Football Season Guide

Tom Tomsk were solid in Second Tier last season and this should give them confidence and self-belief in the early rounds of the new campaign but just like any other yo-yo team the Siberians know how hard it is when you move up a level. Valeri Petrakov was the mastermind behind this promotion after he was appointed in the middle of April with Tom sitting 5th but now the manager will be entering uncharted waters as he doesn’t have experience at the top level. The summer saw the team’s main goalkeeper leaving and also two of the defenders followed him. Despite that the common opinion is that Tom shopped very well and when one looks at the new arrivals the squad definitely looks stronger, which is what every newly promoted team needs. The Siberians reacted well to the fact that Mordovia were relegated and quickly signed three experienced players on free transfers. With two talented midfielders coming from Romania and the versatile on any positon down the right flank Manolev also joining Tom look an interesting bunch of players. To add to the strengthening on the right Kiril Kombarov also arrived in Tomsk and this is expected to be the flank down which most of the attacks will be happening. The gaffer was appointed urgently mainly because Tom were conceding too many cheap goals last season and he reacted to that with the signings of centre-backs Djakov, Jablonsky and Puljic. They will be rotating in the two starting places, while experienced goalkeeper Kochenkov arrives on loan and will be the regular starter between the posts. In the friendlies so far Tom used 4-5-1, 4-4-2, 4-4-1-1 and at some points in the games 5-4-1, so it is hard to say which formation will be favoured most and maybe the manager will be deciding based on the opponents. The one thing certain is that Pogrebnyak’s goals will be vital once again, but at least for the new season he has support and cover in the face of Samodin.