A little over a year ago, the name of the current Spartak coach was known in Russia only to the most sophisticated amateurs football. The choice of the club's management in favor of the young Spaniard was taken with skepticism, but even now, according to rumors, they are ready to tear him away from the Muscovites with their hands. In six months, Abascal has become a favorite of the team and fans, won a new contract and is now considered a rising star in the coaching industry. But it's not at all a fact that success in Russia will contribute to the rapid development of his career.In the recent history of Spartak, there have been many dubious coaching appointments, which has taught fans to perceive any new face with skepticism. But Abascal stands apart in this respect, because in Russia no one knew him corny. Those who followed the fate of Fedor Chalov in Basel, who was just headed by the Spaniard, could hear something. For the most part of the football community, he was unknown, which could not but affect the perception. Perhaps the most striking critic of the choice in favor of Abaskal was Alexander Mostovoy.
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«I'm sure he will be happy, his life was a success. His friend Luca Cattani (former sports director of Spartak) is already in Europe. A man arrived on the announcement, no one knew him before. Now he will enjoy such a championship.» Spartak «should be in the top three — both with Abascal and without him,» the veteran of the «red-whites» said in an interview with the Spaniard shortly after the appointment.
It must be admitted that there were grounds for such fears. No less young Domenico Tedesco had behind him Bundesliga silver medals and the Champions League with Schalke. Rui Vitoria had vast experience compared to Abascal and won a whole scattering of trophies with Benfica. As for Paolo Vanoli, he did not work anywhere on his own before Spartak, but he was an assistant to Antonio Conte in the Italian national team, Chelsea and Inter. Abascal, who first loudly announced himself only last season, could not boast of such a resume. Since February, the Spaniard has worked in Basel, with which he won the silver of the Swiss championship with five wins and four defeats in 16 matches. br>
Meanwhile, he was to lead the country's most popular club, which dreams of competing with Zenit. At the age of 33, it is difficult to perceive such an opportunity otherwise than as a huge advance. One can only guess how many stones would fly into the garden of «Spartacus» in the event of a failure of the Spaniard.
From skepticism to a new contract in six months
But doubts quickly evaporated thanks to the results and the quality of the team's game. The Spaniard already earned a decent credit of trust at the start, having lost only two points in the first five rounds. Then there were failures — with Dynamo (0:1), Zenit (1:2) and Rostov (2:4) — but Spartak fully rehabilitated for them with a series of 11 matches without defeat. At the end of autumn, the Red-Whites seemed invincible and showed bright football, which evoked associations with Romantsev times. Although the legendary coach of the capital club himself reacted to the success of his colleague with restraint.
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«Spartak» Abaskal compared with mine? So far, I don’t see who delivered what to the team. Still, I have not been to his training, recently I saw him live for the first time. At the moment he is doing well, but we'll see at the end of the season. Football should be staged in such a way that there are victories. If Abascal wins the championship, then we can say that he is a good coach. So far we see that the result is not bad. What are your impressions of Abascal? Red, young. What emotions can there be, since we just met and said hello, «said Romantsev.
For the first time in several years, they started talking seriously about the end of Zenith's hegemony. “Spartak” looked like a real competitor to St. Petersburg, which was shown, among other things, by a crushing victory in a personal meeting in the Russian Cup (3:0). And although it was only an intermediate result, Abascal still acquired a new status, becoming a fan favorite. Even his critics from among the experts were forced to recognize him as a qualified specialist, with whom the «red-whites» guessed right.
Moreover, rumors immediately arose about interest in Abaskal from Europe. In particular, they wrote a lot about Sevilla, which was preparing for the second coaching permutation of the season. Talk about the possible departure of the Spaniard began in December, and the club decided to play ahead of the curve. Shortly before the resumption of the season, Abascal extended the contract with the red-whites until the summer of 2025.
The new agreement should secure Spartak for some time. In addition, a positive psychological effect is obvious — the coach confirmed that he would stay. It is possible that already in the summer, if there is a profitable offer, Abascal will think about leaving, but in the middle of the season no one managed to pick him up. It seems that the team, accustomed to unplanned parting with coaches, received the necessary charge of emotions from this.
Is there life after Spartak?
There are also many who were skeptical about the rumors around Abaskal. Someone considered them agency games, someone — inventions of journalists. They had arguments: it's hard to believe that six months of work at Spartak could raise the young coach's quotes on the European market so much. It is enough to look at how the careers of his predecessors developed after parting with the “red-whites”.If we take the last ten coaches of Spartak, then only a few are still in demand at the highest level. Unai Emery has won several trophies since leaving Russia, worked at PSG and Arsenal, and is now storming the English Premier League again with Aston Villa. Murat Yakin seems to have started to slide down the career ladder after Spartak, but recently got a chance in a strong Swiss team. Together with him, Domenico Tedesco entered the international level, who in February led the Belgian national team. Like Rui Vitoria, who accepted the proposal of the Egyptian federation. But the big question is whether it was Spartak that contributed to the development of their careers.
Other examples are much more illustrative. Mikael Laudrup completely disappeared from the radar, Dmitry Alenichev after the «red-white» worked only with the «Yenisei», Oleg Kononov — with the «Riga» and the Tula «Arsenal». And the brightest stories in this regard are those of Massimo Carrera and Paolo Vanoli. The first won the long-awaited championship with Spartak, the second won the Cup of the country, but both did not receive career promotion. Carrera has had bad Serie B and Greece entries, while Vanoli is trying to save Venezia from relegation to Serie C.
The harsh truth is that no one is following the success of foreign coaches in the Russian Championship in their home countries. For example, the Italians were not at all impressed with the victory of Carrera in the RPL and even the bright matches of Spartak in the Champions League. There were many rumors — he was even matched to Juventus and the Italian national team. But in fact, he hardly found a job in the not very prosperous Bari, with whom he no longer worked a miracle. So Vanoli, it seems, found himself in a similar situation, having almost the same biography and experience. Abascal fits into their company perfectly.
With a high degree of probability, it will be even more difficult for the Spaniard to convert successes with Spartak into profitable offers in the future. First, he had catastrophically little experience before coming to Russia. But it was precisely the years of work before business trips to Moscow that helped Emery, Tedesco and Vitoria find work after Spartak. Their further career advancement was connected, first of all, with previous achievements, and Abaskal simply does not have them. In many ways, therefore, the start of an independent career in Spartak did not benefit either Carrera or Vanoli.Secondly, the Spaniard's predecessors had at least European competitions in which one could draw attention to one's personality. The defeat of Sevilla in the Champions League gave Carrera's reputation in the eyes of his compatriots much more than victory in the RPL. It was after the bright European Cup campaign that the Italian began to be mentioned more often in the local press and named among the contenders for tidbits. Abascal will not have to count on this in the foreseeable future — we can only guess when Russian clubs will return to the international arena. at home.
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“Russian football is not being watched in Spain right now,” Riancho said.
Sooner or later, parting with the Spaniard will take place . Many suggest that as early as the summer, the young coach may respond to a new challenge, especially if he manages to win a trophy. But this is unlikely to be a team of the same “Seville”. Abascal, like Carrera and Vanoli, will most likely have to prove their worth from the very bottom. Whether he will be able to do it is a big question.