[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]So you think Chelsea are boring? Well, then you obviously haven't seen Zenit, have you?[/font][/size]
[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]They both have five games left to play, and both are virtually assured of finishing at the top of the table in their second season at the club. Just like Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, his former assistant, Andre Villas-Boas is cruising to the Russian Premier League title with Zenit St Petersburg.[/font][/size]
[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Just like his mentor, he is disliked in various footballing circles. But unlike the Special One, who is loved at Stamford Bridge, there is a sense that the 37-year-old Portuguese is unpopular among his own team's fans. While Zenit, like Chelsea, clearly are the most consistent side in the RPL, their focus[/font][/size][size=small][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif] on just earning a winning result in league play and their performances in Europe has left a lot to be desired.[/font][/size]
[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]At the first glance, Zenit's statistics are quite normal, with 52 goals scored in 25 league matches. However, 12 of them were netted in the first two games of the season, when the Gazprom-sponsored giants thrashed newly promoted Arsenal Tula (4-0) and Torpedo Moscow (8-1). As the season progressed, Villas-Boas' approach became more and more negative.[/font][/size]
[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Despite having the best attacking options in the league, Zenit usually play extremely defensive football once they go in front. Seven of their 18 wins were achieved by the dreaded 1-0 scoreline, including the all-important away win at champions CSKA Moscow in November, when Zenit parked the bus after Javi Garcia scored an extremely lucky goal on seven minutes. While watching Zenit in the second half of that fixture, their time-wasting was farcical at times because it was so blatant.[/font][/size]
[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]A very similar scenario was witnessed during Zenit's next visit to the Khimki Arena in March to face Dinamo Moscow. The league leaders won 1-0 thanks to an early strike by the ever excellent right-back Igor Smolnikov, and incredibly that was the only shot on target both teams managed to produce during the entire 90 minutes. What could in theory become a feast of attacking football between two quality sides, like in a dramatic 3-2 Zenit win over Dinamo back in September, was turned by Villas-Boas into an outrageously poor affair that was almost painful to watch.[/font][/size]
[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]That system is implemented even against inferior opponents. Last month when leading 2-1 at Terek Grozny, for example, Alex Witsel wasted the added time by moving around and covering the ball by the flag, as if almost like a dance. That didn't work out, and Zenit were punished when Torpedo, the side that was thrashed by seven clear goals in the summer, scored the equalizer moments before the final whistle. It was even worse when Arsenal Tula came back from 2-0 down in the last minutes of the last 16 fixture of the Russian Cup to win 3-2 in extra time, but more often than not Zenit's defence is stable, with the imperious Ezequiel Garay calling the shots.[/font][/size]
[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]The level of success was naturally much lower against quality opposition in Europe. In the Champions League, Zenit were drawn into a manageable group with Monaco, Benfica and Bayer Leverkusen, but only managed to find the net four times in six games. That was enough to beat the Eagles from Lisbon twice, in fixtures that were especially important for Villas-Boas, who made his name at Porto, but Zenit lost both fixtures to the attack-minded Germans and failed to score versus the solid defence of Monaco.[/font][/size]
[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]T[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]he failure was profound, but dropping into Europa League at least enabled the fans to dream of winning a continental trophy. That wasn't to be, and Zenit should have lost to Torino in the round of 16, when, after a rather fortunate 2-0 win at the Petrovsky Stadium, Villas-Boas parked the bus again in the return leg in Italy, without having a single shot on target. He had his goalkeeper Yuri Lodygin to thank that Torino could only manage one late goal, because they could have easily scored at least five.[/font][/size][/font][/size]
[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]The same mistake proved to be costlier at Sevilla in the quarterfinals. Zenit took the lead in the first half, but didn't cross the halfway line after the break, and eventually conceded two goals, richly deserved by the hosts who won no less than 22 corners. In the return leg in Russia last week it was Zenit who conceded an early goal, and they produced a great performance in the second half, nearly forcing an extra time, but that only made the fans' frustration more acute.[/font][/size]
[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]If their potential is so spectacular, why on earth do they fulfill it so rarely? Why is Zenit's game based on countless shots by Hulk from all distances, and an occasional clever pass by Danny? Where is the teamwork, as far as attacking football is concerned? Usually, it is nowhere to be seen.[/font][/size]
[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]It would have been interesting to know what the coach thinks about that, but Villas-Boas prefers not to discuss his tactics. Instead, he is busy criticizing referees. Most of the time, the Zenit coach claims that his team -- supported by the government's most powerful company, mind you -- are victims of unfair decisions. For example, the Portuguese blamed the men in black for both defeats versus Leverkusen, stating after the fiasco at the Petrovsky Stadium that Spaniard Alberto Undiano Mallenco "wasn't on the Champions League level". That was also his excuse for the 0-0 draw with Spartak Moscow in September, and the list goes on and on.[/font][/size]
[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]At the press conference following the 1-1 home draw with Rubin Kazan, Villas-Boas expectedly said: "A lot of fouls on Hulk went unnoticed by the referee. Our players are not protected, and a goal against us was scored from offside, but we are used to all that." When asked if he doesn't think that his attitude is wrong, the Portuguese reacted angrily, accusing the press of incompetence, and then left the scene.[/font][/size]
[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Unsurprisingly, with such an influence, Zenit players often argue with referees. When the team is in front, that is one of their favourite time-wasting tactics, and that can hardly endear them to the fans.[/font][/size][/font][/size]
[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]As if all that negativity wasn't enough, Villas-Boas is clearly not on the same page with two of Zenit's most loved veteran stars, Aleksandr Kerzhakov and Andrey Arshavin. While the latter's form is indeed questionable, even though he performed brilliantly at center forward and scored in the aforementioned 3-2 win over Dinamo, the former is clearly very fit and raring to go. That was evident when Villas-Boas sent Kerzhakov on as a very late substitute in the game versus Rubin -- the striker very nearly scored almost immediately when his shot bounced off the bar. Incredibly, that was his only appearance on the field in the league since November. Zenit fans even staged a protest in the stands supporting Kerzhakov, who lost his place in the national team squad as a result of lack of playing time under Villas-Boas.
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[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Arshavin has also been left wanting -- his only two appearances in 2015 lasted seven minutes in total. When asked about it after the goalless draw with Kuban, Villas-Boas simply replied: "I am making substitutions when I find the timing right, and not according to someone else's wishes."
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[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]At times, it looks like the former Chelsea and Tottenham boss is determined to irritate as many people as possible. If that is his goal, he is doing a good job. In a recent interview to Sport Express, Boris Chukhlov, the former Zenit striker who was part of the squad that won the historic first title in 1984, claimed that "Villas-Boas is the worst Zenit coach in recent memory".
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[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]"I don't want to talk about him. His games are awful. The results are achieved, but all the game is based on individual actions of Hulk and Danny. This is boring. It is evident that there are less fans in the stands as time goes on. I understand that Villas-Boas learned from Mourinho, but Mourinho's teams are not only rational, but also capable of spectacular football. Zenit are just torturing fans," Chukhlov said.
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[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]In a poll conducted by Sport Express, Zenit fans were asked to name the best foreign coach in the club's history. Dick Advocaat, who won the first Russian title in 2007 and UEFA Cup in 2008, was the big winner with 48 percent of the votes. Vlastimil Petrzela, the likable Czech who worked in the pre-Gazprom era in the beginning of the 2000s, got 22 percent. Luciano Spalletti, whose popularity nosedived towards the end of mostly successful spell, was chosen by 10 percent of the fans.
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[size=medium][font=BentonSans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Villas-Boas, who is about to win the title by a huge margin, received just five percent of the vote. That says it all. An outsider might be surprised to hear that, but the Portuguese can hardly be less popular nowadays, be it in St Petersburg or anywhere else in Russia. Compared to his Zenit, Chelsea are hugely entertaining.[/font][/size]
