Two breath-taking celebrations have personified Sbornaya’s European Championships’ thus far; Vasiliy Berezutskiy and Marek Hamšík’s fervent roars upon scoring each of their respective goals in the tournament. Although in a breathless finish in which Russia threatened to equalise, earlier defensive errors, stagnant creativity and selection errors condemned them to a crushing defeat against Slovakia. Now we look ahead and evaluate whether or not Sbornaya can claim a victory against Wales, and give hope of proceeding to the Round of 16.
Selection Issues:
There have been few developments in terms of availability since the last match, with injury doubt Denis Glushakov previously being cleared fit by the team doctor, and denatured for 45 minutes against Slovakia. Artur Yusupov will not likely be considered for selection after he previously declared himself unfit. Leonid Slutskiy claimed in an interview that Glushakov is ready to start, but Roman Shirokov’s role will be to ‘increase our options in attack by coming on as a late substitute’.
The main doubts for the Wales game hang over the head of Oleg Shatov, who is an injury doubt with a groin muscle problem picked up in their previous game. The Zenit winger missed training immediately following the Slovakia match, and trained separately up until Sunday. Slutskiy, in his press conference, claimed he will partake in the pre-match warm-ups and will face a late fitness test based on this workout. Pavel Mamaev also missed training earlier in the week but was given a rest, and is available for selection against Wales.
Possible Line Up:
Both Igor Akinfeev and the majority of the Russian defence should keep their places against Wales, despite costly mistakes from both Igor Smolnikov and Vasility Berezutskiy. This is in part due to a lack of genuine replacements, especially central – as the only other player able to cover there will likely start in midfield due to the injuries to Igor Denisov, and Alan Dzagoev. Doubts remain over Georgi Shchennikov’s selection at left back ahead of the two Dmitri’s, Kombarov and Torbinskiy. He was unimpressive in both games thus far against Kyle Walker and Peter Pekarík, and may be replaced by the former Dmitri. Kombarov is a more natural left-back than Torbinskiy and has featured regularly for both club and country this season.
After substituting both Aleksandr Golovin and Roman Neustädter at half-time against Slovakia, changes in the midfield pivot are all but inevitable. Any from Denis Glushakov, Pavel Mamaev, and Roman Shirokov could replace the pair, with the former their replacements in the match. Glushakov should start after his impact off the bench in both games, even away from his well-taken goal his physicality and experience made a huge difference from the unsuited Golovin. There may be arguments to still play Neustädter alongside the Spartak Moscow man, as he has played a quietly impressive role in midfield considering his lack of international experience, and his physicality and height will likewise be important against a powerful Welsh midfield and defence.
The biggest question marks over Leonid Skutskiy’s selection remain in attack – he has come under intense scrutiny for a number of reasons. Firstly, he was fielded both the aforementioned Shatov and Fedor Smolov out of position, central and on the wing respectively. Another problem is that Slutskiy has not selected a team designed to get the best out of the 6’5, almost 200cm tall Artyom Dzyuba by selecting inside forwards out wide ahead of Shatov and Aleksandr Samedov – two of the most impressive wingers in last season’s RFPL. Finally, in selecting all-three strikers from the start, he has negated any opportunity to change a losing game late by a key attacking substitution. Slutskiy should play both Samedov and Shatov on either side of an advanced Roman Shirokov to get the best out of the man mountain Dzyuba, but he could also change his attacking line-up completely to negate the aerial threat of the Welsh defensive trio.
Akinfeev – Smolnikov, Ignashevich, V. Berezutskiy, Kombarov – Neustädter, Glushakov – Samedov, Shirokov, Shatov – Dzyuba
Although the above is an aspirational line-up, I would largely expect the introductions of Glushakov and Kombarov to be Slutskiy’s only changes despite the pressure he has come under.
Key Players:
Igor Akinfeev – Akinfeev is undoubtedly Sbornaya’s number one, and arguably their most talented goalkeeper since Rinat Dasaev and Lev Yashin. He has already made a series of spectacular saves, including an impressive one from Wayne Rooney against England. Akinfeev was the difference between defeat and a precious point in Marseille, but how he handles Gareth Bale’s free-kicks will be key. Despite the brilliance of the shot, he will be disappointed with the goal he conceded against England, and Bale has already scored twice from dead-ball situations in the tournament. If Russia are to get anything from this match, Akinfeev will need to be at his imperious best.
Igor Smolnikov – The Zenit defender’s oxymoronic performance against Slovakia was mirrored by the international reaction to his game. Impressive in attack, he was often Russia’s most dangerous attacking outlet, providing real width and penetration to an otherwise stagnant performance. Yet, his defensive worries came to the core in the lead-up to Vladimir Weiss’ goal. Although Berezutskiy needlessly ignored the dangerous inside channel Weiss was inevitable to step in, Smolnikov was also at fault. He not only was positioned too high up the pitch and did not anticipate Weiss’ impressive run to get back on side, two fire engines both went to tend to the wrong fire as they both marked the man, not the space.
Oleg Shatov – If fit, Shatov proved when deployed on the wing, he is a destructive player in attack. He has been all too often squeezed out of the game playing centrally, with his lack of experience in the role showing through. He is not a player to operate in amongst the opposition’s deep defending, and is at his imperious best running at his opponents with the ball at his feet. If deployed out wide – or indeed, at all – his crossing will be a vital outlet in behind Wales’ high positioned wing-backs.
Prediction:
Russia have history on their side against the Welsh, losing only once and winning five from their previous nine meetings. Yet neither this Russia side, nor the Welsh are the same prospect as old. It is Wales who have a world-class footballer who can change the flow of any match in a second. Yet, if Slutskiy gets his selection choices right and does not put ‘square pegs into round holes’, this Russian squad is talented enough to get what they need out of the game. Nevertheless, after a disappointing campaign on and off the field and innumerable issues that need to be solved, maybe a draw and elimination may not be a disaster ahead of the World Cup in two years’ time. Score draw.
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