Arsen Zakharyan in the first match after moving to » Real Sociedad took the field. So far, only as a substitute, but the football he has shown allows us to hope for more.
The Basques started the season with two home matches and missed the victory in both. The team came to the Canary Islands with the intention of scoring three points, especially since the opponent was the right one. Las Palmas just made it to La Liga after a five-year hiatus, and on paper the Canarians are no match for Sociedad.
However, the reality turned out to be somewhat different. The first half went with the obvious advantage of «Las Palmas», which is very high quality pressure and successfully destroyed all attempts to establish control of the guests of the ball. The hosts were more interesting in attack and created several chances after combinations on the left flank and innings from the standards.
The Basques, on the other hand, practically did not succeed in attack. The 4-4-2 with Brais Mendez as a drawn forward didn't work. The opponent blocked the right areas, the Sociedad players moved the ball slowly and made many mistakes. As a result, for the entire first half, the guests struck only one blow — Takefusa Kubo dangerously struck after shifting to the center.
Substitutions suggested themselves, but the Sociedad head coach did not dare to let Zakharyan into such a game immediately after the break. Imanol Alguacil reinforced the attack with more experienced Umar Sadiq and Mikel Oyarzabal. Arsene is more suitable for the role of strengthening the attack, when the team has the advantage. And such a situation on the field arose in the second half of the second half.
With the release of the leaders, the guests gradually turned the tide of the game and began to look more dangerous in attack. The Basques were still not very good at controlling the ball and carrying out positional attacks, but sometimes there were quick attacks. One moment, another — and now the goalkeeper, «Las Palmas» is forced to save his team. A little more pressure, finishing off — and here they are, the coveted three points.
It's time to further strengthen the attack, and Alguasil reacted instantly, releasing two attacking players. And one of them is Arsen Zakharyan, who came on as a substitute instead of Brais Mendez, who played several matches for the Spanish national team. Arsene settled into the position of central midfielder in the 4-3-3 formation, which the guests switched to in the second half.
Unfortunately, Zakharyan failed to strengthen the attack. Double substitution «Real Sociedad» played against the Basques — the team again missed the threads of the game. This is not the fault of the Russian midfielder, but in the end he had to look for his chances in difficult football without ball control. Which, of course, did not have a very good effect on Arsene's game.
On the other hand, it can be considered a plus that Arsene looked at least as good as his partners, many of whom play for not the weakest teams — for example, Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi, who played together with Zakharyan in the center of the field, won the Nations League in June with of the Spanish national team.
The Russian made a couple of mistakes in the passes, was not always in the right place in defense, could not be in time for the fight. But this is normal for the debut match of a young player who came to La Liga from Russia. Moreover, there were no less positive moments — a successful tackle in the center of the field, good movement, an accurate serve from a corner. team rookie. Alguasil and his assistants see Arsene's strengths and are ready to use them, not intending to keep them on the bench in favor of the veterans.
The Russian only needs to work hard and gradually progress. Moreover, even now he is not lost and does not fall out of the game, entering the field with Spanish collections. So in the future he can play better than them. And then his place in the starting lineup will not be in doubt.