The Spartak defender is highly praised. But Khlusevich “brought” nothing less than what he created in the attack.
Anatoly Romanov August 5, 2023, 11:00 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Abascal’s team needs a rookie on the defensive flank.
Daniil Khlusevich is one of the heroes of Spartak’s start of the season. The left-back scored a double against Orenburg in the first round of the RPL and turned a defeat (1: 2) into a decided victory (3: 2) for his team. Surprisingly, these were Khlusevich’s first goals for the rojiblancos after 47 clean sheets. Then Daniil made an effective action in the away match of the Russian Cup with Krasnodar: Roman Zobnin scored from his pass. The light on the left flank, being right-handed, is not given to everyone, but the Spartak van copes with the attack.
“I think I improved in terms of technique, I strengthened the mentality,” Khlusevich said in an interview for the official Spartak website, explaining what he added under the leadership of Guillermo Abascal. – I also improved my tactical understanding as a defender: I used to play closer to the attack and now my main role is defensive. At the same time, the head coach asks me to actively connect forward. In this aspect it worked a lot, but there was not a sufficiently accurate impact or the last transfer. However, I always remember that my main job is protection.
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According to SofaScore.com statistics, after two rounds of the RPL, Khlusevich is the best in Spartak in number of tackles (5) and shots on goal (4). He is second on the team in clearances (6) and accurate passes in the opposite third of the field (27). That is, he tested himself both at his own gates and at the gates of his opponents.
Daniil seems to have started the new season with a special emotional outburst. This is probably due, among other things, to rumors about interest in him from Italy. After the first bright matches conducted by the 22-year-old wagon, comments appeared on the topic that Spartak did not really need a new left-back. In addition, the club could not solve the problem in any way: Rogerio’s transfer failed at the last moment, the situation with Oleg Ryabchuk was incomprehensible. Khlusevich is in the center, Leon Klassen is substituting, sooner or later Tomas Tavares will recover from injury.
But Spartak really needs a newcomer at the left-back position. In this case, Khlusevich will move to the right flank or sit on the bench. This last option is not ruled out, although Daniil retains the impressive physical shape he is in at the start of the new season. Because he had not only decisive good deeds, but also bad ones. In fact, the team received from Khlusevich, following the results of three matches, not “plus three”, but zero.
In the match against Orenburg, the defender made two mistakes in episodes with conceded goals. If they had not happened, the Spartacists would not have needed to heroically get out of the swamp. The first moment was the goal of Dmitry Vorobyov with the score 1:0 in favor of Spartak. The error here is mainly collective (starting with the midfielders), and there are more doubts for the center-back Alexis Duarte than for Khlusevich. But Daniil, securing the panicked Paraguayan, had to perform martial arts more effectively. Or just dirty. Unlike Duarte, he did not risk expulsion for a “lack of last resort.” The situation, of course, is not easy. Khlusevich had a split second to make up his mind, but the correct game in such bouts distinguishes a grandmaster from smaller ones.
The next moment was the goal of Gabriel Florentin, after which Orenburg took the lead with a score of 2:1. Here Khlusevich won the duel against Brian Mansilla with the help of a little push, but the rojiblanco defender was reduced to the first touch. Daniil unsuccessfully handled the ball – “Spartak” received a counterattack into his own net. Khlusevich’s partners were in a difficult position, each turned to the goal. He was left to yell “help!”
In the match between Spartak and Baltika, Khlusevich’s mistake returned hope to the Kaliningraders at the end – Sergei Ignashevich’s team scored after a free kick with a score of 0:2. The Spartacists lined up in a banner, Daniel being the first in a line of seven or eight players. Angelo Henríquez ran towards his area and gained air. With the choice of position, Khlusevich obviously did not guess, while the attacker waited for the ball at the right point and freely hit his head.
Interestingly, in two of the three cases, Khlusevich’s mistakes were not related to him closing out the left-back position. Daniil could make such mistakes, being a player of any role. Meanwhile, in Khlusevich’s statistics there is not only positive, but also negative. He has the most turnovers in Spartak (32) and fouls committed (4). He won only 42.8% of singles combat, very few for a full-time destroyer.
It is quite possible that one day Khlusevich will be in Serie A or another higher league. Daniil has the necessary qualities for this: a fairly fast player, physically strong and strong-willed. In the meantime, it’s important not to overdo the praise for Spartak’s all-rounder and put him in real competition with a defender of comparable class on either flank.
