krasnodar’s attack is productive, and the defense does not allow direct “imports”.
To achieve balance, Ivic at the beginning of the year went to a modification of the style: with him, Krasnodar stopped being shy to simplify the game. In particular, in March, the coach of the goalkeepers of the Russian national team, Vitaly Kafanov, noted that “the club departed from the previous principles of playing the ball from the goal due to short and medium passes.” During matches and now you can see the following image: if the players at their gates get carried away and start a risky rally under pressure, the coach asks for a medium or long pass with gestures on the edge.
Under Ivic, Krasnodar does not try to score at all costs as a result of a beautiful combination with a background. The match with Dynamo is indicative: the first goal is Cordoba’s shot from distance, the second goal is Chernikov’s shot after a corner kick to Cordoba and his discounts, the third goal is Batchi’s shot behind Shunin’s back after Kryvtsov’s diagonal and the ball bounces off the defender. The main beauty of Krasnodar in that match is the three goals scored in different ways, which allowed the team to jump to the first line of the standings. Under the Serbian coach, the “bulls” baffle the opponent with their diversity: one learned technique is good, several available are even better.
Krasnodar under Ivic has no desire to fully drive the opponent with pressure, at the risk of exposing the space from behind. Instead, as with an attack, there is variability. In his first game this season with the Dynamo, the Bulls alternated pressing and defending in their midfield. But diversity manifests itself not only in high and low defense: when Krasnodar played last season in the Cup Super Final, then in defense it was rebuilt from a 4-2-3-1 formation to 5-3-2. This model helped take the game to a penalty shootout.
Tactical analysis of the June Super Final of the Cup:
CSKA itself is to blame for the nervous outcome of the Super Final. The penalty shootout shouldn’t have happened
Based on many months of observations, I can safely conclude: Ivic is based on the result: beautiful actions on the field are important, but victories are even more significant and, in general, it is in them that the main grace lies. It is significant that according to the results of the 1st round of the LPR, Krasnodar is only seventh in possession (51%), ninth in shots (11), eighth in the average number of passes of the opponent when in the defensive phase (9.7). Blue and white managed to win due to a rational, and not aesthetic, approach that was talked about in Krasnodar for many years.
In the past, the Krasnodar coach could be dismissed for such an approach, but not now, as long asIf Ivic has a result, he will most likely be untouchable. And there are successes. First, the Super Cup final last season. Secondly, the positive dynamics in last season’s championship: if we take only the spring, then Krasnodar under Ivic showed the fifth result in the league in terms of points scored, while before the winter break under Alexander Storozhuk – the eighth. At the same time, in May and June, the “bulls” were already focused on the Cup, which they did not hide, they even went to the league match with Zenit (2: 2) at the end of the season without leaders, including Eduard Spertsyan and Juan Córdoba.
Krasnodar’s starting line-up in the match against Dynamo
Ivic actually revealed John Cordoba. The striker has the best year in Russia
It makes sense to dwell separately on the Krasnodar attack: it is strong, but different. Especially its construction is well traced through the figure of Juan Córdoba.
In the spring in the Russian championship, Cordoba scored nine goals and gave four assists: in terms of the sum of effective actions, he became the best on par with the army player Fedor Chalov (also 9 + 4) and the player Zenit Malcom (11 + 2). At the same time, before the winter break, Córdoba had a much more modest performance: only five goals and one assist. The revival began with the arrival of Vladimir Ivich.
Arriving in Krasnodar, Ivic began to play with the strong qualities of the players. So, does Córdoba know how to play with centers and passes from the depths? So, we fulfill them! Something like that began to happen. Interestingly, the attention to detail of the Cordovan coach in an interview with the “Championship” highlighted the results of the first days of work with the coach.
Juan Cordoba
Krasnodar striker
“According to my observations, he is focused on details. Work on the capabilities of each player. It highlights strengths and weaknesses.”
It should be noted that in the same interview, the striker pointed out that not all his strengths were used before.
Juan Cordoba
Krasnodar striker
“After six years of playing in the Bundesliga, I’m used to constant vertical passes at the top. There, in many teams, this is in the order of things. It’s hard to change everything in a moment. In Krasnodar, we had to change the style, here is a different game. But I’ve adapted.”
Is it any wonder that after the arrival of Ivic with his eagerness to concentrate on the details, the striker opened up? Yes, the coach released the striker with his attention to his strengths!
February interview with John Cordoba:
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In the 1st round of the RPL with Dynamo, Córdoba scored and made a discount per goal, he is now the most productive player of the RPL since the beginning of this year. But not only this is worth mentioning: John also became the best center forward of the first round to touch the ball: 39. For example, Zenit player Mateo Cassierra, who scored a brace with Paris NN, was less notable in this regard: 28. Both forwards played a full game, but at the same time Krasnodar possessed the ball 51% of the time, and Zenit – 76%. The role of the striker in the construction of the game of “Krasnodar” is simply huge.
By the way, more about the construction of the game. In the 76th minute of the match against Dynamo, Ilzat Akhmetov and Mykyta Kryvtsov were replaced, each with 32 touches of the ball. Was there such a thing in Krasnodar before Ivic, so that midfielders who know how to be creative encountered the ball less often than a striker?
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Krasnodar’s trump card in the game against Spartak is the game organized by Vladimir Ivich: it is thought out taking into account the strengths and weaknesses of the players, and can also change depending on the opponent. In addition, the club has real leaders ahead of it, not only John Córdoba, who has opened up, but also Eduard Spertsyan, who has not yet left anywhere.
