“Baltika” without delays and simulations, “Spartak” without a trophy, Sliskovich - apparently without the post of head coach
The SE columnist talks about Baltika's victory over Spartak in the finals of the Russian Cup regions.
“Spartak” could not cope without Sobolev.There will not be a truly entourage final of the Russian Cup a la Spartak - Dynamo the year before, with Luzhniki full and going crazy. But the red-whites have only themselves to blame. And somewhere on fate.
I realized that everything could end badly for them at the moment when information appeared about the illness and non-trip to Kaliningrad of Alexander Sobolev, the only large center forward of Spartak, and most importantly, the best scorer of this Cup according to the “goal plus pass” system. It worked for him there. And without him - we saw.
At the press conference, Vladimir Slishkovich tried to refute this factor, talking about the chances of Mikhail Ignatov and Manfred Ugalde, created after behind-the-back passes - not Sobolev’s strongest side as an addressee. But those chances were not realized, and the xG indicator, equal to almost three goals for Spartak, does not even scream - it screams about it.
Spartak played well for most of the match. Better than in so many meetings - in Nizhny Novgorod recently. There were a real bunch of moments, and not “semi” ones. There were two problems:
1. Letts. When goalkeepers get SUCH courage, they need to play even better, press even harder and create even more.
2. There was no one to score. Sobolev fell ill. Promes in a Dubai prison. Ignatov is also a center forward. Nicholson and Balde are on loan, and in general, most likely, cut off chunks. But the linebackers and edges weren’t making shots.
And there were no big ones on the field. Babich is injured, they said about Sobolev, Martins was replaced an hour later. There was no one to push through.And in general, we had to be prepared for such a start from Baltika, which always starts matches aggressively. “Spartak” was not, judging by the quick goal. Why didn’t the team figure it out during the second wave of set pieces and lost players in the penalty area? Well, the ball flew over Litvinov’s head after Luna’s serve. Where is the safety net, where is the density? Why did Lisakovich's pass and the strike, as in training, by defender Andrade occur in the absence of any presence of Spartak players? Such a loss of concentration can be understood already in the second half of the match, and then against the backdrop of great pressure from the opponent. And then it was the fourth minute!
And I wouldn’t say that Baltika had such concentration. On standards - yes. But Spartak created a lot from the game.
The red and whites showed no character
What exactly aroused respect from Baltika was that no one fell on the grass, did not feign, or wasted time. This is not at all typical for modern football and such a game configuration. This, for me, spoke both about the football gentlemanliness preached by Sergei Ignashevich, his rejection of the thesis “the end justifies the means,” and about his good physical condition - there really were no spasms.
And yet, the same “Lokomotiv” with much worse football this season pulled out a bunch of games out of character. The red-whites did not show such a character. And I'm not sure they got the most out of the substitutions. Let’s say Sliskovich’s decision to release Moses and not Zinkovsky is very strange, inexplicable to me. In such a situation, it was necessary to whistle everyone upstairs. And Anton, and Victor, and everyone who can create something. I don’t understand how Zinkovsky remained on the bench in such a situation.
“Spartak did not show itself as well as Dynamo in the same city, in the same situation a few days ago.” Not a single moment in added time, except for a stray rebound after a shot by Daniil Khlusevich - for me, one of the best players for Spartak along with Roman Zobnin.
It was not for nothing that the Baltika players were so happy about the results of the draw that sent the final of the Path of Regions to Kaliningrad - we remember these shots of jubilation in front of the screen. This is how it happens in football - the team reached the semi-final with Rostov with a semi-main squad, and its cup motivation in the midst of the fight for survival seemed much less obvious than that of the players of Valery Karpin, who no longer had specific tasks in the championship. But…
All conspiracy theories have been refuted
"Baltika" - with the ending. They suffered, well done, and respect both to Ignashevich’s team for their perseverance, and to Slishkovic for the congratulations and words that the hosts deserved. And what great fans!
And everything was very fair - both the behavior of Baltika and the refereeing of Vladislav Bezborodov, to whom there can be no questions in the grand scheme of things. All conspiracy theories on both sides - the alleged interest of the RFU in Spartak in Luzhniki for the box office, and the fact that the referee is from St. Petersburg, and it is more profitable for Zenit to play in the super final with Baltika than in Moscow with Spartak — were refuted. The refereeing was completely impartial, VAR was not used even once, and Bezborodov was the most inconspicuous person on the field, which is the biggest compliment for a referee.
Spartak once again missed a great chance for a trophy, and Baltika can repeat the history of SKA (Rostov) in 1981 and Tosno in 2018 - Cup and relegation in one season.
I think now Sliskovic has minimal chances of remaining as head coach. At a minimum, the Cup final was a mandatory program for this. Although, how I once again enjoyed listening to his press conference - sincere, humane.
But coaches are not retained or fired because of press conferences. Especially if they are acting. But the Bosnian did not give a miracle result. But I really want Sliskovic to remain at the red-white headquarters - which, by the way, was promised by sports director Tomas Amaral.
I would not say that Zenit and CSKA will play an early final today. Such a toothy “Baltika” will not fold its paws in front of one or the other.
And I’m looking forward to Latyshonka next season at one of the top Russian clubs. The 25-year-old Krasnodar graduate has worked for this.
