“Ignashevich is the star of the championship.” Karpin lured CSKA legend to Spartak
Nikita Paglazov September 16, 2023, 12:00 Moscow time
Sergei laughed at the proposal. But he always spoke with respect of Karpin. Today they will face each other in the RPL.
Today, September 16, Baltika will host Rostov in the eighth round of the RPL. Both clubs did not have the best start to the season. Kaliningraders are at the bottom of the standings, and Rostov is in 11th place, although at the last championship they fought for medals until the end. However, the clubs are united not only by a bad start, but also by the figures of their coaches. Valery Karpin and Sergei Ignashevich are emblematic characters of Russian football. Even though one is associated with Spartak and the other with CSKA, they have an excellent relationship. We remember what Karpin and Ignashevich talked to each other.
By the time Ignashevich’s playing career peaked, Karpin’s was already approaching its decline. There is a 10-year difference between the current rivals. But they still have a match in their account, when they ended up together on the app. This is a friendly match between the Russian and French national teams (0-0) in 2002 at the Stade de France.
Valery Karpin in the match with France
Photo: RIA Novosti
Valery started and played 90 minutes, but Sergei remained in the reserve. They never crossed paths again in the same team, although Karpin did not finish his career with the national team until March 2003. It is curious that Ignashevich was a member of Spartak when he was young, and the current Rostov coach played a couple of games for CSKA.
When Karpin became a coach, he was not against working with Ignashevich. In 2021, Sergei, in an interview with the Baltika YouTube channel, said that Valery called him to Spartak. It’s true that he took it as a joke.
Sergei Ignashevich
Baltika head coach
“There was an offer from Spartak when Valery Karpin was the coach. It was presented to me as a joke at the club, the truth is that they just laughed and even decided not to respond about it. Was there a specific proposal for the transition? Yeah”.
Karpin coached Spartak from 2009 to 2014, but did not wait for Ignashevich. And he ended his career in 2018, without changing the military club for another. But the story of the relationship between men did not end. In 2012, Sergei acted like a prophet and pointed out that Karpin leading the Russian national team was a good idea.
“Today in Russia there are good specialists, for example Karpin. Why not? He is a good motivator. If Spartak has serious problems during the season, most likely this will not happen in the national team. The national team will be made up of professional footballers in good functional condition. The main thing is to choose the tactics, the lineup for the match and find some motivating words that encourage the team to achieve a good result.”
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Even when Karpin criticized CSKA, Ignashevich spoke about the coach without negativity. In 2013, Valery called the army team’s game “non-championship.” But Ignashevich responded with restraint: “Apparently, Karpin is just a football fan who shows Barcelona today.” With total advantage and control of the ball. We can’t dominate like this. And “Spartak”, according to Karpin, strives to achieve this.
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And Ignashevich received praise from Karpin in 2017. Sergei became the record holder for the number of matches played at the national championships, and Valery could not pass by.
Valery Karpin
head coach of the Russian national team
“Ignashevich is definitely the star of our championship. His numbers speak for themselves.”
In 2021, when Karpin led the Russian team, Ignashevich did not join the criticism. On the contrary, Sergei noted positive changes and related the problems to the specifics of work in the national team. “You can argue with those who claim that the team’s performance under the new coach has not changed, because the scheme is still different. We can now talk about stability: the team played two games in the same formation for 90 minutes each. They never left his side.
The Russian national team plays football that consumes a lot of energy: in the club it is much easier to transmit these demands to the players and the players perceive them more easily. The situation in the national team is different: all the players arrive in different conditions. That’s why we see the problems that arise when playing with high pressure,” Ignashevich said on Match TV.
And this is what Karpin recently said about the national team:
“In the locker room I told the Russian team players the whole truth.” Karpin’s powerful words after Qatar
Valery and Sergey treat each other like gentlemen. Surely the meeting between Baltika and Rostov will take place in a respectful manner. But the teams will not feel sorry for themselves: important points are at stake. And their coaches, being players, never treated the matter leniently.
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