1armedboxer

Nice start, Puedlfor. I may be able to give real life updates on this by the end of next season. Looks like I'm off to the Motherland for a year at the end of summer.

retired_-pearl-

Thanks for the compliment. Is the move work/school related?

retired_-pearl-

That was actually Vladislav Radimov instead of Vyacheslav. It’s a common mistake, the keys are like right next to each other.


March 16th, 2005
Russian Cup Quarterfinals, Second Leg
Rubin Kazan(0) vs Zenith St. Petersburg(2)

Zenith(4-1-4-1) : Contofalsky; Flachbart, Sirl, Krizanac, Hagen; Gorshkov; Bystrov, Spivak, Denisov, Radimov(Arshavin); Kerzhakov(inj Hartig)

Holding a slim 2-0 lead from the first leg, and sandwiched between games against Moscow teams, this was a serious trap game for us. From the opening kickoff, Rubin pinned us back and dominated possession. However, that final move to open up the defense was lacking and their shots were mostly harmless efforts from thirty yards or more and well wide. We managed a few dangerous chances on the counter, but the Rubin defense held solid, and they quickly resumed the barrage on Contofalsky’s goal. In the 38th minute, I was forced to draw off our star striker after he went into a tackle awkwardly and limped off the field. We seemed to settle down after the injury and went into halftime scoreless. During the break, I opted for a more conventional 4-4-2, subbing in Arshavin to partner Hartig up front. The change seemed to pay off as we began playing much more confidently – and in the 56th minute Hartig knocked down a Denisov lob for Bystrov – who blazed by his man and buried it in the top corner. Rubin 0(0) – 1(3) Zenith. With a 3-1 lead, and the away goals edge in the tie, the match was over, and Rubin played like it. The remaining forty minutes were all Zenith, and we were content to hold possession and let the clock slowly wind down. Late in the game, Rubin pressed forward for one lass perfunctory attack, and they paid for it. Spivak simply lumped the ball over the top for the speedy Bystrov to run under, and in acres of space he blew by the goalie and tucked it away for his second of the match. Rubin 0(0) – 2(4) Zenith. The game ended less than a minute later.

Final : Rubin Kazan 0, Zenith St Petersburg 2; Zenith win 4-0 on Aggregate
MoM : Vladimir Bystrov, Zenith

Post-Match : A comfortable win on the road, despite the opening jitters. Luckily for us, Kerzhakov’s injury isn’t serious and he should make the squad for our next game in three day’s time. Unluckily for us, we have been drawn against FC Abramovich-Moscow in the semis of the Russian Cup. A double-edged sword, a confident win could ease the fears of players and supporters alike about my management, or simply compound them. Yipee.

retired_-pearl-

March 19th, 2005
Russian Premier League, Match 2
Zenith St. Petersburg vs. Dinamo Moscow

Zenith(4-1-4-1) : Malafeev; Fuzailov, Mares, Hagen, Krizanac; Sumulikoski; Spivak, Sirl, Radimov(Denisov), Arshavin; Hartig(Kerzhakov).

Much to my chagrin, Kerzhakov wasn’t going to be fit enough to start the match, but should be good for a half-hour or so. This left us a little short on fire-power against Dinamo, and their ominously named striker Derlei. The Brazilian is off to a torrid start with a goal and a pair of assists in his first game, linking especially well with Maxim Romaschenko down the left flank. With this threat in mind, I went with the veteran Spivak on the right wing rather than the rookie Bystrov. The game was doubtless a delight to neutrals as we played box-to-box with exciting chances and finger-tip saves by the bushel in the first half. I was right to worry about Derlei, as he made our defense look the fool on more than one occasion in the first half, but thankfully Malafeev was up to the task of denying the South American. With only ten minutes before intermission, we finally broke the deadlock when Radek Sirl crossed for the big Czech Hartig in the middle. Hartig was beaten for the ball, but the defender could only knock it to Arshavin, who slipped right around him and thundered the ball into the net. Zenith 1 – 0 Dinamo. The first half ended without further incident, and everyone would have a few minutes to catch their breaths. The second half began as the Bizarro Half to the first. Ugly plodding football and chances few and far between. Both defenses tightened up considerably, Dinamo shackling Radimov and Arshavin up the middle, and Erik Hagen knocking Derlei to the turf a few times till he started going in with gator legs on 50-50 balls. Derlei was subbed out barely fifteen minutes into the half, and I brought on Kershakov and an eager Denisov to try and finish the match off, and hopefully provide some spark for the offense. It took Kerzhakov a few minutes to get into the flow of the match, but it was clear Dinamo had no answer for him and in the 80th minute, he put the three points in the book with a textbook header from a corner. Dinamo deflated after that goal, and Denisov grabbed an injury-time goal to pad his stats and the goal difference.

Final : Zenith St. Petersburg 3, Dinamo Moscow 0
MoM : Radek Sirl, Zenith

Post-Match : A comprehensive win over a top-table rival. You can’t ask for much more. Our reliance on Kerzhakov to provide the bite in our attack is worrisome should he go down for any extended period – and our center-backs will need to be upgraded at some point in the future. Still, the board was pleased with the big win, and hopefully it should quell some of the want-away feelings among the squad.

March 20th, 2005

I am idiot. No sooner am I feeling secure about my squad, when Igor Denisov is liked with a move to CSKA Moscow – and in a private meeting, not only confirms the interest, but states he feels he needs to move on to further his career. Arrrrrrrrrgh.

retired_-pearl-

March 23rd, 2005
Russian Premier League, Match 3
CSKA Moscow vs Zenith St. Petersburg

Zenith(4-1-4-1) : Malafeev; Flachbart, Mares, Vjestica, Hagen; Gorshkov; Bystrov, Sirl, Radimov(Spivak), Arshavin; Kerzhakov(Hartig).

This is not the match to go into with squad discontentment. Three important players have already expressed a desire to leave, with the likely destination our current opponents. The Army Men have probably the best attack in the premiership with Ivica Olic and Vagner Love as lethal strikers, and Daniel Carvalho rampaging around behind them. I opted for the veteran Gorshkov in the defensive midfield position to hopefully contain the dangerous Carvalho. Things started off with a bang as Vagner Love hit a nasty swerving ball in the 5th minute that Malafeev did well to knock away. Akinfeev did equally well a few moments later to turn Arshavin’s low drive around the post. Our man advantage in the center of the park began to tell as the game wore on, and not 18 minutes in Arshavin and Radimov linked together well to draw the Moscow defense all out of position, before the veteran Radimov slipped a delightful pass for Kerzhakov to run onto, and he made no mistakes to give us a huge lead on the road. CSKA 0 – 1 Zenith. CSKA had been made huge favorites for this match, on the basis of their classy attack and expensively assembled squad, but Carvalho, Olic and Vagner Love can’t produce magic without the ball and my hard-working midfield did well to win the ball, and dominate possession of it. If it weren’t so obvious, you wouldn’t have guessed the team lumping the ball upfield to try and let their forwards produce something magic was the one featuring the deadly South American flair. Before the first half ended, Arshavin and Radimov decided to show up their opponents yet again. Playing keep-away as they advanced down the field, again they suckered the defense out of position, but this time it was Arshavin’s clever pass that freed Kershakov for the clinical finish. CSKA 0 – 2 Zenith. CSKA were clearly flustered by the second goal, and any pretext of an offensive strategy vanished as they simply pounded long-ball after long-ball upfield to try and unleash their potent attacking troika. Finally in the 74th minute, it worked – a long ball found Carvalho slipping into a little space down the right wing and he chipped it for Love to run down near the byline, before Love hit a picture-perfect cross into the area. The big Croat Olic muscled Vjestica out of the way, and pounded it in to the bottom corner. CSKA 1 – 2 Zenith. Far from energizing them, the equalizer seemed to instead have been the last gasp of Moscow, as they mustered no more chances the rest of the game. Spivak came on to help hog the ball in midfield, and Hartig came on because things were getting a little to chippy for my tastes. The game finished without further incident.

Final : CSKA Moscow 1, Zenith St. Petersburg 2
MoM : Vladislav Radimov, Zenith.

Post-Match : YES! Suck it Moscow.

retired_-pearl-

April 6th, 2005

As you can see, there was a gap for international play. A number of Zenith players ran out for their international teams, but only Kerzhakov made an impact, netting two goals for Russia in each of their World Cup Qualifiers, against Liechtenstein, and the more imposing Estona. Russia ran out easy winners in both games to close the gap between them and Latvia for second place in the group. Russia will play Latvia in June in a make-or-break game for us.

Russian Cup Semifinals, First Leg
Zenith St. Petersburg vs CSKA Moscow

Zenith(4-1-4-1) : Malafeev; Fuzailov, Mares, Hagen, Vjestica(Katulskiy); Sumulikoski; Arshavin, Sirl(Bystrov), Radimov, Spivak; Kerzhakov.

Yikes. The less said about this game the better. Oh we didn’t lose, in fact it was a pretty fair nil-nil draw. No, what I’m referring to is the “If you can’t beat them, literally beat them” philosophy employed by both defenses in this game. The build-up play in the center of the park was flowing and at times awe-inspiring by both teams. However, once an attacking player got near the defensive lines, they were introduced to the Petrovsky turf with depressing predictability. That no one was sent off was a mystery no one will soon solve as several players, especially Fuzailov, committed an astonishing number of fouls. The Tajik fullback alone was whistled for five infractions. With fear in their hearts, attacking players in this game settled for long-range efforts – which aren’t going to trouble goalkeepers of the caliber of Malafeev and Akinfeev.

Final : Zenith St. Petersburg 0, CSKA Moscow 0
MoM : Igor Akinfeev, CSKA

Post-Match : Well, this certainly puts us in a bind. We’re going to have to travel to Dinamo and try to grind out a result. Obviously, we just did this two weeks ago – but I can’t rely on that happening again. On the plus side, Arshavin is really clicking well with Kerzhakov and Radimov, even though he was on the right wing this game. The pesky attacker can really create a chance out of nowhere, and his long-range drives had some serious swerve on them. I could easily see him scoring 10-13 goals this season.

retired_-pearl-

April 7th, 2005

The Russian Premier League contests it’s own cup each year, to which the lesser teams are not invited. There only being sixteen teams, it’s a rather short affair – only four rounds. The draw for the first round was announced and wonder of wonders – we’ve drawn a team from the capital. We’ll be matched up against Dinamo Moscow, a team we throttled a few weeks ago. The first leg will be home in three days, the second one will be away. The first round will open up on the tenth – and this, combined with our league tie against Lokomotiv and the Russian Cup Semi’s against CSKA – means we will end up playing SEVEN straight games against Moscow teams. And none of them the crappy FC Moscow, oh no – it’s all the good teams.

April 10th, 2005

Russian Premier League Cup, First Round, First Leg
Zenith St. Petersburg vs Dinamo Moscow

Zenith(4-1-4-1) : Contofalsky; Flachbart, Sirl, Hagen, Vjestica; Gorshkov; Bystrov(Arshavin), Spivak(Trifonov), Denisov, Radimov; Hartig(Cadikovski).

I’m not sure how this game should’ve been played. It’s an important cup game against a Moscow team – but I can’t imagine it being more important than our match against CSKA in a few days time. So I name a weakened eleven, and hope for the best. Thankfully, we started out crisply and within five minutes we’d notched our first goal. Denisov played a quick 1-2 with Radimov before hitting a nasty curving shot from about 20 yards away that the keeper had no chance at. Zenith 1 – 0 Dinamo. We should’ve gone on to bury this team, but without Arshavin and Kershakov, our offense lacked that last bit of spark. Hartig’s useful, but he’s not really more than a big body to aim crosses at. After an hour of good build-up spoiled by poor final play, I yanked off the wingers and the striker for subs – little good it did. We finally added a little cushion in the 88th minute when Arshavin hit a bullet of a cross/shot towards the far post and Trifonov sort of lumbered in its way, directing it just inside the post. Zenith 2 – 0 Dinamo. And that’s the way the game ended.

Final : Zenith St. Petersburg 2, Dinamo Moscow 0
MoM : Vladislav Radimov

Post-Match : For the second time, we’ve dominated this team at our place. Derlei, who’s been absolutely unstoppable in the league seemed meek and timid today. I wonder if he’s still shaken by the battering Hagen gave him last time around. We should’ve put more goals on the board – and we would if we had 180 minutes from Kerzhakov and Arshavin – but with the big away leg against CSKA in days – I would only risk Arshavin for a token appearance.

retired_-pearl-

April 13th, 2005

Russian Cup Semifinals, Second Leg
CSKA Moscow (0) vs Zenith St. Petersburg (0)

Zenith(4-1-4-1) : Malafeev; Flachbart, Mares, Hagen, Krizanac; Sumulikoski; Bystrov(Vjestica), Sirl, Radimov(Denisov), Arshavin; Kerzhakov(Trifonov).

The difference in the two legs in this game was like night-and-day. Apparently their bloodlust sated, defenders from both sides got down to the business of playing a football match. To my shock, the game was wildly one-sided. Perhaps CSKA were tired after having played so many games in such quick succession, but we dominated them from the get go, but were unable to get past Akinfeev in net. Kershakov started brightly, but a blow to the ankle on the 37th minute from an errant tackle slowed him down for the rest of the game – and I had to withdraw him in the 61st minute as with his injury, he was pretty much useless. Arshavin took over central forward duties, and he was basically unstoppable. Time after time, he would burst by a slow-thinking defender and level a rocket at the goal, only to miss just wide, or see Akinfeev swallow it up. Only ten minutes from time, the match seemed headed for extra-time, when a CSKA Moscow attack finally penetrated my defense. As Rolan Gusev skipped by Mares challenge, Krizanac scythed him down from behind before he could orient himself on goal. It was the simplest of red-cards and we were down to ten men, and playing for penalty kicks. In the 85th minute, Arshavin – by now operating very much by himself up front, picked up a poor header by one of the Moscow defenders about 30 yards from goal. Fancying his chances, he had a go, hitting a tame shot towards the corner. The defenders must’ve obscured Akinfeev’s view, or he got absolutely horrible purchase with his foot – because he could only make a weak dive towards the ball, and palm it into the top of his own net. CSKA 0 – 1 Zenith. With the away goals rule in affect, the Army Men were well and truly done. Gusev grabbed a consolation in injury-time – but it wasn’t enough.

Final : CSKA Moscow 1(1), Zenith St. Petersburg 1(1) – Zenith advance on away goals rule
MoM : Andriy Arshavin, Zenith.

Post-Match :Talk about a shock result. CSKA’s fans must be heart-broken – opponent down to ten men with only a goal needed to the final, and they concede a truly soft goal like that. If I didn’t want to burn their stadium down and salt the earth where it stood, I’d feel sorry for them. As it is, Kuban completed a surprising run to the final by upsetting Dinamo Moscow in the semis - overturning a 3-1 first leg lead for Dinamo by slashing them to pieces 4-1 at home. Despite the comprehensive way Kuban Krasnodar dispatched Dinamo, we should be heavy favorites to claim the trophy in six weeks time.

April 14th, 2005
The draw for the Russian Premier Cup Quarterfinals was today. And while none of the First Round match-ups have concluded – the winner of Zenith-Dinamo already know who they’ll play, as the first leg of the opposing match-up ended 4-0. For the road team. If you want to guess just who - possibly who - we might be matched up against, feel free.

1armedboxer

Just quit my job to teach in Russia. I've loved the country ever since I went there about 8 years ago and now it's time to go back. With laptop and FM2005 in tow, natch. :thup:

retired_-pearl-

Mr. Elmander: Thank you for the compliment. There's something to be said for managing in a league you know absolutely nothing about.

Mr. Rogerson: That sounds neat, good luck.

April 16th, 2005

Russian Premier League, Match 3
Lokomotiv Moscow vs Zenith St. Petersburg

Zenith(4-14-1) : Malafeev; Fuzailov, Mares, Hagen, Vjestica; Sumulikoski; Bystrov, Spivak, Radimov(Arshavin), Denisov; Kerzhakov.

We came to town on a brisk spring day, looking to steal some points from a title challenger, and instead got a comprehensive lesson in football. Right from the kick-off, we were outclassed. I don’t know if it was Lokomotiv’s title pedigree, the exhaustion from such a quick turnaround between matches or what – but only stellar playfrom Fuzailov on the right and Malafeev on goal kept this one within reach. Dmitry Los’kov hit a lightening bolt of a free-kick to give the home side a deserved lead halfway through the first half. Lokomotiv 1 – 0 Zenith. I’m at a loss to explain our play in this one – Arshavin was introduced for Radimov to add more pace to the attack – but was unable to breach the Lokomotiv back line. To add insult to injury, Arshavin then dragged Los’kov down inside the area on a corner, and the Sennikov – the dominating centerback – capped off a Man of the Match performance by converting the penalty. Lokomotiv 2 – 0 Zenith. After the penalty, we meekly played out the remaining minutes.

Final : Lokomotiv Moscow 2, Zenith St. Petersburg 0
MoM :Dmitry Sennikov, Lokomotiv

Post Match: We were just beaten by a better team. I’ve got an honest bunch of lads on the team, and we all feel real beat up about it. When you look at what other teams have spent this year compared to us, it’s really apparent the difference in ability. We have an awfully small squad, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Anyways, we ain’t that good – I did something I didn’t want to do – I gave one of my scouts a Russian-Spanish dictionary, a suitcase full of money and told him to mosey on down to Columbia and find me good players – because the talent the scouts are turning up in Russia and other Eastern European states is either not good enough, or doesn’t want to play for Zenith.

April 17th, 2005

Vladimir Bystrov feels he needs to move on to further his career. I tell him in no uncertain terms that he’s still under contract with this club, and despite his agent’s high opinion of him – he’s not good enough to make the move to Western Europe. He responds that perhaps he doesn’t need to play in Western Europe to move to a bigger team.

April 18th, 2005

Vladislav Radimov was late to training today. When questioned about it, he mentioned something about a flat tire – but an especially annoying reporter mentioned that he was meeting with his agent. I tell the front office to hold his next week’s paycheck and pull Hagen aside and tell the burly Norwegian that Radimov needs a lesson in discipline. Later in the day, with ice packs on his knees and bruised black and blue, Radimov says he understands what he did was unprofessional – and will not do it again. I think I’m getting the hang of this managing business.