Football Season Guide

Lokomotiv Moscow did the unthinkable last season and managed to claim the league title as they proved the most durable and consistent side in the division in a season in which Zenit and Spartak Moscow both punched well below their weight. Loko were certainly not the most convincing of champions as they stumbled towards the finish line but they were definitely deserved winners as Yuri Semin masterfully made the team more than a sum of their parts and developed the talents of players like Alexey and Anton Miranchuk, while inspiring a veteran like Jefferson Farfan to have great impact. Yet, there is no denying that Loko will have hard time replicating that success and their squad certainly looks some way below the standard required for a run on multiple fronts, with Champions League group games to come. Semin has been rather displeased with the transfer activity so far and will definitely like more numbers in defence and attack. The fact that the club was forced to return and offer new contracts to fringe players like Vitaly Denisov, Taras Mikhalyk and Dmitri Tarasov after releasing them earlier in the summer, due to the failure to bring other targets, speaks in itself about the sort of summer that the Railwaymen have had. Nevertheless, they still signed a versatile and promising player like Brian Idowu, who started three games in the World Cup for Nigeria, and are bound to improve their squad in the coming weeks. Moreover, they convinced talented forward Rifat Zhemaletdinov to return back to his boyhood club after a year with Rubin where he struggled to make impact. Lokomotiv have the look of an old team, with a number of important players over 30, and one that needs some fresh impetus and ideas. While keeping Alexey Miranchuk is vial and it seems like he is staying put, there needs more work to be done to give Semin the tools for Lokomotiv to compete for honours again.