FC Krasnodar Season Preview

INTRO: Krasnodar enter their third season in the Premier League in good shape. Despite dropping one place to 10th in their second campaign, the Bulls slightly improved their point/match ratio and remained in contention for a Europa League place until early May. Led by owner Sergey Galitsky, the richest man in Russian football, and Serbian manager Slavoljub Muslin, Krasnodar have enjoyed remarkable stability for such a young, ambitious club. Muslin, in fact, is entering his 4th season in Krasnodar and received a contract extension this spring.

Krasnodar boast one of Russia’s most active youth academies, which could begin to pay off in the near future. In the meantime, the club has been astute at finding cheap international talent, such as Brazilians Wanderson and Joaozinho. Muslin’s primary objective for the coming season will be to improve on defence (Krasnodar finished 5th in goals scored, but 9th in goals allowed in 2012/13). Ownership will also be watching attendance, which has improved slowly but steadily since the club was founded in 2008, surpassing 11,000 per match last season.

GREATEST STRENGTH: Sergey Galitsky. The 45-year-old businessman is an unusual man. He’s worth $8.2 billion according to the latest Forbes rankings and one of the few Russian billionaires who doesn’t live in Moscow. A lifelong Krasnodar Krai resident, he’s frequently shared that his greatest dream is for the Krasnodar starting lineup to be composed entirely of players from his academy.

Most strikingly, Galitsky has shown he’s willing to wait patiently for that to happen and allow Krasnodar to improve organically. Despite the team failing to improve on its 9th-place finish in 2012, Muslin was given a contract extension and nearly the entire team is back. The places appear to be fitting in place for Krasnodar to duplicate the success of another provincial club in Rubin - a long-term coach in Muslin and a cohesive, if not star-studded, squad that consistently punches above its weight.

GREATEST WEAKNESS: Defence. Despite some general similarities with Rubin, Krasnodar is a much more offensive-minded team. With a little more consistency at the back - Krasnodar conceded 39 goals to 45 scored - they would have a good chance at European qualification. Anzhi, for instance, finished 3rd with a 45-34 statistic. Veteran right-back Vitali Kaleshin and Legia centre-back Artur Jedrzejczyk have arrived this summer to help beef up Muslin’s back line. Krasnodar will also hope that promising young goalie Aleksandr Filtsov, recently signed from Lokomotiv, can continue to improve after earning the starting position in March.

KEY PLAYER: Joaozinho. He didn’t miss a single Premier League match last season and delivered 14 assists, tops in the league. Movsisyan and Wanderson were both tremendous for Krasnodar, but Slavoljub Muslin pointed to his Brazilian playmaker as the team’s most valuable player. With a couple more promising forwards arriving at Krasnodar this summer - Marcos Pizzelli (Kuban) and Gerard Bi Goua Gohou - Joaozinho will again be called on to keep everyone happy up front. If he does so with the same success, his team will likely be near the top of the league in goals scored once again.

DEPARTURES/TRANSFER REVIEW: Midfielder Vladislav Ignatiev is off to Kuban and defender Adolf Teiku is back to Ukraine after his loan ended. Midfielders Igor Lambarsky and Aleksandr Erokhin, but neither played much and won’t be missed all that much. Ignatiev made 28 appearances and is the biggest loss on the right wing, but Krasnodar have already brought in two midfielders, Yuri Gazinsky (Torpedo) and Ricardo Laborde (Anorthosis Famagusta), which should help.

Four more signings, two up front and two in the back, could prove significant. As mentioned, Vitali Kaleshin and Artur Jedrzejczyk will try to improve the defence, while Marcos Pizzelli and Gerard Bi Goua Gohou, the top scorer in the Turkish second division last season, will help out Wanderson on the attack.

BEST CASE SCENARIO FOR THE SEASON: Krasnodar take care of business against the bottom 6-7 clubs in the league and collect enough points from the top half to secure a top-5 or top-6 finish and European qualification. Best of all, Krasnodar’s Europa League spot comes at the expense of crosstown rival Kuban. At the same time, a successful Russian Cup campaign carries the Bulls to the semifinals, where they fall to the eventual champions. Attracted by the team’s success and dynamic offense, Krasnodar attendance soars in the second half of the season to top a 15,000 per game average for the season.

WORST CASE SCENARIO FOR THE SEASON: The defense is no better and numerous injuries hamstring the offense. Instead of climbing into the Euro zone, Krasnodar take a step back, finishing 11th or 12th and much less relevant than the year before. The club continues to stay the course, but attendance drops, particularly with neighboring Kuban enjoying a successful Europa League campaign and second straight top-5 finish.

INTERESTING FACTS: Despite combining for 17 goals and 16 assists last season, neither Joaozinho nor Wanderson were selected to the Russian Football Union’s annual list of the top 33 players.

Krasnodar, who currently share Kuban Stadium with fellow Premier League side Kuban, have begun building their own 36,000-seater, which will be located next to the club’s youth academy.

KEY EARLY SEASON FIXTURES: Weeks 4 and 5 - Krasnodar travel to Moscow to play Lokomotiv, then host Dynamo following the international break in August. If they’re going to improve on 10th place, they need to prove that they can hold their own against clubs like these.

PREDICTION: Krasnodar will be the breakthrough team of the season, finishing in the top 6, and, as long as a top-6 club wins the Russian Cup, qualifying for Europe. The defense is improved, particularly with Filtsov in goal from the start, and Joaozinho will have an even more options up front to help him lead the league in assists once more.