by Bashmachkin Thu May 29, 2008 9:19 pm
Yeah, I agree with what people have been saying on here - if Pogrebnyak doesn't recover, I think it will be a huge blow for Russia - I think if he's fit, he could be central to any success they have. Russia's national team is full of quick, skillful, technically proficient players - Arshavin, Sychev, Zhirkov, their whole midfield is composed of such players, and they can pass the ball really well, whether breaking like Zenit break or whether putting other teams under more extended pressure. But, whilst Pavlyuchenko is of a similar build to Pogrebnyak, and he has scored well for Russia, he's more athletic, less powerful, less of a target man than Pogrebnyak. And Russia's problem is they sometimes aren't able to be direct enough, so they struggle to break teams down. Pogrebnyak is a presence up front and he's a bit more direct.
I think Russia could do really well in the tournament. They maybe lack a bit of physical strength in the midfield, and they don't have many options in defence, but they're really good technically and I hope that they'll be very good to watch. I certainly expect them to get beyond the group stages - I don't reckon Spain have a balanced enough squad to win the whole competition, I don't understand their lack of width, I wonder whether their midfield could be outmuscled, and I'm not sure about the central defenders, but I think they'll go through with Russia, with Sweden just missing out. I'm not sure that the Swedish team will come together when it matters - their defence isn't great, I don't think they have a huge amount of creativity in midfield, and any success probably depends on Larsson and Ibra hitting it off, and the other forwards chipping in with goals.
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