While certainly not the last of its kind, the board of the Russian Football Union has released their list of the top players in the Russian Premier League in 2009. Just as with any such list, there are omissions and inclusions that are questionable. Nonetheless, it is at least one opportunity to reflect on the talent on display in the league this year.
From the top 33 players, Rubin Kazan was the club with the most
The highest-ranked starting 11, in a 4-4-2 (going from right to left) is:
Igor Akinfeev; Alexander Anyukov, Roman Sharonov, Sergei Ignashevich, Cristian Ansaldi; Vladimir Bystrov, Sergei Semak, Alex, Konstantin Zyryanov; Welliton, Alejandro Dominguez.
The selection of the top 33 players, in the end, were culled from 6 clubs: Rubin Kazan (8 players, 4 players ranked first in their position), Zenit St. Petersburg (6, 3), CSKA Moskva (6, 2), Spartak Moskva (4, 0), FK Moskva (3,0), and Lokomotiv Moskva (2,0).
Here is the full list:
Goalkeeper: 1. Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moskva) 2. Sergey Ryzhikov (Rubin Kazan) 3. Vladimir Gabulov (Dynamo).
Right back: 1. Alexander Anyukov (Zenit St. Petersburg) 2. Sergei Parshivlyuk (Spartak Moskva) 3. Kirill Nababkin ( FK Moscow).
Central defender (right): 1. Roman Sharonov (Rubin Kazan) 2. Vasili Berezutski (CSKA Moskva) 3. Martin Jiránek (Spartak Moskva).
Central defender (left): 1. Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA Moskva) 2. César Navas (Rubin Kazan) 3. Denis Kolodin (Dinamo Moskva).
Left back: Cristian Ansaldi (Rubin Kazan). 2. Renat Yanbaev (Lokomotiv Moskva) 3. Georgi Schennikov (CSKA Moskva).
Midfielder (right): 1. Vladimir Bystrov (Zenit St. Petersburg) 2. Miloš Krasić (CSKA Moskva) 3. Aleksandr Samedov (FK Moskva).
Defensive midfielder: 1. Sergei Semak (Rubin Kazan) 2. Igor Denisov (Zenit St. Petersburg) 3. Dmitri Khokhlov (Dynamo Moskva).
Central Midfielder: 1. Alex (Spartak Moskva) 2. Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moskva) 3. Igor Semshov (Zenit St. Petersburg).
Midfielder (left): 1. Konstantin Zyryanov (Zenit St. Petersburg) 2. Edgaras Česnauskis (FK Moskva) 3. Aleksandr Ryazantsev (Rubin Kazan).
Forward (right): 1. Welliton (Spartak Moskva) 2. Aleksandr Bukharov (Rubin Kazan) 3. Fatih Tekke (Zenit St. Petersburg).
Forward (left): 1. Alejandro Domínguez (Rubin Kazan) 2. Alekandr Kerzhakov (Dynamo Moskva) 3. Dmitri Sychev (Lokomotiv Moskva).
As an aside, the youngest player of the group is Georgi Schennikov (18) and the oldest player is Dmitri Khokhlov (33, 3 months older than Sergei Semak).
Of the top 33 players, of course, there are several that are likely to be leaving the Russian Premier League during the winter. Alejandro Domínguez, Miloš Krasić, and Igor Akinfeev are the most probable. Others who have received a decent amount of transfer rumors abroad of late include Alekandr Kerzhakov, Cristian Ansaldi, Aleksandr Ryazantsev, and Fatih Tekke.
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