League Focus: Russian Premier League - Post Winter Preview

As the snow begins to thaw across the world’s largest nation, the Russian Premier League once again cranks into action following a break of almost three months in order to offset the damaging effects of the winter’s sub zero temperatures. To many people such a sizeable gap in playing time is an entirely alien concept, however much of Eastern European football has been in the clutches of such a break for as long as one can remember. For some it can be the greatest blessing, for others it can be a terrible curse.

Inevitably much of the intrigue surrounding the season’s restart will centre upon the fortunes of the teams at the top and bottom of the table. With Zenit’s quest to reclaim the league title appearing to unravel in November, with a string of questionable performances, the likes of Lokomotiv and Spartak Moscow have been given hope that they can leapfrog Luciano Spalletti’s side as the most likely victors in what is proving to be a fascinating battle. However, the fight for the title has occurred while CSKA have endured inconsistency and frustration, which has severely damaged their aspirations of retaining the trophy.

The overwhelming problem for CSKA has been that they’ve struggled to replicate their goalscoring touch of last term. Seydou Doumbia’s injury woes over the past couple of years have become a real burden on a team who are lacking a natural successor to lead the line. In last season’s title winning campaign, CSKA were able to successfully utilise Ahmed Musa as the attacking spearhead ahead of a creative front three, however the Nigerian has been unable to replicate his goalscoring form and is seemingly back to his formerly frustrating self.

The 25-year old has netted just the 5 times in the league from 19 appearances, while the injury plagued Doumbia has scored 9 in just 11. The loss of Keisuke Honda, who led the team in key passes per game (2.1) prior to departing for Milan on a free transfer, will have further damaged a fragile looking squad who are in much need of forward thinking invigoration - with 24 goals in 19 games a damning indictment of the team’s lack of killer instinct.

At the opposite end of the table Anzhi Makhachkala remain without a victory - despite their continued Europa League progress - while Tom Tomsk, Terek Grozny and Ural look equally incapable of avoiding the additional relegation spots. Anzhi’s ranks have been bolstered by the signings of Vladimir Bystrov and Aleksandr Bukharov after just 7 starts between them for Zenit before the winter break, as well as the controversial attacking midfielder Oleksandr Aliyev from Dynamo Kyiv. The league’s bottom side will be a more powerful force in the back end of the season, however the damage will likely have already been done, with the promise of second tier football looming large for a club who until recently had their sights set on major honours and the Champions League.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the season’s remaining months will be how Rubin Kazan cope with their recent changes in coach and personnel. The replacement of Kurban Berdyev - the club’s league title winning coach of the past 12 years - in favour of the relatively inexperienced Rinat Bilyaletdinov has been accompanied by the likes of Salomon Rondon, Bebras Natcho and Aleksandr Ryazantyev departing for pastures new. Rondon was the only player to have scored more than 3 times for the side prior to the break (6), while Natcho attempted the most passes (1019).

The club did manage to bring in Marko Devic, from Ukrainian side Metalist Kharkiv, in a deal that is widely regarded as something of a coup, however there’s a significant dearth of creativity to feed their newfound goal scoring talent. Indeed, no player in the side has registered more than 2 assists thus far and the lack of adventure that typified Berdyev’s later years at the club could once again plague the team’s progress for the foreseeable future.

FK Krasondar’s continued ambition has been put forward by their signing of Roman Shirokov. The former Zenit midfielder’s move away from St Petersburg took few by surprise, however the fact that he chose to move to Krasnodar has raised a few eyebrows. Despite a turbulent period at his former club, Shirokov still managed a strong return of 5 goals and 4 assists - with a rating of 7.2 from WhoScored.com - which will provide a fresh central outlet for a team who commonly like to attack in wide areas.

His new home is evidently one that has been established thanks to the vast wealth of the club’s owner, Sergey Galitsky - who is worth around $8bn - however it was widely believed that the Russia international would move to one of Moscow’s major clubs in order to aid his continued European ambitions. It will be a difficult ask for Krasnodar to overcome the established powers of CSKA and Dinamo Moscow for the Europa League spots, however their form this season shows that this is a club on the verge of becoming a major player in Russian football - with the finances to match.

The middle ground of the table is unlikely to witness a great deal of change, with the likes of Kuban Krasnodar, Rostov, Krylya Sovetov and Amkar Perm safely anchored in mid table positions with little scope of moving up or down. There were few major signings for any of the aforementioned sides - with Amkar delving into the market for a number of players of somewhat limited quality - however each side should already possess sufficient quality to ensure that the season remains a positive one despite a perceived lack of fanfare.

With the league coming to its conclusion in the middle of May, the end of the Russian season resembles something of a scramble to the finish line thanks to the number of fixtures that are crammed into a relatively short period of time. The compressed nature of the scheduling will aid some and hinder others, however there are still countless battles to come which could have a dramatic impact upon who prevails and who collapses. Question marks remain over whether Lokomotiv and Spartak will have the mentality to continue to compete with Zenit at the top, while Anzhi’s positive moves in the transfer market will make for an intriguing end to the season for a team who looked absolutely hopeless at the beginning of the winter. The wait is almost over.

Which team is best equipped to win the Russian Premier League? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below