“Spartacus” finally after two months of searching bought a central defender. Serbian national team player Srdjan Babić arrived in Moscow and even scored in his debut match for the club. But this transfer is unlikely to solve the team's problems in defense.
How the Serb ended up in Spartak Based on the purchase of the “red-white” player in the center of defense, a whole series could be filmed. The club agreed with Strahinja Erakovich from Red Star, but Zenit intercepted the player from the Muscovites. Spartak was close to buying Davinson Sanchez from Tottenham, but then the English Premier League intervened and banned the sale of the player to Russia.
Also on the lists for reinforcement were Karl Starfelt from Celtic, Erhan Mašović from Bochum, Vitor Tormena from Braga. Spartak scouts went through a lot of options, but it happened only with the Serb Srjan Babić, who spent the last two years in Spain. And this transfer looks very strange.
It must be admitted that Babich has a good track record. He has been a first-team player at Crvena Zvezda for a long time, winning titles and playing in the Champions League. He spent the last two years in Almeria, which he helped return to Example and gain a foothold in the Spanish top league. A successful performance for a club from Andalusia attracted the attention of national team coaches. Last fall, Babić made his debut for the national team, and in November went with it to the World Cup, where he even came on as a substitute against Cameroon.
What is wrong with him? A player of a strong national team, a participant in the World Cup, with experience in European competitions and top championships — it seems that Spartak was looking for just such a player. But he will play not due to the status of a World Cup participant, but due to his football qualities. And there are serious questions for them.
First of all, in choosing Babich, his left-footedness confuses him. The previous candidates — Sanchez, Erakovic, Starfelt, Tormena and Mašovic — had one thing in common. All of these players have the right working leg. It is quite logical to look for a new defender in the right slot in order to pair Georgy Jikia.
But the final choice fell on a football player with a pronounced left working leg. And that puts Guillermo Abascal in a dilemma. Either the newcomer should replace Jikia on the field, but for all his shortcomings, George remains the best defender of the team, besides its captain. Either Babich will be used in tandem with Jikia and the Serb will have to play closer to the right flank. Two left-handers in the center of defense is a very unusual combination that will create problems for the team in the early stages of attacks.
The defensive profile of the Serb at first glance suits the team well. He rarely gets thrown into the fight, he prefers not to leave the line, he is not very active in the selection. This type of player is needed by the “red-whites” to insure overly aggressive and losing ground partners.
A good player, but not for Spartak? However, Babich's passive playing style is not caused by the focus on insurance of teammates. The Serbian is simply not sharp and fast enough, so he prefers not to risk lunges from the lane in order not to be won back. At a distance, due to his long legs, he develops high speed, but Srdjan cannot boast of good mobility and therefore is vulnerable in space.
At the same time, it cannot be said that Babić reads the game very well and plays interceptions. In Spain, he regularly let opponents behind his back, and his passive style of play did not help him much to insure partners. Spartak, on the other hand, needs a defender with a good understanding of the game, able to calculate the moves of opponents and move to the desired zone in advance.
These shortcomings do not make Babich a bad player. He is a tall and rather powerful player, tenacious in a static fight, dangerous on set pieces in attack. The Serbian works well with the ball, calmly plays the ball and hardly makes mistakes under pressure. Srjan is a good player. It's just that there are big questions about whether he will suit Spartak in the long run.
What does his cool debut mean And now we come to his debut for a new club. And it turned out to be very bright, it's silly to argue with that. Babich participated in a big 4-1 derby victory against Dynamo Moscow. And not just participated, but scored a goal. The Serb famously closed the header from the flank in the first half and doubled the advantage of Abascal's gang. And in general, it looked confident, as if refuting everything that was written above.
Only now you need to understand that this is just one match, so it is pointless to draw global conclusions based on its results. And the composition of both teams were, to put it mildly, far from optimal. Of course, Spartak fans are pleased to see such a debut from a newcomer, but you need to wait at least 5-10 more matches to understand his strengths and weaknesses.
Before the transfer of the Serb, there were no serious questions about the transfer campaign of the “red-whites”. The club stepped up the attack, bought left-footed players, as requested by Abascal, acquired a high-quality left back. Despite what the audience saw today in the performance of Spartak and Babich himself, his purchase in the center of defense still makes us put a bold question mark. And with it the championship ambitions of the “red-whites”.