A little less than a week is left before the resumption of the season in Russian football, and our clubs are gradually coming to the end of the preparatory period. Spartak Moscow finished the second training camp in the UAE with a victory in the RPL Winter Cup 2023 tournament. The red-whites turned out to be stronger than Krasnodar, Sochi and Rostov. Now, Guillermo Abascal’s wards will have the last training camp in Turkey, which will be held from February 14 to 20, after which the club is waiting for the capital derby with Lokomotiv in the quarterfinals of the Russian Cup. The remaining three clubs participating in the winter pre-season tournament are also entering the final phase of preparations for the second part of the season.
“Spartacus”
Spartak again, as in the first training camp in the same Emirates, worked without their leader – midfielder Quincy Promes. A number of media associate this with the threat of his extradition to law enforcement agencies of the Netherlands by the UAE authorities. Since 2020, a criminal case has been opened against Promes in his native country on charges of attempted murder. The Dutchman is also credited with participating in the activities of a certain criminal group that traded in drug trafficking. According to media reports, Quincy and his relatives allegedly invested a lot of money in a large shipment of cocaine. Spartak, regarding the absence of its player at the training camp in the Emirates, limited itself to a dry explanation that the 31-year-old football player himself decided to stay in Russia due to personal circumstances.
Now Promes is in Moscow, periodically catching the eye of the public with his wife and children – for example, during home matches of the Spartak hockey team or the Legends Cup veteran football tournament that took place over the weekend. At the same time, it is possible that he will still be able to come with his team to the Turkish training camp.
Spartak player Balde Keita rejoices at the victory in the RPL Winter Cup match between FC Rostov (Rostov-on-Don) and FC Spartak (Moscow)
Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexander Stupnikov
Otherwise, the Spartak team participated in the “RPL Winter Cup” in full force. In the case, young people and two new defenders, Tomas Tavares and Alexis Duarte, were checked (the Portuguese and the Paraguayan were acquired by the club this winter). We also saw the actual debut of the Senegalese striker Keith Balde. He moved to Spartak in August and even managed to appear in the RPL, coming on as a substitute in the second half of the match with Zenit St. Petersburg (1:2). Soon, the footballer was suspended until December due to a violation of the doping control procedure while playing for the Italian Cagliari. Therefore, Spartak fans fully enjoyed the game of the 27-year-old striker just now.
Balde scored in all three matches with an effective game. First, he converted a decisive penalty in the post-match series against Rostov, won by Spartak with a score of 2: 1 (in regular time there was a goalless draw). Then – 11-meter already during the main time of the meeting with Krasnodar, where a crushing victory was achieved (4: 0). And he scored from the game in the final meeting with Sochi (2:0).
“Balde acted pretty well, but I liked the overall team game of Spartak,” Andrey Chervichenko, the former owner of Spartak, told Izvestia. – Very organized in defense and bold in attack. As a result, we won the tournament quite convincingly. And now I’m not sure that Zenit will definitely take the championship. If Spartak continues to play in the spring as it is now at the training camp, and Peter starts to misfire, the intrigue in the fight for gold may be revived.
“Krasnodar”
The new head coach of the Bulls, Vladimir Ivic, is gradually getting used to the position. Although while his team looks very unstable. She barely defeated Sochi (1:0), suffered a major defeat from Spartak (0:4), but at the same time managed to defeat Rostov (4:0).
Players of FC Krasnodar (Krasnodar) and FC Rostov (Rostov-on-Don) in the RPL Winter Cup match
Photo: press service of FC Krasnodar/fckrasnodar.ru
Like its predecessors, the Serbian specialist is trying to put the club in combination attacking football, which club owner Sergei Galitsky requires from coaches. It will be possible to test the team’s potential in combat conditions already on February 23, when it will play on the road with CSKA Moscow in the first match of the Russian Cup quarterfinals.
“It is clear that Ivic is trying to find the necessary squad, a combination of players from the selection of performers that are available,” former Krasnodar midfielder Maxim Demenko shared his opinion with Izvestia. “However, two fees are not enough for this. It can be seen that the team is acting with differences, hence such opposite matches with a score of 4:0 – a loss to Spartak and a victory over Rostov. In any case, building a complex play style is not a quick process. So we have to wait further, what happens with the club and its new coach.
“Sochi”
Kurban Berdyev, who came to the post of head coach at the end of last year, is already trying to show the “goods face”. His Sochi lost to Krasnodar only with a minimum score (0:1), then showed his best football, defeating Rostov (3:0), but looked rather faded in the game against Spartak (0:2).
Players of FC Sochi (Sochi) and FC Krasnodar (Krasnodar) in the RPL Winter Cup match
Photo: FC Sochi press service/pfcsochi.ru
Sochi residents have more than enough time to prepare for spring even better. They have already left the Russian Cup, so they will resume the season only on March 3, when they will host CSKA in the 18th round of the Russian Championship. In the meantime, Berdyev’s team is waiting for another gathering. It will be held in Turkey from 15 to 25 February.
“It is clear that Sochi already has certain features of Berdyev’s corporate identity,” said Maxim Demenko. – Discipline, density behind and in the middle of the field, tactical training. But at the same time, mistakes and downturns happen, which does not allow you to consistently show the kind of football that the coaching staff requires. This is normal, given that Berdyev started working with the team a month ago. Therefore, improvements can be expected.
“Rostov”
The Donskoy club resisted Spartak in the first match, playing a goalless draw in regular time and losing only on penalties (1:2). But then the wards of Valery Karpin completely failed, having suffered devastating defeats from Sochi (0:3) and Krasnodar (0:4).
With Rostov now in third place in the championship, this tournament was a wake-up call that raises questions about medal prospects. But the team still has time to correct the situation. In the meantime, she will have to resume the season at home with the first quarterfinal match of the Russian Cup against Ural Yekaterinburg.
Rostov player Danil Glebov (right) and Spartak player Mikhail Ignatov in the RPL Winter Cup match
Photo: RIA Novosti / Alexander Stupnikov
- I have no doubt that Rostov will add, – the former head coach of the Don club Sergey Balakhnin told Izvestia. – There is a young, but already experienced team with a qualified coaching staff. They will draw conclusions from the failures at the tournament in the Emirates. I don’t know if they will be able to win medals at the end of the championship, but the fact that they will fight for them is for sure.
Spartak after 17 rounds of the Russian championship is in second place, six points behind the leading Zenit. On February 22, he will resume the season with a cup derby against Lokomotiv. Rostov, which is third, is one point behind the red-and-whites in the RPL. “Krasnodar” and “Sochi” with an equal number of points are in the middle of the table – in eighth and ninth places, respectively. 10 points separate them from the third line.
