Leonid Slutsky (football manager) explained

Leonid Slutsky
Fullname:Leonid Viktorovich Slutsky
Height:1.80 m
Birth Date:1971 5, df=yes
Birth Place:Volgograd, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Currentclub:Shanghai Shenhua (manager)
Position:Goalkeeper
Years1:1989
Caps1:13
Goals1:0
Manageryears1:2000
Managerclubs1:Olimpia Volgograd
Manageryears2:2003–2004
Managerclubs2:Uralan Elista
Manageryears3:2005–2007
Managerclubs3:Moscow
Manageryears4:2008–2009
Managerclubs4:Krylia Sovetov
Manageryears5:2009–2016
Managerclubs5:CSKA Moscow
Manageryears6:2015–2016
Managerclubs6:Russia
Manageryears7:2017
Managerclubs7:Hull City
Manageryears8:2018–2019
Manageryears9:2019–2022
Manageryears10:2023–
Managerclubs10:Shanghai Shenhua

Leonid Viktorovich Slutsky (Russian: Леонид Викторович Слуцкий pronounced as /ˈsɫut͡skʲɪj/; born 4 May 1971) is a Russian professional football coach and a former player who is the manager of Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua. He has managed Olimpia Volgograd, Uralan Elista, Moscow, Krylia Sovetov, CSKA Moscow, Russia, Hull City, Vitesse and Rubin Kazan.

Playing career

Slutsky, who is Jewish,[1] saw his professional playing career ended aged 19, after he injured his knee falling from a tree while saving a cat.[2]

Coaching career

Early career

Slutsky became head coach of FC Moscow on 14 July 2005[3] until the end of the 2007 season.[4] His final match as head coach of Moscow was a 3–1 win against Luch-Energiya Vladivostok on 11 November 2007.[5] Slutsky became head coach of Krylia Sovetov on 1 January 2008.[6]

CSKA Moscow

On 26 October 2009[7] he replaced Juande Ramos to become the head coach of CSKA Moscow.[8] In December 2009, under Slutsky, CSKA reached the knock-out stage of the Champions League for the first time in the club's history,[9] before being knocked out by José Mourinho's Inter Milan, the eventual champions, in the quarter-finals.

Two years later, the achievement was repeated, when CSKA defeated Inter Milan at the San Siro in the last game of the group stage.[10]

Towards the 2012 - 13 season, Slutsky strengthened the team defense and re-organized the attack, which helped the team set a record of 15 games without being scored against, and to win all the games where the team scored first, resulting in a title.[11]

On 7 August 2015, it was announced that Slutsky would take over the Russian national football team in place of the outgoing Fabio Capello.[12] The contract was until the end of UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.[12] Slutsky won all of his qualifying games and got Russia into UEFA Euro 2016.[13]

On 14 November 2015, Russia beat Portugal 1–0 in a friendly game and Slutsky repeated Pavel Sadyrin's achievement of winning his five first games as the head coach of Russia.[14]

On 21 May 2016, CSKA beat Rubin Kazan 1–0 to secure the title ahead of surprise challengers Rostov. This gave Slutsky his third title in four years with the Moscow club.

On 20 June 2016, Slutsky decided to resign from being the coach of the Russian team after a 3 - 0 loss to Wales, which meant Russia finished bottom of their Euro 2016 group.[15] He resigned on 25 June.[16]

On 6 December 2016, Slutsky announced his resignation as CSKA manager. His last game was a Champions League group stage match against Tottenham Hotspur the following day.[17]

Later career

On 9 June 2017, Slutsky was appointed manager of EFL Championship club Hull City.[18] On 3 December 2017, he left the club by mutual consent after a run of bad results.[19]

On 12 March 2018, it was announced that he would replace Henk Fraser as the new manager of Eredivisie side Vitesse Arnhem, for the start of the 2018 - 19 season. Under his tenure, Vitesse entered the draw for the third qualifying round of the Europa League, being drawn against seeded FC Basel. The two legs were played at home on 9 August and away on 16 August 2018. Vitesse lost 2–0 on aggregate, resulting in their elimination from the Europa League. At the domestic level, Vitesse finished fifth in the Eredivisie that season. After five lost games in a row, he decided to quit with his job as manager from Vitesse Arnhem at the end of November 2019.[20]

On 19 December 2019, he signed a 5-year contract with Russian Premier League club FC Rubin Kazan.[21] In his second season with Rubin, he led the club to 4th place in the 2020–21 Russian Premier League, securing UEFA competition qualification for the first time since the 2015–16 season.[22] The next season was far worse, as on the last match day, Rubin lost 2–1 to FC Ufa and finished 15th which confirmed their relegation to the second tier.[23] Slutsky resigned from Rubin on 15 November 2022, with the club in fourth place in the second-tier Russian First League and 4 points behind the first place.[24]

On 27 December 2023, he was appointed as manager of Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua. He officially took charge of the club on 1 January 2024.[25]

TV commenting career

Slutsky has commented on football games many times on Russian TV. His commentating career was disrupted after he repeated the word "Navalny" following his co-commentator's using the term навальный футбол (navalny futbol); the term навальный (navalny) is a term best translated as "overwhelming" or "storming", but is also the surname of opposition politician Alexei Navalny. The incident led to his sacking from the TV pundit role at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[26]

Coaching statistics

TeamFromToRecord
Moscow14 July 200511 November 2007
Krylia Sovetov1 January 200826 October 2009
CSKA Moscow26 October 20097 December 2016
Russia7 August 201520 June 2016
Hull City9 June 20173 December 2017
Vitesse12 March 201829 November 2019
19 December 201913 November 2022
30 December 2023Present
Total

Honours

CSKA Moscow

2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16

2010–11, 2012–13

2013, 2014

Shanghai Shenhua

2024

References

.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jewish ex-Russia coach Slutsky hired by relegated Hull. Agencies. 10 June 2017. Times of Israel. 4 March 2022.
  2. Web site: Quotes of the week. Charles. Chris. 11 November 2009. BBC Sport. 11 November 2009.
  3. Web site: FK Moskva » Manager history. 22 October 2014.
  4. News: Blokhin takes command at Moskva. 22 October 2014. UEFA. 14 December 2007.
  5. Web site: FK Moskva » Fixtures & Results 2007/2008. Worldfootball.net. 22 October 2014.
  6. Web site: Krylia Sovetov » Manager history. Worldfootball.net. 22 October 2014.
  7. News: CSKA appoint Slutski as Ramos departs. 22 October 2014. UEFA. 26 October 2009.
  8. News: Juande Ramos sacked by CSKA Moscow after six weeks in job. 22 October 2014. The Telegraph. 26 October 2009.
  9. Web site: CSKA earn their rest in Istanbul. 9 December 2009. UEFA.com. 24 February 2010.
  10. Web site: CSKA Moscow through after late winner downs Inter. 8 December 2011. uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/. 8 December 2011.
  11. Web site: 7 лучших тренеров российского сезона. Sports.ru. 15 May 2013. 24 November 2015. ru.
  12. News: Russia appoint CSKA Moscow's Leonid Slutsky as coach on short-term deal. 8 August 2015. Associated Press. The Guardian. 7 August 2015.
  13. Web site: Сергей Иванов: "Слуцкий должен до лета совмещать посты. Потом РФС нужно будет вести переговоры о выкупе его контракта". Sports.ru.. 24 November 2015. ru.
  14. Web site: Слуцкий одержал пятую подряд победу во главе сборной России и повторил достижение Садырина. Sports.ru.. 24 November 2015. ru.
  15. News: Russia coach Leonid Slutsky hints at resignation after thrashing by Wales. 20 June 2016. ESPN FC. ESPN. 20 June 2016.
  16. Web site: Russia coach Leonid Slutsky resigns after Euro 2016 exit. Sky Sports. Mark. Crellin. 25 June 2016. 29 June 2016.
  17. Web site: PFC CSKA Moscow. http://pfc-cska.com/novosti/vse-novosti/novosti-osnovy/leonid-slutskiy-pokidaet-pfk-cska/. ru:Леонид Слуцкий покидает ПФК ЦСКА. 6 December 2016. ru.
  18. News: Tigers Confirm Leonid Slutsky As Head Coach. 9 June 2017. Hull City A.F.C.. 9 June 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170609213513/http://www.hullcitytigers.com/news/article/2016-17/tigers-confirm-leonid-slutsky-as-head-coach-3729610.aspx. 9 June 2017. dead.
  19. News: Slutsky Departs By Mutual Consent. 3 December 2017. Hull City A.F.C. . 3 December 2017.
  20. Web site: Sloetski stapt op als trainer van Vitesse. nos.nl. 29 November 2019 . 29 November 2019. nl.
  21. Web site: FC Rubin Kazan. ЛЕОНИД СЛУЦКИЙ – ГЛАВНЫЙ ТРЕНЕР "РУБИНА". 19 December 2019. ru.
  22. Web site: Business Gazeta. «Рубин» попал в Лигу конференций – новый турнир, который придумали в УЕФА. 16 May 2021. 2 June 2022. ru.
  23. Web site: «Уфа» обыграла «Рубин» и вытеснила казанцев с 14-го места . 21 May 2022.
  24. Web site: FC Rubin Kazan. ЛЕОНИД СЛУЦКИЙ ПРИНЯЛ РЕШЕНИЕ ПОКИНУТЬ "РУБИН". 15 November 2022. ru.
  25. Web site: ru. «Шанхай Шэньхуа» презентовал Леонида Слуцкого в качестве нового главного тренера команды. Championship. 30 December 2023. 18 February 2024.
  26. News: Ex-Hull City boss Leonid Slutsky 'sacked' from Russia World Cup TV pundit role . 21 June 2018 . 27 June 2018.