In spring Lokomotiv is the best RPL team, and Dzyuba — after the failure in Turkey and months of unemployment — is number one among the players. How it happened — in the material Sport.
Already in the Cup with Spartak, it was clear how important Dzyuba was for the attack of Lokomotiv. In the fall, the team experienced big problems with the development of attacks — the entire burden of delivering the ball to the front line fell on the defenders and central midfielders. Now they don’t have to invent anything – a vertical pass towards Artem works just as stably as before in Zenit and the national team.
Artem began to score in the championship. Three goals to Rostov, a goal plus a pass in the match with Krasnodar, two goals in Nizhny. Galaktionov managed to build an attacking game so that Dzyuba was the main character. And Artem pays the coach in full for his trust, making Lokomotiv the best team of the spring. Having resumed the championship with four victories in a row, the Red-Greens not only climbed out of the basement of the table, but also broke away from the play-off zone. And in many respects this is the merit of Dziuba, whom the RPL recognized as the best player in March.
Nobody expected such a return. Everyone knew what Artem was capable of, but most clubs had reasons not to sign him. For some, the problem was in finances, for others, in the need to adjust the game for such a specific player, and finally, in others, in character. And for everything to work out, there had to be a perfect puzzle. Lokomotiv did it.
Character and motivation If Dzyuba wants to prove something, this is an ideal alignment for his new team. So it was in “Spartacus”, and “Zenith”, when he was sent on loan. And also in the national team, when they indicated that he had no place on the basis. The same thing is happening now. If Dzyuba feels that they do not believe in him, this is a powerful motivation. In character, he himself gives out an excellent level of play, and periodically drags the whole team on himself.
Dzyuba is a leader by nature. This is what Lokomotiv lacked in the fall. There are many young players in the roster, but few with experience and character. Barinov, who was forced to carry everything on his own almost alone, coped poorly and dumped dissatisfaction with his partners in the press. Now Loko looks different, including due to the presence of an experienced and motivated Dziuba, who pulls out partners in difficult moments.
The structure of Lokomotiv's game It may seem strange, but Dzyuba did not suit many clubs in terms of playing characteristics. Tall, powerful, technical, good at playing along, but a slow player — this is not exactly what modern coaches are looking for. Even in not the fastest RPL, the attacker is required to run quite a lot, and Dzyuba is not suitable for such a game. But Lokomotiv really needed a striker, and Galaktionov managed to adjust the structure of the game to such a specific player.
Now Loko is essentially a team divided into two parts. There are six players (defenders and two defensive midfielders) who do most of the defense, and there is a front line of four players who take care of both setting up attacks and finishing them. The six players in the back line allows the attack team to focus on the attack.
This is also why Dziuba does not need much movement in Lokomotiv. The team is not active in pressing, often using long balls to get out of defense. In addition, he is surrounded by very fast, mobile players — Glushenkov, Pinyaev, Miranchuk, Zhemaletdinov, Kamano. They work qualitatively on rebounds, and give the necessary openings to free zones, give mobility to the team's attack. On the one hand, their activity allows Dziuba to be effective in playing along, and on the other hand, it distracts the attention of the defenders.
Dzyuba's level and the level of defenders Artyom's game has never depended on speed, and with age, his level practically does not decrease. Its lower demand is rather a trend of the times and global changes in football, and Dziuba did not become worse at playing it. Everything is with him — top heading, and an excellent side-play, and the ability to work with the body, and the search for chances in the penalty area.
At the same time, the level of resistance in the RPL continues to decline. The league gets weaker every year. Strong legionnaires leave, their place is taken by weaker foreigners or young Russians. This cannot but affect the quality of the teams' play, including in defense. And Dzyuba perfectly uses his superiority both in skills and in experience. It is not difficult for him to slip away from the attention of an inexperienced defender or to outplay an opponent 1 to 1.
Lokomotiv has almost saved Dzyub from relegation and the club will probably extend his contract with him. And this means that the story of Artem in the RPL is far from over, as it seemed last summer. All the data to be one of the best in the RPL remains with Dzyuba. All you need is motivation. One of them, as the Match TV striker said, is to get ahead of Alexander Kerzhakov in the «status of the best scorer of all Rus'.»