Preview RUS-ARM: Advocaat Looks for Victory

June 3rd, 2011 | by: nick | Comments Off

With the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers looking to get underway this weekend, attention will be on Group B as Russia, Slovakia, and the Republic of Ireland look to resume the battle for first place. As all Russian fans will know, Russia play Armenia on Saturday, June 4 in St. Petersburg while Slovakia play Andorra and Ireland take on Macedonia. A win for Russia will but them at 13 points but the other matches will determine who takes the top spot. Anything less than a win will see the campaign become very difficult for Russia.

Dick Advocaat announced his squad on May 20, which included mostly established players. Noticeably, Renat Yanbayev who has been recalled for the first time under Dick Advocaat’s management. Advocaat will likely play a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 formation as he has done in the past. I would like to see Advocaat play a 4-2-3-1 with Bilyaletdinov and Bystrov flanking Arshavin. This combination would work very well behind Aleksandr Kerzhakov or Roman Pavlyuchenko. Another possible formation would be a 4-1-3-2 with one defensive midfielder sacrificed in place of an additional striker. With Pavlyuchenko’s most recent form for Tottenham, it would be interesting to see a Kerzhakov-Pavlyuchenko combination in front of the previously mentioned trio.

Russia will undoubtably look to be more effective this time. As I mentioned in my last post, Russia was very ineffective in bringing the ball forward and finishing the attacks. There were a few major chances but all flashed wide of the goal. In order to change this, Advocaat will definitely switch his line up to increase the firepower. I also feel that Advocaat should try to motivate the the team to score goals to improve the goal difference. Russia should also be motivated by the fact that a win will keep the race for the top to Group B extremely tight. Three points will also allow Russia regain the lead should Slovakia or Ireland slip up in their respective matches.