Sardar Azmoun @ Zenit St. Petersburg 2021/22

[Medzdidz]

I don’t understand the hate. Sardar doesn’t want to be at Zenit , he has been professional and looks as if he agreed personal terms with two different clubs this transfer window but Zenit have said no to both. Every game Zenit play we are on here saying how poor they play or how bad the service is to Sardar for most of the game apart from the odd one (Dzyuba generally excluded) when one of the playmakers decide to pass him a good ball. Instead of shooting from 40 yards or over hitting a pass.
He will leave just before the World Cup starts which isn’t ideal for himself or Iran instead of having time to cement himself in different better scouted league where he can show that he can do it outside of Russia. In a club that plays attacking football with a manager that wants him and he will be their first choice striker.

There is an expectation that on a free transfer that a PSG or a Barcelona or a Juventus are going to go In for him, that is all if and buts and maybes. This has been concrete move for him, yes he will be more desirable on a free but it will be clubs like Leverkusen and Lyon that will go in for him and that he wants to go too. Sardar has made it known (with the Liverpool interest before) that he wants to not be sat on the bench but go there as their main striker.

But it’s ok , we can watch Malcolm and company suck in the Champions League and in Russia when they don’t even get out of first gear with their arrogance and with their manager who has no tactical nous. People who wanted him to stay at Zenit this season do not complain when they play like a bag of balls.

Watching Zenit this season, Sardar has looked very frustrated with the service to him. It is because of his qualities that Zenit are winning games and because of his professionalism he has not come out after the game and called out his fellow players when he has every right too for how bad they have been.

[PSGman#19]

Zenit, with all their $$$ and prestigious CL game couldn't even lure a decent striker. It show how bad their league is.

[Doctor DOOM]

I wish he had gone to a decent team like Atalanta or even Bayer. But ce la vie.

Glass half full opinion:
If he stays for the 1st round of champ league (last game Dec 3) and lays in all 6 games and does well (score at least a couple of goals). Then come Jan, as a free agent and ON A HIGH, I'm sure he will have decent suiters.

Problem is top clubs usually complete & wrap their squad by beginning of the season. Not mid season. Unless someone has had major injury.
Barca brought in Braitwaith midseason from Leganes becoz of Suarez's injury. And look, he's still there!! But that's an outlier case.

So I wouldnt rule out some decent teams from good leagues coming after Azmoun.
He gets to play one more season of champs league (no mean feat by itself). perhaps score a few goals to bolster his case.
Keep in form for the WCQ's in the meantime.
and pocket the benefits of a free transfer.

not bad for a kid of 26


===========

On OL opton:
well, it's too early in the season & tables dont reflect the true quality of clubs yet (look at where that shit club, brighton is ATM).
But one thing is certain: OL has good DNA. So it will come to the surface sooner than later.
and in that shitty one-team-league in france, OL is the 2nd team (which doesnt say much actually ). But that league is a FEEDER league to the top leagues. And if you do well, you WILL get noticed.
Also once OL gets its shit together, it might even vie for champs league qualifiers or at least Europa league.
again, not bad at all

good stepping stones for Azmoun if it works out

[Farzadfarhangni]

I know he is an emotional guy and he had set his mind on leaving. I hope he can keep his spirit up and play hard and hungry for another half or full season.

[BacheLot]

Zenit should hire Berdieve as an coaching advisor for their upcoming games in UCL...!! he did so somewhat effectively at Rostov, when sardar was there..!
in think , they have enough talent on the pitch to possibly make a surprise advancement run from the group..!? , but only if set up right tactically and able to get decent tally of points at their home matches..!!
zero chances of that with the hapless, one-dimensional semak at total helm of the team..!

Berd man is a proven EU-Giant killer and mostly a defensive, counter attacking tactician, somewhat similar to CQ..!
i really think if they can adopt a well-organized Park the Bus and Counter game strategy in most all their UCL matches, they stand a decent enough chance of making a Cinderella run of sort in UCL this season..!!? such tactics tbh, is probably provide the best chances for Sardar to grab a few vital goals as well, considering his breakaway speed on the break and ability to find small spaces for a tap-in off a set piece delivery..!!

[Doctor DOOM]

^ sorry. "advance"???
at the cost of Juve or Chelsea (although I'd loooovvve to see chelski demolished and thrown into garbage bins. But not gonna happen. SAD )?
best bet is europa league.

[inarsenewetrust]

People who can’t look beyond 3 brand names will be happy.

Anybody who has watched the absolute crap zenit have become knows this is horrible.

They will be raped in CL, his reputation will not be enhanced, quite the opposite. We are lucky if the guy doesn’t lose interest/form now as any normal person who gave his all for the cause thinking he’d be treated fairly when trying to upgrade, only to be cockblocked 2x by these idiots would.

They didn’t have enough time to find a replacement now, but would you believe these idiots rejected virtually the same offer from a better team, leverkusen, when they could have had over a month to finalize a replacement.

These are the reasons Russia is behind Scotland in EU coefficient. Zenit don’t even have a director of sport anymore, the shrewd italian operator that brought in azmoun,rakitskiy,barrios went back to Italy as challenge of turning around Parma was more interesting than zenit.

Main issue is that zenit isn’t a normal club, bound by normal business realities, or indeed normal football objectives. Semak doesn’t get fired as he would anywhere else Bc for zenit this is really a big branding exercise for gazprom, designed to give some minor Kremlin players a few posts where they can maximize their corruption without interfering with anything important in the large scale of things.

Great for azmoun to be caught in the middle of this. You will be surprised wjat garbage teams go for him next year on a free. And you will be mkre surprised when he gets there and sits his ass on the bench

[Futbaldoost]

I am angry and frustrated like many on this forum. It is what it is. Obviously Zenit's mismanagement has created a situation where they realized they may not even be a contender for the RPL title without Sardar and they are trying to milk this until the last drop. Sardar needs to be a lot more proactive and start putting feelers out for when he is free while staying in form and scoring as many goals as possible. He should do everything he can to score during the CL campaign even when they lose. I rather see Sardar as a solid professional who will use this drawback to further motivate himself than pre-justify some sort of lack of motivation on his part. He will be free before you know it and if he acts smart along with his agents and keeps performing he will have great suiters in Europe.

Go Sardar!

[inarsenewetrust]

I really challenge anybody who thinks azmoun can do so much better than lyon and that zenit is good for him and blah blah to watch zenit vs akhmat (in full, not highlights, you can see it through it if it’s such a good situation) after international break and tell me why our best player should spend another year of his prime at this club.

[PSGman#19]

I really challenge anybody who thinks azmoun can do so much better than lyon and that zenit is good for him and blah blah to watch zenit vs akhmat (in full, not highlights, you can see it through it if it’s such a good situation) after international break and tell me why our best player should spend another year of his prime at this club.

He can do much better than Lyon, but will never get a much better offer with decent playing time, coming from a league nobody watch. Almost 10 years in this prison league. And the level decrease each season.

He scored beautiful goals lately but nobody to watch them and against horrible defending from top russian teams (cska, locomotiv..). French league isn't the best league but even average players go to EPL, spain or german league.
Also I want to see him against physical defender like the french guy from leipzig (upamecano) that completely shadowed him in CL. He need to improve against such defender.

[Kiarash]

Almost 8 year in Russia and still counting, makes me sad that our best player is caught hostage there.

[ParthianDE]

all-time top foreign goal scorer in Russia

OK on a positive note:

Here's something I came up myself by looking around a bit that has not been mentioned anywhere yet:

If he stays at Zenit, he has a really good shot at the following all-time records:

1. the highest scoring foreign player in the history of the Russian Premier league.

2. To make it into the top 10 all time scorers (regardless of Russian or foreign).

Currently Sardar ranks at #15 in the all time ranking with 83 goals.

1. Discussion: There is only one foreigner ahead of him at this point: the Brazilian Vágner Love at #13 with 85 goals. But Wagner is 37 and plays at Kairat Almaty. If I read his stats correctly, he has not played in the league at all this season. Conclusion: Sardar is most likely just three goals away from being the top all-time foreign goal scorer in Russia!

2. Discussion: at #10 in the rankings is Fedor Smolov with 88 goals, currently playing for Loko Moscow. So a 5 goal difference. This is a bit harder than #1, but seems doable too. If Sardar manages to catch him, he would be in the top 10 most prolific goals scorer list in Russia history.

3. Sardar has two shots at being the third Iranian in history to score against Chelsea. And extra bonus chance: be the third Iranian to score a bycicle kick against Chelsea!
Go Sardar!

[04041374]

Axel Witsel experienced the exact same thing five years ago, when Zenit couldn't find a replacement and called the transfer off. Just like Sardar, he had a year left on his contract
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/17087...nute-by-zenit/

[Doctor DOOM]

OK on a positive note:

Here's something I came up myself by looking around a bit that has not been mentioned anywhere yet:

If he stays at Zenit, he has a really good shot at the following all-time records:

1. the highest scoring foreign player in the history of the Russian Premier league.

2. To make it into the top 10 all time scorers (regardless of Russian or foreign).

Currently Sardar ranks at #15 in the all time ranking with 83 goals.

1. Discussion: There is only one foreigner ahead of him at this point: the Brazilian Vágner Love at #13 with 85 goals. But Wagner is 37 and plays at Kairat Almaty. If I read his stats correctly, he has not played in the league at all this season. Conclusion: Sardar is most likely just three goals away from being the top all-time foreign goal scorer in Russia!

2. Discussion: at #10 in the rankings is Fedor Smolov with 88 goals, currently playing for Loko Moscow. So a 5 goal difference. This is a bit harder than #1, but seems doable too. If Sardar manages to catch him, he would be in the top 10 most prolific goals scorer list in Russia history.

3. Sardar has two shots at being the third Iranian in history to score against Chelsea. And extra bonus chance: be the third Iranian to score a bycicle kick against Chelsea!
Go Sardar!

problem is nobody gives a shit about Russian league stats .... and justifiably so too.
so being #1 in this or that category in russia means NOTHING.
Time to move on.

If he cant make it out now. then leave in Jan as free agent.
period.

[inarsenewetrust]

Axel Witsel experienced the exact same thing five years ago, when Zenit couldn't find a replacement and called the transfer off. Just like Sardar, he had a year left on his contract
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/17087...nute-by-zenit/

their incompetence knows no bounds. Thanks for posting this though, at least he isnt the only one.

Ofc, there is still plenty of hope for him, I just feel that every additional game his talent spends at this level is another game he could have spent under a better coach surrounded by better players in a better league improving and getting closer to unlocking his full potential.