Having been a bit of a student of WWII history, I do believe that Zhukov is in the same category as Montgomery - not totally incompetent, but never known for any real brilliance, tactical or strategic. They both believed in using extra large numbers of troops to hopefully overwhelm the enemy. Russian doctrine really has never advanced very much beyond that. Afghanistan did not provide any opportunity to try new tactics or strategy for the Russians, nor did it provide any for us. It seems that the only thing that means anything is sheer numbers.