It was a waste of time. Abascal's incontinence could cost Spartak dearly

This season, Spartak is in a lot of fever, and dreams of titles, as often happens, slowly fade away by winter. But what makes this team different from past failed versions? There is just one important point — previously the “red-white” management was freaking out, now only head coach Guillermo Abascal is dealing with this.
The Spaniard has been working in Russia for a year and a half, and during this significant period of time, everyone has become accustomed to both the emotional behavior of the specialist and his craving for philosophical reasoning with an emphasis on immortal quotes, more suitable for the so-called boys’ public pages. But no one paid much attention to this while Spartak was consistently gaining points and beautifully beating their opponents. This season, too many things are not working out, which are primarily associated with the personality of the coach.
Abascal is criticized for the fact that he is being clever with the composition, that he has not yet decided on the basis, that he cannot solve the problem of motivating his players both at short and long distances. In addition, he is credited with conflicts with the team leaders — Georgy Dzhikia and Alexander Sobolev, as well as unleashing an undeclared war on the club's young talents. Yes, in bad times, finding the culprit for all of Spartak’s troubles takes very little time; identifying a scapegoat is an important and even iconic moment for the “red-white” football community. And now you simply cannot find a better candidate than Abascal.

Guillermo can pretend that this doesn’t bother him, he can say that in this way he acts as a kind of lightning rod and does not allow the rest of the team to be mixed with mud. But let’s not forget that he is still a very young specialist (the Spaniard is only 34 years old), who still does not have a full-fledged and long-term successful period behind him. Working at Spartak is a kind of Calvary of Russian football, and not everyone can withstand the pressure there. Negativity accumulates, tension does not decrease, victories alternate with incomprehensible defeats. Maybe even the vigorous Abaskal can’t cope?

The removal of the coach in Grozny after a clash with Akhmat football player Bernard Berisha is another holiday for Guillermo’s critics. There is no doubt that tomorrow they will fire him again, say that such a psycho should not coach a great club, remember that under the Starostins such garbage did not exist. But all this will not solve the problems in which the capital club finds itself. Now there are new managers at the helm of Spartak, they have already shown that they are not prone to impulsive decisions. They've already put their trust in Abascal during their recent winless streak, and it's unlikely that a fresh incident will spark big changes. Most likely, the Spaniard will continue to work in Moscow, but under much greater pressure. And at every opportunity he will be reminded of the Grozny hysteria.
Russian Premier League (RPL)03 December 2023 • starts at 19:00FinishedAkhmatRussia2 : 1Spartak MoscowRussia
35‎'‎ • Hamid Agalarov (Bernard Berisha)
47‎'‎ • Svetoslav Kovachev (Darko Todorovich)
44‎'‎ • Anton Zinkovsky (Danil Prutsev)

There are further proceedings ahead at the RFU FTC and, probably, a long-term disqualification for Abascal. Of course, one can rightly point out Berisha’s inappropriate behavior, but I’m sure he will receive his punishment. Another question is why did the coach of the “red and whites” buy into such a blatant and such a straightforward provocation? In hindsight, we are all strong, but Guillermo’s outburst of aggression is still difficult to justify. He could have acted completely differently and, together with his team, emerged victorious from this situation. Now — defeat in Grozny, a lot of criticism, disqualification and complete uncertainty about what will happen next. Was it worth it to show yourself as a real kid and punish the insolent person? Hardly.
Towards the morning, Spartak commented on the scandalous episode on the official website. The “red-whites” called the run to the coaching bench as strange as possible.
“»At speed, he jumped with both feet forward, being in close proximity to Abascal. The amazed coach wanted to push the provocateur out of our technical area, and he, feeling the touch, fell to the ground and grabbed his face. The referee regarded this as a physical impact on Berisha and sent off Guillermo. While the Grozny player received only a yellow card. Why VAR did not tell Kukulyak how it all started is a mystery,» the report says «Spartak».