This is not a workflow suitable for the russian team, basically, due to high competition (i mean, when was the last time Yuna or Javi had to worry about getting spots? When was the last time Hanyu had to worry about getting spots?). While this season is basically granted for Zhenya, next season it will not be. Russian girls cannot afford messing up in the beginning of the season to fill in choreo as they go, unfortunately.
I am actually pretty curious how Orser will adapt his workflow, and if he will, to such pressures as 1. Making the team and 2. Getting a spot. I am really unsure if he had ever worked in such a competitive environment.
EDIT: overall, i am majorly worried about Zhenya basically because her team seems to be entirely disregarding the intense national competition. We have seen how quickly russian ladies stop getting spots if they don't perform - see Tuktik after her killer season. She won everything, but since she was not winning anymore, rusfed gave the spots to whoever did better. At Olympics, judges didn't held up Zhenya either - they gave the medal to whoever performed better on that concrete day, regardless past wins. Yes, rusfed will give Zhenya a granted spot this season, if anything, to not make a fool of themselves and of TAT for supporting her coaching change. But then later?
We may not like it, but reputation is conted in into scores. Zhenya currently has a rep, but what will happen if she loses to Wakaba, for example? Will she keep getting high PCs if she spends half of the season "filling in choreo as they go" and struggling with jumps to only peak at nationals and worlds?
As for Alina, I am not worried. Her music cuts may not be the best, but we know that what she is doing is rewarded in FS. Her choreo is pretty much final version, the only thing she got to do is skate it cleanish (like last year, when she "struggled" with her SP, but even when she messed up, the scores were still high).