Openness is better than lies and rudeness: experts and fans like Karpin's team

It is not clear why, but from the first match of the national football team of the country under the leadership of Valery Karpin, the fans were expecting some kind of miracle. As if in a couple of months after the resignation of Stanislav Cherchesov, the level of football in Russia suddenly rose sharply. No, it has not grown, and a goalless draw with a rather faceless game is a confirmation of this. Only the atmosphere in the national team inspires some hope. If Cherchesov's everything was covered with the darkness of eastern secrets, then Karpin's is almost European openness.

This feature in his match report journalist Yevgeny Markov considered as perspective:

“The national team is surrounded by a sense of novelty everywhere, and it is so insidious that you can be fascinated by any result just because this is Karpin, this is a squad without Dziuba, this is a smiling and talkative team. Which is much more difficult to criticize than to praise. Especially when Miranchuk and Golovin enter the field at the same time.

Turning off the charm, I say that the national team surprised not only with the wrapper (those same new names and experiments, even in the goalkeeper's line, where five players were invited). The national team was surprised by the fact that it was calm for it throughout the entire match: there was no confusion at the start, as well as weak segments at the end, when the national team was crushed. Moreover, the national team did not dissolve into effectively boring football (a zero draw - just like that), but behaved self-sufficient, controlling both its strength and the overall scenario.

Therefore, I disagree with those who say that the names are new, and the team is old. I like Karpin's team already! Russia played decently with Croatia.

Karpin's team wants to pay attention not only for the sake of experiment and hopes (Cherchesov's national team did not even have this), but because Russia can create chances at the gates of a team that roared and sparkled at Euro in a match with the Spaniards (one of the best teams in Europe) , and instantly explode with a blow. The result is normal. And yet surprising in how calm it was for the national team. Why? The team visually moves forward. And where there is movement, there is power..."

The well-known Russian commentator Dmitry Guberniyev also positively perceived the game of our team:

“The game itself is better than words here. The new coach calculated everything correctly. It is impossible to open up. You cannot play. Yes, you may not win at the same time. But it’s not that bad. Personal meetings will not matter at all. The main thing here is not to let the Croats score three points. By the way, Slovenia and Slovakia also played in a draw. So strategically everything is correct for now. Croats are stronger than us. We didn't lose to them. The rivals in the group were not released. By the way, the substitutions played with us! You need to take 6 points further. With those who are weaker..."

Former player of the USSR and Russian national teams Andrey Kanchelskis believes that in Karpin's national team, the players have a struggle, desire, fire in their eyes:

“Now the most important thing is the result, not how the guys play. We understand that the Croats are a top team, so a draw with them is a positive result. Then we will already demand some kind of beautiful or ugly game. Of course, I would like them to win, but, I repeat, the struggle continues. It doesn't matter how you start, the main thing is how you finish. Now we can write whatever we want, say what is right and what is wrong. Of course, changes are visible in comparison with the previous team. Anyone who does not see these changes does not understand football. Attitude, desire, struggle. The guys' eyes were burning, they were struggling, they could see their understanding that playing with the Croats was very important for everyone..."

In a radio interview Sputnik sports journalist Alexey Osin called the zero result of the game "acceptable" for the Russian national team.

“The result is acceptable, moreover, head coach Valeriy Karpin said before the match that a draw would be fine for him, and the game was quite fast in terms of content. Our foodball players play their team rather slowly and very sluggishly, but here is a very lively game filled with struggle The principles with which the national team under the leadership of Karpin will probably always play have changed: this is fast football, this football is partly flanking, there are practically no riding passes to the central striker. So there is something new, fresh. time, in the next matches. If not, then I think that there will be goals scored and victories will appear, so, in general, the feeling is positive, "said Alexey Osin.

True, journalist Kirill Shulika did not see the difference between the teams of Karpin and Cherchesov:

I’ll write the main thing about our match with the Croats - I don’t understand why Cherchesov was changed. Everything is literally the same to the point. Well, there was an attempt to play another football in the first half, but it quickly ended. In the second half, there is already a pole and a bus, and this despite the fact that the Croats are even more than three times weaker than themselves in 2018. It was possible to win even with the composition that is, if you add a little coaching thought. But in Russia it simply does not exist. Few people say that the coaching school has degenerated, and that something new is being born among foreigners such as Schwartz, Nikolic or Tedesco.

There are huge problems with the roster though. The national team has neither the first goalkeeper, nor a clear leader, and the best was 18-year-old Zakharyan, although he played much more timidly than in Dynamo, but it is understandable. There is no one to push, there is no one to be the ringleader. A gray, colorless, faceless team, I can't imagine how you can sincerely root for it. There was different football, there were a couple of interesting moves, but hardly anyone will remember them, such teams are not remembered in principle. Miranchuk and Golovin dissolved on the field. On the one hand, it is clear that they played less in the championships than the RPL players, and, on the other hand, they simply cannot play this viscous heavy football. (...)

And any reform will not change all this in a year or two. Now it is for a long time. Prepare yourself for the fact that we will stop going to major tournaments and at the national team level there will be the same trouble as in European competitions.

Therefore, the game with the Croats will be included in the asset. Thank God they did not lose. We can still grab the chance to perform a miracle and go to Qatar.

So Karpin has absolutely Cherchesovian football. Down to the smallest detail. As if they just changed Salamich's clothes and extended his white hair so that he looked like Karpin.

However, in parentheses I will note that this is also Berdyevsky, Seminsky, Semakovsky and any other Russian football. He is already indistinguishable. The confrontation between the schools of Beskov and Lobanovsky can now become a plot for a science fiction film..."

Journalist Dmitry Yegorov is also not inclined to sing praises to the Russian national team:

Is a draw with Croatia a good result?!

Or do we not understand that this Croatia is one of the weakest in the history of the country?

Or do we not notice that there was a key game in Luzhniki for reaching the World Cup?

Or have you forgotten that this is not a selection for the jubilee Euro, which included three teams from a group?

After all, we still admire the experiments so much: Miranchuk's false nine, Zakharyan's debut, Dziuba's absence - as if it worked and as if today there are freight trains before the start of the qualifying cycle. But no - the freight trains didn’t work either. And yes - 2 points lost in the fight for 1-2 places in the group and zero goals with Smolov on the bank.

After the first match of the new headquarters there is no reason for pride and even for minimal joy, although there are no special complaints either to the team or to Karpin, because in 2-3 days you will not prepare anything at all and will not play enough. (...)

You can't forbid anyone to believe in Valera or in Stas. However, there is a belief that the influence of individual names, curls or mustaches on the future of our football today is greatly exaggerated. Karpin of success, of course, but after quite dull zeroes with gloomy Croatia, instead of a set-off, I would like to wish that the enthusiastic admirers just as zealously did not demand his dismissal in 2 months..."

Former midfielder of the Russian national team, one of the best players in its history, Alexander Mostovoy, also said that he did not see big changes in the game of Russian footballers:

“Now there is such euphoria after what happened at the European Championships. We lost, the coach was fired with a scandal... Now, it seems, a new one. Well, so far we are playing mediocre. According to today's game, Dziuba would help..."

It's worth reminding that the Russian national team scored seven points in four rounds and ranks second in the standings of group H. The national team of Croatia (7) is higher in additional indicators.