A solid list: many players with national experience.
Doorman
Aleksandr Maksimenko (Spartak)
Guilherme sat firmly behind young Khudyakov’s back before the Lokomotiv coach change. But even with Maksimenko it is not good. If Marinato promises fans of his Moscow club that his career will end there, then Maksimenko, after Abascal has chosen Selikhov, may think about leaving. It looked like Maksimenko had been through the worst period of his career, when he missed after half of the shots last season but the change of manager led to a decision not favorable to the youngest of the Alexandrovs.
Defenders
Nikolaj Rasskazov (Spartak)
See how it turned out. Spartak’s strongest right-winger Moses changed positions as the team moved to a defensive four, his actions in the hybrid ten position were more profitable. Khlusevich moved to the left edge. Kofriye left Moscow, but Rasskazov remained in Abaskal’s cage. And he will play best in cup matches. Denisov, after one-off mistakes, did not lose his place at the base and injuries in the middle of him did not bring the young midfielder to his native position. For Rasskazov, this is a wake-up call: he prefers a young midfield player.
Dmitry Chistjakov (Zenit)
Dmitry has the same number of appearances in RPL, like Alip has two. It is clear that his replacement position is stronger, but if we recall Chistyakov’s contribution to the Zenit championship in the spring, we see the player’s degradation in Semak’s personal priority list. Now there is Lovren, there is Rodrigao and Chistyakov is the third wheel of a motorcycle without a sidecar. It is clear that Dmitry can count on Lovren’s departure in the near future, but for now he is sitting on the bench, like Adamov and Alip.
Mark Mamassi (Locomotive)
They issued a passport, signed for good money, trusted a lot. I have the funniest defender of the season for rivals. More extraordinary than Mamassi, perhaps, no one has played at all. But Mark is unlikely to be trusted in the future if he still has so many mistakes. However, Lokomotiv is not Krasnodar to bet on guys like Yevdai and Mamassi for years. The only thing that saves is age. Maybe Mark will learn to play football reliably. Or maybe it will be just one line in Thomas Zorn’s relocation resume.
Andrei Semenov (Akhmat)
Here we know for sure that Talalaev quarreled with Semenov. Andrey was stripped of his captain’s armband, he went overboard the Akhmat base. Now the emotional mentor is working with Torpedo, but Semenov has tarnished his reputation. And given that he is also 33 years old – the path to promotion is closed, despite the experience of playing for the national team, at best he will return to the beginning under Tashuev. However, Shvets looked great in a series of matches in a non-native position, and next to him was another all-rounder – Marat Bystrov. Semenov can return to the field, but he will hardly be as good as before.
Midfielders
Dmitry Barinov (Lokomotiv)
Why not? This season there are midfielders of the first team level, who behave very badly. Even Dynamo’s Fomin can easily be blamed for his performance in a series of fights. And Barinov is the leader of Lokomotiv, generally in 13th place in the standings RPL. Dmitrij made a mistake not only in the match against Zenit, the change of role did not help, and talking about Valencia brought me into the world of illusions, that class means everything in RPL. Barinov will return, of course, but he played poorly for half the season.
Denis Glushakov (Khimki)
Khimki have a lot of chaotic changes this season, resulting in a team that started the season with a draw against Zenit – and had a chance to make a splash, in penultimate place. Glushakov was one of the reasons for success under Yuran, and is now one of the arguments in favor of his rivals. A 35-year-old veteran can’t possibly be the worst in a lineup with Guliyev or Danilkin, but when there’s no leader it’s hard for the team. Glushakov is a revanchist, but he is playing badly so far.
Zelimkhan Bakaev (Zenit)
An exit in the first team after thirteen rounds. Of course, at Zenit they will lie to everyone by saying that they are counting on Bakaev. Yes, but they plan to issue passports to Malcolm and Claudinho. Is it not at all clear what Zelimkhan was counting on? Mostovoy wanted to leave St. Petersburg, he snatched his moment of glory, but Bakaev could now be in the eternal base of Spartak: he is certainly no weaker than Ignatov in the “tens” position. A bad decision to chase the money led to the Zenit reserve, where without it full of people.
Daniil Lesovoy (Dinamo)
And what a setter! He was and all came out after an injury and a “cross” operation. Only ten months have passed since my return, it was possible to get back in shape. Moreover, Dinamo no longer have Szymanski, Zakharyan is no longer the same as he was in the spring, so Daniil had the opportunity to show himself on the wing in attack. While not taking advantage of this opportunity, the coaches have asked to sign the Cameroonian winger and Grulev completes the list of difficult competitors.
come on
Anton Zabolotny (CSKA)
A year ago, Berezutsky preferred Zabolotny to young Chalov. Fedor was sent on loan to Basel. Anton was placed above the Argentine Gaich, who also trained outside RPL. Now the gentleman of the year Fedotov has three central strikers, but Chalov has a main iron seat. Even when it is necessary for Zabolotny to come in as a substitute and save at the expense of his talent: the ability to fight, such a trick does not work. Anton hardly should have left Sochi, he returned to his native CSKA, and the feeling, as if he hadn’t left Zenith. Zabolotny is working with Fedotov, whom he knows but hasn’t gotten into shape.
Hamid Agalarov (Akhmat)
The best sniper of last season in RPL he spent a few minutes on the pitch and scored only one goal. They changed the mentor, but Agalarov did not expel Konate and Ilyin. Hamid may be offended by Talalaev, but last season they wrote that Agalarov doesn’t have a school. He has the insight that Gerd Müller himself had, but the German was a great player behind the outward angularity, and Hamid simply gave away the best months of his career to sit on the bench now. There is a style, they say hardworking player. Maybe he will come back, but so far he is naturally less than two competitors at the same time in a team playing a forward.
