Russian coach must plug defensive leaks

THE instability in Russia’s national team, which arrives in Dublin tomorrow under new management, is summed up by three stark statistics.

Twenty-eight players have been used in five Group 10 qualifiers to date.

Of the squad flying in tomorrow, only defender Sergei Ignasevich has started every match.

And Russia has yet to keep a clean sheet in the group, having conceded nine goals and collecting only one point out of nine away from home.

Caretaker boss Georgi Yartsev has axed eight of the men whose defeat by Israel last month led Valeri Gazzayev to resign.

Left wing-back Igor Yanovski, who played against the Republic of Ireland in Moscow last year, is ruled out by suspension.

Russia’s captain in that 4-2 win, midfielder Sergei Semak, is a surprise omission this week as Yartsev recalls the experienced Viktor Onopko (33), Alexander Mostovoi (34) and Dmitri Alenichev (30) after losses to Albania, Georgia and Israel.

Yartsev’s gamble is that the veterans who slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Lansdowne Road in February last year, and who failed to reach the second phase of the World Cup finals in Asia, will get their national team out of jail against Ireland and Switzerland in the next six days.

However, Russia’s leaky defence threatens to scupper the bet. Even Onopko, currently in search of a club, will be hard-pressed to rally a rearguard that gifted two late goals in three minutes to Albania and two more inside two minutes in the opening stages against Switzerland.

Regarded in Russia as a manager of style rather than substance, 55-year-old Yartsev has one thing going for him: after four successive away games, Russia will round off Group 10 with home ties against Switzerland and Georgia. If they finish their programme as they started it (with wins in Moscow over Ireland and Albania), Russia could yet be in contention for a place in Portugal next summer.