OK it’s all over Now. Ivan Sergeev’s transition to blue-white-blue from Wings of the Soviets puts an end to the St. Petersburg period of Artem Dziuba’s career. This point, however, can still turn into an ellipsis – here a lot depends on whether Serdar Azmun fulfills his contract, which is valid until June of this year, to the end. But even if the Iranian leaves Zenit already in winter, in my opinion, it is obvious that the maximum amount of time Dziuba will stay in St. Petersburg is the same six months. Artem’s agreement ends at the same time as Azmun’s agreement. And in this context, it does not matter at all whether the current head coach Sergei Semak will extend the labor relationship with the champion following the end of the season.
The tension around Dziuba in the Neva club appeared a long time ago, and every month it only increased. The first such conversations began a year and a half ago, but up to a certain point, the management and Semak tactfully avoided questions regarding the conflict with the player, skillfully hiding behind streamlined formulations like “everything is in order, let’s figure it out inside the team.”
But the game of cat and mouse might not continue forever – any patience comes to an end. The peak of Artyom’s endless escapades (remember all those Deadpool costumes at the championship ceremony, the gestures “I must be here on the field” following leaving the field, flavored with a couple of swear words, statements that questioned the decisions of the headquarters and other husk that over the years in the Northern capital Dziuba did a lot) began to fly to the Maldives before the final match of 2021 in Moscow with Dynamo.
Then Semak did not include the diplomat at the press conference: “Dziuba has an injury, so he might not play. Photo of him in the Maldives? I know, but I had more important things to do. Let’s figure it out. ” It sounded harsh, but right.
The fact that the striker is overdoing it with the role of the alpha male of the lion’s pride in the national team, in the club, people from the world of football have been telling for a long time. And over time, Artyom got used to the image more and more tightly, becoming – I admit it, even imperceptibly to himself – more and more toxic for partners and coaches. Sport and, in particular, football is primarily regarding the result. His Dziuba gave many seasons in a row, continues to give and now – the second place in the list of RPL-2021/22 snipers with ten goals scored will not allow a lie. But in the case of such players, sooner or later a moment comes when no goals, points, seconds matter anymore. Here the very Maldives became the point of no return even before the end of the first part of the championship.
The information of colleagues from the “Championship”, at the end of December reported that Semak was once morest the extension of Dziuba’s contract, was not born out of nowhere. As well as the data regarding Rubin’s interest in Artem – his friend Leonid Slutskiy knows how to find a common language with the forward, while Sergei Bogdanovich is obviously tired of such attempts. Moreover, the position of the coach leading Zenit to the fourth consecutive RPL title (which will update the blue-white-blue record) is clearly stronger than that of a significant, but football player. Dziuba’s demeanor is not to everyone’s liking in the office.
Of course, he hasn’t yet said his last word in game number one. I can imagine that for another year or two or three the striker is able to keep the level, to be useful on the field – with the dressing room the issue is much more controversial. Only, most likely, all this will no longer be in Zenit – not now, so next season.
And, I think, not in the Russian national team – despite the outlined “relaxation of tension” in the “cold war” with Valery Karpin. After all, he communicates with the players and understands everything.
Vyacheslav Korotkin
