Alexei Bakharev died at the age of 45. He could become a superstar of Russian football, but he did not pass the test of temptations.
Sad news came from Donetsk. A well-known footballer in the recent past, who shone in the form of the Moscow Spartak, died there. Last years Alexey Bakharev worked with children and youth at Shakhtar. It was in this club that the best years of his career passed. A career that seemed to consist only of severe injuries and intense conflicts.
However, there was something else. When Alexei Bakharev was just starting, he was predicted to be a superstar. Football development was rapidly going up, the best coaches in the post-Soviet space fought for the player, he went to the match with the Brazilians in the form of the Russian national team. And then – a sharp fall and a tragic end.
What went wrong for one of the most talented midfielders of his generation?
“What rhombus?”
A budding player started in the Togliatti “Lada” in the mid-90s. It was here that Bakharev scored his first goals on a professional level. The assertive central midfielder quickly attracted the attention of most of Russia’s top clubs, including Spartak Moscow.
Bakharev dreamed of playing under Oleg Romantsev and easily agreed to a one-year lease. He had mixed feelings for the coach: on the one hand, he had immense respect, on the other, he was afraid. The legendary specialist seemed too unattainable in his status.
In Spartak, Bakharev was immediately called upon to replace the injured Andrei Tikhonov. Alexey had not played on the left flank before, but obeyed the requirements of Romantsev. On the whole, it turned out not bad, only the coach was sometimes indignant that the beginner played too much on horseback. In the team of Oleg Ivanovich, only a small pass was appreciated. The coach generally from the very beginning tried to instill in Bakharev red and white values. He didn’t quite understand. In an interview with Match-TV, the former footballer said:
– I remember the only conversation with Romantsev after signing the contract: “You must play for the rhombus.” “I don’t understand,” I think. What does he want from me? A guy from the outback came – what a rhombus, what lofty topics is he talking about? On this communication has exhausted itself.
“Lost in Life”
Bakharev played football and enjoyed life in the big city. At some point, pleasure began to cross all boundaries. Aleksey spent nights in clubs, he completely forgot about the regime. In the same interview, the midfielder bitterly admitted:
“I got lost in life, I got to know the worst side of Moscow. Before, I didn’t even think about alcohol, cigarettes, girls, only football. The native capital has made adjustments, ha ha!
When Tikhonov returned, Bakharev immediately sat down on a bench. It turned out that in “Spartacus” there are “favorites” who are put in the composition in any case. This did not please the young and daring player. Although later Alexei admitted that he himself was largely to blame. Perhaps if he had taken up his mind earlier, a career could have turned out quite differently.
“Byshovets drank all the blood”
Of course, they did not renew the contract with Bakharev. There were rumors that the midfielder could sign a contract with Zaragoza or even with Barcelona, but all this remained at the level of gossip. The president of “Lada” Alexander Garmashov advised to go to the Volgograd “Rotor”. Alexey is from the Volgograd region, so this option suited him. In addition, the team was very cheerful and caused a stir in the Russian championship.
Alas, Bakharev failed to become an important part of the team. The injury affected, due to which the midfielder greatly gained weight. And then the problems with money began – I often had to borrow from teammates. Then a variant appeared with Shakhtar Donetsk – and Oleksiy clung to this chance. He did not yet know what awaited him in the new team.
And he was waiting for a meeting with the most odious coach of all time – Anatoly Byshovets. The well-known intellectual and reasoner immediately took up his ward, sincerely wanting to give him at least some education. But Bakharev stubbornly resisted.
– Byshovets drank all the blood out of me in six months. That meeting, then learn English, then read Sherlock Holmes. I scored on it. He nodded, put it on the shelf and went about his business. Do I need it? I talked with such people that books were not needed. Walking encyclopedias, I got all the information from them.
However, Bakharev stayed at Shakhtar much longer than Byshovets. For him, this club has become truly native. Several times Alexei went on loan, but always returned. During this period, he also played two friendly matches at the national team level – moreover, for different national teams. First, he flew to Brazil with Russia, and then met with Iran as part of Ukraine. True, both meetings were friendly. In the first, under the leadership of the same Byshovets, Bakharev, together with his partners, experienced a crushing failure – 1:5.
– In Brazil, they just threw the young under tanks like Cafu, here, play. The lights in the stadium are still out. You have to justify it somehow.
Untapped Potential
Bakharev always admitted that he was never able to reach his full potential. Somewhere the injuries affected, somewhere the transfer decisions that his agents made for him. The famous Ukrainian coach Viktor Prokopenko believed that Alexey used only 50% of his abilities.
As a result, after the end of his playing career, Bakharev ended up at Shakhtar again. Here he began to work with children and young men. Actually, the former midfielder was engaged in this business until the end of his life. He was worried about various things: from the state of football in the Russian outback to the sad fact that foxes have been living on the field of the Donbass Arena for many years. However, Bakharev did his job perfectly, and Rinat Akhmetov, the president of Shakhtar, appreciated him very much.
Unfortunately, Bakharev passed away too early, at only 45. Probably, he did not have time to bring to mind many talented boys who could play in professional clubs in the future. Such is the tragic end of a short and hard life, which, nevertheless, leaves a very distinct mark.