Football Season Guide

CSKA Moscow had a really up-and-down season last year as at times they looked like the best side in the country but then flopped badly in the final month of the season and ultimately ended the campaign on a dreadful run of form, spelling the end for inexperienced coach Aleksey Berezutski. Now the start afresh with a new manager in Vladimir Fedotov, someone who has done wonders with Sochi over the last two years while having a discipline, no-nonsense approach and being really solid across the back. He will need some time to make this CSKA team just as sturdy but he certainly relishes the challenge. Yet the main issue for CSKA now is bringing in some fresh blood to beef up the squad after losing a whole host pf players in the summer. Mario Fernandes is the most impactful of the departures, having been possibly the best player in the entire league for the last ten years, with his constant energy and drives from right-back. Serbian Milan Gajic was signed as his replacement and will need to really step up if he is to fill the void. There are quite a lot of gaps to fill in midfield too after the departures of Alan Dzagoev, Ilzat Akhmetov and Jean-Philippe Gbamin. Overall, there is real potential with this CSKA squad and they may have found someone special in Fedotov to get them back to title challengers but for now there are more questions than answers in terms of the squad and more new signings are badly needed.