Russkiy Fudbal (Russian Premier League)

[DC76]

I tend not to do reports until we get a decent amount into a season, so I waited until now, and most teams have eight matches under their belt, so why the heck not?


Before going into what's happening this season, here's a little history. If you wanna skip it, move forward to the horizontal ruler after the bold text.


The Russian football system is, as is to be expected, the largest successor to the old Soviet system. All but one of the Soviet highest-level champions who won championships more than twice is from Russia, and all four of those are from Moscow. (That said, one of those teams, Torpedo, has had markedly less success in the post-Soviet era than the other three and currently play in the second level of Russian football system, the National Football League. Presently they are sucking up a storm even in that division, having not played in the top flight since 2006.)


This is the 22nd season of the Russian league system, and out of those 22 seasons, Spartak Moskva have won the title nine times, being far and away the most successful club in the post-Soviet era. (They were the best Russian team in the Soviet era but were only one title ahead of Dinamo Moskva, and one behind Dynamo Kyiv.) Truth is, they won nine out of the first ten seasons, finishing third in 1995 behind Alania Vladikavkaz and Lokomotiv Moskva, and won six in a row in a stretch from 1996 to 2001. Although they haven't won since then, they have been runners-up five times as well - every season from 2005 to 2007, 2009, and 2011-12.


(Oh right I forgot to say that Russia switched to a more mainland-European timeline starting in 2011. Before that, the entire season was played within the calendar year.)


Anyhoo, the second-best team in Russia and the best team since the turn of the millennium has been CSKA Moskva. Over the last eleven seasons (not counting this one) CSKA has won four titles, and finished second four times (five overall in the post-Soviet era). The 21st century has seen the league shift from being dominated by Spartak to being more open, and although CSKA has four titles, that's seven titles they didn't win, split between Zenit Sankt-Peterburg (3 titles), Rubin Kazan', and Lokomotiv Moskva (2 titles each).


Now with all that out of the way, let's see how everyone started!



Three of the big Moscow clubs are off to good starts. The best is CSKA (20) who have yet to lose, although Lokomotiv (19) is hot on their heels, and Spartak is only a goal back of Zenit (both have 17) for third. So the "usual suspects" are doing well.


Last year in Russia, Kuban' Krasnodar pipped Rubin Kazan' by a point to reach Europa, finishing fifth. Occupying the same place in the table so far this season are cross-town rivals FK Krasnodar (15), while Kuban', oddly enough, are in the same tenth place FKK finished last season. Whooda thunk it? Right behind FKK are FK Rostov (14) and Dinamo Moskva (13), the latter of whom continues to struggle to really succeed in the post-Soviet era, barring a decent run of form from 1992-1994 (3rd, 3rd, and 2nd) and finishing 3rd in 1997. They finished seventh last season, so they aren't strangers to the place they're at now. Right behind them, Rubin Kazan' (12), who haven't yet lost a match, but are struggling to win - two wins and six friggin' draws!


Amkar Perm' and Kuban' Krasnodar (both 10) are even on points, but the former is ahead on goal differential in spite of Kuban' having more luck scoring goals. Both are at two wins, four draws, and two losses.


After them in the table are the teams that are clearly in win deficit. Krylja Sovetov Samara (9) has a win, six draws, and two losses, Volga Nizhny Novgorod (7) has two wins versus five losses (only one draw), Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast (6) has one win versus five losses (three draws), and Anzhi Makhachkala (4), Terek Grozny (3), and Tom Tomsk (1) have yet to win at all. Anzhi finished third last season, and here they are, eight games in, with not a single win... duh, LOSING! Shows to go ya that money can't always buy success. Also, Tom and Ural were only promoted up this season and here they are in danger of going back down again. The reverse is also true. Down in the NFL, Mordovia Saransk is tops and Alania Vladikavkaz is looking strong early, only a point behind Ars*nal Tula for second. (Since I have an aversion to any team called "Ars*nal," I hope they don't get promoted )


Anyway, this is it for Russia for a while now. Back in a month.

[DC76]

Update time!


I think I inadvertently jinxed CSKA Moskva (21). They had yet to lose last update but haven't won in the five league matches since then, falling from first to sixth as a result. Lokomotiv Moskva (27, +17) have been decidedly more consistent, unbeaten since last update (3W 2D) but still second. Why? Zenit (32) have absolutely cleaned everyone's clocks. They haven't dropped a single point in the last five matches, outscoring their opposition 17-3 in that span and scoring four goals in three of those matches. Oh mah DAYUM.


FK Krasnodar (24) and underachieving Dinamo Moskva (23) hold the remaining European spots at the moment, but CSKA, for all their recent incompetence, are still a threat, as also are Amkar Perm'.


8 seems to be the magic number near the bottom - of the four teams in the danger areas, three of them - FK Ural, Terek, and Tom Tomsk - all have just eight points. The only team with fewer is Anzhi Makhachkala (6).


This brevity isn't my style, but my job calls me to bed at an early time by my standards, so it'll have to do for now.

[DC76]

Yes, I know, I haven't done this in a while, so it's time for an update. Work has tired me out so much that I keep forgetting this 


Well, Zenit (40) has been caught by Lokomotiv (also 40) and there is now a pretty interesting battle between two class teams up top although Zenit still holds the lead by goal diff. Spartak Moskva (36) are still waiting in the wings as they have a game in hand on the two. CSKA (34) snapped out of their futility streak and are right back in the title hunt, decreasing their distance behind top from eleven to six. Not surprisingly, given the positions last update, FK Krasnodar (33) and Dinamo Moskva (32) are hot on their heels. Amkar Perm' (30) rounds out the upper mid-table.


Following Amkar, six points back, is a four-way logjam between Krylja Sovetov, Kuban', FK Rostov, and Rubin Kazan' (all 24). None of them are in immediate danger yet, as they are nine points clear of the relegation playoff zone and fourteen clear of straight relegation. Volga Nizhny Novgorod (18) on the other hand... yeah, they need to smarten up if they're to stay up. Tom Tomsk (15) and FK Ural (12) aren't that far off. The teams in the "legit red zone," though, have only one win between them. Terek (10) has just one victory this season, in spite of their return to Grozny after an ebb in hostilities in Chechnya. Anzhi ( is doing even worse. In 19 games, more than half the friggin' Spriggan season, they have not won a single league match. WHAT THE HELL.   (Spurs need to hammer this message home at the White Hart Lane on the 12th - ANZHI, YOU SUCK.)

[Chelmsford_yid]

Maybe Anzhi are putting there efforts in the Europa league    As they have won 2 games there and will go in the knockout stages..

[DC76]

This is possible, but seriously, if you want to be up with the best, you have to learn to handle multiple things at once. I think Anzhi would have egg on their faces should they finish dead last this season.


EDIT: I've been thinking about this over the weekend. Consider who is in our group.


Anzhi - dead last in Russia's top division, which is reasonably talented and competitive even if not as good as the Premier League or La Liga.
Tromsų - finished dead last in the Tippeligaen, which is made up of teams ranging from upper Championship to mid-League One calibre and quite some ways behind Russia in terms of talent.
Sheriff - the champions of a league that is mostly about the calibre of League Two or the upper ranks of the Russian Second Division, if even that good.


The sad thing is, Tromsų is underperforming even by those standards and has a worse record than Sheriff; Anzhi has beaten them both times. So it isn't like Anzhi's wins have been against solid opposition, and to boot, they've only been 1-0 either time.


In short, Spurs own that group.

[DC76]

And they're on their long winter break now.    Their next league matches aren't until March.

[DC76]

Why the crap have I not posted an update? They've been back at it for about a month now!


Six games have elapsed since Russia got back from the break, and Zenit (53) are back ahead of Lokomotiv (52) albeit only by a point - Zenit are 4W 1D 1L since returning and Lokomotiv are 3W 3D 0L. CSKA Moskva (49) have been very impressive. Even though they dropped their first match back (a 4-2 loss against Dinamo (46)), they have since won five in a row and are right in the championship hunt. Dinamo and Spartak (44) round out the European spots.


FK Krasnodar (40) are just above the bar of safety for the relegation playoff (the "orange zone," as it were), which sits at 39 points, and well above the bar of safety for the red zone, which is 33. With five matches to go, this means that, while Amkar (36) and Rostov (35) can't be relegated automatically, they can still end up in the relegation playoff. Kuban' (32) is the highest team in the table that can be relegated automatically, but with Volga (18) not having a single point in 2014, I don't think they have too much to worry about.


The teams behind Kuban' haven't exactly been mind-blowing, with one exception. Terek Grozny (26) has only lost once in 2014 and won four times, vaulting themselves from the red zone into the clear. They still have to keep plugging away to keep that way, but they are most certainly headed in the right direction. Anzhi (16) are still dead-last, but at least they finally got in the wins column, beating Rubin Kazan' on return day and giving Dinamo Moskva an unexpected thumping to the tune of 4-0 a couple games ago. They still have a long way to go to be out of the woods, but it's a start.


I suppose I could also put a plug in for FK Ural (24), who have won four out of six in 2014 to push themselves to just one point from safety. With Krylja Sovetov (25) having just one point out of a possible 18 in 2014, there is reason for hope in Yekaterinburg, and reason to worry in Samara!


Now, if the season were just based on 2014 results, here's what the standings would look like:


CSKA - 15
Zenit - 13 (+9)
Terek - 13 (+5)
Lokomotiv - 12 (+7)
Ural - 12 (E)
Dinamo - 11 (+5)
Rostov - 11 (+2)
Kuban' - 8 (+1)
Anzhi - 8 (E)
Krasnodar - 7
Amkar - 6 (+2)
Tom Tomsk - 6 (-3)
Spartak - 5
Rubin - 4
Krylja Sovetov - 1
Volga - 0


Too bad for Anzhi that it ain't, eh? Five matches remain. Will be exciting to see what happens!

[DC76]

Well, the season's over. Here's what happened:


- CSKA (64) took advantage of a late slipup by Zenit (63) and won the championship, although Zenit are still going to the Champions League.


- This season almost saw every Moscow club in the Premyer-Liga in Europe, but FK Krasnodar (50, 6-3 aggregate on head-to-head) played spoilers by edging Spartak Moskva (50, 3-6) out of the last spot. The other two Europa spots go to Lokomotiv (59), who blew their championship chances by losing their last two matches, and Dinamo (52), the team that caused Zenit to lose the championship by beating them 3-0.


- Tom Tomsk (31) and Krylja Sovetov (29) will play against FK Ufa and Torpedo Moskva respectively, for the right to stay in the Premyer-Liga.


- Volga Nizhny Novgorod (21) and Anzhi Makhachkala (20) will be relegated. (Also lolAnzhi ) Replacing them are FNL champs Mordovia Saransk and runners-up Ars*nal Tula.

[DC76]

And leave it to me to not start this until the season's half over. 


It took Zenit (35) until their thirteenth match of the season to finally lose, and now they're losers of two of their last three, but still three clear of CSKA Moskva (31) with a game in hand on the same. I'd be more worried about surprising FK Krasnodar (30) at this point.


There's a bit of a logjam between fourth and ninth, which will make for a good battle for Europa slots. Dinamo and Lokomotiv (both 26) hold the spots currently over fellow Muscovites Spartak (25) as well as Kuban' Krasnodar (also 25), Rubin Kazan', and Terek Grozny (both 24).


You'll be happy to know that a team named Ars*nal is in the toilet. Ars*nal Tula (8 ) has not done well at all this season, a whopping twelve points behind the other promoted side, Mordovia Saransk (20; they're my main choice of team in Russia right now), while having played one more match.  Almost as poorly off are FK Rostov (10), who are behind Torpedo Moskva by goal differential (-21 vs. Torpedo's -18). Amkar Perm' (12) rounds out the bottom four, with FK Ural (13) also being in very immediate danger.


That's it for now. And just in time, too - the 8th is the last match-day before their long hibernation!