Speaking before to his side’s 2-0 loss against Spartak Moscow, the Anzhi Makhachkala manager says the RFPL is developing and getting closer to the strongest leagues in the world.
“Prior to joining Anzhi, I worked in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and if we compare the championships of these countries with Russia, the Russian championship is much stronger. An example is Rostov’s 4-1 victory over Ajax in the Champions League. These results show that Russian football is constantly moving forward and closer to the level of Europe’s top leagues,” Vrba said.
“The quality of matches is increasing and Russia has moved up in the UEFA coefficient rankings. In Russia there is good infrastructure, a lot of good foreign players and Russian teams have performed well in European football, so, with club football in Russia everything is in order,” the former Czech Republic coach said.
When asked about his attitude to the limit on foreign players in the RFPL the Anzhi coach neutrally replied: “I respect the rules of the Premier League.”
It is interesting to note that there are also foreign player rules where Vrba used to ply his trade in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In the Czech league, there can only be a maximum of three non-EU players in the first XI whilst in Slovakia only four non-EU players are permitted to be in the match day squad.
Despite the fact new Sbornaya manager Stanislav Cherchesov has not included any Anzhi players in his first squad, Vrba added that he would be glad if any Anzhi players were called up to the Russian national team. “If they are playing well to be noticed by the national team manager, then I can only be glad.”
Following their tussle with relegation last season, through which they survived after a playoff victory over Volgar Astrakhan, Anzhi have seemingly become a lot more solid under Pavel Vrba and currently sit in eight position thanks to some good victories early on in the campaign.
This remarkable improvement has been done on a tight budget with Anzhi not spending a single penny on new players in this summer’s transfer window. All of their business has been done using free transfers with a lot of the dead wood being released and replaced by a better quality of players.
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