This weekend was the fifth round of the Russian Premier League, rich in brilliant matches. What is the Moscow derby “Dynamo” – CSKA, as well as the confrontation between “Spartak” and “Zenith”. In an exclusive interview with Sovetsky Sport, former USSR national footballer Evgeny Lovchev summed up the results of the tour, smashing the red-and-white defense in the match with St. Petersburg and thanking Krasnodar and Ural for their sudden leadership.
– What do you think, can it be said that the football that Lichka mounted with trepidation after his appointment finally began to work?– Guys, we have simplified everything a lot now, we say, this coach was invited, and the team should immediately start playing the football that his previous wards played, in this case Orenburg. That doesn’t happen. You could already tell that he is moving forward, that the team is beginning to understand more. They were losing, and in the second half they turned the tide of the game. There is a childish perception of football on the field, that is, a child, going out into the yard, does not stand at the gate and does not hit the ball, he goes to put it into someone else’s goal. Lichka promotes exactly this. Dynamo must play like children. In fact, you have already begun to have some success, but there will still be failures, because this is not done quickly. In the end, when he came to Orenburg, they wanted to take him out after a while, and then everyone was happy with the equipment we had.
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– The transfer window will close very soon, and CSKA has not been able to reinforce itself with powerful players. What do you think, without strengthening, we will be able to see the army team at least in the middle of the table?– No, well, we won’t see him in the middle of the table. CSKA is a solid team, when those players who are injured heal, no questions are asked. Apparently, due to disagreements between the coach and the players, Carrascal leaves the club, Medina leaves the club. He keeps attacking the players. The team is good, but as soon as someone gets injured, 17-year-olds immediately come out. Yes, they may have talent, but it takes time to integrate into the system that the club already has. CSKA will still be in the top five, and maybe even in the top three.
– For what reason did Spartak lose in yesterday’s match and the game was essentially one-sided, not counting the penalty awarded?– Spartak has a very strong attack, another thing is that the defense is just a fire. Not seeing that you have to change it is not understanding anything about football. Red and white always have this problem. I’ll give you a few names: Rasskazov, however, is no longer there, Maslov, Mevlya, Chernov, Duarte, Rybus. Is it some kind of horror that brought these people to the team? There are six players, two defenders! Who bought them, who made money from them, who gave them money? This means that the people who run the club simply don’t understand football at all. I understand that these are very weak players. Now only the lazy does not write that it is impossible for Spartak to aim for the championship with such a defense. Someone allocates money, takes advantage of availability, tries to grab something there. But these people should understand that buying such players is a shame. This is not the main thing, it is that in Spartak today everything is focused on the attack, even yesterday there were many occasions.
Photo: Andrei Anosov/Sovsport
– Zenit, in turn, gained a sure victory over a direct competitor and slipped into fourth place, catching up with Dynamo. Can it be said that the Petrogrador crisis was behind us and the team finally felt its game?– The crisis of “Zenith” consisted of one thing: they lost Malcolm, and this is 30% of the attack. This is a solid team that is better equipped than anyone. They will normalize and be up, but the lack of Malcolm will exist. Zenit got hooked on the Brazilian market, so I think they will find a replacement for him.
– No one expected that Ural could not only climb to the middle of the table, but also be in the top two, because a year ago the team occupied the last places for a long time. How can you explain such an unexpected jump in the level of play of the Urals, because there have been no particular changes in the composition of the players and the coaching staff?– Not because. Wasn’t it the same last season when Goncharenko arrived? He arrived, and they both began to win against everyone. Another thing is that they have already lost a lot before that. This says only one thing: this is a good trainer that shows his abilities. Everyone says that it is necessary to get stronger, but Goncharenko went the other way: he blinded a good team with what he has. But I want to warn you right away, it’s pretty obvious to me that this team will not be in the top three. Now only the fifth round has passed, as soon as the teams play enough, the class of players will come to the fore. They will start to lose anyway. I can say that CSKA, Spartak, Dynamo and Zenit leave them up. Everything will fall into place, Ural will be in the middle or in the second half of the standings.
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– Krasnodar is currently at the top of the table. Do you believe in the potential championship of the bulls?– Krasnodar has chosen a very good coach who allows the boys to play the football they like. Once Nikolai Petrovich Starostin told me that he considered Boris Andreevich Arkadyev the best coach, who said: “The team does not play on the strength of its players.” So, I think that now Krasnodar is playing with the same strength of its players. Spertsyan, Cordoba, Kryvtsov, Chernikov show very good football. They play to the limit. Everything went well because the coach lets them play like that, he frees them up for better football. The fact that they are now at the top is not surprising, they strove for it. I remember how Galitsky said: “I want only my students to play with me.” Then he realized that this does not happen today. He pointed out that he was not in a hurry, that they were building a stadium, etc. Now it is about the growth of the team itself. They play nice soccer. The misfortune is that they began to stay 1:0.
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– Rostov suffered a crushing defeat in the second game, and not from the leading RPL clubs. What is the cause of such a weak-willed game of the team?– Karpin survived from this team to everything they can do. They need a roster rotation. Otherwise, they won’t continue to grow in the game plan as a team. The limit of these players was last year, Rostov was in the top three, then they took fourth place. They need to spend money on players.
