Me and Ramona Bachmann

While I stated in an interview that Switzerland can defeat Russia in Moscow, I feel strong that the blame for this loss should not be placed on Igor Shalimov. I based my opinion on what I have learned about players while coaching in Russia and not on any negative hopes. In March, Zvezda played against Swiss champions FC Zurich and many Swiss national team players play for Zurich. I have tried to sign Bachmann before and am familiar with Dickemann. That gave me a good picture of what to expect from this match.
Shalimov got his tactics right when he went 4-5-1 against Switzerlands 4-4-1-1 (with Dickemann playing just behind Bachmann) and I am convinced that Russia’s poor performance was a result of too many league matches, not the ability of the current manager.
Russian players looked lethargic and tired and that I believe is a result of playing league matches every four days. No other women’s league in the world does it.
Swiss manager Béatrice Von Siebenthal’s players, for example have been off for 3 weeks now and they looked fresher.
League schedule in Russia is too congested and because of this when there are serious matches players are at risk of not being at the level that people expect.
My players Tsybutovich, Savchenkova, Kurochkina, Djatel and Apanaschenko, between 4 June and 4 July will play 8 league and national team matches. With 5 injuries at Zvezda, these girls will play every four days, Add travel to this and they have no rest and we have no ability to properly train.
Schedule congestion is becoming a bigger issue as top women’s footballers play more and more matches. Between qualification matches for the World Cup, European Championships, the Olympics, the UEFA Women’s Champions League, domestic league and cup, our top players end up playing as many as 50 matches in one year, and most of it is concentrated in April through October.