Review of the 24th round of the RPL from Yuri Semin

– Yuri Pavlovich, the first question is philosophical. At one time, when the introduction of VAR was discussed in our football, they said that the refereeing of matches would become more fair. Do you think there is more justice in our football?

— In my opinion, no. But, probably, the players of all teams should accept what they have today. Inside the penalty area, you need to fight very carefully. Almost any martial art on repeat can be considered a violation of the rules for which penalty kicks are given. It seems to me that we are confused. Because there are not so many penalties in any European league as we have. But the players also have to rebuild. Because it turns out that inside the penalty area it is generally impossible to conduct martial arts. Any contact – a penalty kick is awarded …

– In your opinion, is the influence of VAR on football today really so great that defenders are beginning to be afraid in the penalty area to fight with the attackers?

– Here the concept is the same: the game to the penalty should be tougher. Inside the box, defenders have to be super-accurate. I repeat once again: almost any martial art leads to the appointment of a penalty.

– In eight matches of the 24th round, ten penalties were awarded. How can coaches prepare their teams for games?

What should the defender say? Talk – do not even touch the opponent inside the penalty area. Play from a distance.

Spartak – Krasnodar (4:3)

– The last match of the tour, but not the last in terms of emotions and intensity. After the first half, could you imagine that the game would change so much?

There are five substitutions in football today. And in this match, with five substitutions, Spartak’s coach Abascal did well. He changed the whole situation on the football field. The players who came on as a substitute after the break decided the outcome of the match.

In football, big changes are taking place. Like five replacements. But they can be put to good use. And you can make big mistakes. Five players is very difficult to bring into the game. Especially when they have very little time left. As an example, another match involving CSKA. The army team had an advantage of one player after the removal of the Lokomotiv player. We made five substitutions and practically lost all our advantage, possession of the ball, the chances they created. And Spartak managed to make these substitutions better.

I don’t understand: when there are two or three minutes of playing time left, suddenly two or three players are replaced. If you take the time, then it’s understandable. And in order to decide the outcome of the match, such substitutions seem quite problematic to me. It is difficult for the player to enter the game. He just enters the field, and the match is already over. Therefore, five substitutions in football play a big role: the coach will make them right or wrong.

Spartak, as I said, had a successful replacement. Although in general this match was full of gross, elementary mistakes. Therefore, the score is 4:3. So in defense it is impossible to play neither one nor the other team. Krasnodar loses for the second time in Moscow, leading 2:0 during the match (in the 20th round, Krasnodar lost to Lokomotiv – 2:3). There was no good and correct play in defense at all.

– How do you assess the game of Krasnodar legionnaires?

“They have very high-quality legionnaires. Another thing is that they are not built into their own system. Maybe the coach didn’t have enough time yet. Maybe some other moments. Firstly, Krasnodar began to play worse in passing. Literally all the players. The number of losses is now much greater than before. Secondly, if they didn’t play very well in defense before, now they play poorly in defense. As in the game with Spartak. True, Spartak did not play well in defense either. It was an open match…

CSKA — Lokomotiv (1:1)

— CSKA opened the scoring in the middle of the first half. Then, at the end of the first half, a player was sent off from Loko. Why the army team could not keep the victory?

– Lack of skill. They created moments, and a lot. But the skill of the players is clearly not enough. The law of football always works: if you don’t score, you get scored. Definitely get killed. That’s what happened in this match. Lokomotiv had just a good replacement. Unexpectedly, they changed Dziuba to Isidore – he came out and scored.

– Perhaps this is an erroneous opinion, but it seemed that by the 70th minute of the match the players of both teams were almost completely exhausted.

“I wouldn’t say they’re exhausted. They moved a lot. Probably, to a greater extent, tactical moments were incorrectly dictated. See how much space there was between the lines.

Zenit – Dynamo (3:1)

– In the previous, 23rd round, Rostov managed to hold back the Zenit attack at home. That match ended in a goalless draw. Why didn’t Dynamo manage to do the same in this game?

– Zenit stands apart in our championship. More qualified players. Playing more correctly in tactical terms. Pay attention to both defense and attacking actions. At Zenit, there are no such large spaces between the lines as Spartak and Krasnodar have. Rostov, by the way, is different in this – in tactical terms, it also surpasses many teams in the Premier League. Therefore, it naturally takes second place. There are many young home-grown players who clearly follow the instructions of the head coach. Brought up in their own system.

– In general, did Dynamo have any chances at least for a draw in this match? Or was it a deliberately unequal, lost match?

– Why obviously? I think that not a single team comes to a match to obviously lose it. Zenit is stronger because it is better prepared. Better quality players. The result is always given by the Brazilians, which Zenit has. Remove the Brazilians and the team will be the same as the others.

– Fair remark. If we take the other six teams – CSKA, Dynamo, Rostov, Krasnodar, Spartak, Lokomotiv – who has the better attack?

– Why take Lokomotiv? The club is in 10th place. What is he up to now? The team avoided certain troubles, left the joints. It’s already good. It is located in the middle of the standings.

In my opinion, Lokomotiv prepared well for the winter off-season. A big difference from what it was a year ago with other coaches. But it is still in tenth place.

– Still, the attacking line of which team in the spring part of the championship makes the most favorable impression on you?

— Compactness impresses me. When a team attacks well and defends well after the attack. In this regard, Zenit is an example for our league. That is why they are in the lead with such a big advantage. And, most likely, win the next championship. And to attack headlong, as Spartak and Krasnodar did in this round, to run forward, not knowing what to do when the ball is lost, completely without defense – such football on the international arena will not bring any results. The result is a balance of attack and defense.

Khimki – Torpedo (4:2)

– There was another interesting match in this round, in which two outsiders met. What in this match left the most vivid impression on you?

– Between the teams that are at the bottom of the table, who can fly out, just the maximum struggle is going on. Wrestling is the main thing in such matches. Lots of fights. An unyielding game. The players are well prepared physically. It is difficult for me to notice any other nuances in this match.

— What did the recently appointed head coach Andrey Talalaev manage to change in Khimki’s game in a few days?

– The head coach can always change something. But Khimki is a kind of team. When inviting this or that coach, they make a lot of promises. The main thing is that these promises are kept. Then it will be easier for the coach to work. This also applies to Torpedo.

Yes, the struggle “below” is serious and cruel. There will be a lot of interesting things in the last rounds in the matches with the participation of these teams. The most important thing is to remember about the penalty and not be mistaken. So that penalties do not endlessly decide the outcome of matches.