Football Season Guide

Krylya Sovetov look to continue the impressive work from last season and maintain their status as a solid and hard to beat side that resides in the middle of the table. They really scored very few goals last season, just seven at home throughout the campaign, but their solid defence provided the necessary security and a really good run of form in the spring secured their place in the division. They have one of the best coaches in the whole division in the experienced Belgian Frank Vercauteren and he will be determined to build another strong unit for the season ahead. Yet he faces a few serious challenges as a number of important players have departed the squad. Aleksei Pomerko and Georgi Gabulov were mainstays in midfield last season while Jeroen Simyaes played an important role too. Yohan Mollo is the biggest loss as the Frenchman provided the sort of thrust and X-factor that this team desperate needed. Yet his loan is not getting renewed and he is targeting a move to a bigger club this summer. Yet Vercauteren will not be too worried about that and his focus lies mainly on maintaining a tight discipline and team spirit that ensures that the Samara side are a tough nut to crack. Sergey Tkachev is an excellent addition from CSKA as he is a versatile midfield player who can replicate what Mollo did last season. Evgeni Bashkirov is the other new addition and he is more of a workhorse midfielder that will be needed to ensure stability. The likes of Ivan Taranov and Jose Nadson will be expected to stand up and be counted for at the back again while Vercauteren will be looking for more output for Adis Jahovic, who struggled for goals last season. As a whole, Krylya look weakened compared to last season but not to the extent to get too worried and should be safe from any trouble given the nouse of their manager.