The summer off-season was short, but at the same time Zenit «carried out a strong transfer campaign. But Krasnodar lost several key figures. The record sale of Matvey Safonov to PSG in the entire history of the club brought, of course, substantial money to the budget, but replacing the charismatic captain, who cemented the defense and was the leader of the dressing room, is not so easy.
The departure of key defender Julio Alonso was a serious loss . And it’s not so easy to compensate Kadi and Sergei Volkov right away. Considering that for the America's Cup the Bulls delegated Kevin Castaño and John Cordoba to the Colombian national team, as well as Lucas Olaza to the Uruguay national team, it is not surprising that Murad Musaev had to simply patch holes in the lineup in Volgograd.
On the left flank, the head coach of Krasnodar released right-hander Kevin Lenini, and right-hander Olakunle Olusegun, whom It’s difficult to call him a defender. He was used in this capacity in a tactical scheme with three central defenders, giving up the entire flank, but in Volgograd only Kayo and Victor Tormena played in the center of defense. Musaev did not have the reserves to strengthen the game. Only seven substitutes were included in the application, while Zenit had 12 of them!
At the same time, there has not yet been a place in the protocol for Mario Fernandez and Alexey Sutormin, Zelimkhan Bakaev and Alexander Kovalenko. Ilzat Akhmetov, who missed the Summer Cup, and Nino, who did not train in the general group before the team’s departure to Volgograd, were unable to take part in the game in Volgograd. And the Zenit squad did not notice the loss of such fighters.
The club from St. Petersburg, having listened to criticism from State Duma deputies and Artem Dzyuba, has strengthened itself with four Russian football players. He calmly beat his competitors in the fight for Evgeniy Latyshonok, convinced Krasnodar boss Sergei Galitsky that five million euros for Volkov was a price above the market price, intercepted Yuri Gorshkov from Spartak and, finally, took the top football player on the Russian market, the best assistant RPL Maxim Glushenkov. How Lokomotiv let him go for only 6.3 million euros is simply a mystery. True, Zenit also bought the rights to Wilson Isidore for four million, whom Semak even forgets to mention when talking about the number of forwards in the team.
Of the four newcomers, two made it to the start in Volgograd. Two graduates of the Krasnodar academy are now competing for the goalkeeper position at Zenit, and Latyshonok and Denis Adamov even studied in the same class. In Krasnodar, Adamov won the competition, forcing his classmate to seek his fortune in Kaliningrad. Latyshonok has been shining in Baltika for the last half-season, but will this be enough to become the main player at Zenit?
It’s been a while since four players with Russian passports have appeared in Zenit’s starting lineup. This became possible with the arrival of Glushenkov. From the first minutes of the match in Volgograd, one got the impression that he had not been at Zenit for a month, but had been playing with Claudinho and Wendel for several seasons.
The ex-Lokomotiv midfielder played the game, interacting well with his partners. He was entrusted with taking corners, one of which led to Wendel's goal. In addition, Glushenkov relieved Douglas Santos, who last season was forced not only to work in his main position in defense, but also to regularly appear near the opponent’s penalty area in order to load balls onto Mateo Cassierra and his attacking partners.
In Volgograd, the Zenit captain started attacks at a second pace, and his cross to Rodrigao, who remained in the penalty area after a set-piece, led to the first goal. And Glushenkov showed himself not only as a master of accurate passes. He also scored a double, demonstrating that he was not going to squander his chances as a member of Zenit.
Krasnodar must be given credit for the fact that after a knockdown in the first half, the team continued to fight until the end. Accurate shots by Nikita Krivtsov and Fedor Smolov, who showed that he had not forgotten how to score, highlighted some of Zenit's problems. Although, with the score 3:0, Semak could afford to experiment, letting both Gorshkov and Gustavo Mantuan play, and then putting Nuraly Alip and the Brazilians Pedro and Arthur, bought in the winter, on the field. The bench of the St. Petersburg team is really very deep.
Wendel and Claudinho are approaching the start of the RPL season in perfect order. Although the match in Volgograd may well turn out to be a “display of the goods.” No matter what Semak and the chairman of the club’s board, Alexander Medvedev, say, there is interest in these players from potential buyers. And, as Andrei Arshavin, the only member of the board of Zenit who says what he thinks, correctly notes, if there is a worthy offer, they will be sold and a replacement will be found for them.
It is worth paying attention to another statement by Andrei Sergeevich, made recently. “Zenith” must definitely become a champion by the club’s centenary, but at the same time it should not bring things to that final ending that we saw in the final round of the last championship and in the Russian Cup Superfinal. For this purpose, the “Bayern mode” is turned on in the transfer market, when, taking advantage of its capabilities and its authority, the champion attracts the best players in the league to its ranks.
The Super Cup match demonstrated the great advantage of the champion and winner of the Russian Cup over the silver medalist of last year’s championship It’s too early to say that Zenit’s only competitor in the starting season will be Zenit itself. Both Moscow clubs and Krasnodar, which has the opportunity to strengthen during the tournament, may disagree with this.
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