Remember how in the summer they laughed at the decision of “Spartacus” to invite Abaskal? Even against the background of Vanoli, who did not work independently before the “red-whites”, but was an assistant in the Italian national team and Conte in top clubs, the young and unknown Spaniard looked rather weak. What can we say about Ruy Victoria and Domenico Tedesco — they looked like stars in comparison with the «no-name» Guillermo. Especially in «Basel» for several months, Abascal did not improve the game of the team, winning only five matches out of 14, after which the club refused to approve him as head coach.
With “Spartacus” it turns out differently: the Spaniard shows excellent results, surpassing most of the coaches of the “red-whites” in terms of the percentage of matches won. Now the Spartacists win every second meeting. It will be difficult to maintain such a result in the long run, but even now we can say that the invitation of Abaskal was not a mistake. Several factors contribute to its progress.
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Order in the club and the team
After the departure of Leonid Fedun, Spartak is much less shaken by scandals, intrigues and investigations. The management does not get involved in coaching, does not make loud statements and generally behaves quite quietly. This approach is beneficial to any club, and even «Spartacus» — even more so.
Abaksal put things in order on his territory. It is difficult to say what Rui Victoria and Paolo Vanoli were trying to build, but the team was not just in a fever under their leadership — it clearly lacked integrity and order. Guillermo came to the club with a clear idea of the game, with principles, and immediately began to move the players in the direction he needed. And he does not deviate from the course under the influence of unsuccessful segments. It is easier for football players when the coach is confident in his own actions and does not require them to take a new approach to the game in each match.
High intensity
It suddenly turned out that in order to win in the RPL, you don’t have to be a titled coach at all (which, by the way, the same Carrera has already proved). It is enough to instill modern football in the players. And what is it in the first place? Intensity. What is sorely lacking in RPL teams and in what they are so far behind European teams.
The huge difference in this indicator led to problems for our clubs in European competition. The opponent could have prepared worse tactically, have a weaker squad, but still outplay the Russians — simply due to quick actions. And it's not so much about the speed of movement, but about the speed of decision-making.
Abascal instills «Spartak» just such a football. Players combine the speed of movement on the field with the speed of the ball. According to Instat, the “red-whites” are at the same time the leaders of the RPL in terms of the intensity of actions in defense, and at the same time they are in third place in terms of passing speed. You can notice how fast players move without the ball — both in defense and in attack.
When in possession of the ball, midfielders and attacking players are constantly on the move, looking for free zones. Often there are drawings in a compact space with the participation of three or four people. And the Spartacists demonstrate good transmission accuracy even at high speed. If a team loses the ball, all players tend to actively engage in the selection or saturate the area near the ball.All this is impossible without prompt response to the situation. The players began to better navigate the episodes and, when necessary, to dispose of the ball faster, open correctly or go back. Together, this helps Spartak win.
New ideas in attack
We have already seen high intensity in RPL. Last season, Dynamo Schwartz, playing in a similar way, went close to Zenit for a long time and even imposed some kind of fight for the championship. However, at the finish, the “white-blue” drooped. Internal problems have deprived the team of confidence, and the opponents have adapted to their game.
For more «Dynamo» did not have enough quality in attack. As Kurban Berdyev noted in an interview, Schwartz was unable to take the next step. Having built an excellent pressing team, the German stopped there. He failed to establish a positional attack, without which it is difficult to claim trophies./
In this regard, Abascal looks like a more prepared coach. He has a clear understanding of what the team should do when in possession of the ball, how to develop attacks and bring them to impact. The concept is built around the constant change of positions. The extreme midfielder can go to the center of the field, the forward — to the flank, and the central midfielder can make a dash behind the back of the opponent's defenders or change places with the extreme defender. Such a rotation does not stop even for a minute, forcing opponents to adapt and make decisions very quickly. And it works, because many RPL teams do not know how to competently get out of such situations.
Constant change of positions, continuous movement of the ball, accurate short plays according to clear algorithms — such an attack will become a problem for any team. A well-oiled positional attack allows Spartak not to lag too far behind Zenit in terms of performance, and to get ahead of everyone else. The Abascal gang is in second place in the RPL in terms of shots from outside the box, sharp passes, and the number of chances created. «Dynamo» Schwartz and then inferior.
Of course, even such a football to fight for the championship, «Spartacus» may not be enough. The current “Zenith” is too strong. But in the fight for second place, the “red-whites” have no competitors yet. And the merit of Abaskal, who put modern football to the team, is enormous in this. The situation in «Spartacus» once again shows how little the former merits in football mean. It is important that you can give the team here and now.