Nil creativity, nil creation, nil finishing, plus near-to-zero teamwork. Everything that Murat Yakin built from the thrashing of Rubin and hard-earned victory against Dynamo, crumbled in a drab 90 minutes in the humidity of Krasnodar. Different gaffer this time around, but the same opponent destroyed them at the same venue last season.
What went wrong
1: Dzyuba-less Spartak = incompetence
The towering striker, who benefited from his fruitful loan at Rostov last season, came back with a bang for the capital club. Together with fellow loanee Jano, they excelled for Spartak in their two openers. But without him, Spartak struggled to find a person to feed the ball to. Even a rejuvenated Jano in the middle could not do anything for the team. Waris, who flourished for Valenciennes on loan, struggled horrifically after replacing Dzyuba. Failing to connect with the midfielders, his lack of physical presence made it hard for him to connect with the long ball. The same went for Davydov, who came on during the dying minutes.
2: Promes needs time to gel
Newly-signed Promes came from Twente, hoping to offer more options on the flank for Yakin. Given the chance to shine from the start for his new team, he failed to impress. He did not even register a single shot on goal, losing the ball consistently far out on the flank and looking lost on the field. Even with Dzyuba on the field, Promes failed to find a connection with him. He needs to figure things out quickly, or he’ll end up like the previous two Dutchmen, de Zeeuw and Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, who failed miserably in Moscow.
3: Back four and defensive midfielders
In Denis Glushakov, Spartak actually has one of the best anchoring midfielders in the league who can move up the field and track down tirelessly. But the problem, which is similar to the one they had last season, is that Glushakov struggles to communicate with the pair at the back. To be honest, Insaurralde and Bocchetti is not the fastest pair to deal with Krasnodar’s fluidity and pace. Given he has the quicker Tasci and steadier Joao Carlos in his ranks, one could question Yakin’s decision to start with this duo. On the flank, Makeev again proved why he is so far behind CSKA’s Shchennikov and Kuban’s Eschenko, failing to register a consistent performance to indicate how good he is. He struggled against a worn-out Izmailov and Akhmedov.
With the CSKA derby looming, Yakin needs to find the right formula and motivate his team. A win in the derby can lift the spirit of the team and if everything falls right, Spartak can fulfill their dream of lifting the trophy in their inaugural year at Otkritie Arena.
A few questions remain for the coach and his management team. The loss of Dzyuba and Tino from the disastrous outing at Krasnodar added to their long injury list, which already included main striker Yura Movsisyan and newly-signed Russian skipper Roman Shirokov. Yakin needs to figure out who is going to replace Dzyuba in the center, with Waris failing his task of being alone in the middle. He might regret his decision to let Lucas Barrios go on loan to Montpellier earlier, though the Paraguayan was reported to be unhappy at the club.
Any signing looks unlikely, though, even with Movsisyan and Dzyuba currently on the treatment table. When they come back, the team will have a surplus up front, meaning the club has to try and ride it out for now. With Jurado healthy and Ozbiliz on the mend, Spartak have a lot of pace on the flank and a decent team for a full season. For a quick fix right now, the Swiss might try a two striker system with Waris and Jurado in the center. And, at the back, switching Makeev to the middle is an option, to deal with CSKA’s attacking line that is full of speed and dangerous. Bringing back the skipper Dima Kombarov would be the best option on the left, after Yakin left him out of the starting line-up at Krasnodar.
My Spartak XI for the derby
Rebrov - Parshivlyuk, Makeev, Bocchetti, D. Kombarov - Glushakov, Kallstrom - Promes, Jano - Jurado, Waris
Spartak injury list
Dzyuba (doubtful for CSKA), Romulo (3 weeks - knee), Tino Costa (4 weeks), Movsisyan, Shirokov, Ozbiliz, Ebert
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Follow Ashraff Hasnan on Twitter: @serapdesengal
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