Russian Football

The Curious Case of CSKA’s Crash

Sitting clear at the top of the table with a transfer window ahead should give CSKA a comfortable winter break to look forward to, but a dreadful run of form has seen Leonid Slutskiy’s men start to look nervously over their shoulders. The start of the season saw them race clear with seven consecutive wins, with giant fan favourite Seydou Doumbia returning on loan after a underwhelming start to his Serie A career at AS Roma, and with a dramatic qualification process for the Champions League successfully negotiated, positivity abounded. A mediocre return of five goals in 13 league games from Doumbia, however, and talk is already building of his imminent departure in the winter as his Italian parent club look to earn something from their investment.

His signing in particular had seemed to boost the Army Men by completing the jigsaw that had been broken up by his departure in January, and initially he slotted right back in as if he had never left. The problem has been the lack of reliable backup on the goalscoring front. Last season saw Roman Eremenko and Bibras Natcho rack up 25 league goals combined, a phenomenal return for a midfield pair, but this season they have floundered dramatically. Eremenko picked up a groin injury in November causing him to miss the last five league matches, but has failed to score all season, while Natcho has only scored twice, leaving a gaping hole in the team’s attacking threat.

Despite scoring against Manchester United, Doumbia’s return to Moscow hasn’t been without problems.

Ahmed Musa gamely battled on in the summer up front where his pace caused problems with the ball to run on to, but the Nigerian’s reasonable efforts couldn’t mask the major problem facing CSKA, namely a serious lack of depth. Carlos Strandberg was sent out on loan to Ural in what initially looked like being a promising loan spell with Ural, while former boy wonder Konstantin Bazelyuk has been sent to the Chinese border with second tier strugglers SKA Khabarovsk, leaving only Kirill Panchenko as a recognised striker. Ironically it was not until the return of Doumbia that Leonid Slutskiy started to throw Panchenko into the fray, and the Russian’s lively cameos have made it odd that he wasn’t given more of chance earlier in the season.

For a powerhouse institution of the Russian game, regardless of the restrictions of the modern game in terms of quotas for foreign players and financial fair play regulations, it was naive to depend upon a late loan move to shore up a clear gap in the squad. The way of modern football has left many clubs relying on just a couple of frontline strikers, given the common propensity to start with a single out and out striker; Zenit’s only senior frontman is Artyom Dzyuba, for example, after the sale of Salomon Rondón and ostracism – and recent loan to FC Zurich – of club legend Aleksandr Kerzhakov. The difference between last season’s champions and this season’s leaders is that Pavel Dolgov and Alexey Evseev have been promoted to the first team squad, albeit with limited game time, whereas Strandberg and Bazelyuk have been sent out on loan despite the departure of Doumbia a year ago.

Of course there is a lot to be gained from building a youngster’s confidence and mental strength by challenging them in a new environment, but it must be constructive. Strandberg broke through with a highly respectable return of three goals in ten appearances as an 18-year-old last term, and could reasonably have hoped for a chance to shine in some less threatening league fixtures while Panchenko and Musa shared duties for the more intense matches. His time in Ekaterinburg has been an unmitigated disaster, punctuated by the acrimonious departure of new manager Viktor Goncharenko and a battle to even make the matchday squad, yet alone make it onto the pitch. It would be odd if he remained there after the winter break, especially with the increasing likelihood of Doumbia being whisked away. Bazelyuk has garnered more from his time out East, but for a former Best Young Player in Russia, his return of only four goals from 14 league appearances at a lower level is hardly inspiring. He is already 22 and is running out of time to use youth as an excuse for his lack of progress.

It would be too simplistic to point to Slutskiy’s dual role as national team manager as a factor in the crumbling confidence of CSKA. The appointment of Goncharenko as first team coach was a masterstroke, bringing in a fresh but confident tactical mastermind to the set up, and potentially grooming a successor to Slutskiy if his contract is extended in a permanent capacity beyond next summer’s European Championship in France. There is no doubt having an extra experienced character around the club has helped with the workload, and at any rate results were stunning up until the last four games. The manner in which results have tailed off suggests that they have either simply run out of steam, or don’t have the fitness to combine a European campaign alongside domestic commitments, both classic symptoms of a thin squad which doesn’t have the depth to cater for exactly this kind of issue.

Looking beyond the results and statistics and a more worrying factor arises; they simply haven’t been pushed to their limits. For a team so utterly dominant last season going forward, they have only scored more than twice in a league game this season on two occassions, and one of those was the chaotic 4-6 goal fest away to Mordovia in September. On the one hand, there’s nothing wrong with playing efficient football, but there’s a stark contrast between the pragmatic approach of Kurban Berdeyev’s Rostov and CSKA’s unfulfilling paucity of ruthless domination.

Take the first two home games of the Premier League this season; Ahmed Musa’s late winner saved face against Rubin on the opening weekend against a five-man defence, with the same front six that finished last season in such a free-flowing flourish. This was followed by the visit of Yuri Semin’s newly-promoted Anzhi, who fell behind to Mario Fernandes’ early strike but then proceeded to trade blows with their hosts, and had at least four clear-cut chances to take something from the game through the lively Yannick Bolli and the imaginative Ilya Maximov. On paper two clean sheets and maximum points looks impressive, but the atmosphere was one of relief rather than deep satisfaction.

Although his trademark position during matches is rocking rather nervously backwards and forwards on the bench, Slutskiy’s impact and trust in his players has elevated him to being the most in demand coach in Russia. His relationship with the defensive spine of his club has built a dynasty that must inevitably end soon, however, and the first real test of his managerial prowess will come when the Berezutskiy twins and Ignashevich finally hang up their boots in the next few years. He has shown a slight reluctance to blood youngsters or even fringe squad players who are hungry to impress. In the cases of Bazelyuk, Strandberg, Panchenko, Viktor Vasin and Nikita Chernov, the latter two in particular given the positions that will need to be filled sooner rather than later, he has not given them serious game time, and could soon find himself in an awkward situation where he is suddenly is forced to throw them into the first team with limited experience.

Another concern is the complete disappearance of Roman Eremenko and Bibras Natcho’s form which was so crucial to their success last season. The Israeli schemer has barely featured, while Eremenko has looked a million miles off the pace for the majority of the first part of the season, which begs the question why this has come about. The entire blame cannot be attributed to Slutskiy, but his management skills will be required to turn them back into worldbeaters if they want to end the campaign with silverware.

It would be churlish to suggest all is doom and gloom though. Still three points ahead at the top of the table, a winter break ahead to reinforce the squad and rest the clearly exhausted players, and no European distractions should all encourage the Army Men. Zenit have a fair bit of catching up to do, while Rostov are not in the rudest health financially so will do well to maintain their push for honours, which leaves the title as CSKA’s to lose. It will take a bold man to bet against the Premier League crown returning to the capital.

Top 5 Most Disappointing Youngsters

With the autumn part of the Russian Premier League over and with three months of winter break ahead of us, it is time to look back and review the first 18 rounds of the season. Not long ago, we gave you the Top 5 Breakthrough Players, so this time we look at the other end of the scale, as we examine the most disappointing young players.

The players on the list are young players from whom we expected more. They are all players who are yet to experience their big breakthrough at the top level, something we expected from them this autumn.

Amir Natcho – 19 – CSKA

Amir Natcho during his stint with FC Barcelona.

In February Amir Natcho, when he still played for FC Barcelona, told Russian Football News that he dreamed of one day playing together with his cousin Bibras Natcho, and in the summer his wish came true. Amir Natcho joined Bibras’ CSKA Moscow, and with his past at Barcelona’s famous academy La Masia the expectations were big.

With strong players like Pontus Wernbloom, Roman Eremenko and of course the elder Natcho, Bibras, Amir wasn’t expected to get much playing time, but that he is yet to play in the Premier League is however a disappointment. The disappointment is much bigger because Roman Eremenko has struggled with injuries, and Bibras hasn’t been able to find the form that earned him a spot on Team of the Year at the RFN Awards after last season. So far, Amir Natcho has only played 110 minutes for CSKA’s first team, both times in the cup.

Carlos Strandberg – 19 – Ural

After turning down Dortmund, Carlos Strandberg joined CSKA Moscow last winter after, and he made a good first impression as he scored three goals in his first ten games for the Army Men, one of these coming in St. Petersburg against Zenit. Strandberg was signed after Seydou Doumbia left the club for AS Roma, and the physical strong striker provided some abilities that Ahmed Musa never had.

This summer saw the Swedish striker join Ural on loan, a match that seemed good for both parties, as Ural were looking for a replacement for the rejuvenated Fyodor Smolov who had left the club. Strandberg has however not done enough to convince his new club of his worth, and so far he has only been on the field for 63 minutes spread out over two games, while he also played 56 minutes against CSKA in the cup.

Nikita Chernov – 19 – CSKA

Chernov is one of very few players in the world who has played more games for his national team than in his domestic tournament. The central defender got his debut on the Russian national team in a friendly against Belarus in June. At that point, his only experience from the highest level were two cup games eight months earlier. Despite his lack of experience, Chernov performed well, and the 19-year-old defender has been widely praised.

“He has all the attributes to be a second Ignashevich or maybe even better.” Nikolai Pisarev, the former Russian U21 coach said, and so the expectations were high for the 188 centimeter tall defender as this season began.

Chernov celebrating a goal during the U19 Euro.

Following Chernov’s performance against Belarus, he played 78 minutes in Russia’s crucial qualifier against Austria, as he replaced an injured Vasiliy Berezutskiy after only 12 minutes of the game. Here, Chernov was clearly overwhelmed, but being the first in line to take over after Berezutskiy gave hope for more, something Berezutskiy himself had also noted.

“Of all the young CSKA players,” the experienced defender said, “I predict the brightest future for Nikita Chernov.”

Less than a month after the match against Austria, Chernov took part in the U19 European Championships where he played every minute in all of Russia’s games as they reached the final before losing to Spain. On top of this, Chernov scored twice in the 4-0 thrashing of Greece in the semi-final.

Six months after the national games in June, Chernov is yet to receive his debut in the Premier League, and his only appearance for CSKA this season came when he played 120 minutes against Baykal in the cup back in September.

Ramil Sheydaev – 19 – Rubin

The now 19-year-old Sheydaev has been around for a while. Born in St. Petersburg and coming through the ranks of Zenit’s academy, the Russian striker with the Azerbaijani roots has long been among the players expected to carry on the torch from Aleksandr Kerzhakov.

The young striker has played more than 50 games for various Russian youth national teams, and in 2013, he took part in both the U17 Euros and the U17 World Cup. In the Euros he was suspended at the beginning of the tournament, but joined the Russian side after the quarterfinal, and with goals in the penalty shoot-outs in the semis as well as the final, he contributed greatly to Russia bringing home the trophy. In the World Cup, he scored twice against Venezuela, before Russia were later eliminated by Brazil in the round of 16.

Just like Chernov, Sheydaev also participated in the U19 Euro this summer, and once again, he impressed. With goals against Spain in the group stage and Greece in the semifinal, he helped Russia reach the final that was lost 2-0 to Spain. Sheydaev’s performances didn’t go unnoticed, and he made the Team of the Tournament. Sheydaev scored a combined 12 goals in the Euro tournament and qualification, which was a new record.

His positive performances at the Euros came after a season where Sheydaev had scored 16 goals in 26 matches for Zenit-2 in the Second Division West, while he also got five appearances in the Premier League.

The competition in Zenit’s attack was however fierce, and in August, Sheydaev was sent to Rubin Kazan on loan. Since joining the Tatars, Sheydaev has only played 46 minutes in the Premier League as well as 90 in the cup. Fortunately, he has continued his good form for the Russian youth teams, as he has scored three goals in four matches for the U21 national team

Dmitri Barinov – 19 – Lokomotiv

Midfielder Barinov is the dark horse on this list. He managed two appearances in May last, and showed some promising signs. In fact, Barinov’s performances were good enough to make fans of the Railroaders count him as a valuable backup on the defensive midfield in case anything happened to either Aleksandr Sheshukov or Dmitri Tarasov.

Just like Sheydaev, Barinov also made Team of the Tournament during the U19 Euros, and he was expected to be further integrated into the first team this season. Unfortunately for Barinov, Lokomotiv brought in Delvin N’Dinga, which meant playing time has turned out to be sparse. To make things even worse, Lokomotiv head coach Igor Cherevchenko has from time to time preferred the right back Roman Shishkin in defensive midfield instead of Barinov. Even with Sheshukov suffering a long-term injury and Lokomotiv competing in three different tournaments, Barinov hasn’t been able to get playing time in the league. 152 minutes spread over two cup games is all he has received, which is disappointing.

Team	MP	W	D	L	F	A	G	P
1	CSKA Moskva	18	11	4	3	29	18	+11	37
2	Rostov	18	10	4	4	23	16	+7	34
3	Lokomotiv Moskva	18	9	5	4	30	23	+7	32
4	Spartak Moskva	18	9	3	6	26	23	+3	30
5	Krasnodar	18	8	6	4	29	19	+10	30
6	Zenit	18	8	6	4	34	23	+11	30
7	Terek Grozny	18	6	10	2	25	17	+8	28
8	Ural	18	7	5	6	28	28	+0	26
9	Rubin Kazan'	18	6	2	10	20	25	-5	20
10	Amkar Perm'	18	5	5	8	16	22	-6	20
11	Dinamo Moskva	18	4	8	6	20	25	-5	20
12	Krylya Sovetov	18	5	4	9	12	20	-8	19
13	Ufa	18	3	7	8	16	28	-12	16
14	Anzhi	18	3	6	9	18	31	-13	15
15	Kuban' Krasnodar	18	2	9	7	25	28	-3	15
16	Mordovia Saransk	18	2	8	8	19	24	-5	14