Leonid Fedun said that the coach gives 10% of the total contribution to success. A powerful refutation of such speeches is sent by the career of Vladimir Fedotov. “Orenburg” became the seventh with him, and after his departure, he flew out of the RPL. With “Sochi” Fedotov took “silver”, now the southerners are in the second half of the table. Finally, Fedotov was invited to CSKA, who ranked fifth or sixth. The Red-Blues finish the 2022/23 season with medals and the Cup. recalls how the capital club campaigned with a new coach.
How Fedotov got a trophy for the “soldiers”
The union of Vladimir Fedotov and CSKA initially seemed beneficial to both sides. “CSKA” got a strong specialist, already very experienced, achieving results in the Premier League. The coach received the resources of the top club, which allow him to fight for the highest places.From the very first matches, Fedotov proved that the invitation was not a mistake. For a long time, the coaching staff did without newcomers, plugging holes in the defense and in the center of the field, but this did not affect the result in any way. The players quickly adapted to the new model, the team with not the strongest line-up has established itself among the leaders — eight wins in the first 11 matches of the RPL and the Cup. >But the crumpled preseason could not but affect. Against the background of the lack of full preparation, the attack was highly dependent on the individual qualities of Jorge Carrascal and Jesus Medina. After the autumn matches for the national teams, the South Americans noticeably lost. In October, the team was covered by a crisis — only one victory in seven rounds of the championship.
At the winter break, CSKA went fifth in the table, six points behind the medals. The main problem was the low performance: only 30 goals scored — seventh highest in the league. The dissatisfaction of the fans grew, but Fedotov overcame the crisis with honor. The coaching staff used internal resources to develop the team.
Offensive problems were solved by changing the roles. Ivan Oblyakov moved to the inside position and gave the best segment in his career, Anton Zabolotny added variability to the team on the edge, Medina got used to the position of the lateral and made the left flank of the attack work. Fedotov found the optimal combination in the center of defense, and the team missed the least in the championship in the spring. As a result, CSKA won the race for silver medals, and also won such a long-awaited trophy.
Further only the struggle for «gold»
This success is the undoubted merit of Fedotov and his staff. First of all, it is necessary to note the mentality of the head coach. Vladimir Valentinovich always strives to win and is not afraid of pressure. Many coaches, having achieved results in the provinces, failed in top clubs. Fedotov, on the other hand, calmly accepts new challenges and charges everyone in the team with confidence.
The big challenge for him was working with star players. It is one thing to demand from Artem Makarchuk and Nikita Burmistrov, and quite another from Jorge Carrascal and Jesus Medina. The dissatisfaction of top players ruined the careers of many good coaches. But Fedotov did not allow anyone to shake his authority. Legionnaires, who surrendered in the game in the fall, went to the bench, from where only Medina returned, ready for change.
The search for new roles for players proves Fedotov's ability to find hidden reserves within the team. Medina switched from attacking to lateral position and looked great at the end of the season. Moises started the season as a lateral, and in the second half of the season he became one of the best central defenders in the RPL. At the start of the season, Oblyakov plugged holes on the flank and in the center of the field, and in the spring, from an inside position, he scored 6 + 3 according to the goal plus pass system.
But Fedotov's main strength is in building a working game model. Active flanks, mobile center of the field, which directs the team's attacks, mobile attacking players who can both create chances for partners and complete attacks. Football players competently fill free zones and know what to do in different situations. The first half of the season allowed the coach to create a skeleton, the foundation of the team. And only then, by changing roles and searching for new combinations, to achieve results.
But the most difficult test lies ahead. CSKA has crept up to the top, and any result other than gold medals will be, at best, marking time. Now Fedotov is waiting for a new ambitious goal — to challenge the hegemony of Zenit. If someone is capable of this, then it is he who is the best coach of our championship.