FC Rostov Season Preview

INTRO: Last year, Rostov finished 13th in the Russian Premier League for a second consecutive season. Miodrag Bozovic’s men strolled to a 3-0 aggregate win over SKA-Energiya in the relegation playoffs, but management let its dissatisfaction be known.

“The fans expect a more successful result from the team than what happened last season,” said Rostov Region governor Vasily Golubev at a July meeting with the club. More specifically, the players have been told to aim for a top-10 finish.

The arrival of a pair of Spartak players, Jano Ananidze and Artem Dzyuba; two Premier League veterans, Igor Lolo and Kamil Agalarov; and South Korean international Yoo Byung-Soo highlight a busy summer thus far in Rostov. Miodrag Bozovic, back for a second season, will have his hands full integrating newcomers and attempting to guide Rostov into the middle of the table.

GREATEST STRENGTH: Goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa. The 34-year-old Croatian international is the secret to Rostov’s surprisingly good defensive numbers. Despite collecting just 29 points in 30 matches, Rostov’s 41 goals allowed were comparable to much higher placed squads like Krasnodar, Terek and Spartak.

Stipe, who’s still Croatia’s #1 and has started every World Cup qualifying match this cycle, missed just 47 minutes of play last season in the Premier League. The highlights, however, came in the Russian Cup, where Rostov held their opponents scoreless for 330+ minutes, before falling to eventual champions CSKA in the semifinals. In the previous two matches vs Spartak and Terek, Pletikosa made several penalty shootout saves to help his club advance.

GREATEST WEAKNESS: The midfield. Rostov signed Anzhi’s Kamil Agalarov and brought Ananidze in on loan, in an effort to shore up the center of the pitch. They’ll be slotted alongside Timofey Kalachev, Edgaras Cesnauskis, Aleksandr Sheshukov, Kanga Kaku Guelor and Aleksandru Gatcan.

With Rostov deeper up front, thanks to Dzyuba and Byung-Soo, the midfield must do a better job of supplying the ball. There’s some talent there, but it’s going to take a few break-out performances for Rostov to become a dangerous, attacking team.

KEY PLAYER: Artem Dzyuba. The 24-year-old Spartak loan has escaped, at least temporarily, from the pressure of the wearing the Red and White, but he’s going to be asked to do a lot in Rostov. Pletikosa has already said Dzyuba will score “15 goals this season.”

If Dzyuba, who scored just four goals in 33 appearances last season, can get on track, Rostov may be able to couple its excellent goalkeeping and defense with a viable offense and threaten for a top-10 place. But if the Spartak man has a slow start, it could distract the rest of the team and force Bozovic to make a difficult decision on whether to bench the promising young forward. Bottom line: Rostov need goals and Dzyuba, at least in the beginning, will be the one called upon to provide them.

DEPARTURES/TRANSFERS REVIEW: As mentioned, midfielders Ananidze and Agalarov and forward Dzyuba have arrived. South Korean forward Yoo Byung-Soo from Saudi club Al-Hilal and Kuban defender Igor Lolo are the other major signings. Lokomotiv goalie Anton Amelchenko, who spent last season at Terek, will back up Pletikosa, while two midfielders, Igor Khudobyak and Azim Fatullaev, and two defenders, Hrvoje Milic and Bastos, round out the additions.

Departing are back-up goalie Nikolai Zabolotny, who returns to Spartak from loan, forward Danko Lazovic (Zenit), and defenders Maxim Belyaev (Lokomotiv), Isaac Okoronkwo (free agent) and Inal Getigezhev (Rubin). Getigezhev is the biggest blow, having made 30 appearances last season, but universal defender Lolo should make an adequate replacement.

BEST CASE SCENARIO FOR THE SEASON: Rostov are transformed from the low-scoring, tepid squad of 2012-13 into a free-dealing, attack-oriented squad which knows it can count on captain Stipe Pletikosa to clean up plenty of mistakes at the back. Much like Krasnodar in the past two years, Rostov score several surprising upsets and finish between 9th-11th, well free of the relegation playoffs, if not quite in the mix for Europe.

The Russian Cup, however, proves an even better time. Rostov ride Pletikosa once more, this time all the way to the final, thus securing a place in Europe League qualifying.

WORST CASE SCENARIO FOR THE SEASON: Miodrag Bozovic proves incapable of organizing Rostov on offense and a predictable dip from Pletikosa and the back line mean that Rostov hover near the bottom of the table. Dzyuba, Byung-Soo and veteran striker Holenda lose confidence as the season wears on, while the dynamic Ananidze is called back to Moscow during the winter break. An away match at Tom on the last day of the season decides the final relegation spot and Rostov lose in heart-breaking fashion to finish 15th.

INTERESTING FACTS: Rostov, known then as Rostselmash, advanced to the Intertoto Cup semifinals in 1999, where they met Juventus. The two-leg tie went very poorly, as the Russian side lost 4-0 at home and 5-1 on the road.

Rostov’s top finish in the Russian league was 6th, in 1998. They have reached the Russian Cup final once, in 2003, where they fell to Spartak (coincidentally, Spartak’s final title).

KEY EARLY SEASON FIXTURES: Due to pitch trouble elsewhere to start the season, Rostov must play their first three matches at home: Terek, Krasnodar and Tom. These are teams Rostov must be competitive with to avoid another date in the relegation playoffs or worse. Picking up at least 4-6 points early is essential.

SEASON PREDICTION: Rostov have strengthened and, despite finishing 13th last season, had the best goal differential of teams 11th-16th. Managerial stability and an improved offense will pull Rostov to 10th, at the expense of Lokomotiv, whose slide down the Premier League continues for at least one more season. But don’t look for much luck in the Russian Cup. Pletikosa and co. will get knocked in their first appearance.