FAN ID WORSE THAN THE INVASION OF MONGOLIA
This tour will be the blackest in the history of Russian football, because the Fan ID rules have been extended to the entire Premier League and have completed the ritual murder of our championship. 10.3 thousand spectators in Voronezh, 7,965 in Krasnodar, 4,943 in VTB Arena, 4,907 in Rostov, 4,419 in Sochi, 4,281 in Otkritie Arena, 4,100 in Grozny. A total of 41 thousand spectators in seven (!) tour matches. All of them could have been sitting in full force at the 45,000-seat Spartak stadium.
This is the reality brought about by the introduction of the FAN ID. About which everyone generally warned, from fans and ordinary journalists to experts, veterans and football officials. In a word, everything. A little over a year ago, Sovetsky Sport came out with a blank cover and the caption: “The stands will soon be as empty as this cover if the FANS PASSPORT appears.” We yelled at the top of our lungs, but those responsible did not listen to us. Poor me.
As a result, a relatively football atmosphere was found only in St. Petersburg, where, according to official figures, 19.7 thousand spectators gathered. However, in practice it was obvious that they were spectators, not fans. Disenfranchised students who were rounded up and collected for money and other goodies, who sat randomly to create the appearance of a full house. But it still didn’t work well. And always will be. Will anyone suffer for making fun of Russian football?
Photo source: Alena Yashina / FC Zenit
THE MURDER OF “SPARTAK” OR THE SUICIDE OF MESHKOV?
As soon as the championship resumed, our brave judges got into a big scandal up to their necks. The referee of the match “Spartak” – “Ural” Vitaly Meshkov scored the 200th match in the RPL with a catastrophic mistake. In the VAR era, he was quick to whistle a free kick, which was not there, and he could no longer count the purest goal from the rojiblancos at the end with the score 2-2. So the referee, due to a gross methodological error (we had to let the episode end) deprived us of even a glimpse of the intrigue of the championship.
And the worst thing about this situation is that Meshkov… heads the judge training department at the RFU Academy. Just think: it is he who trains young referees.
Photo source: FC Spartak
As for the rojiblancos, they should not look for a conspiracy in the referee’s actions. The story is sad, but for them personally there is a boomerang element to it. In October 2020, Vladislav Bezborodov rushed in the same way in Krasnodar in a corner kick at the Muscovites’ goal and whistled about the fact of Alexander Martynovich’s match. He no longer had the right to count Cayo’s goal under any circumstances…
DZYUBA IS BACK, KARPIN IS NOT DOVERT
It is very easy to hate Dzyuba and almost impossible to love him. But at times it seems that he deliberately pours gasoline on Hate’s car in order to go faster himself. When a lion is full, he is lazy and indifferent to everything.
As soon as Artem gave another cheeky interview (he considers it sincere), in which he is the prince on a white horse, at least Cristiano Ronaldo of Russian football, another wave of indignation arose. He would have washed anyone, and he only motivated Dziuba: in Rostov-on-Don he sent a three-ruble note to his “beloved” coach Valery Karpin, who flatly refuses to bring the striker to the Russian national team, and thus Lokomotiv brought the first win in five rounds. To get out of the transition party zone, we must continue in the same spirit.
Photo source: FC Lokomotiv
BERDIYEV MASTER CLASS
Last summer, Kurban Bekievich broke his silence and gave a long interview in which he admitted that only “silver” Sochi was watching in the RPL, where Artur Yusupov – Ibragim Tsallagov – Christian Noboa enjoys playing with the three central midfielders, but believes that Vladimir Fedotov – the coach who made the players. And now, after a little more than six months, he, at the head of Sochi, accepted Fedotov as the head coach of CSKA. And he gave her a coaching master class.
In a more or less even game, the guests were a little sharper for the moment, and the decisive nine minutes arrived. In the 69th minute, Moises scored from offside – the goal was disallowed, after a minute and a half Berdyev replaced Luka Djordjevic, who immediately noticed Yusupov’s magnificent pass, and after another seven minutes caught Willian Roshi on a penalty rebound and hit the ball. In the net
Under Berdyev, Sochi has not changed either structurally or in personnel, but it is likely that due to the colossal experience, the coach will be able to squeeze more out of the team than his predecessors. It’s actually his forte.
Photo source: FC Sochi
THE RUSSIAN TEAM WILL NOT LEAVE MALCOM?
For the Russian championship, this player, of course, is a godsend. He has every opportunity to enter the cohort of the best legionnaires in the history of the RPL, and even lead it. It seems that Malcolm has found his place in the world of football in St. Petersburg and is not going anywhere else. It’s understandable. On the banks of the Neva, he has the opportunity to combine two key elements: earning a lot of money and enjoying football at an acceptable level. He is a star, everything goes well for him, his fans adore him, there are many compatriots around with whom he feels comfortable, the level of teammates and rivals allows him not to try too hard. What else is needed for happiness?
Goals. And he beats them. In addition, in the match with Pari NN, Malcom scored the most unusual double for him: he scored the first goal with a perfect free kick, and the second with a header from the center of the penalty area. When a Brazilian gets high, he gets even what he is not so predisposed to. So this guy is here for a long time, and a passport with a double-headed eagle will only help him, especially when the Russian team can participate in at least some official competitions.
Photo source: Vyacheslav Evdokimov / FC Zenit
6 DISABLED GOALS PER TOUR
It turned out to be wildly inconvenient only with the goal of Alexander Sobolev, all other goals were canceled in the case. Including those scored with the use of the hands – Benjamin Garre in the match with Dynamo and Moses Cobnan in the match with Torpedo (the goal was taken from John Cordoba). In both cases, handling the ball was more or less accidental, but modern interpretations leave no room for discussion: if in the final stage of a productive attack the attacker touched the ball with his hand, the goal is disallowed for all modes. .
Photo source: FC Krasnodar
Both goals could affect the final result. Even just adding them to the score, we can say that Wings would not have lost in Moscow, and the Bulls took all three points from Torpedo, not one.
It is also surprising that half of the disallowed goals fell in the Dynamo-Krylya Sovetov match.
SAMARA DESERVES MORE
The main exclusively football injustice of the tour. The Samartans played the Blue and Whites for the third game in a row, they beat them in the Russian Cup and this time they simply looked better: they were faster, more precise, more motivated, they advanced further and looked like a solid team, while the hosts allowed a lot marriage. But at the last minute, Konstantin Tyukavin successfully put his foot in front of an empty goal and designed an ideal tour for Dynamo, in which they themselves won, and the main competitors – Rostov, CSKA and Spartak – scored one point for three.
