The new season is approaching and CSKA Moscow fans will have high exceptions after last season’s surprising league title win when they were not expected to finish in the top 3. All of this success comes down to brilliant management and fantastic teamwork. Leonid Slutsky is one of the finest managers in the Russian Premier League and CSKA Moscow have complete faith in him, as so they should.
The Moscow side already have free ticket to the group stage of the Champions League again this season, so that means that they can bypass qualifying and have extra time to prepare for the big tournament ahead of them. Their aim will probably be to get into the round of 16, but how easy that will be all depends on who is drawn into their group. CSKA will be hoping for a easier group than they were stuck with last season, where they had football giants, Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Furthermore, Doumbia and Dzagoev were injured during most of their champions league campaign making it more difficult to advance. CSKA will be looking to bounce back from this and it is predicted here that they will take the next steps to become a world class club.
What needs to be done?
CSKA have an excellent set of players who work well together. The squad does lack in some arenas though; for example while the attack is strong with Doumbia, he has proven to be injury prone and there lacks depth behind him. CSKA will also most likely be looking to add another striker to their squad which is the right thing to do.
The weakest aspect in CSKA’s squad is the two centrer backs who are getting old, which means their pace is gone and are finding it harder to last the whole 90 minutes in matches. CSKA need to find new CB’s and fast, as it is unlikely that Sergei Ignashevich, Vassili Berezoutski and Alexei Berezoutski will be able to keep up with the pace of games, especially in the Champions League. Due to Russian player restrictions in the domestic league, CSKA will find it tough to find a new center back as they have to ensure that they have at least four Russian player in the starting 11 for league games. But they also have to consider their Champions League campaign, and to do so they should bring in someone who will be able to compete at the highest level of football. If CSKA do however choose not to change their center backs, they will be held back in the Champions League.
Despite the center backs, CSKA have a young squad, which means they have time to improve. CSKA have an excellent reputation for bringing in young players and making into top class footballers. CSKA are wise with their money and normally do not spend too much on players. They do not bring in big money players, but are very good at picking player that can be built into big stars.
Off to a winning start
The Army Men can get off to winning some silverware even before the RPL starts, as they will play Rostov in the Russian Super Cup on the 26th this month. It would be fantastic for CSKA Moscow if they could start the season with a trophy already to their name, this would give the players and management an extra boast going into the season that approaches them.
The Future
The future looks bright for CSKA Moscow and they will be able to achieve more success if they continue to work hard and stay unified in all matches. Leonid Slutsky has been great and loyal to CSKA Moscow and hopefully his great management will continue onto next season and he will help CSKA to success not only in the league but in the Champions League too.
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Follow Andrew MacIver on Twitter: @AndrewRCFC97
They are building a very small stadium which means there will never be a powerhouse in Europe. 30 ooo seats stadium is a tiny one by europian standards and there will never compete with big europian clubs. Russian football lacks ideas. And competition. The clubs are still dependent on public money. Sit s a shame that capitalism is not developing
Although the stadium they are building is quite small, it is a very modern stadium. I’m CSKA Moscow fans will be very happy with their new stadium. CSKA Moscow are a very known club outside of Russia and have a quite a lot of success in the past, for example they won the Europa in 2005. This means that CSKA Moscow does have want it takes to compete with big European clubs but they need to work hard to do so of course. If they play at their best they can achieve a lot.