FIFA World Cup 2018: Russia

Russia head into the FIFA World Cup 2018 tournament, with a huge weight of expectation on them, given they are the proud host nation. In this article I hope to give you a guide to the hosts and what to expect from them on home soil. Many eyes will be not just on the team, but the country as a whole and just how welcoming a host nation they are throughout the competition.

Russia qualified automatically as hosts and have been placed in Group A, alongside Saudi Arabia, Uruguay and Egypt. This is a rather favourable draw Im sure you will all agree, and with the opening fixture against the Saudis the home side will be looking to get off the mark early on, securing all three points, building momentum before stiffer tests await down the line.

Im sure like many of you we watched them being eliminated in the group stages of last years Confederations Cup. The semi-final of the World Cup has been set out as a target for the host nation, however I do feel that may prove a tad optimistic with the level of players at the managers disposal.

The Squad

Coach: Stanislav Cherchesov

Cherchesov, is the man tasked with leading the hosts, previous stops have included Dinamo Moscow and Legia Warsaw, the latter being the reason he has been handed the job, after leading Legia to a very impressive domestic double in 2016. I wouldnt expect or envision him getting to comfy in the job as he left both clubs following disputes, and will likely pay the price should Russia fail to live up to the high expectation level.

In a time of transition for the squad though Cherchesov is known as someone who is willing to give chances to youth, this is something that the Russian squad has been desperately needing for some time.

Goalkeepers

Igor Akinfeev, Vladimir Gabulov, Andrey Lunyov

Defenders

Georgi Dzhikiya, Mario Fernandes, Vladimir Granat, Dmitri Kombarov, Fyodor Kudryashov, Ilya Kutepov, Konstantin Rausch, Igor Smolinkov, Yuri Zhirkov

Midfielders

Alan Dzagoev, Denis Glushakov, Aleksandr Golovin, Aleksei Miranchuk, Anton Miranchuk, Oleg Shatov, Roman Zobnin

Attackers

Artem Dzyuba, Fyodor Smolov, Anton Zabolotny

Tactics

In favouring a back three Russias tactical structure is relatively fluid depending on the position of the ball and whether they are in the attacking or defensive phase. At times when defending we see a 5-3-2 whilst in attack a 3-4-2-1.

Russia, play an attacking, highly entertaining brand of football. The formation may sound like something you would find in or attempt in Football or Championship Manager, however what it does deliver is goals, keeping them out will be the Russians biggest problem. A lack of any real international experience at centre back may get exposed on the world stage.

Whilst Russia are good to watch in the attacking phase carrying no small threat to the opposition goal they can be caught out of position in the immediate transition from attack to defence.

Here we see an example with the Russian attack breaking down, the Spanish quickly move the ball in to space in the half space and a simple through ball breaks the defensive line of Russia and releases a Spanish player in to acres of space. The positioning of the three Russian defenders is extremely questionable will all three being caught over at the far side.