UEFA EURO 2016: Russia team preview

20:00, Jun 11 2016
20:00, Jun 11 2016
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Just eight years ago, Russia reached the semi-finals of Euro 2008 after beating Holland 3-1 in extra time. That tournament introduced a group of players to wider Europe, including Pavlyuchenko, Arshavin and Zhirkov, who soon signed for the biggest clubs in London – Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea.

https://youtu.be/-UxtMOJpWRc

Russia – Holland 3-1

Before the Euros, Zenit St. Petersburg won the UEFA Cup, drubbing Bayern 4-0 at home along the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzTOp8enHFc

Zenit – Bayern 4-0

That Zenit side was made up almost solely of Russian players. In fact, the national team was so strong that midfielder Igor Denisov (scored winner in the UEFA Cup final) was left out of the Euro 2008 squad. The injury of UEFA Cup top scorer Pavel Pogrebnyak didn’t seem to matter much either, as Russia had Pavlyuchenko.

However, since the highs of 2008 things have taken a downturn. The new generation of Russian players haven’t been so bright. The team struggled through qualifying, failing to win against Moldova at home and losing twice to Austria, which led to the dismissal of Fabio Capello. The Italian was replaced by CSKA coach Leonid Slutsky who managed to save the campaign by winning four games in a row.

Euro 2016 Squad

Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moskva), Yuri Lodygin (Zenit), Guilherme (Lokomotiv Moskva).

Defenders: Aleksei Berezutski (CSKA Moskva), Vasili Berezutski (CSKA Moskva), Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA Moskva), Dmitri Kombarov (Spartak Moskva), Roman Neustädter (Schalke), Georgi Schennikov (CSKA Moskva), Roman Shishkin (Lokomotiv Moskva), Igor Smolnikov (Zenit).

Midfielders: Igor Denisov (Zenit), Dmitri Torbinski (Krasnodar), Aleksandr Golovin (CSKA Moskva), Denis Glushakov (Spartak Moskva), Oleg Ivanov (Terek Grozny), Pavel Mamaev (Krasnodar), Aleksandr Samedov (Lokomotiv Moskva), Oleg Shatov (Zenit), Roman Shirokov (CSKA Moskva).

Strikers: Artem Dzyuba (Zenit), Aleksandr Kokorin (Zenit), Fedor Smolov (Krasnodar)

Key Player: Oleg Shatov

Oleg Shatov has had a very good season. With 10 goals and 9 assists the 25-year old has been an integral part of Zenit’s midfield both domestically and in the Champions League. A creative midfielder whose best qualities are his range of passing, holding on to the ball and shooting from range. Shatov is also very versatile tactically and has played in six positions this season – left attacking midfielder, left forward, left midfielder, central midfielder, right attacking midfielder and right forward. Shatov’s performances in the last year have earned him an average rating of 7.30 on WhoScored.com.

A friendly game France v Russia (4:2). Shatov (#17) is assisting Yuri Zhirkov

Qualifying

RussiaGraph3

Group Matches 

England v Russia – 11 June, 2016

Russia v Slovakia – 15 June, 2016

Russia v Wales – 20 June, 2016

Click here for the full Euro 2016 match schedule. 

Verdict

With no less than 7 players over the age of 30 – all of whom aren’t reserve players – this will be one of the oldest squads at the Euros. The fact that three of the over 30’s are some of the key defensive players is fairly worrying. The Berezutski twins and Ignashevich are 34 and 37 this summer.

Note: With this same defence and goalkeeper (Akinfeev), CSKA conceded a staggering 39 goals in their last 18 Champions League matches. Akinfeev finds himself in an unenviable position as holder of the worst-ever streak in CL, conceding goals in 37 consecutive matches.

Roma – CSKA 5-1

CSKA won the league in Russia this year, playing well defensively, but, amid economic crisis, the level of the league has fallen, and many of it’s top players have left for foreign shores. Another reason CSKA have flourished domestically is defensive midfielder Wernbloom, who was undoubtedly their best player. He would play as a central defender at times, helping the slow and ageing back four.

This highlights a likely problem for Russia in these upcoming finals. They don’t have a defensive midfielder who can do the job to anywhere near the level of Wernbloom. Instead, they have Denisov. But in 2008 he was 24 and played for the UEFA Cup winners, now it seems his spark has gone and at 32 his team Dinamo have just been relegated from the league.

Things turned uglier for Russia, when their key central midfielder Dzagoev sustained an injury which means he will miss the competition. He will be replaced by 32-year old Torbinski, the player who scored the decisive goal against Holland eight years ago.

The acute problems in defence and midfield will make Russia an easy target for agile teams, like England, who are seemingly brimming with pace and attacking talent. With this in mind, a good starting point in this tournament would be to back an England win in the opening game against Russia.

Secondly, despite not being the strongest Russian side in history, they should have enough to progress to the last 16, as only eight teams will be eliminated at the group stage, but this is as far as Russia could go. Russia to get eliminated in the final 16 also looks a good bet.

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Euro 2016
20:00/11 jun
England - Russia
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Euro 2016
20:00/11 jun
Russia Stage of Elimination
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