Spartak is a champion

After the victory of Terek in the guest match of the 27th round of the Russian football Premier League over Zenit (1: 0), Spartak became the 2016/17 champion of Russia ahead of schedule.

After 27 rounds of Spartak, 63 points, CSKA - 53, Zenit - 52. Muscovites have not won gold medals for 16 years - since 2001.

For "red-white" this is the 10th title in Russia and the 22nd, taking into account the championships of the USSR.

The current victory of Spartak is largely unique. Spartak not only won the championship, which in itself was a big surprise for most experts and fans, but did it three rounds before the end of the season, ahead of the closest pursuer by 10 points.

Until now, the gap between the first and second teams at the finish of the season was no more than nine points. By the way, it is symbolic that the same Spartaks did this in the golden season 2001.

Four seasons without medals and the fifth place last year did not set up the fans in a positive way. Moreover, more and more voices began to be heard that it makes no sense to equate the “red and white” to strong clubs in Russia, since they have not seen either the result or the game performed by nine-time champions of Russia for a long time.

This season began for Muscovites very nervously. The then head coach of the club Dmitry Alenichev completed the 2015/16 season in fifth place, which allowed the team to get to the Europa League. Such a result did not satisfy the leader of the club Leonid Fedun, who demanded an entry in the four - and he fired the coach. In the summer, there were quite reasonable rumors that Fedun was negotiating with Rostov’s head coach Kurban Berdyev, but everyone remained with his own. That, as it turned out later, it benefited everyone: Berdyev forced to learn his last name football Europe, and the Italian Massimo Carrera - football Russia who came to Spartak.

On the eve of the season, Alenichev was looking for a defense specialist at the coaching staff of and, through common acquaintances, went to Carrera, who, together with the head coach of Juventus Antonio Conte, left the Turin club. Conte left for Chelsea, and Carrera accepted an offer from Russia. His zone of responsibility was the line of defense of Muscovites.

However, Leonid Fedun , who seemed to be waiting for the first miss of Alenichev, fired him after without exaggeration of the shameful departure in the first round of the European League from Cyprus Aek. The place of Alenichev was taken by Carrera. Under his leadership, Spartak did not run faster and more accurately, but in the team’s game there was a passion and a clear understanding of how the team plans to win victories. As a result, by the fourth round, an Italian specialist became a full -fledged coach.

Muscovites in the next matches won six wins in a row. And, despite the breakdown in Samara 0: 4, for a break in the Spartak championship, he left the leader with a solid margin from two main competitors - CSKA and Zenit.

The Spartak championship is a very Russian football story. In essence, what was necessary for victory? Fly out of all tournaments so as not to interfere with the championship? To appoint a little -known foreigner to appoint a coach? Use problems with competing coaches, in particular Lucescu and Goncharenko? Or just feel the general weakness of all Russian football?

If in the fall the main weapons of Spartak was a reliable game in defense (hence the seven minimum victories out of 13), then by the spring stage of Carrer was concerned about the attacking line.

After the break, the "red-white" won seven victories in ten matches (two draws and defeat from Rostov), outplaying both main competitors with a score of 2: 1. Moreover, the Army men twice during the season the Spartaks last won back in 1999, even under Oleg Romantsev .

Last summer, Alenichev completed total cleaning of the composition, releasing all those whom he did not count on. The acquisitions were also successful: most of the champion season in the center of the field was a new bunch of Zobnin - Glushakov - Fernando. It acted so successfully that each of the three automatically fell into the number of candidates for the title of the best player of the season.

Fernando, at which at first everyone chuckled due to excess weight, became a football player around whom the Spartak game is being built, a link between a strong defense and a high-speed attack. Zobnin, whom Spartak saved from the FNL, became a literally indispensable midfielder, a universal fighter who entered the field in all matches of this season. A reliable couple in the center of the field freed Glushakov from the draft work, which became more oriented towards the attack and brought Spartak with its distant strikes of 15 points. Previously, the Spartak did not have enough players who could correct the mistakes of the comrades in time, but at the very beginning of the victorious season two players appeared at once in the club, who became the embodiment of the fighting spirit.

Initially, Carrera was invited to Spartak to be replaced by Dmitry Ananko, who was responsible for the defensive actions of the team at the headquarters of Alenichev. Having headed the club, the Italian abandoned such a division of duties between the coaches and allocated extra time for the tactical training of football players with an accent to defense. As a result, most of the victories (13/20) “Spartak” won a dry, and the most favorite score of the team this season are restrained 1: 0.

Starting from the second round, Spartak refused walls and running and began to play football. Carrera knows the most in the world about the weaknesses of Spartak, so traditional arrogance was excluded from the manner of the game and disappeared from the speeches of the players. Football players who could fight came to the fore with an Italian. All the minimum victories of Spartak were born on scorched land. Carrera players did not disdain playing the account at 1: 0, and, when necessary, they went forward - and sometimes not without good luck - they squeezed rivals at the ends.

In early spring, everyone expected that Spartak would lose points in April matches with Zenit and CSKA. Spartak went through this check, convincingly beating both. It seems that in the Russian championship there is only one club with which Spartak is better not to meet - this is Rostov. Everyone else, including top clubs, Spartak on the teeth. Huge motivation and overwhelming testosterone is all that the Spartak was missing for the championship in previous years.

Everyone laughed when Spartak flew out of the Europa League - as a result, this defeat helped the team take the most important trophy. Spartak was able to concentrate at one tournament, which is very useful for a team that does not have a super -lump bench. After the Ligocapio matches, CSKA lost 10 points, Zenit spent a lot of effort on a trip to the Europa League ended-while competitors played two matches a week, the future champion scored points in the Premier League.

By the way, in the Spartak Cup he also lost very early, and the Khabarovsk SKA from the FNL. Then everyone also practiced wit ...

The Spartak championship is a very Russian football story. In essence, what was necessary for victory? Fly out of all tournaments so as not to interfere with the championship? To appoint a little -known foreigner to appoint a coach? Use problems with competing coaches, in particular Lucescu and Goncharenko? Or just feel the general weakness of all Russian football?