In this off-season, there are many changes in all teams, the season is not typical for us. But usually at such tournaments, the tasks of preparing for the season are solved. Although from a psychological point of view, the result is important in the sense that any defeat does not have the best effect on the players. Everyone goes out to play to win, and failures signal that there are mistakes. Before the start of the championship a little more than a week, you need to decide both the composition and the scheme of the game. Moreover, the competition is expected to be very serious.

Zenit looked the best at the PARI Premier Cup. The team did not speed up the preparation, it has a stable line-up. Petersburgers played with a margin of safety, actively rotated the squad, especially in the first two matches. Even in meetings that ended in a draw in regular time, Zenit had a tangible playing advantage. It was clear that they could add, which they did in the matches with CSKA and Red Star.

Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV

Zenit has not only a stable squad and minimal losses, which did not really affect the game, but also very good acquisitions – Cassierra and Rodrigo. Now two more Brazilians have to drive up, so I think that Zenit has become very strong and is approaching the championship in the status of the main favorite. The preservation of the coaching staff, which has been working smoothly and accurately for more than one season, plus stable financing and development of the project, also speaks in favor of Zenit. The club structure is very well built and works flawlessly. One can only regret that with all this the team will not play in the Champions League.

As for CSKA, Vladimir Fedotov probably did not expect to face such massive losses. In this situation, he has no choice but to work with those players who are. Fedotov has a very experienced coaching staff, a great assistant to Fomenko, so they have enough skill to navigate even in such a difficult situation. From the match against Sochi, it was noticeable that the coach had decided on the line of defense, and with such changes, the most important thing is to establish a reliable game in defense. Even in this lineup, CSKA has good performers, Chalov returned, which can serve as at least some compensation for the loss of Ejuka and Yazici.

Photo: © Alexey Eremin / Match TV

Fedotov in Orenburg and Sochi showed that he knows how to build a game from defense and achieve results with players of not the highest level. CSKA has problems both with the organization of the game and in almost all lines, but Fedotov is trying to balance the game, looking for options. Now the main thing for him is to decide on the starting lineup for RPL matches. Let’s see how the coach and his assistants manage to cope with the difficult situation in which the club finds itself. But so far, in terms of the game and composition, I would not rank CSKA among the favorites in the fight for prizes.

If we talk about Sochi, then the club took a certain risk by inviting Garanin to the post of head coach. However, the owner of Sochi is well acquainted with Garanin, because he worked in the structure of Dynamo. Last season, his Yenisei, although it did not solve the problem of entering the RPL, played several excellent matches in the Russian Cup, defeating Lokomotiv and confidently defeating Rubin. All this, probably, was taken into account, plus the ability to work with young people. He is already a relatively middle-aged coach, so he has quite a lot of practice, albeit not at the top level. In some way, this is an experiment, because Sochi took second place in the Russian championship and, it would seem, for a qualitative leap, you need to invite a specialist with experience in big victories and a name. Let’s see what the club’s decision will lead to.

Photo: © Alexey Eremin / Match TV

Plus, we must not forget about the losses suffered by Sochi. The departure of Rodrigo, Cassiera and Prokhin to Rostov is a serious weakening for the team. Rodrigo was a pillar of defense: he played very confidently and scored from set pieces. Cassiera also fit in very well with Sochi’s game, becoming the team’s top scorer. The absence of Rodrigo and Prokhin in defense has already affected in the match with CSKA. Although, in general, they managed to maintain their composition and also invited Sarveli, a strong football player from the Wings. And the youth is not bad. In addition, Sochi has no losses in the middle line, which determined the team’s game last season.

Until I saw Garanin somehow radically change Sochi’s style of play. Let’s see how the age squad will look like in the new season, but in terms of the selection of players, they are able to be at the top and fight for prizes. However, now I would not argue that they will compete with the same Zenit.