Sardar Azmoun @ Zenit St. Petersburg | 2020-21

[Essi]

The problem with Zenit is not Semak. It's the quality of the players and it's not only Zenit but the whole league. I'm not saying there are no players with quality but in the Russian League but in General, you could find only few players in that league that could measure themselves with players in top European league. Especially in midfielder, playmakers. Just take a look at Zenit who supposed to be the best team in the league. Who's the top player in their midfield, Malcom?

[Sepehr9]

Zenit is a rich club so they could get really good midfielders, i blame it on a poor management.

[Bladsville]

Zenit is a rich club so they could get really good midfielders, i blame it on a poor management.

I think thats what they were going for when they got Wendel, but for 22M, I would think they could have done better.

Definitely poor scouting/Mgmt...

[KeonKish]

The problem with Zenit is not Semak. It's the quality of the players and it's not only Zenit but the whole league. I'm not saying there are no players with quality but in the Russian League but in General, you could find only few players in that league that could measure themselves with players in top European league. Especially in midfielder, playmakers. Just take a look at Zenit who supposed to be the best team in the league. Who's the top player in their midfield, Malcom?

Barrios Wendel and Malcolm are all quality midfielders.

Lovren and Rakitsky are quality CBs

Azmoun and Dzyuba are quality forwards.

A smart coach could do much better with this team.

Douglas santos is also quality and was a great player for hamburg SV

[Essi]

Barrios Wendel and Malcolm are all quality midfielders.
Lovren and Rakitsky are quality CBs
Azmoun and Dzyuba are quality forwards.
A smart coach could do much better with this team.
Douglas santos is also quality and was a great player for hamburg SV

Javoon, with all due respect, Lovren 36 year, end of his career, Barrios hardly quality player coming from Boca Juniors who's been really sorakh, Rakitsky not a star average DF. Of course in top, they have Quality in both Azmoun and Dzyuba as you mentioned but I was mostly thinking midfielders.

[KeonKish]

Javoon, with all due respect, Lovren 36 year, end of his career, Barrios hardly quality player coming from Boca Juniors who's been really sorakh, Rakitsky not a star average DF. Of course in top, they have Quality in both Azmoun and Dzyuba as you mentioned but I was mostly thinking midfielders.

Lovren is 31, still a starter for croatia and played over 30 games for liverpool over the last two seasons, so he can't be at the end of his career.

Barrios is a colombia NT starter.

Rakistky isnt van dijk but certainly a quality center back who also scored a banger against leipzig.

[KeonKish]

Don't get me wrong, I still think the level in the russian league outside of like 4 teams is too low and is why a lot of these local league players are simply just not good enough at a champions league level.

But I still think zenits squad is definitely strong enough to have beaten club brugge twice and at least gotten one tie from lazio.

[Essi]

Lovren is 31, still a starter for croatia and played over 30 games for liverpool over the last two seasons, so he can't be at the end of his career.
Barrios is a colombia NT starter.
Rakistky isnt van dijk but certainly a quality center back who also scored a banger against leipzig.

My Bad, Lovren 31. Barrios IMO, not so good, at lease not from the games I have watched Zenit Playing. But I got your point buddy.

[inarsenewetrust]

even wendel who failed to apply any pressure in defensive phase last night is a starter for Brazil u23 and even has recieved callup for senior team. He was key player for sporting lisbon after departure of Bruno fernandes to manchester united.

Semak extracts 10% of these players true abilities from them. Even azmoun as top scorer has much more to give if coached by somebody with better abilities than semak

[PSGman#19]

Awful results of Russian clubs in European cups

[inarsenewetrust]

Awful results of Russian clubs in European cups

only krasnodar who zenit beat every time comfortably had respectable performance. If they were more experienced they could have definitely beaten sevilla at least once, surrendering leads/draws in last mins

[BacheLot]

To me it's clear Azmoun has stagnated a bit at Zenit. I know people will disagree with me, but a lot of times when you are on a top team in an average league like the RPL, you get quite complacent.

Compare that to ARJ who has been training his ass off at Brighton and IMO, has improved his quickness, touch, and speed of play.

he certainly has benefited tremendously from headlining in the strongest RPL squad/team in a frequently ultra attacking zenit's game plans..! but i really havent noticed any significant, if any improvements in his offensive game & his overall attacking caliber either..!!
he needs to step outa his comfort zone in RPL and gtfo dodge this winter or at the latest next summer..! or further stagnation and downright regression in his career looks inevitable next..!

[Futbaldoost]

^ I really hope that this painful experience of dealing with whatever Sardar was dealing with shakes him up and gets him to see the urgency of making a move out of his comfort zone! Time is short. He will turn 26 on January 1, 2021.

Go Sardar!

[inarsenewetrust]

I think its hard to say he hasnt improved.

Pre zenit even though the level of team was clearly hampering him (rubin) he was still never this stable and would go through long patches without goals and then random purple patches. His conversion rate was not that strong and he would often fuck up 1v1s.

Fast forward to now, he rarely goes more than a couple games without scoring. In general his finishing has stabilized a lot, although obviously not perfect. For example even the 1v1 he had vs dortmund that was called offsides is a type of chance he would frequently miss before.

Physically he has improved tremendously (I am not talking about his sharpness in past game guys, this was clearly affected by long illness and not playing for weeks). He is in general a much larger frame now, and lasts full 90 almost always, unlike rubin/rostov days again. His linkup and timing of passes, also much improved, as evidenced by many crucial assists and good setups he is giving teammates, even this CL.

most importantly, he is mentally more stable. Before he was very influenced by media/fans and a few good games would go to his head, a few bad games would also really impact him. This is the biggest key for me. Mentally he has matured, and it shows in his game and output levels. He is far more ready now to succeed right away in a big league than before bc of these factors.

That being said, if he DOES NOT move in the next two windows, it is natural that he will experience a stagnation followed by a regression. That is just typically the course of things for players that outgrow their current teams and fail to move at the right time. His age is perfect for a move, he has the experience, the track record, the improvement, and still good room to grow. He is helped by 1.5 yrs left on contract only, coupled with a shit CL performance by zenit that lowered his price and made them more likely to be ok with losing him as a rebuild of sorts is needed and he could help finance that.

His mentor has told him to move, he has said he wants a new challenge in the summer,he has a big hitter agent with strong connections all over europe, not a family member anymore LOL, now its time to really do it.

[Leicester City]

To me it's clear Azmoun has stagnated a bit at Zenit. I know people will disagree with me, but a lot of times when you are on a top team in an average league like the RPL, you get quite complacent.

Agha, chera khali mibandi??? He has not stagnated at all, in his 1st season with Zenit he won the league. In his 2nd season he scored his 1st hat trick at club level, became the golden boot winner, won the league again, and a cup. In his 3rd he is on possibly on the verge of another golden boot and already scored a hattrick. When has he had those achievements prior to joining Zenit? Kodoom stagnated, kodoom complacent?

And I am not including his EL/CL performances...