Zenith lost to the locomotive. Zenit defeated by Lokomotiv. Something went wrong? Four questions for Roberto Mancini. The trailer started, the trailer started, the trailer started

Few people could have imagined this, but Lokomotiv, which took only 8th place last season and did not really improve in the transfer window, this season not only plays on equal terms with Zenit, but even managed to overtake it for the tour to the end first round. Many were skeptical about the next (already fourth) appointment of 70-year-old Yuri Semin as the head coach of the “railwaymen” last summer, but since then the red-greens have won the Russian Cup, are in first place in the national championship (for the first time since 2004) and deservedly play in the Europa League.

As for the history of personal meetings between Zenit and Lokomotiv, there is an approximate equality. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the teams played 47 matches with each other, in which the St. Petersburg club won 15 victories, the Moscow club won 12, and a draw was recorded 20 more times. However, recently the advantage has been observed on the side of the blue-white-blues, who have lost to Loko only once since 2011.

Stop, locomotive!

Lokomotiv in the championship performs with varying success and in the last 5 meetings has won three victories and lost twice. "Zenith" approached the game with the "railroad" with not the most pleasant series: the team from the banks of the Neva did not win the championship in three matches in a row and was determined to stop the overclocked "locomotive".

Despite the fact that Lokomotiv was higher in the standings, the bookmakers considered Zenit to be the clear favorite of the match, offering odds of 1.65-1.75 for its victory against 5.65-5.75 for the success of Muscovites.

Roberto Mancini in the last match of the first round could count on absolutely all the players, except for the Argentine midfielder Leandro Paredes, who received a fourth yellow card in the last game. Yuri Semin had more losses: also due to the bust of yellow cards, experienced midfielder Dmitry Tarasov could not play, in addition, Timofey Margasov, Vedran Chorluka and Ari continue to recover from injuries.

The conductor is in no hurry, the conductor understands

Mancini and Semin chose fairly predictable lineups for the game. In Lokomotiv, compared to the previous match with Krasnodar, there was only one change, and even then it was forced: the disqualified Tarasov was replaced by Mikhalik, who turned 34 the day before. From the first minutes, Zenit had two new players, if we compare the line-up with what was with CSKA: Dzyuba and Kranevitter replaced Poloz and Paredes. The rest of the teams remained the same.

Despite the rather cool weather in St. Petersburg, the conditions at the stadium, thanks to the closed roof and the heating system turned on, were quite comfortable.

The Zenit players did not put things off the table and in the very first minutes they hit the target twice and earned two corners. Only Lokomotiv began to recover, when, after Krishito's pass, Rigoni hit the post with his head, and after Erokhin's shot from 10 meters away, the ball went inches from the post.

By the middle of the first half, the game began to calm down a little, although Zenit continued to take the initiative, load the flanks and make approaches to Guilherme's goal, but it was not possible to create dangerous moments for a long time. At the very end of the first half of the meeting, Ivanovich, tired of looking at the futile attempts of the attackers to score, rushed forward himself, burst into the penalty area and powerfully shot on goal, but in this episode the Brazilian goalkeeper with Russian citizenship was in place. For 45 minutes, Lokomotiv tried to act on counterattacks and simply threw the ball forward, but did not create a single memorable moment, but at the same time they fought back quite skillfully and "dry" the game.

The trailer started, the trailer started, the trailer started

The "railwaymen" improved after the break, began to control the ball more often and act more sharply. The result was not long in coming - in the 58th minute Anton Miranchuk rolled the ball forward, while Farfan ran away from Mevli and Lunev and shot into an empty net - 1:0. It was announced around the stadium that almost 46,000 fans watched the goal scored.

The game opened up: the blue-white-blues rushed to recoup, and the red-greens increasingly began to run away to counterattacks.

Ignatiev responded to a dangerous blow from Kokorin with two shots from outside the penalty area - in both cases, the goalkeepers coped. After Krishito's cross, Dzyuba, who had not scored for more than 800 minutes, got into the net, but into the net from the outside of the gate.

And Lokomotiv, meanwhile, decided to repeat: in the 69th minute, now Aleksey Miranchuk saw Farfan ahead and, without hesitation for a long time, sent him the ball, and he, on the backswing, removing Ivanovich, in the style of Ronnie O'Sullivan, calmly rolled the ball into the corner gate Lunev, like a ball into a pocket - 2:0.

Thus, allowing "Zenith" to run properly in the first half, in the second half of the game, "Locomotive" carried out three targeted attacks, completely outplaying its opponent. It is noteworthy that Zenit was defeated in St. Petersburg for the first time in 11 years and only the fifth time in Russian history - the last time the St. Petersburg team lost big to Spartak in April 2006 (1:4) at home. In total, Zenit cannot win for the fourth match in the Russian championship in a row, having suffered two defeats and two draws.

Boris Gorovoy: "Semin outplayed Mancini, having much more meager opportunities"

In recent matches, Zenit is in some kind of prostration. This was stated by OK-inform former football player of the St. Petersburg team Boris Gorovoy.

Impressions from this match, of course, remained bleak. One gets the feeling that in the last games, Zenit is in some kind of prostration, there is a certain hopelessness. It is frustrating that there are almost no local players in the squad, and Putin recently spoke about this to Fursenko. But in the composition of the "Locomotive" plays a native Zenit Igor Denisov, who beats his native team.

“How is it that “Zenith” has a cool school, but does not have pupils? Watching such a team today is simply not interesting. And I'm afraid that because of this, 15-20 thousand people would not come to the stadium ... "

The top scorer of the blue-white-blues Kokorin had a surge at the beginning of the season, which came to naught in recent games, the football expert complains.

Semin did not just outplay Mancini, he did it with much more meager opportunities. By the way, their students, the same Miranchuk brothers, are playing in Lokomotiv. It is clear that the club is moving in the right direction. In "Zenith" now there are no players of the level of Arshavin, Kerzhakov, the same Denisov. Yes, Kokorin had a surge, everyone immediately started talking that he was almost a star of the first scale, but we don’t see this in recent games.

It is necessary for Zenit to understand, first of all, inside the club, Gorovoy believes.

Of course, this bleak series of "Zenith" should soon be interrupted. But the picture is so sad that it is necessary to sort it out inside the club. Yes, there was a tragedy, Sarsania died, who in time, perhaps, would have built a club, but the club should be built without him, with local students. And if this does not happen, it means that the club is moving in the wrong direction. This is my personal opinion.

Thus, after the first round of the Russian Championship, Zenit remained in second place in the standings with 29 points. Lokomotiv scored 32 points and continues to take first place. CSKA closes the top three with 25 points. In the next round on November 5, Lokomotiv will host CSKA, and Zenit will play Rubin away on the same day. Whether the St. Petersburg team will be able to interrupt their losing streak, or this time it will be stopped by the team of Kurban Berdyev, we will find out very soon!

As unfortunate as it may be, but we must admit that the “Zenith” had a terrible match and simply failed at a time when it was unacceptable.

Before the match, in our announcement, we talked about why the match with Lokomotiv is so important for the Petersburgers and why it is impossible to lose in it. We also mentioned the possible problems of the Blue-White-Blues in the game with the Muscovites, and it must happen that almost all of them worked.

So, why did “Zenith” on Sunday suffered a crushing defeat at home 0:3 from the “Locomotive”?

1. In the first place I will put bad luck. It was some fatal lack of luck that prevented Roberto Mancini's team from opening the scoring in the first half. But Rigoni had two great moments, once the ball hit the post. And hammer “Zenith” fast ball, I have no doubt that the game would have been completely different. But no luck. For the umpteenth time in recent games.

2. Next, it is worth mentioning what is already becoming traditional Zenit's inability to play against counterattacking teams. It would seem that in the previous match at Krestovsky, Arsenal exposed this obvious problem of Zenit, but no - Mancini's wards again stepped on the same rake. Attacked, attacked, then one failure - an exit and a goal. And if in the game with "Arsenal" such a failure happened once, then in the game with "Loko" - three times. And this is already a very frightening trend. It must be admitted that the Muscovites demonstratively dismantled the defense of “Zenith” in quick counterattacks and showed everyone how to beat this version of the St. Petersburg team.

3. Dziuba's habitual passivity in attack. No, it is clear that Driussi also failed in recent matches, and then also got injured, and therefore he could claim the exit at the base to the same extent as Dzyuba. But maybe it was still worth leaving Kokorin on the cutting edge and working out some additional options for building the middle line, and not releasing Dziuba, who simply makes a depressing impression, who, it seems, completely lost all those skills, thanks to which until recently was considered a good scorer. Almost the entire match was played on Sunday by Artem, but he didn't remember anything.

4. Mancini's tactical impotence. The further into the season, the stronger the voices of critics against Roberto are heard and the more often you have to listen to them. Or maybe those who say that Mancini is a mediocre coach who has never become famous for any special coaching ideas are right. I do not want to believe it, but the way “Zenith” indicatively and without options loses and fails some matches, makes you wonder. So today, when “Loco” suddenly led, well, Mancini could not change anything in the game – his team did not rebuild, did not act differently. We just continued to play the same football and got two more goals...

5.Kokorin stopped scoring. Unfortunately, it was immediately clear that Alexander would not be able to spend the entire season at the same level. The striker scored an insane amount of goals in the first two months of the season, but now he has been silent for several games in a row. This is a completely natural process, and the problem here is not even that Alexander does not score, but that Zenit simply has no one to pick up the baton! Urgently, very urgently need a decent striker. And it is his purchase that should be the main goal of the team in the winter.

Lokomotiv not only got the objectively strongest opponent at the 1/8 final stage, but also the most motivated one. For Atlético Madrid, the fight for the title of champion of Spain is over, and in the main European tournament, he will perform next season anyway. Diego Simeone's wards can only compete for a less prestigious, but still honorable European Cup. And Lokomotiv need to try to keep the lead in the Premier League, especially after a snowy draw with Spartak, and this is a more important task than going to Lyon, where the Europa League final will take place.

Also on topic

Lokomotiv is very similar in style to its rival in the 1/8 finals of the Europa League - Atlético Madrid. This was stated in an interview with RT ...

But the latest news from the Atletico camp should have changed the mood in the Russian team. The Spaniards suddenly weakened sharply due to personnel losses. Goalkeeper Jan Oblak was unable to enter the Wanda Metropolitano field due to a hand injury, and defender Diego Godin due to gastroenteritis. Although Lokomotiv itself could not count on Jefferson Farfan and Ari, their absence from Madrid was not a surprise to anyone.

Almost immediately after a minute of silence in memory of David Astori, Yuri Semin's wards retreated back to their goal. Diego Costa and Antoine Griezmann had to be held back before they scored on the road. The defense of Lokomotiv as a whole coped with its task in the first half, but one ball still went into the gates of the guests. Saul was looking for a long time for someone to give the pass from 30 meters, but in the end he decided to break through himself, and Marinato Guilherme was not ready for this.

The Russian Brazilian as a whole showed an indistinct game, and one goal could still be considered a good deal for his team. In one of the episodes, the goalkeeper for some reason ran out of the gate to the flank to stop Griezmann, and lost the duel. The Frenchman shot through the empty net, but missed the target. A few minutes later, Guilherme knocked the ball exactly at the feet of the vice-champion of Europe, but he did not react to such a gift. The attacking potential of Lokomotiv was never revealed before the break - Manuel Fernandes and Eder played in warmer regions as pale as in the derby with Spartak. Unless the Miranchuk brothers, who were praised by Atlético coach Diego Simeone the day before, tried to move to someone else's half of the field.

One goal is not a disaster yet, in the previous away match with Nice, Lokomotiv conceded twice in 45 minutes, but still snatched the victory. But with Atlético, the second goal was not long in coming. As soon as the game resumed, a positional error by Maciej Rybus led to Griezmann's tight and aimed shot. Guilherme this time coped with the Frenchman, but Diego Costa was ruthless on finishing.

Lokomotiv failed to play on the counterattacks - with Atletico, such tactics lose all meaning. Muscovites were best to keep this unpleasant score, but even this did not work for the guests. At the last minute, Mikhail Lysov, who was forced to come on as a substitute, lost the ball in his penalty area, and Juanfran and Koke immediately punished the opponent. The Spaniards did not create a single moment in the positional attack for the entire match, but managed to defeat Lokomotiv. In the return game, you will have to score four goals.

CSKA - Lyon - 0: 1

Lyon disappointed their fans before coming to Moscow for the match with CSKA. In the last six games of the French championship, the team scored three points and did not win a single victory. From the main rival of PSG, Lyon quickly turned into a pursuer of a couple more clubs that need to look for alternate routes to get into the Champions League. The Europa League is just such an alternative, and the fact that the final of the tournament will be held at Lyon at home should have given the French extra strength.

Although Lyon have not won for a long time, at least they had game practice, which CSKA does not have. All the matches that the army team managed to play this spring brought only losses - Viktor Vasin and Mario Fernandez watched the European Cup meeting from the sidelines. Viktor Goncharenko rebuilt the entire defense line and sent nominal midfielders Konstantin Kuchaev and Georgi Milanov to it, while Kirill Nababkin moved to the left flank. At the same time, pure defender Georgy Shchennikov remained on the bench. Pontus Wernbloom, who managed to prove himself in defense, was more profitable to send to the attack to help Ahmed Musa.

Guests acted cautiously in the first half. The absence of the team leader Nabil Fekir clearly affected. But the army team did not punish for this - they were not used to managing their field yet. By the break, CSKA had played out, but the sharpness of the attack was still lacking. The most dangerous moment of the army team was already in the second half, and it was a long-range strike by Alan Dzagoev. Believing that sooner or later it would still be possible to break through the French, Muscovites forgot about protection. In the 68th minute, Alexey Berezutsky did not find himself in his zone during a corner kick, and Marcelo's accurate kick followed from there, which Igor Akinfeev could not have coped with in any way.

The remaining half-time, the French were in no hurry to double the score, the capital's cold fettered them even more. The army team turned on the gas and tried to achieve at least a draw, but fresh Vitinho and Fedor Chalov did not convert their chances. The referee added four minutes to the match, but even that was not enough for the final assault on the army team. In France, they will have to score at least twice to reach the quarter-finals.

RB Leipzig - Zenit - 2:1

There was a lot of talk that Zenit was more lucky than other Russian clubs with the draw. Although the eight-year-old Leipzig have recently played in the Champions League, the club is still too young to play big in European competition. He can’t even play at a high level for a long time even in his Bundesliga, as evidenced by recent results.

The condescending attitude towards the German team could be fair if it was autumn, Zenit's favorite season. In the spring, the Petersburgers traditionally play worse than they could. A draw with Amkar in the last round of the RFPL instantly deprived the wards of Roberto Mancini of the favorite status. Dissatisfaction with the work of the referees and the requirement to replay the match showed that the team is now in a state of psychological instability, and this is an even bigger problem than injuries and disqualifications.

The first match with Leipzig was reminiscent of the debut meeting with the Scottish Celtic in the 1/16 finals of the Europa League. Firstly, the Petersburgers again started on the road, in a more comfortable environment than at home. Secondly, Mancini again ordered his team to try to create a reserve in the first half of the match, and the players tried to put the Italian's plan into practice. True, the pressure of the guests lasted much shorter, just half a time. Long before the break, the German players seized the initiative and created two dangerous chances. In both cases, the Russian team was lucky that the opponents did not have a good aim.

If we continue to draw parallels with the previous round, then again an early attempt to open an account only led to a return goal. RB Leipzig star Timo Werner backed a heel pass from outside the box to help Bruma get into shooting position. Goalkeeper Andrei Lunev was powerless in this situation. Werner himself was not opposed to becoming the author of the goal, so a few minutes later he struck from the same point after a lightning-fast counterattack and doubled the score.

Zenit lost to Celtic with a difference of one goal, and at least this result had to be achieved again. The positional attack of the Petersburgers still left much to be desired, but five minutes before the final whistle, unexpected help arrived. Domenico Criscito perfectly executed the free-kick, not even really running up before the kick. The ball from the foot of the Italian flew into the corner of the goal. A score of 1:2 is even better than 0:1, as an away goal has its own value. Although Zenit supported the general trend and also lost, its chances of reaching the quarterfinals are much higher than those of other Russian clubs.

The most frequent thing we hear about our championship is that we have a very even tournament. This is true, but I said and will repeat: this is not due to the fact that the level of our football is growing and the middle peasants are gaining strength. The thing is different: our leaders have given up and lost at least a small fraction of the class so much that they can lose to anyone.

No matter how much we praise the Premier League for unpredictability, it's worth saying that we don't have a single great team that would play consistently, not only during some segment of the season, but even during one single match.

Everyone shakes from side to side: a good time - a failure time.

Defeats “Zenith” and “Locomotive” is absolutely not surprising. For one simple reason: each of the teams completely lacks a set team game. The fate of matches is decided by the skill of individual performers, and not by any game idea.

Mancini is still doing poorly. You can look at the RFPL table as much as you like, but he has already left the Cup of Russia, qualified for the Europa League with a creak, and in the championship, the Blue-White-Blues have already accumulated a whole bunch of simply bad matches.

You can only remember the victory over Spartak and Real Sociedad, when the opponents gave a good half of the goals. Moreover, there was the defeat of "Akhmat", which remained in the minority. The rest is dullness and wretchedness.

There are two reasons. First: Mancini did not build the team's game. Zenit are easier to play when they have 30% possession of the ball, as in the game with the Basques in the Europa League. Then he uses his main trump card - this is speed. But the team cannot play this kind of football all the time. Simply because she is from a different weight category and should be able to open a massive defense.

The second reason: “Zenith” bought the average Argentines. None of this Latin American fraternity is a player capable of deciding the fate of the match. Driussi is just an empty shell. Paredes is good at set pieces and long passes, but he is not a last passer.

We are constantly told that one came from Roma, the other from Atlético. They brag about the names of the clubs, but no one told how these players played there. And did they play at all? And why were these guys from the top championships stronger than the average players from Tula?

So it turns out that in the “Arsenal” two in a row simply excellent matches were played by the previously unknown Kangwa, while the “blue-white-blue” did not find such a performer.

The second reason, by the way, is a reference to the first. Let them not buy the leaders, but the players are of high quality, with potential. So the coach must build the game around them. Until the Italian did.

“Zenith” will still be the champion, but not because he is so good, but because the rest are even worse.

As for Lokomotiv, the problems of the Semin team are the same as those of the club from St. Petersburg. With an excellent midfield that can create, the team does not show even half of its potential.

In the game, “railroad workers” it all comes down to the fact that either Fernandes will break through, or Miranchuk will come up with something. But some coherence and integrity is not visible.

Yes, the team is fighting, but this is such a worker-peasant football, which has the right to “Amkar”, which has no one to play, but not “Locomotive”, which has one of the strongest squads in the country.

You can endure such a game only as long as there is a result. And Semin must understand that he will be pecked again after each defeat from the middle peasant and outsider. And remember all the gray matches performed by the team.

To sum up: we should not expect much from our leaders and be surprised at their failures. We really have a very even championship, but it does not have a great team that would be stable.

Rarely in which clubs can one see a coaching hand, some kind of playing style. It all comes down to one thing: if the leaders play well, we will win. Their game will not work - there is no other plan in stock. And any of our "top club" can lose to any team, even from the FNL. The Cup of Russia proved it. The border has faded. Leaders are falling.

We messed up. And no Argentines will help here.

CASPIAN CALL

The last zero in the table of the Russian Championship-2017/18 (despite the fact that there are no ones in it for a long time) disappeared when it was least expected. Maybe they mixed up in St. Petersburg and decided that not Tula, but London's Arsenal came out against Zenit? And what about the spectators who filled 45,746 seats of the stadium on Krestovsky, and the players?

Jokes are jokes, and the St. Petersburg sensation has a paradoxical, but quite clear logic. In the last round, however, which took place before the break for the national teams, Arsenal simply tore one of the leaders of the championship in terms of the game -. The score 1:0 could not mislead anyone who watched that match: Tula should have won much more. And in general, their three wins and two draws in the previous seven rounds clearly showed the “Zenith” that he built a very strong and in a good impudent team in Tula. And not only at home - she took away three points from Grozny, and made it 2:2 in Rostov. Well, at home with “Krasnodar” I just tore and threw.

At the same time, “Zenith” barely took off in Kaspiysk – 2:2 with a saving goal from Paredes in the 85th minute. And this despite the fact that the match took place, in fact, on a neutral field - 5,000 spectators at the Anji Arena are hard to consider for the full support of the hosts. But, a tour later in Yekaterinburg, returning to his usual state, he almost inflicted the first defeat of the season on Roberto Mancini's team.

“Zenith” had to hear this call. But either he didn’t take him seriously (it’s all the same, after all, in the end, they “bounced off”), or he managed to forget in two weeks of traveling to the national teams. Well, Arsenal recalled. Let him play without the author of the winning goal to Krasnodar, and indeed his shock forward and the best sniper, rented just from Zenit. I won’t be surprised if in St. Petersburg, having vetoed the participation of the Balkan player in the match, they waved their hand: who else is there to score?

But there were also craftsmen. I strongly suspect that the name of the 23-year-old Zambian was unknown to many Russian fans until Sunday: the ex-player of one of the many Israeli Hapoels and Turkish Gaziantepspor signed a contract with Arsenal only at the end of the summer transfer window. The match in St. Petersburg was only the second for him in the RFPL, the goal was the first. And Djordjevic might not have scored. That is, “Zenith” the decision not to allow the striker belonging to him to play against him returned like a boomerang.

“Arsenal”, having received a well-deserved victory over “Krasnodar” and getting into the taste, felt confident even without Djordjevic. If it were otherwise, Tula people would have been shaking out of habit from one kind of 70-thousander, 45 thousand of which are filled. But here's something, and I didn't see jitters at Tula in this match for a second. This is not at all the Arsenal, whose home debut in the Premier League in the summer of 2014 against the same Zenit I came - and witnessed the 0-4 defeat.

True, three months later, the then team shocked Zenit by beating him at Petrovsky in a cup match - 3:2. Laid the foundation, so to speak. Petersburg “Dynamo” this fall had someone to take an example from. And, by the way, with a frivolous cup failure on a seemingly foreign, but in fact its own field, Zenit had all the problems that started.

Yes, the defeat from Arsenal can also be explained by the after-team tour syndrome: last time the blue-white-blues in a similar situation made a faded draw with . The same pause, I believe, pretty much hurt, who lost in Ufa. But “Loko” at least before the break defeated the same “Dynamo”, St. Petersburg just barely saved a draw with “Anji”. That is, you should not attribute everything to national teams - problems began to appear even before them.

"ZENIT" CROWNED. HE BELIEVE?

Their essence is that “Zenith” all prematurely crowned, and it seems that at some point he himself believed it. Those who are hurried (like me) voiced such a forecast even after 5:1, but who is more restrained - after an unconditional 2:0 in Krasnodar. When the distance between the two clubs was reduced to a minimum, but at the exam, the professor put a student who had imagined himself in his place. This is where it all seemed to be. There is no one to compete with this two-headed (because there are two teams) eagle in the RFPL. And then this eagle pecked out the eyes of a far from weak one.

And here, it seems to me, Zenit himself declared himself ahead of schedule, who had not heard or heard such conversations before. Nothing else can explain one point in two matches with Anji and Arsenal. Moreover, neither in one nor the other match, “Zenith” did not win enough for a full-fledged victory, although, of course, he could get hold of them. But even some kind of superhero of the match cannot be called - there was no need to perform miracles! Despite the fact that, of course, his calmness influenced the Tula people, and the neutral public was convinced of the rightness of the veteran goalkeeper in the national team.

No, unlike in 2010, now no one has even begun to stutter that Zenit will go through the entire championship without defeat - then, let me remind you, the early team for seven rounds before the end was deprived of this unique, no one else in the history of Russian championships experienced pleasure accurate kick from the penalty spot Spartak in the 88th minute.

Seven years later, the unbeaten flight of Zenit was interrupted in the 13th round. And the second one helped him - Cyril, who gave Kangwa a magnificent, geometrically perfect assist. It is rightly said that there are no former Spartacists. Although I don’t remember that Kirill shone with such passes in Spartak ...

HOW WITHOUT SARSANIA?

“Spartak”, meanwhile, is behind “Zenith”, albeit by a rather impressive eight points, then this is no longer 13 two rounds ago. It is clear that the leader is much more cautious so far to look at Lokomotiv (minus two) and CSKA (minus four) – but in any case, the second to fifth teams are no longer in another league compared to Zenit. And in the next round, Peter will take to the CSKA Arena field.

Another question is the fear associated with the near future of Zenit, in my opinion. In the text "Place" (at parting with which, by the way, not only the entire "Zenith" headed by and, but also the headquarters of "Arsenal" - with) came, he wrote: "One can only guess how hard it will be for Zenit now. .. They (St. Petersburg) will have to go through this season without the person who brought this team together in many ways, and not only brought it together, but was, as I suppose, a buffer in various triangles that can only be imagined inside such an ambitious and rich club."

Looking at the portrait of the blue-white-blue sports director who passed away incomprehensibly early, in memory of whom all matches of the 13th round began with a minute of silence and were held with mourning bandages, far-sighted people in St. Petersburg could not help but think about it.

Zenit has two full-fledged squads of people who see themselves exclusively as starters. Both attempts at a 100% rotation that Mancini carried out turned out to be defeats - at home with and with . After that, the Italian became more careful to make changes, especially in the defensive line, where in the last four meetings only with Arsenal he replaced, moving to the center.

Specially calculated the playing time of the Zenit players in the last four matches - three for the championship plus Real Sociedad. Do you know how many pooled minutes we spent on the field, and - entirely experienced people, three of whom are current, and four more are former members of the Russian team? 217 minutes. For everyone. For four matches. That is seven minutes on average per person per meeting.

And this is almost a whole team, entirely remaining out of work. Smolnikov spent most of the above - 90 minutes and Poloz - 82. And the same Zhirkov with Noboa, who would have been torn off with arms and legs in any other club, did not play with Krasnodar, Real Sociedad, Anji and " Arsenal" not for a second. From the Russians regularly come out, and, to which he joined in recent matches.

I'm not sure, by the way, that both 101 minutes out of 360, and 180 -, and two substitutions out of four Paredes suit them all. Yes, and the same Dzyuba, who received at least some chance in recent matches, if he does not start to score, will again sit on the bench - the competition is fierce.

All this is a potentially explosive thing. This is where Sarsania with his super-positive aura would be invaluable. This person, who probably knew how to establish contact with anyone in Russian football, was able to calm down any player who would begin to show dissatisfaction. Moreover, it is known that he had very warm relations with so many players of the current Zenit, and a number of them simply would not have ended up in St. Petersburg without his initiative and efforts.

NEXT RIVALS - CSKA AND LOKO

How will it be now? It is clear that in terms of composition in the Premier League there is Zenit - and there are all the others. Mancini's coaching skills are top notch as well. But the last two meetings with clubs from the bottom of the table showed that there are no invulnerable teams. And this will inspire those who catch up, and indeed the entire Premier League more than two defeats in the KHL from and after a record winning streak. The last, by the way, the army team suffered on the same day with “Zenith”.

The blue-white-blues live according to the same principle as his hockey countrymen, and according to the same sport - to strengthen the squad to the maximum, and then we'll figure it out. But in SKA, the buzz is impossible, since it is headed by the head coach of the national team, which is preparing for the Olympics. Naturally, not an enemy to himself, and everyone who gives at least some signs of life, play, and a lot.

In “Zenith”, the coach is a foreigner, the interests of the national team are of little concern to him, which is logical. And the mass of footballers of the national team - current and former - sits firmly on the bench eight months before the World Cup.

And if they all continue to sit? In the winter transfer window, they will want to play together in order to get to the home World Cup. And if they do not see prospects for doing this in St. Petersburg, then ...

Therefore, although “Zenith”, of course, remains the main favorite of the championship in all possible categories, he can still get on his nerves pretty much. And the fact that teams from the basement started doing this - - - actually speaks in favor of the average level of our championship, which is determined by such clubs.

And those who are claiming something, that is, with, “Zenith” this season, so far, have been hitting with terrible force. In the next two rounds, Peter - and. Not the most, as seen from the outside, a timely moment for the blue-white-blue to hold such matches. From how the team will taxi out of this position, and it will become clear whether the highway to gold in front of it is empty or a winding, difficult path.