“The life of a footballer is short”. This is how players like to repeat, knocking out the best conditions for themselves under the contract. At the same time, no one talks about the length of a coach's career, which can be much shorter than an athlete's career.
New wave coaches are the best in the RPL
It seems that 2016 was not so long ago: it's only been seven years. But for modern football this is a lot. Seven years ago, Zinedine Zidane took charge of Real Madrid for the first time and immediately won the Champions League, while Portugal became the best in the EURO.
At the same time, CSKA won its last championship at the moment under the leadership of Leonid Slutsky, and Kurban Berdyev's Rostov sensationally took second place in Russian Premier League (RPL) and made it to the Champions League.
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It was these specialists who determined Russian football. But the coaching age is also short — Slutsky and Berdyev were already in a hurry to replace a new generation of more modern coaches who rely on other football. In just a few years, there was no trace left of the influence of Slutsky and Berdyev.
If look at the top eight RPL teams, the experience of the coaches of these teams is striking. Only Sergei Tashuev, who heads Akhmat, was formed more than ten years ago. And even he came to the team, which was created by the representative of the new wave, Andrey Talalaev. The rest of the top eight are much less experienced:
- Sergei Semak and Vladimir Ivic became head coaches for the first time in 2016;
- Mikhail Galaktionov and Guillermo Abascal in 2017;
- Marcel Lichka — in 2018;
- Valery Karpin and Vladimir Fedotov «ruled» earlier, but both had a serious pause in work, and they formed as coaches after it. Also by 2017.
Noteworthy is the example of the Moscow “Dynamo”, in which Sandro Schwartz was replaced by Slavisa Jokanovic. The German, who first became the leader just three years before his arrival in Russia, led the “white-blue” to bronze medals and the final of the national Cup. And the experienced Serb, who started his career 15 years ago, failed in Moscow.Slutsky and Berdyev also failed in their last attempts. The first flew with Rubin to the FNL and was not even trusted to return the team to the top division. The second one was supposed to put “Sochi” attacking football, but he could not rebuild, holding out at the helm of the team for only five matches. In just a few years, top Russian coaches have ceased to be relevant. Football has changed.
Possession and pressure instead of “bus” and counterattacks
Viktor Goncharenko, working at CSKA, once complained in an interview that Berdyev's success with Rostov had a negative impact on the quality of football in Russia. And there was a lot of truth in his words. Indeed, Rostov's powerful performance in the championship and European competitions showed that it is possible to achieve results thanks to competent defense. Many coaches, not delving into the details of Kurban Bekievich's work, simply copied the scheme with five defenders and parked the «bus» at their gates. The emphasis on such a primitive defense really made Russian football weaker.But time passed, and under the influence of young coaches, the trend began to transform. The trends of world football are such that in order to achieve a result, you must be able to control the ball. One defense (albeit a very high-quality one) will not achieve a result. And where there is control, there is pressure, without which it is impossible to keep the ball. And if the coach can deliver a game based on these components to the team, he will be relevant. Otherwise, he will most likely fail, because he will not be able to withstand opponents who know how to play «in a new way».
So passed Jokanovic, who put inoperative pressure and could not establish control of the ball under the pressure of the opponent. Slutsky did not change either: he relied on reliable defense and the individual qualities of the players in attack. Because of this, he did not conquer Europe, and in Rubin he rode only strong legionnaires … Until they left Kazan. Berdyev? He tried to rebuild, but his teams still fell on a defensive game that did not give a result.
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Of course, there are exceptions to all rules. Some coaches can change with football and be trendy over the years. But most of them, having formed at the first stage of their career, become less flexible and stop progressing. And even good coaches have no longer careers than many players. That is why Fedotov, Karpin and Semak, who are now at their peak, cannot be stopped in development. Otherwise, in a few years they will also be on the sidelines of domestic football.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.