The final review of the famous commentator, journalist and footballer Gennady Orlov on Euro 2024, with a projection for the next season in the RPL.
—Did romantic football defeat pragmatic football? – And thank God! The ending was wonderful. A little skill was not enough for Yamal, who is now 17 years old. He could have scored two goals! If he had scored one, he would have been carried off the field. Although he is already the best player of the match, much will be written about him. In the end, the decisive goal was a cross from the defender from the left, the substituted foot of the striker – a beautiful combination. And in general the Spanish team created more scoring chances. And whoever creates more chances should win.
— If we look at the names alone, does De la Fuente’s lineup not seem to have the quality of a champion? – What do you mean by name? In professional sport you need to prove what you are capable of today, right now. Very often this doesn’t work even for stars. And here it was the team that won. I even felt a little sorry for the coach, who at first was a bit standoffish at the awards ceremony. But eventually the players started to vomit, as they should. De la Fuente had the lowest salary among all the coaches of the top teams. His appearance is a bit funny, he doesn’t look like a football player. But the coach is wonderful. All the substitutions he made worked. The tactics he chose paid off. And then he meets most of these guys from youth teams. That’s where it came from. Well done, he put the team together. Can you compare him to the mega-popular Klopp or Mourinho? Even Deschamps? But De la Fuente beat him and everyone else. In Europe he is now the number one coach. When Pedri got injured it seemed that something would turn upside down in the Spanish game. And Olmo came out and perhaps even played better. In any case, the result is wonderful.
—And in the final Oyarzabal came out and scored the winning goal. – Certainly. In general, the Spanish team is young and promising. Let’s wish them success. At the European Championships they showed the best football and deservedly won. Listen, well, most of the fans around the world supported Spain. Because their football is attractive and romantic. Lots of attacks, combinations, individual work with the ball. How many goals did they score? And this is good.
Spain national team
Photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
“They lost Pedri in the quarter-finals and Rodri in the first half of the final. What kind of safety margin does the team have? – This says a lot about the coach! It turns out that he has everything ready there little by little. He doesn’t rely on just one figure. Every time a different one comes out, and everything works, they win.
— It is rare in major tournaments that the favourite lives up to expectations from the first to the last match. Did Spain manage to do that? – I agree, rarely. I remember the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, which I also attended. The Italians celebrated the first tournament of the group stage in such a way that everyone said: “They are the champions.” But already from the fourth match they started to lose, and in the end they even lost the “small final” for third place. The ability to correctly distribute forces over the entire distance again becomes a concern for the coach. Not only the main one, but also the entire staff: assistants, physiotherapists, doctors. The Spaniard Morata came out fighting and charging in every match. He wanted to score so badly, but the technique was not enough for it. For a center forward, one goal in a tournament is very little. However, he had a different role. But this suggests that the team distributed its forces correctly. And the reserves were also prepared in a very fundamental way.
The French lost an Mbappé and the other team too. Griezmann is gone and there is no replacement. This means that Deschamps did not prepare anyone. And here everything was prepared. Good bench. Once again we applaud the coaching staff.
from the source
Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images
—Has this Spanish team already reached the level of the Xavi-Iniesta generation? – No, wait, why rush? Let’s see what happens next. They are all young and sometimes young people are impressed. We must live in the present and enjoy it. All the reports say: a promising team. Observers are surprised that the European champions have so many players under 25. Yamal is usually 17, Williams 22. The only thing left is for the clubs to continue progressing. But they are in good hands, so everything will be fine.
— Don’t you think people like Kane shouldn’t change at all in the final? “I think he shouldn’t have been included in the final at all. He did absolutely nothing to help the team. Of course, I’m exaggerating, but Kane was the most ineffective football player in England. His game is outdated. Kane and Lewandowski know how to score, but they need constant attention from their teammates, who set up goal-scoring situations for them. Bellingham and Foden played alongside Kane, but they had no connections or mutual understanding. And today Kane with such a move is yesterday.
It’s about the question of centre forwards. Semak himself now says that a strong centre forward is needed. Why don’t the Spaniards have one? Kane didn’t work for England, Lukaku didn’t work for Belgium, Lewandowski didn’t work for Poland, the same. These security forces – who needs them? And we need guys who work, who run, change flanks, strike, fly into the box. Football has already become different. And this Euro confirmed that strikers need to take care of themselves. And participate more actively in the game: attack on the left, on the right, be versatile, be able to escape. Kane, I repeat, was like something from yesterday for me.
Gary Kane
Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images
— Does it seem symbolic that the championship was left without its top scorer? – Here! This suggests that today a goalscorer will not be allowed to play like Kane. He himself must somehow modify his actions, be more diverse in attack, in the midfield line. These are the new trends in football. If you take the teams of the same Josep Guardiola, look at the work that even Haaland does. The Norwegian also used to work mainly in goal, but the coach is retraining him. And today the Netherlands runs all over the field, everywhere. And when he was not there, Manchester City won even without Haaland. Because all 10 field players were able to fly into the penalty area and give an assist or score on their own.
Our league also has a top scorer: Cassierra. He scored a lot in one match. But he is not a power forward, just a forward. And he knows how to score goals. However, Cassierra is very well served: incredible “waiters” everywhere! And they serve him dishes so that all he can do is pick up a spoon and eat them. He finishes throw-ins brilliantly from the left and from the right. But in order for them to emerge, it is necessary to create an advantage in the centre of the field. How can this be done, for example, against the French national team, when Kanté plays there, who chews and intercepts everything? Nowadays, having a striker who is served by everyone is a luxury. No, boy, you too have to immerse yourself in the general mess of football!
One could write a whole treatise on how Yamal plays now. He starts on the wing, but he bounces so skillfully off the defender and makes so many short runs that he is always free to receive the ball. If the winger plays too close to him, a gap will appear between him and the central players. And Yamal takes advantage of this. Messi, in principle, played the same way in his best moments. He received the ball on the left wing and began to rush into attack. Malcolm played in a similar way at Zenit. It turns out that today the continuation of the attack can be very effective if it is started from the flank. And Yamal confirmed this idea. The Spaniards pass the ball not to the centre, but to the flank, and here Yamal has many options to develop the attack: take control and shoot. And how coolly he cuts the balls to the far post – the goalkeeper is helpless! Someone had already done this before, but here in Spain the system was traceable. A high pass is given even beyond the far post, where the goalkeeper cannot reach, but is waiting there all the time. And there are scoring opportunities. All of this was worked out in training and prepared for. Still, they will rarely allow you to shoot from the centre of the goalkeeper’s area – there are central defenders and a defensive midfielder. So they found this area and started to press it. And it was not only the Spaniards who did this: I also saw similar ideas among the Turks. These decisions are resolved at the table, in theoretical classes. That is, football is moving forward and that is very good. In addition to the fact that young people are taking the lead.
I feel sorry for Kane, of course, Ronaldo. But that’s it, guys, you’ve run out of time. If you keep working, you might be in demand somewhere, but from the altitude you were at, you started to go down.
— Is Yamal the biggest discovery of Euro 2024? – Certainly. Williams is also close. But we didn’t really know Yamal: he turned 17 on July 13. He started a little earlier than Pele, which is also something to celebrate. We don’t know the limits of his abilities, so may God grant him health and footballing longevity.
— Do you like Cucurella? The most colorful character on the winning team? – An original player! Has anyone seen this hairstyle? And why? Because Cucurella always comes up with something new, even in his image. A creative person is always looking for something. This is a psychological portrait of a player. He is bright, memorable and very useful in the game. Short, wiry – where does he get so much strength from? What pace he keeps, what 30-40 meter runs down the flank he makes! I applaud him. If he feels comfortable playing with that lock of hair, everything is fine.
Cucurella
Photo: Richard Pelham/Getty Images
—Will Spain’s victory set a trend in attacking football in Russia? – Naturally. Let’s see who picks up this trend. When tiki-taka existed, many dreamed of controlling the ball in the same way. In Russia, Zenit is now the one that has the ball for longer. Consequently, it has more opportunities for attacks and penetrating passes forward. The midfield is a springboard for attacks. And the Spanish national team’s midfielders made themselves known from the first matches and controlled the game in the middle. And even injuries to key midfielders did not affect their productivity. The speed of their ball was amazing. One-touch play is the highest class, the main trump card. When you make a second touch, the defender has time to change lanes, but when you make a touch, he doesn’t. This is Spanish football, that’s what they’ve always strived for.
— You mentioned Zenit and the midfield yourself. Will the possible absences of Claudinho and Wendel significantly weaken the team? – Of course, without Wendel and/or Claudinho, Zenit’s game will change a bit. But I don’t even have thoughts like: “Save me, don’t let me go!” New ones will come. Semak had a great football career, in different teams, with different partners. And he knows one thing: to have a good microclimate within the team, you can never keep a player. If he wanted to, let him leave. They’ll find someone else. There should be no panic. When Spalletti had problems with Zenit’s midfielders, he told me: “Don’t worry, Gennady, we have someone to replace those who left.” And they changed him, it’s not a big deal.
— RPL returns on Saturday, July 20. What are your expectations and feelings for the new season? “I’m looking forward to it because there will definitely be a show.” We have interesting teams and coaches. Karpin, Osinkin and Rakhimov are working well. I’m not even talking about Semak. Lichka is clearly a good coach. Nikolic announced himself at Lokomotiv. Quality Specialist. So they will prepare the players.
Extensive two-part interview with OSG:
— Do you think this championship will be no less interesting than the previous one? – Yes, of course, I think so. It will be interesting. Clubs still have their budgets, as well as their salaries and bonuses. The players have not changed. The pitches are good, all the conditions are met. Of course, I feel sorry for Rostov and Krasnodar: they have difficult logistics and, unfortunately, they have to travel a lot. This is a problem. But anyway, how well Rostov played in March! How good was Golenkov! He will make his presence known. A good centre-forward is agile and moves a lot around the entire attacking line. No, it will be interesting, I don’t even doubt it.
