A controversial season for familiar heroes.
Goalkeepers are no longer the heroes of the league
When choosing anti-heroes for the tour, there is a turn at every position on the field. But there are weekends when there is no goalkeeper to scold. Next, you need to look for timely and valuable errors. But if you compare from one season to another, you can see changes. We immediately eliminate teams that do not have defense, like Orenburg. Their goalkeepers often have to enter the game indecently, although this is already a tradition. Last season Sysuev was in charge, now Moskvichev is in charge.
But if we ignore the goalkeeper successes of both leaders – Agkatsev joined the Krasnodar team after Safonov and Latyshonok replaced Kerzhakov, then there is no one to praise. Even Stanislav and Evgeniy had excellent stats, thanks in part to the style of their teams. Musaev and Semak ask to control the ball. A similar method of escaping from trouble and collecting “crackers” was used by Spartak goalkeeper Maksimenko. His team attacks.
What will happen to Agkatsev and Latyshonok’s enthusiasm if their defensive lines fail them in the spring? Can two students from Krasnodar be so stable? We are not sure, because the new season is not easy for the goalkeepers. Almost all teams attack. Even if the class of the application is not enough, like Dynamo from Makhachkala, they are actively returning. As a result, David Volk made only two saves per game, even though it seemed like his goal was being shot at more often.
Almost everyone is on the attack, so fast and dangerous attacks lead to mistakes by defenders and panic among goalkeepers. He made a mistake and alternately pulled Lomaev from the “Wings of the Soviets”. Veteran Pesyakov was in the Samara goal against Zenit, and it was Sergei who helped to win the away victory over the champions. Staver from Rubin led both very strong fights, when he impressed with his literacy, and also incomprehensible actions in favor of the opponents’ attack.
Coaches have collected entire collections of goalkeepers
The rotation of goalkeepers is also evidence of a change for the worse. Coaches do not trust everyone. Semak doubted that Baltika goalkeeper Latyshonok would become the main one. That is why they keep Kerzhakov and Adamov in the team. The newcomer from Akron has two goalkeepers as a base: Volkov and Vasyutin. Veteran Lunev arrived from Dynamo Moscow. But Leshchuk also trained at the end of the year, when a colleague ended up in the infirmary for a month.
Leshchuk scored a goal against Akhmat and was remembered for his atypical feat. But last year, Igor made serious mistakes, which led scouts to Lunev’s candidacy. Whether it’s Khimki or Fakel, Zenit or Lokomotiv, clubs with different budgets have several solid goalkeepers who can be called competitors. The division appears only if the goalkeeper has established himself and played a series of great matches. So Maksimenko put Selikhov on the bench.
This has not always been the case for Spartak. But Pesyakov played regularly for Rostov. Now the veteran was written off in Samara, and the head coach of the national team, Karpin, with the help of his faithful assistant goalkeeper Kafanov, organized the “hunger games”. In the royal battle, the young Odoevsky with the school of Zenit, the Bosnian veteran Hankić and an attempt to find a diamond in Tajikistan – the newcomer from Rostov Yatimov. There is a throne, but no one can take it.
The Rostov team conceded 28 goals in 18 rounds. There were often mistakes from the goalkeepers. It’s hard to choose the best, there weren’t any. It’s not just Khimki, where Kokarev and Obukhov have conceded 35 goals between them, who are dissatisfied with the results of the defense and goalkeepers. Of course, in some matches the goalkeepers came to the rescue. Kokarev played well against Lokomotiv. But it’s a match against an opponent that suits Khimki. But the goalkeepers don’t make up half the team.
Don’t forget the ages of many goalkeepers RPL
Nine goalkeepers in the league have passed the 30-year mark. Four others are on the cusp of the age where players are moved to the veteran roster. Thirteen of the 29 goalkeepers are middle-aged. There is a notable desire to come up with new names. But Shelia, Lunev, Akinfeev and Medvedev are still on the field more often than their competitors, and Belenov and Pesyakov will try to return to stable playing practice in the spring. That being said, it’s time for many of these goalies to start thinking about retirement soon.
Gate Keeper CSKA Akinfeev, 38, is well covered by five defenders. But Igor Vladimirovich’s ability to catch the “cracker” does not prevent the “army team” from being far from the first place in the ranking. Akinfeev is not the only one to blame, but opponents are no longer afraid of the legendary goalkeeper. After Safonov left, it was not easy to find him RPL a goalkeeper who can be sent to a serious Champions League team tomorrow. The questions are piling up for everyone.
Moreover, five out of six goalkeepers under 25 play either for the middle peasants or in the reserves, like Torop behind Akinfeev in CSKA. Agkatsev is 23 years old, the Krasnodar goalkeeper has earned praise. But even Latyshonok is 26 years old, he cannot be called a young talent. There is a generational change; before, there were even older guards. But there are no incredible discoveries, which is disappointing. It seems that the goalkeeper collection tactic will remain the main one.
After Akinfeev in CSKA There will be a goalkeeping competition, like in Rostov. At Lokomotiv, Lantratov stopped helping as usual. Ilya’s actions are influenced by the central defenders’ mistakes, but goalkeepers usually find themselves in an unattractive position. Here you either save, whatever the circumstances, or you become complicit in defeat. Because even the leaders RPL one game in three without a win, goalkeepers often get it.
Krasnodar and Zenit could have conceded more goals, they were lucky. Dynamo and Lokomotiv have serious problems in defense. And Spartak’s defense is a mysterious beast. Today they can produce a wonderful and unusual series, and in a month everything will turn into a usual collapse, when neither Babich in the defensive line nor Maksimenko on the goal line can be saved. You can’t trust anyone, because Zenit is looking for defenders and Krasnodar did not open their full-backs.
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