Football Season Guide

Ural had a really strange campaign last year as they started off as the worst team in the league, only to experience a complete rejuvenation in the autumn and a great winning run pretty much earned them safety. They were poor in the spring and by the end were hanging on for a spot clear of the drop zone but ultimately it was a case of job well done for Viktor Goncharenko. He will look to build on the good aspects that his team showed last season and develop them further into a more consistent and reliable unit that has no business fighting for safety at the bottom end of the standing. The club have backed them as well with some interesting additions as Brazilian forward Guilherme Schettine arrived to bring more competition places up front while Kiki is a quality left-back and should become a regular where the squad has been lacking good alternatives. The squad has not really been weakened too much as well, with Lazar Randjelovic and Leo Gochilidze the main departures so far. The team's main strength remains in midfield, where Ibrahima Cisse, Fanil Sangitulin and Daniel Miskic provide really good options, while veteran Yuri Gazinskyi can still be relied upon too. The one question mark for Ural remains the defence as they were far too porous in the games in 2023 and Silvije Begic and Egor Filipenko have never really managed to bring enough assurance in front of Ilya Pomazun, and the aim in the coming weeks will be to add more options in that department.