src=»/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/f00dc14b92580d637e3bdb70d46c6437.jpg» The 300th anniversary of the city was discussed less than the new head coach of Zenit. Top managers, plumbers, housewives, and most importantly, journalists asked questions: who is Vlastimil Petrzhela and how did he conquer the leaders of Zenit? «You will be very pleased with Vlasta,» he said confidently.
The veil of secrecy about the appearance of a Czech specialist in Zenith was opened by Konstantin Sarsania. «Disappointed in the Russian coaches, Vitaly Mutko insisted on inviting a foreigner,» Sarsania later said.According to Sarsania, the first candidate he proposed was Damian Comolli, who helped Arsene Wenger at Arsenal and at the time headed the English club's scouting service. Mutko was embarrassed that Comolli was only 33 years old. He feared that the Zenith veterans would simply “eat up” their peers. Then the candidacy of Jozsef Chovanets arose, but this Czech specialist did not dare to go to Russia at that time. Later, in 2005, he came to Kuban.
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“We collected information about all the candidates very carefully,” Sarsania recalled. — I talked with European colleagues who saw Bohemians headed by Petrzhela in action. I spoke with Czech agents, first of all, with Kolář. We collected a dossier on almost all the coaches who worked in the Czech championship. They took into account not only professional, but also human qualities.Of the candidates proposed by Sarsania, Mutko settled on Petrzhel. In November 2002, a contract was signed with him under the «2 + 1» scheme. Recall that then the championship was held according to the «spring-autumn» system. Together with Vlastimil, his assistant Vladimir Borovichka and three players came to Zenit: Martin Horak, Pavel Maresh and Radek Shirl. Almost immediately, a fourth and a fifth appeared, goalkeeper Kamil Chontofalsky (he is, however, a Slovak, but by that time he had already settled in Prague) and striker Lukas Gardig.Borovichka, who arrived in St. Petersburg a little earlier than the chief, immediately began to communicate in Russian. Having learned about a new place of work, in a small town near Prague, he took language lessons from … a Ukrainian housekeeper. Petrzhela had to use the services of an interpreter at first. Subsequently, when Pan Vlastimil spoke Russian more or less tolerably, Ivan Zhidkov simply became his referent, and then, together with his boss, wrote a book with a very precise title: «Once in Russia, or from the Czech Republic with love.»
In Russia, Mr. Vlastimil was struck by many things — from the swans that have chosen a pond near the Zenit base, to the need to pay for packages lying next to the cash register in a supermarket. With St. Petersburg journalists, the new head coach did not stand on ceremony. His favorite phrase after reading this or that article: «All sorts of fools are writing about me again!»
In the very first season, Zenit Petrzhela won the silver of the Russian championship, and only three rounds before the finish line lost real chances for gold. Has the training process changed under the Czech specialist? “Each coach has his own approach, but I can’t say that Vlastimil has changed something dramatically,” recalls one of the key players in Zenit-2003, Alexander Spivak.As his merit, Petrzhela cites the «discovery», as he called them, «St. Petersburg boys». Only here it is possible to give an alternative version. After the defeat in Elista, clouds gathered over the head of the Czech specialist. It was publicly said that the experiment with inviting a foreign specialist was unsuccessful. And in Vladikavkaz, Vlastimil made a bet on the pupils of St. Petersburg football, releasing not only Andrei Arshavin, Vladimir Bystrov and Alexander Kerzhakov, but also Igor Denisov, Oleg Vlasov, Konstantin Lobov, Dmitry Makarov. «Zenith» defeated the uncompromising «Spartak-Alania», and then in two matches of the national championship defeated the capital's clubs — «Torpedo-Metallurg» and CSKA.
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“Petrzhela did not particularly hide that he wanted to acquire a few more players with the help of agents he knew well,” said Vyacheslav Melnikov, who was then working with the Zenit backup team. — He pulled the guys out of the double to show Mutko: you should not count on them. And they took it — and showed what it's worth.
In the silver season, Zenit also won the Premier League Cup. Under Petrzhel, the St. Petersburg club demonstrated cheerful, reckless football, which the fans could not help but like. A spectator reached out to the stands of Petrovsky. Club president Mutko, who believed that Zenit should become the same symbol of St. Petersburg as the Hermitage and the Mariinsky Theater, did not hide his joy. After the first season, Petrzhela became Peter's favorite, and even journalists refrained from «fools» in his address.The continuation of the fairy tale about football Cinderella (in those years, against the backdrop of Moscow clubs, Zenit was exactly that) did not follow. The following season, the St. Petersburg club, which was leading the national championship a few rounds before the finish line, missed not only gold, but medals in general. The head coach and the president of the club had serious disagreements on transfer policy. «Petersburg boys», capable of strengthening the composition, are over. At the suggestion of Petrzhela, sometimes such strange characters were brought to Zenit, such as defender Yaroslav Nesvadba or striker Dragan Chadikovsky.
The new “foolishness” of St. Petersburg journalists has also become popular: “Only two people cannot be found in the world — the terrorist Osama bin Laden and the left-back for Zenit. The end of the epic of finding the latter cannot even be called a“ foolishness ”. — Only in Korea there are so many Mins that they brought some namesake. In addition, he also demanded that he cook dishes from dogs. But everyone knew my attitude to dogs!»
About the three dogs of Pan Vlasta in St. Petersburg they wrote without «fools». Not for print, they discussed another topic. Earnings at Zenith, which grew every year, Pan Vlastimil lowered to the casino. As his ex-wife Susanna bitterly recalled in an interview in the Czech press, a lot of money deprived Petrzhela of the brakes.
Even some Zenit players were invited by the head coach to gambling establishments. The training process increasingly delegated to Borovichka. It got to the point that, on the initiative of Arshavin and Radimov, the head coach was presented with a telescope for his birthday. However, Vlastimil appreciated the gift with humor. Like, this is so that he can better see the talents of the «St. Petersburg boys».
Petrzhela stood out for his sharp football eyesight. “Somehow we were at a match in which we looked at a potential newcomer to the team,” said Leonid Genusov, who for a long time headed the press service, and then the international department of Zenit. “After 15 minutes of the game, Vlastimil singled out the left-hander and clearly outlined his strengths and weaknesses.”
Having signed a new contract, Petrzhela failed to stay in St. Petersburg. After one of the defeats from the Moscow team, he said: «Zenith» will never become a champion, «Although during his work the club's budget has tripled, from $15 million in 2003 to $45 million in 2005. The new owners of the club from Gazprom fired Petrzhela in the spring of 2006. For three matches, the team was headed by Borovichka, whom Vlastimil still cannot forgive betrayal, and then Dick Advocaat arrived .
Petrzhela improved his Russian a little more, having worked in the Baku «Neftchi», which his then assistant Igor Getman recalled with great pleasure at a recent international tournament. But neither in the capital of Azerbaijan, nor in the Czech and Slovak clubs, he did not stay for a long time. «Zenith» has remained the main team in his career.In the fall of 2012, the Russian youth team with Dmitry Cheryshev and Fedor Smolov in the squad and Nikolai Pisarev on the bench held a play-off match of the qualifying tournament in Jablonets. Not far from Liberec, where Petrzhela lives. There is even a tram between these two cities. Naturally, the ex-head coach of Zenit came to the game (not by tram, of course). Seeing a familiar face in the press box, Pan Vlastimil jumped over the barricade and asked about Zenit news throughout the break. The match has already resumed, and Petrzhela, not even paying attention to the «fools» in the answers, kept asking and asking about Zenit, St. Petersburg and Russia.
And how happy he was when I asked for an interview during the 2017 European Figure Skating Championships in Ostrava! Petrzhela then coached the local Bannik. He said that he would gladly take «Russian boys» to his team and bring them to the level of European club players. «Only no one wants to go,» complained Pan Vlastimil. «They still make good money sitting on the bench.» >From Petrzhela began the era of foreign coaches “Zenita”, which lasted a decade and a half and ended with the arrival of Sergei Semak. Could he achieve more with the St. Petersburg team? Hardly. And it's not about the «Moscow» refereeing, which even Andre Villas-Boas and Mircea Lucescu complained about.
The Czech coach brought some European mentality to Zenit, but nevertheless, during his work in Russia, he himself became more Russian. With their «fools», which distracted from football. Only it was Petrzhela who started the path that continued with triumphs in Manchester and Monte Carlo Advocaat, victories in the Russian championship Spalletti and Villas-Boas, and now Semak.
On July 20, Vlastimil Petrzhela turned 70.