Three rounds of the Kazakhstan Football Championship-2022 are behind us, and it is already possible to draw the first conclusions from the season, which thousands of fans were waiting for. bbabo.net correspondent - about the main problems of the start of the new campaign and the impact of the first break on the matches of the national teams.
Based on the results of three starting rounds, Kairat, Tobol and Kaspiy became the leaders of the standings, scoring seven points out of nine possible. However, Shakhtar could have had chances for sole leadership if their match of the third round with Aksu had not been postponed due to bad weather. This is exactly the first problem.
The first round passed without unpleasant surprises associated with cancellations or postponements of games. But already in the second round, the meeting between Akzhaiyk and Turan, scheduled in Uralsk, had to be postponed due to ice on the lawn and incessant snowfall. In the third round, the situation was repeated in Karaganda, where Shakhtar was supposed to host Aksu. Again snow and frosty weather.
The start of the season in March regularly results in such consequences for KPL clubs. Perhaps it is really more logical to think over the calendar so that initially the teams based in the south play at home, and the northerners start in the championship with a series of away meetings.
There is also the issue of attendance. Let's take a look at the numbers taken from the PFLK data:
First round: 19,300 (average - 2757 per match)
Second round: 13,000 (average - 2166)
Third round: 12,400 (average - 2066).
The most attended game was the match of the first round between "Kairat" and "Aktobe" in Almaty, which was attended by 9200 spectators. The most unpopular for football fans was the game between "Atyrau" and "Aksu" in the first round. There were 100 fans at this match.
There were more spectators in the first round for two reasons. Firstly, this is the very sign of the confrontation between "Kairat" and "Aktobe", and secondly, the fact that the meetings were held on Saturday and Sunday. The second round took place on Thursday-Friday, and the third one took place on one Friday.
It is clear that on weekdays it is more difficult for spectators to plan a trip to the stadium, especially if most of the matches start during working hours. From here follow the final statistics.
Themselves are also not encouraging with an abundance of goals and spectacular matches. For three rounds, 19 matches were played, and in them the teams scored only 24 goals. This is a little more than one goal per match on average. In the first round, the clubs scored only six goals in seven meetings, in the second round - seven goals in six matches, in the third - 11 accurate shots in six matches.
None of the teams managed to distinguish themselves at least three times per game. The only exception can be considered only "Shakhtar", which received a technical victory over "Astana" in the first round with a score of 3:0, but everyone knows that the game itself actually ended in a goalless draw.
The players of Kairat and Shakhtar score the most - four goals each. True, the Karaganda team has a match in hand, but the Almaty team scored all the goals on Jose Kante. More than others, "Aktobe", "Kyzyl-Zhar" and "Makhtaaral" let in their own net - also four goals each. So far, Tobol, Kaspiy, Shakhtar and Aksu have not conceded goals at the start of the season.
The low performance is also due to several reasons. Firstly, at the start of the season, the players are still getting in shape and cannot be in optimal condition. Secondly, the registration period is still open and newcomers keep coming to the clubs. And there are many such players who did not even go through the pre-season training camp with the teams.
Thirdly, difficult weather conditions and insufficiently good quality of most of the fields make themselves felt. Any professional will only be happy to beat opponents, creep into spectacular tackles and score beautiful goals on well-groomed lawns in comfortable weather conditions. To do this in frost and with snow under your feet, and even taking into account the not very high initial quality of the lawn, is many times more difficult.
Another indicator with a minus sign is frequent deletions. In 19 meetings, seven players retired at once. By comparison, in KPL-2021, the seventh removal took place only in the fifth round of the championship.
It is quite possible that the next break for the matches of the national teams will benefit the teams. Not all players will go to the national teams, especially among middle-class teams or outsiders. Therefore, the teams will be given extra time so that the coaches can make certain changes in the tactical pattern of the game and work out something new.
Beginners will have time to get used to their partners, to adapt to the conditions of playing football in Kazakhstan. And already in early April, when the clubs resume the championship of Kazakhstan, everyone will try to give the game a completely different level. And the weather, hopefully, in a couple of weeks will be much more comfortable for playing football.
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Photo: FC "Akzhayik" (1), FC "Kairat" (2.4), FC "Astana" (3), FC "Ordabasy" (5)
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