Analysis · 8 min read
Talalaev-ball: they play, but not always the ball. Baltika's season reviewed
Why does this style bring results?
Topic
Tactics and numbers
Match breakdowns, xG, pressing, set pieces and possession — texts that explain football through data.
Where to start
New to the topic?
Start with these — they carry the essentials. Then read the rest in order.
Interactive · 7 min read
Baltika controlled not the ball but the opponents' discomfort. Interactive season review
Why Baltika was the most uncomfortable team of the season — a big review with interactive charts.
Analysis · 13 min read
33% possession and two goals: how Baltika won a match it barely had the ball in
568 Krylia passes and 0.08 xGOT.
Every text in the topic
Analysis · 18 min read
Baltika 2-3 Zenit: why the numbers could not save the match
Baltika took 14 shots to Zenit's six but lost 2-3 in the Russian Cup.
Analysis · 7 min read
Cordoba says Krasnodar dominated for 90 minutes. The numbers give them only 45
19-3 penalty-area passes in the second half and a 90+3 equalizer.
Analysis · 12 min read
Are long throw-ins a waste of time? Not with Baltika's Beveev
163 throws, 78 into the box and three goals
Analysis · 10 min read
Beveev drove forward, Latyshonok saved, forwards stayed silent: Baltika's 0-0 Rostov ratings
Player ratings, 0.74 xG and a late Sunday finish
Analysis · 8 min read
Possession for Samara, chances for Baltika: behind the 2–0 cup win
Ten chances, two disallowed goals and player ratings
Analysis · 7 min read
Two different halves, the same zeroes: what Baltika took out of Grozny
Level on shots, behind on chances.
Preview · 7 min read
Who weathered the break better? Akhmat vs Baltika preview
The league table matters. The arrivals board maybe more.
Profile · 12 min read
Ivan Belikov: how Talalaev found him in Tver for Baltika
The opposing coach was correcting him mid-friendly.
Profile · 10 min read
Mikhail Ryadno at Baltika: why the defender needed the move
Rodina's best player — and 20 minutes in the RPL.
Analysis · 8 min read
They got the ball into the box — finishing was rarer
The 2:3 against Zenit, by the RuStat sheets.
Analysis · 17 min read
Baltika rescued a point. But why did it need rescuing at all?
0:2 on 51, 2:2 on 95 — then the RuStat report.
Analysis · 8 min read
Baltika pinned Lokomotiv in their own half. But couldn't find a goal there
All the territory, none of the goals.
Preview · 9 min read
How Baltika will break down Rodina: set pieces against a low block
3.73 xG from set pieces is a method, not a flaw.
Analysis · 11 min read
Two almost identical halves, not two different ones
0.18 open-play xG and a point at 90+4.
Analysis · 13 min read
We predicted everything except the goalkeeper
We called everything except Maksimenko.
Preview · 9 min read
Maksimenko plays on his line. That is Baltika's main chance on 16 August
One route to goal — and it works.
Analysis · 13 min read
33% possession and two goals: how Baltika won a match it barely had the ball in
568 Krylia passes and 0.08 xGOT.
Analysis · 8 min read
No ball, no Borisko, no Andrade. How Baltika beat Dynamo Moscow for the first time
28% possession, a win built from a set-piece routine and a penalty, and ratings for every player.
Analysis · 9 min read
Baltika scored against CSKA after 35 seconds — and lost. Match review and ratings for every Baltika player
A goal from a throw-in, an own goal, three flags and a man of the match CSKA wants for itself.
Numbers · 16 min read
Where are Russia's RPL footballers forged?
Where the RPL's Russian players come from. Part two.
Analysis · 11 min read
Baltika does not need a striker. It needs Buloychik
Talalaev's team is top five in the RPL for set-piece xG but mid-table for actual goals.
Profile · 8 min read
2+2, eight yellows and almost no highlights. How Titkov became Baltika's hidden engine
Baltika's hidden engine — no highlights required.
Profile · 9 min read
Baltika's main star wears gloves
Football still looks for its heroes near the opponent's goal.
Numbers · 13 min read
Where are the RPL's Russian players born? Moscow and Krasnodar give a quarter, the Urals have almost vanished
A map of where the league's Russian players come from.
Interactive · 5 min read
3.5% of the city in the stands: how Kaliningrad overtook Moscow, St Petersburg and Krasnodar
Stadium against city: a new metric rewrites the RPL attendance table.
Analysis · 8 min read
Talalaev-ball: they play, but not always the ball. Baltika's season reviewed
Why does this style bring results?
Interactive · 7 min read
Baltika controlled not the ball but the opponents' discomfort. Interactive season review
Why Baltika was the most uncomfortable team of the season — a big review with interactive charts.
Numbers · 8 min read
The only RPL outfield player to play all 30 matches without substitutions, injuries or suspensions
All 30 matches, never substituted. Guess who.
Analysis · 8 min read
Baltika did almost everything right. And lost again
Baltika lost 1:2 to Dynamo in the last match of the season, but the game was even.
Scouting · 5 min read
Baltika signed a player with four goals a season. Why it does not look strange
Konstantin Shiltsov is the first summer arrival: at first glance another First League player, at second an…
Analysis · 5 min read
Lokomotiv — Baltika 1:0. A match with a deceptively simple scoreline
Not a classic Loko win with total control but a survival match after an early gift: Rudenko's goal in the 4th…
Preview · 11 min read
Loko without Batrakov: how to break down Baltika when the main key is out
Aleksey Batrakov misses the Baltika match through yellow cards.
Analysis · 3 min read
An island of found hopes and lost points: how Baltika got tangled in Artiga's nets
Fifteen thousand fans filled the stands expecting a celebration and got a masterclass in turning 54%…
Analysis · 7 min read
Groundhog Day on the Island: how Baltika lost a match by forgetting to switch on the lights
Baltika slept through the first half, woke up in the second and found Akron had already changed the locks and…
Preview · 4 min read
Against Akron, Baltika needs not a beautiful match but its own kind
Akron's defence is loose and its winless run long, but Baltika has its own warning sign: four draws in a row…
Analysis · 5 min read
Grozny Groundhog Day: how Baltika turned a tactical masterpiece into a serving of Baltic melancholy
Baltika laid a perfect tactical table in Grozny and dropped it on its own boots at the last moment.
Preview · 4 min read
The aesthetics of a broken cobblestone: why Baltika's pressing may get stuck in Akhmat like a heel in Amalienau paving
Tactics, melancholy and an attempt to understand why 2:2 has become Kaliningrad's new number pi.
Numbers · 9 min read
Baltika already draws very well. But how to make a full stadium the norm rather than a holiday?
Kaliningrad is living through a football boom.
Analysis · 8 min read
Baltika almost took the match in Krasnodar. A few minutes were missing
A 2:2 draw looks a strong result.
Preview · 5 min read
Baltika has shown it can hurt Krasnodar. Can it do it again?
In Kaliningrad Baltika dragged Krasnodar into a sticky, uncomfortable match and was closer to winning than…
Analysis · 6 min read
Baltika had the will for a comeback. It lacked the team to close the game
The 2:2 with Pari NN is easy to oversimplify.
Preview · 6 min read
Baltika will smother with repetition. Pari NN cannot simply be endured
The match will be decided in the second-ball battle: if Baltika pins Pari NN to loose balls, they will…
Analysis · 5 min read
Without Talalaev it got quieter. Not worse
A suspension hits the team's nerve but does not break its mechanics: the back three, aggression without the…
