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Spartak lost to Fakel for the first time in 23 years. The Red-Whites are eight points behind the leading Krasnodar. At the same time, the “bulls” have a match in hand. Guillermo Abascal has hit the ceiling and has nothing more to give to this squad. Sports explains why the capital's club urgently needs to change its coach.
After an unsuccessful spring, management continued to believe in the Spaniard and hoped that the specialist would begin to produce results. Spartak formed its roster and spent a lot of money looking for reinforcements. The team was seen fighting for gold. However, for now the “red-whites” are falling further and further behind the leaders.
Russian Premier League (RPL)
October 28, 2023 • starts at 14:00
Finished
FakelRussia
2 : 0
Spartak MoscowRussia
70' • Evgeniy Markov (P)
84' • Maxim Maximov (Vyacheslav Yakimov)
At the beginning of the season, Spartak won several well-deserved victories, scored a lot, and the lack of reliability in defense was attributed to the lack of transfers . Time passed, but the defense did not improve even with the arrival of the long-awaited newcomers. The attack gradually stagnated. In the last eight matches of the championship, the team left the field four times without goals.
In the cup match with Dynamo (0:3) at the beginning of October, Spartak generally made only one shot on target. The match ended with the logical defeat of Abascal's charges and actually put an end to the coach's future. A painful draw with CSKA and a victory over Paris NN only slightly delayed the inevitable resignation.
A year ago, Spartak looked very interesting both in attack and defense. The team's play was based on a polished flank combination in front and high intensity action in the back. In attack, the players created chances through quick plays with frequent changes of positions, and in defense they timely saturated the zone, preventing opponents from attacking through space.
This kind of football is quite complex, it requires teamwork, a good understanding of the game and discipline. Footballers must feel each other, know where and when to open up. Otherwise the attack will be too slow. In defense you need to work hard and play out all the moments without turning off for a second.
Last season, after the winter break, Spartak lost some teamwork — the leaders dropped out due to injuries and Abascal expanded the rotation. With the arrival of newcomers in the summer, the roster turned out to be too bloated, so the coaching staff changed players just to give everyone playing time. This had a negative impact on the quality of the attack.
Most of all, the team sank in defense. If last fall the midfielders performed a huge amount of defensive work, then in the spring many stopped maintaining discipline at the back. The four defenders were often left without support and, of course, could not cope.
The same thing continued in the new season, Abascal did not draw any conclusions. He continued to put on the field players who were weak in defense — Roman Zobnin and Victor Moses. Theo Bongonda is also not used to going back, and Quincy Promes has long enjoyed the privilege.
By October the team had lost the remnants of the football that had produced results a year ago . Only in the last games did the head coach decide to make radical changes in the lineup, but he was too late with this move. Abaskal lost his team, which is confirmed by conflicts with the players.
The sooner the club decides to make changes, the greater the chances of Spartak returning to the race for the trophy. The current squad is capable of solving big problems, but with Abascal this is no longer possible. The team needs a new head coach now. This will give the “red-whites” a chance to save the season.
The author’s opinion may not coincide with the position of the editors