Sergei Vedeneyev has urged Luciano Spalletti to play Domenico Criscito and Tomas Hubocan in defence after their 3-0 defeat in the UEFA Champions League against Malaga CF
Luciano Spalletti’s men marked a poor defensive and offensive display in their opening UEFA Champions League group stage game against the Spanish team, Malaga CF, after conceded three goals and scoring none.
Sergei Vedeneyev has commented on Zenit St. Petersburg’s massive European defeat, saying that the St. Petersburg club struggled to cope up with the pressure as they made defensive errors in the European encounter.
Spalletti played http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Aleksandar-Lukovic-c4481 in defence after resting Domenico Criscito, who just recovered from a muscle injury, and restraining Tomas Hubocan from first team action
due to unknown reasons.
The Portuguese defender failed to clear the ball on a couple of occasions including the one which led to the second goal of the match. Lukovic, on the other hand, struggled to play until the end of the first-half after sustaining
a leg injury.
Vedeneyev urged Spalletti to play Criscito and Hubocan in the later group stage matches of the ongoing tournament, saying that the defending Russian Premier League champions need to play more experienced players in defence.
“Zenit looked comfortable in the domestic championship this season. However, they failed to impress in Europe Today. Spalletti’s men looked a little ridiculous in defence. We will see a completely different team when Criscito will
return.”
“Though the Russian defenders read all the moves and tried to intercept the transmission, they failed to stop the final passes which led to the goals. I think the Spaniards had a great game. If you see last year’s European campaign,
Zenit played with confidence but now the case is different.” The Soviet Top League winner was quoted as saying.
Vedeneyev went on to admit that the Meshki had a terrific European campaign last term, having defeated the likes of Shakhtar Donetsk and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Porto-c39186 respectively. He urged the Russian outfit to produce similar performances in Europe
this time around.
The 55-year-old, meanwhile, backed the misfiring striker, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Aleksandr-Kerzhakov-c4569, to score in the upcoming group stage games.
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