{"id":12730,"date":"2026-01-27T19:04:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T19:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=12730"},"modified":"2026-01-27T21:01:41","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T21:01:41","slug":"kairat-almaty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=12730","title":{"rendered":"Kairat Almaty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A 24 Kairat Gold Performance Please, Reds!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday evening, in what seems this busiest of seasons, we welcome Kairat Almaty to the Emirates for the final round of Champions League league-phase matches. The Arsenal stand proudly at the pinnacle of the league table and, barring a mathematical catastrophe, are guaranteed to finish there with a perfect record. Kairat, on the other hand, sit rooted to the bottom of the table, although curiously only separated from a team like Villarreal by a four goals inferior goal difference. This must be due to the vagaries of the \u201cnew\u201d draw. Perhaps it says something about the new format being less predictable – or maybe Villarreal are just having a very poor season?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I\u2019m sure we\u2019re all now well aware, a major benefit of finishing in one of the top two positions is that we will play at home in the 2nd leg of every knockout round right up to the final – or as far as we might have the good fortune to go. In any event this match appears to be the very definition of a dead rubber. It will be interesting to see how close to capacity the ground looks but it could well be a quiet night for Kairat\u2019s own version of a ticket super tout, Kazakh Stan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, from a travel point of view, the game is at home and will save our fans an arduous trip to Kazakhstan. It should also leave them less exposed to the attentions of the Almaty Ultras – or the Kairat Crunchers as they are known – albeit mostly to themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will be forever grateful to my dad for taking me to my very first Arsenal game and making me a Gooner. He knew I was consumed by football but had only a passing interest in it himself. As a result our trip to Highbury turned out to be a one off but I was hooked – amazed by the lights, the size and the magic of the occasion. So I was even more amazed to discover that, even all those years ago, as far as his \u201cfandom\u201d went, my dad was a Kairat Almaty supporter. He was an extremely keen gardener but had neither the inclination nor the skills required for DIY. But on several of those occasions when forced into a bit of repair work, I heard him yelling \u201cKairat Almaty!\u201d from the shed as another misdirected hammer blow found the end of his thumb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Opposition<\/strong>
Kairat Almaty was founded in 1954 under the name Lokomotiv Alma-Aty as a works team representing the local railway company. After a series of mergers dictated variously by politics and the agricultural employment sphere to which its expanding membership belonged, the club adopted the name Kairat Almaty in 1956. Kairat is a Kazakh word with Arab roots meaning “strength, courage, vitality and fighting spirit\u201d, and is the romanised version of the name of its owner,<\/strong> Qairat Boranbayev, a Kazakh businessman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The club is comfortably the most successful in Kazakhstan, having won four league titles, eight Kazakhstan Cups and two Kazakhstan Super Cups in what is described as its modern history. During the Soviet era, Kairat Almaty became a symbol of Kazakh football at national level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The club has undergone several phases of development in its time but, while I always enjoy and admire North Bank Ned\u2019s superb histories of our upcoming opponents, I have neither the time nor desire to impose similar detail on you about Kairat Almaty. The following excerpt from their particular history will hopefully explain why and has been lifted from Wikipedia if you really can\u2019t resist: \u201cThe 1971 season was highly successful for the club. Under Viktor Korolkov\u2019s rule, Kairat finished 8th in the Top League, a significant increase compared to previous seasons. On 12 November 1971, Kairat won the European Railworks Cup, defeating Rapid Bucharest 2\u20131 in the final.\u201d That\u2019s quite enough of that!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the break up of the Soviet Union they reportedly appointed Mikhail Gorbachev as Director of Football. He achieved little, in truth, but did at least manage to find them a perestroikas.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three most famous players who played for Kairat – and in all probability the only ones anyone here will ever have heard of – are our very own erstwhile winger Andrey Arshavin, former Bayern Munich midfielder Anatoliy Tymoshchuk and Brazilian striker Vagner Love. They do currently have a 28 year old No 7 called Jorginho but he is nothing to do with any of the similarly named players that might just spring to mind. Neither is he Brazilian – being in fact a Bissau-Guinean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The club is actually quite stable with almost all of the coaching staff having been in place since around 2019. The exception to the rule is their manager, Rafael Urazbakhtin, who was appointed more recently, in September 2024, and is apparently well known for his cairat and stick coaching methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the technically inclined, according to the club\u2019s website, Kairat play in a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3, or a 4-2-3-1 \u201cfor defensive stability and attacking creativity\u201d. It seems pretty rudimentary information, should cover all bases, and whichever one they choose will hopefully prove utterly futile against our table topping superstars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Arsenal<\/strong>
On the injury front we have to wait and see whether Ricardo Calafiori is deemed fit enough to make the squad. He\u2019s been out since pulling up in the warm-up before the win against Brighton just after Christmas. That must have been some warm up as he\u2019s now missed nine games across all competitions with the resulting muscle injury. He was spotted in training ahead of the Manchester United game and Arteta said he could be available for selection. He wasn\u2019t selected in the event so eyes will now be on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kai Havertz also failed to make the matchday squad on Sunday. There were suggestions on social media that there are concerns over the German, but Arteta has reassured Arsenal supporters that he is “very close” to full fitness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: “Obviously, he has been out for a long time, almost a year, for different reasons, and now we have to be very smart in the manner that we manage that load, the minutes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I am sure in the next few weeks he is going to play minutes. I cannot tell you which competition because that will depend as well on the game context, and it is a context that is positive to throw him in or not, with his qualities.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It is great that we have him. We can use him in different positions. We will see him in different positions, and we are really happy to have him.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personally, I would love to see him in positions other than supine or prone on the treatment table. Fingers crossed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Max Dowman has been out since suffering an ankle ligament injury in a behind-closed-doors game against Manchester United before Christmas. The 16-year-old was ruled out for two months and has consequently been removed from Arsenal’s Champions League squad. Arteta confirmed recently that Dowman was still “a few weeks away”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ethan Nwaneri has now completed his loan to Marseille and scored on his debut with a trademark Nwaneri goal – a run through the right side of midfield, turning inside to curl a left footer from distance inside the far post. If it works well for him, I do wonder if he might spend next season there too. He appears a different, less extroverted character than Miles Lewis-Skelly and this loan is probably as much about his personal development as it is about football. In 18 months he can grow physically and mentally, and the overcrowded pathway into our midfield might be starting to thin out a bit by then. He\u2019ll be joining Jurrien Timber\u2019s twin brother, Quentin, there too. Maybe, one day, they will return to Arsenal together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week Gabriel Jes\u00f9s spoke of his own pride at scoring twice in the San Siro but also took a moment to acknowledge his striking comrades: \u201cI was so happy that Vik came on and scored a goal because a striker without a goal is always difficult. I have been fighting with this all my career, but still, I\u2019m so happy that I scored, Vik scored, and then I\u2019m 100% sure when Kai has the chance, he will score and help us as well.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nice touch. We all hope so. Very much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That brings us to the question of team selection. There has to be a mixture of rest, rotation and a chance of playing time and confidence restoration for some of our squad members. Declan Rice and Mikel Merino are suspended so my guess \/ preference would be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

White, Mosquera, Hincapi\u00e9, MLS; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

N\u00f8rgaard, Eze, Jes\u00f9s; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Madueke, Gy\u00f6keres, Martinelli.<\/p>\n\n\n\n