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CSKA Moscow: The Muscovites do the unthinkable against the mighty City

  By O-Posts Team | November 11, 2023 - 03:42 | , , ,
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CSKA Moscow beat Manchester City away from home? Really? Yes, even I couldn’t have imagined that. You don’t become Russian champions by being a bad team, but CSKA really have had a rough time of it at Europe’s top table of late. Six defeats out of your past seven UEFA Champions League games is nothing to write home about, and everyone was expecting the Russians to get rolled over in England. Just how wrong we were.

The Muscovites did come into this game with a bit of confidence though. Despite falling to Zenit 0-1 in a Russian top of the table clash on the weekend they have been in pretty decent form, scrapping to a 2-2 draw against Manchester City in Khimki, and progressing to the Russian Cup quarter finals, defeating Torpedo 2-0. Their biggest boost however came with the return of star forward Seydou Doumbia to the lineup.

The 26 year old Ivorian is a true goal machine in Russian football, and CSKA head coach Leonid Slutskiy was only happy to reinstall him into the team following a lengthy injury. And just how he made a difference. Right from the off CSKA rather surprisingly grabbed the initiative, and only seconds in their number 88 headed in a pinpoint Bibras Natcho set piece to give them the perfect start.

The perfect start that soon looked as though it was going to turn into another European nightmare. The hosts earned their own dangerous looking free kick six minutes later, and attacking midfielder Yaya Toure whipped it beautifully past despairing CSKA goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev. Incidentally it was an unbelievable 25th Champions League match in a row in which the Russian international had conceded, a tournament record. Nevertheless CSKA didn’t let that setback rock them at all, and set about taking full control of the game.

Handing the initiative to their opponents the Russians expertly picked out every hole in the Manchester defence when counterattacking, and just moments after missing a glorious opportunity, Seydou Doumbia made it two. Taking in a clever sliding pass from again Bibras Natcho, he made no mistake when clear in the penalty box.

It was always set up to be a nervy second half, but just how CSKA played so calmly. Browsing over social media after the game I came across a comment stating that it was the most assured and confident passing performance from a Russian club that this particular fan had ever seen, and it’s hard to disagree with him. They were simply outstanding. Fearless one twos in midfield when surrounded, short snappy passes when breaking out of defence instead of hacking the ball clear, winning almost all second balls. If anyone had thought that Russian football was dead, then they need to take a look at a rerun of this match.

But of course, it’s hard to ignore the referee’s performance. Tasos Sidiopoulos, a Greek, certainly won’t be wanting to make any more trips to Manchester soon. The two red card decisions against the hosts he got right, but he made a huge mistake when booking CSKA defender Vasiliy Berezutskiy instead of Pontus Wernbloom, who himself was already on a booking.

He shouldn’t overshadow however what was just about the perfect game from CSKA. It takes guts to come to Manchester and play with such confidence and class, but they pulled it off spectacularly, and such a show of flowing passing football brought back memories of Zenit Saint Petersburg’s run to the UEFA Cup all the way back in 2008.

CSKA though have every hope of making the last 16 of the Champions League, as they are level on four points with second placed AS Roma. The next matchday happens to pitch the two clubs against each other in Moscow, but that can wait as we enjoy a day to remember for Russian football.

 

 

Written by Shaun Nicolaides

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Keisuke Honda: AC Milan’s gain, CSKA Moscow’s loss

  By O-Posts Team | January 25, 2024 - 01:10 | , ,
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It may have been on the cards for a long time, but finally Keisuke Honda has decided to make the step up from CSKA Moscow to one of the world’s biggest clubs, AC Milan. Honda for already around 4 years has been capturing the attention of many of a big club, but only now has he decided that the time was right to make that move.

And for Milan, the transfer has come at a perfect time. The Italians are currently having their worst Serie A campaign for a very long time and only just squeezed into the last 16 of Champions League, and even if Honda can’t compete in Europe for them yet having already played for CSKA, they will be hoping that he can help turn around their domestic fortunes.

If you think that Milan are having a bad enough season, Honda’s already former club CSKA are not faring much better. Despite being the present holders of all three Russian trophies, the Russian Premier League, the Russian Cup and Super Cup, they have seriously flattered to deceive this time around.

Although they have gained ground on current Russian league leaders Zenit Saint Petersburg recently, in the Champions League they had a group stage to forget. Being drawn in a group alongside Manchester City and Bayern Munich didn’t do them any favours, but losing out to Czech minnows Viktoria Plzen for the Europa League spot was rightly so deemed simply unacceptable. And they still had possession of Honda at that time.

Not that he had been looking himself in the last few months of his CSKA career. As soon as he returned to Moscow from the Confederations Cup in Brazil last year, rumours starting circling that his departure for AC Milan was imminent, even Honda himself came out to the media stating that he had already started learning Italian.

CSKA weren’t willing to let him go, even though they knew full well that they would not make any profit on him at all when his contract ended in the winter and the player would be free to go where he wanted. And when a player knows that whatever happens he’ll be moving on, it’s hard to give 100%.

That’s exactly what happened, with Honda giving pretty poor performances not only in the Russian league but in the Champions League too, where he missed some guilt edged opportunities against Manchester City and Bayern.

That didn’t put Milan off though and why should it, he’s already shown time and time again that he is a playmaker of the highest calibre. Honda can strike a dead ball well as he has shown plenty of times in a Japan shirt, and for Milan he’s a player that can help them a lot right now. Just the thought of Kaka running at them and Honda sitting just behind the forwards ready to make an incisive pass at any moment should start to make their opponents scared of them again.

If it’s going to solve all of Milan’s problems though, it’s a different question. In the last few years Italian football has been gradually slipping further and further behind the rest of Europe, and it doesn’t seem that a repeat of Milan’s Champions League triumph in 2007 is forthcoming any time soon. And with Honda being cup-tied for the Champions League this season, the move certainly doesn’t help them out in that respect.

But in Italy the move could help them out to get back to winning ways. With Stephan El Shaarawy still sitting on the sidelines the Milanese have lacked a bit of star quality in recent weeks and to rely on Mario Balotelli every game just isn’t good enough.

Honda will take up the mantle of being playmaker in chief along with Kaka, and the two should complement each other. While Kaka is at his best when moving at speed with the ball, Honda will get in the right positions either waiting for an opportunity to score himself, or to be in a great position to make a cutting pass.

How long it takes them to build up team chemistry is of course the big question, and also if new coach Clarence Seedorf will trust Honda enough to give him a lot of playing time. Things certainly haven’t started off to badly, with Honda having already bagged his first goal for the club in a 3-1 Italian Cup win against Spezia.

In the long run, despite Honda already being 27 years of age, it should turn out to be a very good bit of transfer market business. Maybe he should have already a long time ago made the move to a supposedly bigger club than CSKA, but his chance has arrived and he will now have more pressure on him to produce the goods than ever before.

Milan may not be the force they once were but it’s a club steeped in tradition, and with such a player on their books, they should look into the future with a bit more optimism.

 

Written by Shaun Nicolaides

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Alan Dzagoev: Russia’s Euro 2012 star slowly fading into the abyss

  By O-Posts Team | August 3, 2024 - 22:24 | , , , , , , , ,
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After his stunning performances in June of last year at Euro 2012, it has come as a bit of a shock, just how Alan Dzagoev has fallen away from the headlines. In fact the last headline that he made of any note, wasn’t because he helped his club CSKA Moscow win the Russian Championship for the first time in 6 seasons, but as a result of being caught on film insulting title rivals Zenit Saint Petersburg with every name under the sun.

It’s been a bit of a fall from grace, but just why such a decline in form has happened, is a bit of a puzzle. Although he didn’t do anything particularly wrong in CSKA’s title winning season, he certainly wasn’t the star of the campaign, and found himself fluttering in and out of the first team. Where this leaves his future though, isn’t any easier to figure out.

Euro 2012 couldn’t have gone much better for the Beslan native. In a poor campaign for Russia overall Dzagoev was the real only positive aspect to take away from the tournament, with 3 of Russia’s five goals coming from him directly, and showing just what Russian supporters had to look forward to for the next few years.

At one point, it even seemed he had one foot in Arsenal, but in just one year, all that fuss has completely faded away into virtually nothing. One thing that didn’t help his cause though, was CSKA’s absence from Europe. Going into the second leg of their Europa League qualifying game against unfancied Swedish side AIK 1-0 up from the away leg, the Russians inexplicably capitulated, losing 2-0 in one of their worst European results in their history.

Bowing out of Europe only seemed to help the Army men however, with their main rivals Zenit and Anzhi being preoccupied with the Europa League until late April. And it showed in the final standings, CSKA becoming Russian champions for the 11th time, finishing a mere two points ahead of then defending champions Zenit.

While Dzagoev was understandably overjoyed, he went a step too far with his celebrations. A CSKA fan decided to record the slightly unsavoury incident as their number 10 emerged to celebrate with fans following their title clinching game against Kuban, and he for whatever reason felt compelled to shout obscenities to the address of Zenit (the clip is down below). Not surprisingly the video went viral and the media certainly took wind of it, but surprisingly the RFS decided to take no notice of the whole situation and it wasn’t followed up.

He may have got away without punishment, but that was just about the most eye-catching thing he had done all season. Apart from a spectacular bicycle kick against Volga early on, he didn’t do an awful lot that was worth taking any notice of, and for a player that had taken Europe by storm on the biggest stage of all just a matter of months ago, it has come as a real disappointment.

Although now already 23, he had already caught the attention of Europe’s big guns preceding last year’s European championships, his talent spring-boarded him into the CSKA first team on a regular basis from a young age, and Real Madrid were rumoured to be sniffing around after his services.

But after Euro 2012 if his name wasn’t already known, it certainly was made known. And a club known for spotting raw talent, Arsenal, seemed poised to make their move. With one ageing and out of form Russian already on their books, Andrey Arshavin, Dzagoev seemed the ideal replacement.

Although a concrete offer was never officially made, it was seeming to be just a matter of time before CSKA parted ways with their new main star, but it for whatever reason, it hasn’t turned out that way for the time being at least. Let’s not write off him just yet, but it does seem, that he let the opportunity slip through his fingers when it seemed the perfect time to make the move West.

It isn’t just with CSKA where he has fallen slightly out of favour either. Fabio Capello, appointed head coach of the Russian national team following Euro 2012, seems unwilling to put too much faith into Dzagoev, and coupled with CSKA being out of Europe’s focus last season, it’s no wonder why everyone has forgotten about Russia’s brightest hope.

His talent was on showcase for at least some of Europe at the recent under 21 European championships in Israel, where he managed to score one goal and show himself in a good light in the two games in which he took part in, but his country’s early exit got in the way of showing what he could really do.

A new season brings new hope and opportunity though, and with CSKA competing in the Champions League group stage, he has yet another fantastic platform on which to showcase all of his abilities.

The season in Russia has already started, and while for Dzagoev himself things haven’t started off as he would have dreamt them, missing a penalty against Krylya Sovetov just a matter of hours after becoming a father, he should be saving himself for the upcoming Champions League in September.

There’s not much doubting about just what talent he possesses, and with this being a pretty tough time for Russia’s youth system, every single talented player for the future needs to be looked after, and not be let to slip by the wayside. With Dzagoev that shouldn’t be the case, after all winning the league crown with your club is no achievement to be sneered upon.

With personal matters he has to step up on his game, with only being 23 the best years of his career are still well ahead of him, but if those years of his career are going to be spent fulfilling his potential with one of Europe’s super clubs, or plying his trade with CSKA, will be decided in the near future.

 

Written by Shaun Nicolaides

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Russian Premier League: The Second Half Commences

  By O-Posts Team | March 22, 2024 - 16:49 | , , , ,
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Following on from what actually felt like quite a short winter break, the Russian Premier League has returned. And with now another 9 rounds to go, the table is now just starting to sort itself out once and for all.

Atop the pile sit CSKA Moscow, who hold a solid seven point lead over second placed Anzhi, while reigning champions Zenit sit 8 points adrift in 3rd. Right at the other end of the table, Alania and Mordovia, both stuck on just 12 points each, are just starting to be cut adrift.

But the first two rounds of the championship played this year have been nothing less than engrossing. Mordovia themselves managed to provide the biggest sensation of the season so far, beating high flying Anzhi 2-0 in Saransk in a result that shocked Europe let alone Russia.

CSKA are extending their lead at the top with every passing week, but Anzhi and Zenit aren’t done yet. With Russian clubs struggling in Europe as whole this season, you could be forgiven for assuming the level of football in Russia has taken a dip, but the football in the first two rounds this year in the Premier League have proven otherwise, in what is shaping up to be a climax to the season that is going to be thoroughly intriguing.

Talk that CSKA can already call themselves champions however, may yet be a bit early. After what has so far been almost a perfect season, the Muscovites find themselves closing in on a first league title since way back in 2006. Despite being without star striker Seydou Doumbia for most of the campaign, the Army men have powered their way into first place and show no sign of letting their grasp on the title slip.

Already having won an impressive 77% of their matches, they win just about every week without fail, and have started this year off in good fashion, finishing up on the winning side against both Krylya Sovetov and Krasnodar. One of their main men so far this season has been Swedish midfielder Rasmus Elm.

The 25 year old made his name with Dutch outfit AZ Alkmaar before making the move to Moscow, and in his debut season, his passing in midfield has made CSKA more coherent in the attacking third. He has also weighed in with a few goals also, with 5 to his name, which included a crucial equalising goal away to Zenit at the end of last year.

Elm.... impressive for the league leaders.

Elm…. impressive for the league leaders.

At the other end of the field they are proving themselves to be a force as well, conceding just 17 goals so far, the best record in the league, and to many it’s come as a bit of a surprise. A defence which consists of the Berezutskiy brothers, Alexey and Vasiliy, and Sergey Ignashevich hasn’t always had the best of reputations, but this term they have most certainly proven their worth, and Swedish full back Pontus Wernbloom has added muscle and strength into the back line.

The reasons for CSKA’s success so far in this season though could be quite simple, and it could have nothing to do with just how good the Muscovites are. Since August, when AIK Solna from Sweden somehow managed to knock out the Russian giants from European football until the next season, CSKA have been able to focus all their attention on to just domestic matters.

The same can’t be said for closest challengers Anzhi and Zenit though, who have both had to juggle their eggs between two baskets up until last week, when they both got beaten in the last 16 round of the Europa League. Anzhi have been in European action incredibly since last July, and recently, it’s been looking like it has finally taken its toil on their weary players.

Positioning themselves in second place and ready to pounce on any mistake that CSKA would make, and qualifying for the knockout stages of the Europa League, Anzhi made 2012 a year to remember. But they have started this year just how they wouldn’t have wanted. Tumbling out of Europe to a last minute goal against Newcastle in the last 16 stage was bad enough, but losing to minnows Mordovia and only getting a 1-1 draw at home to Krylya Sovetov in domestic affairs has already almost ruled out any change of silverware this season.

It’s not only Anzhi who have had a rough start to 2013. Current Russian champions Zenit Saint Petersburg haven’t quite had the start to the year that everyone dreamed of, just like Anzhi their European adventure has already come to an end at the last 16 stage. The defeat to Rubin in the first game in Russia this year has prompted many to already fully rule out Zenit from the title race, but a vital 1-0 home win against Mordovia last weekend has kept hope alive among the Saint Petersburg faithful at least.

Zenit still have to sort out internal affairs though if they want to have a realistic shot at defending their crown. Roman Shirokov publically criticised much maligned team mate Hulk after Shirokov himself missed a crucial penalty in the match against Basel, and such problems have been present in the team ever since Hulk and talented Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel joined in big money signings last summer, two transfers which were meant to enforce Zenit’s chances of glory even more, but have proven to do quite the opposite.

Anzhi and Zenit have to be looking over the shoulders as well though. The chasing pack which consists of Spartak, Kuban, Rubin and Dynamo are just starting to close in, in a race for the European places that looks set to go all the way down to the wire. Rubin are in particular looking in good shape.

A European quarter final against Chelsea in the Europa League is looming on the horizon, and it isn’t just in Europe that they have made a good start in this year. A 1-0 victory against Zenit and then a goalless draw against Terek in Grozny have helped bring Rubin within striking distance of the Saint Petersburg club and on the verge of clinching a definite European slot.

Rubin..... definite European place looks set and locked in.

Rubin….. definite European place looks set and locked in.

Looking downwards, and the action doesn’t get any more dire. Mordovia and Alania are stuck down at the bottom and are looking more and more certain to go down, despite Alania’s headline winter acquisitions of ex Real Madrid man Royston Drenthe and BATE Borisov star Renan Bressan.

Above them though is the battle to avoid the relegation playoffs, which will be played against the 3rd and 4th placed team from the First Division, and the battle is heating up. Any two of four teams could be sucked into fighting for their Premier League lives in a playoff later on this season, with Volga and Krylya Sovetov currently occupying these unwanted slots but Amkar and Rostov have no reason to sit comfortably, with just 5 points separating 14th placed Krylya with Amkar.

A thrilling last couple of months are upon us, and make any firm predictions at your peril. CSKA may be sitting pretty but chances for Zenit and Anzhi will come, especially when the Army club have 3 challenging games in a row, against Dynamo, Spartak and Rubin. A series of games in which it is almost certain they will drop valuable points.

The Muscovites may have it all in their own hands, but that is just when life starts to become more dangerous.

 

Written by Shaun Nicolaides

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