Football Season Guide

Things didn't go as planned for Spanish head coach Guille Abascal last season after he was sacked in April following a poor run. Dejan Stankovic will now be the man in charge to improve upon a fifth-placed finish last season. Willian Jose has been the only major signing so far but the Spaniard does provide both experience and quality going forward. That will very much be needed due to the loss of star attacker Quincy Promes due to legal reasons. Spartak have lost some valuable experience over the summer after Victor Moses, Keita Balde, Leon Klassen and Giorgi Jikia were all released. There appear to be some holes at the back and in midfield in that regard, but there is still some solid youthful talent in Ruslan Litvinov, Nail Umyarov, Danil Prutsev and Daniil Denisov. Aleksandr Maksimenko will look to keep things tight in between the sticks once more after recording 10 clean sheets last season. Meanwhile, Theo Bongonda will be hoping to improve upon his solid seven league goals. Alexander Sobolev is also a good option going forward after he provided 11 goal contributions last term. There is plenty of talent across this Spartak side, but Stankovic will need to get the balance right. A lack of speed going forward may hinder the side.