You will not envy Ilya Svinov.
“Spartak” this week again provoked a shortage of validol in the capital’s pharmacies. For a neutral fan, the games of the “red-whites” are top entertainment for beer or popcorn. But the fans of the team are not so fun: for them, in terms of the spectrum of emotions, each new match is something between an electric chair and a roller coaster. Even young fans are starting to get early gray hair.
In both matches against PARI NN (5:4) and Ural (2:3), Spartak’s goal was defended by Ilya Svinov, who had been waiting for his chance for more than a year and a half. It was difficult to come up with a worse debut for the goalkeeper.
Why did the third goalkeeper play at all?
The appearance of Svinov at the gates of Spartak became possible only as a result of force majeure. The main goalkeeper at the start of the season Maksimenko picked up an infection, and Selikhov, according to the official version, heals the injury.
Photo: © Dmitry Chelyapin / Match TV
Fans of “Spartak” in general could forget that the team has a goalkeeper named Svinov. The club signed him back in the fall of 2021, and even then this acquisition seemed strange. Usually a team does not need an outside goalkeeper when there are two equal competitors. It is enough to bring the goalkeeper of the youth team to the base so that he gains experience in training. Spartak went its own way and discharged Svinov from Torch, who at that moment was 20 years old.
The young goalkeeper managed to become one of the main discoveries of the FNL two years ago, but he exchanged the status of the main one in Voronezh for a bench in Moscow. He spent the entire second part of the 2021/22 season on the bench, and with the arrival of Abaskal, he went on loan to the same Fakel. There he again began to enter the field, very quickly winning the competition from the Policeman. Svinov had a good season, and most importantly pulled the team up at the right time, giving out two “crackers” in transitional matches with Enisey.
Photo: © Mikhail Zimin / Match TV
In the summer, serious changes took place in the personal goalkeeper rating of Abaskal. Selikhov lost his place at the start, Maksimenko returned to the frame, who, according to the Spanish coach, deserved it with his work at the training camp. Selikhov could have been hit by Abaskal for an unsuccessful game in the spring, although it would be unfair to hang all the dogs on one goalkeeper. Also, one cannot rule out a personal conflict between the coach and the goalkeeper, the fact of which the club is trying to hide from the public by talking about the injury.
Svinov made his debut at the most unfortunate moment
Spartak’s problems in defense and support zone were obvious even in winning matches. This is almost inevitable when choosing the model preached by Abaskal. Still, Spartak is not Man City, and Abascal is not Guardiola, so that with a powerful attack, the team also has concrete behind. Before the games with PARI NN and Ural, the Spartak team invariably conceded in each of the previous matches, while the opponents did not use all the chances. At some point, thin platinum had to break through.
Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV
In the cup game, the passing yard at the back, in addition to the attacking tactics, was provoked by the choice of the players. Abascal produced a second squad, including a pair of centre-backs Duarte-Cernov. The middle of the field with Umyarov and Prutsev also did not look like an impassable zone. In this scenario, moments at the Spartak gates were guaranteed. Lack of teamwork also became the reason for the abundance of chances for opponents after set pieces.
In Yekaterinburg, the base was already playing, but there Spartak was opposed by perhaps the most inconvenient coach for Abaskal. In the spring, the Spaniard never managed to beat Viktor Gancharenko in three attempts. Now, Ural has become even stronger and more skillfully used Spartak’s chronic problems: mistakes in pressing and too open space in Martins’ area of responsibility. At the same time, if it were not for Svinov, Spartak should have conceded much more than three goals on Friday.
Seven goals in two matches. How many of them are goalkeepers?
This week, Svinov looked like the owner of a smartphone in silent mode. Ilya has too many missed ones. Statistics is an inexorable thing, and 3.5 goals per game seems like a death sentence for any goalkeeper. But before you hate Svinov, it is worth finding out in which episodes he really could not prevent a goal, and in which he frankly let the team down.
“PARI NN” (5:4):
2:1. Svinov could not interrupt the feed to the near post from a corner. The defenders of Spartak allowed Suleymanov to hit without any interference. A headbutt on a trajectory leaving the goalkeeper removes claims from him.
3:2. Here there are much more questions for Svinov. This almost always happens when the ball flies from 25 meters. At the same time, Sevikyan’s blow cannot be called untaken. Yes, the ball flew right next to the bar, but the goalkeeper had to drag it. Ilya badly pushed off the lawn, which affected the sharpness of the jump.
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3:3. Again a corner and zero chances to help out his team after a header from Gotsuk. Alexandrov brought the ball into the net literally from a meter away.
3:4. Penalties are the perfect alibi for any goalkeeper.
On the one hand, Svinov did not fail the game, but monstrous statistics speak against him: four of his six shots on target ended in goals. 33% percent reliability is a sentence.
“Ural” (2:3)
0:1. Again, a blow from outside the penalty area, but this time it was delivered much closer to the goal. Svinov did not help out, but this is definitely not his goal.
2:2. A very similar moment when little depended on the goalkeeper. A ball flying out from behind defenders at high speed is the worst thing that can happen to a goalkeeper.
2:3. Here the responsibility for the decisive goal against Svinov should be shared by Litvinov. The defender hoped that the goalkeeper would have time to pick up the ball, he went to intercept, but suddenly stopped, which Bikfalvi took advantage of.
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– A misunderstanding, of course. When you rewatch now, you understand that you can just stay [в воротах]and Ruslan [Литвинов] played this ball without problems. They almost figured it out, I went badly, he put the case, and I saw that Bikfalvi was hitting from under him and stopped, I wanted to react to the blow. It turned out what happened, – Svinov himself stated after the game in a conversation with reporters.
Hanging all the dogs on Svinov after an abundance of goals in the Spartak gate is definitely not worth it. In the first half with Ural, it was he who left his team in the game: he took a difficult shot from the penalty spot and dragged the rest of the hosts’ attempts. The whole team should share the blame with the goalkeeper, but psychologically conceded goals will inevitably put pressure on Ilya in the first place. Such a debut can break even an experienced goalkeeper, not to mention a 22-year-old guy.
So long to wait for a chance, then again and again to get the balls out of the net – not everyone can handle such a load. For Abaskal, it is now important that Maksimenko be able to get rid of all the consequences of the infection before August 20. If Svinov, who received a mental knockdown, will also have to be put up against Zenit, the matter may end very badly.
