Chisamba Lungu Player Watch

Ural have seen some of their key creative talents leave the club over the last few weeks, but it seems the answer has been with them all along. Key to their comfortable 2-0 win over Ufa today was the transformation of Zambian flier Chisamba Lungu, who for the vast majority of his six-year career in Russia has been deployed as an out and out winger, but today was given a free role by head coach Vadim Skripchenko.

Ufa head coach Viktor Goncharenko cut a forlorn figure on the touchline, occasionally bursting out into fits of frustration, having been out-thought by his former assistant at Ural. Roman Pavlyuchenko was expected to lead the line exclusively but often found his space complimented by Lungu, who spent the opening few minutes on both flanks and centrally. For an attacking player, his strike rate has been abysmal - five goals in 114 Ural appearances - but his manager sees a new and more expansive role for him.

“Chisamba is a universal player,” Skripchenko said in the post match press conference. “You have seen him until now only out wide, but he can play anywhere.” Injury problems have seen his stints in the side disrupted significantly, but with a limited budget his importance has suddenly skyrocketed on the back of a solid preseason and a sparkling performance against Ufa.

At kickoff, he started off on the left, then switched to the right after a minute, then lined up alongside Pavlyuchenko on the shoulder of the last man and in the hole - all in first few moments. The team’s setup was key to allowing him the freedom to explore his opposition’s weakness. A rare 3-5-2 with Alexander Dantsev and Denis Kulakov providing the width saw a midfield fluidly line up with captain Artem Fidler as the deepest holding midfielder, with Roman Emelynaov dictating play in front of him alongside Alexander Pavlenko.

This left Lungu the space to cause all sorts of positional problems for Alexander Nikitin and Viktor Vasin. After just four minutes, the Zambian beat his marker and instead of crashing in a senseless cross he found the lurking Emelyanov on the edge of the box, who smashed a sensational effort into the roof of the net. With their tails up, Ural took complete control for the rest of the first half.

The absence of Acevedo looks like giving Lungu more creative responsibility, especially within the innovative set up from today’s match. He has much more confidence with the ball at his feet as opposed to in front of him running just with pure pace, although his delivery still needs some development. Midway through the half, he chased a ball down the line with Nikitin sliding in wildly. Lungu won the race of speed to nip past into the left channel completely free. He cut towards goal with ample time to pick out a teammate, but didn’t look up and put a standard ball across the six yard box. Had he seen Pavlyuchenko charging in around the penalty spot it could have been a clear goal.

His strike partner Pavlyuchenko was effusive with his praise for his new teammate in the mixed zone after the game. As the local and national press swarmed around the former Russian international, he beamed a broad grin when asked about Lungu. “You need a motorbike to keep up with him, but thankfully I only have to release him.” A lot has been discussed about Pavlyuchenko’s effectiveness and motivation at this late stage in his career, but the early signs are good for his happiness in the setup alongside Lungu.

After halftime, Skripchenko instructed his defence to sit further back into a much more conservative 5-4-1 to protect the lead, which left Lungu to chase more loose balls without having much direct effect. One half chance at the near post from a low Kulakov cross was about the nearest he came to scoring himself, and although he mesmerised the crowd with a sublime Cruyff turn after the hour, his job had been done.

While a lot has been made of the loss of Ural’s three top goalscorers from last season in Spartak Gogniev, Edgar Manucharyan and Gerson Acevedo, Skripchenko appears to have a plan to make the most out of his squad with Lungu finally at centre stage. As Goncharenko trudged out of the stadium with his hands firmly thrust in his pockets, he must have felt a pang of frustration at not having brought the most out of the man known as Chisa.

---

Follow Andrew on Twitter: @AndrewMijFlint