Sochi is the biggest disappointment of the first part of the RPL season. The 2022 silver medalist enters the winter break in last place, tying with Orenburg (1-1) on matchday 18. Now the main question of the winter for Sochi is who will coach the team and save it from relegation in the spring of 2024.
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A few days ago “Championship” reported that one of the candidates for the position of new coach of “Sochi” is Zarko Lazetic. The club and the 41-year-old Serbian coach held negotiations. This coach is currently under contract and directs TSC Backa Topola.
Lazetic has only been training for eight years: he started as an assistant at Partizan and has only been working independently for four and a half years. That is to say, the Serbian does not have much experience. He took over at TSC Backa Topola in November 2021 and last season achieved the team’s best-ever result. TSC Backa Topola came in second place and qualified for the Champions League. However, the Champions League for the Lazetic team ended as soon as it began. In the third qualifying round, TSC Backa Topola lost on aggregate to the much stronger Portuguese side Braga (0:3 away and 1:4 at home).
Lazetic’s team advanced to the group stage of the Europa League, where after five rounds it occupies last place with one point in a quartet with West Ham, Freiburg and Olympiacos. This season in the Serbian Championship TSC Backa Topola occupies third place. The difference between Red Star and Partizan is 10 points.
In addition, Russian media reported that two more foreign specialists were competing for the position of head coach of Sochi and had already worked in the RPL: Slovak Vladimir Weiss and Czech Pavel Vrba.
Weiss, 59, now manages Slovan Bratislava. With this team he won the Slovak championship for the last three years. Vladimir worked in Russia for quite a long time: from February 2006 to May 2007 he trained Saturn. Under Weiss, Ramensky’s team played 40 matches in the RPL, 23 (!) of which ended in a draw. The Slovaks had only eight wins and nine losses. He scored 1.18 points per game.
Weiss had more success at other clubs. He has five league titles in Slovakia (two more with Petržalka in 2005 and 2008) and five national Cup victories. Three at home and two in Kazakhstan with Kairat. And Vladimir led the Slovak team to the 2010 World Cup, where he won the group against Italy and reached the round of 16.
Vladimir Weiss
Photo: RIA Novosti
Vrba, 60, is a self-employed trainer. In October of this year he left Zlin, leaving this team in last place in the Czech championship standings. In Russia, Pavel worked with Anzhi, but only for six months, from June to December 2016. Under his leadership, the Makhachkala team played 17 matches in the RPL, won five, drew five times and suffered seven defeats. Vrba, like Weiss, scored 1.18 points with his team.
However, Vrba also has many trophies in his career. With Viktoria Plzen he won three league titles and the Czech Republic Cup. Slovak Championship and Cup with Zilina. And in Bulgaria he won gold medals with Ludogorets. Pavel was elected coach of the year in the Czech Republic eight times.
Just before arriving in Russia, Vrba coached the Czech national team and led it to Euro 2016. But in the European Championship itself, the Czechs were unsuccessful, scoring only one point in matches against Spain, Croatia and Turkey. Having terminated the contract with the federation, Pavel immediately took charge of Anzhi.
Pavel Vrba
Photo: Alexander Safonov, “Championship”
And Sochi was brought into the final game of 2023 by Denis Klyuev, who became interim head coach after Alexander Tochilin resigned.
Sochi’s three-match losing streak was broken with the return of team leader Noboa to the starting lineup. Christian was not included in the starting lineup for more than two months. In the first half, the Sochi team outplayed Orenburg and many of the hosts’ attacks passed through the Ecuadorian midfielder. It was Noboa who, before the break, put Ignatiev one-on-one with the goalkeeper with his pass. The center forward scored, the goal was disallowed for offside, but the VAR corrected the referees’ error on the field: there was no offside. For Ignatiev, this is the second goal in the current RPL season and only the first of the match.
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But during the break Orenburg coach David Deogracia replaced four players at once and in the second half the game changed. Unexpectedly, Mansilla and Vera entered the field, who had remained on the bench, for whom, perhaps, this was the team’s last game before moving to Lokomotiv. “Orenburg” pressed and in the end was saved. If Marín’s goal was not counted due to offside (there was an offside position), then nothing could cancel out the goal scored by defender Jotulev in the 90+4 minute. It was Vera who helped him. “Sochi” twice surpassed its rival in shots – 18:9 (on goal – 2:1, from the penalty area – 12:5), however, they won.
Video rights belong to National Sports Channel LLC. You can watch the video on the Match Premier Telegram channel.
Obviously, no matter who becomes the new coach of Sochi, the team needs to strengthen mightily to survive in the RPL.
