A manager who was forced to retire after sustaining a knee injury at only 19, Leonid Slutsky is someone who has been bred through Russian football.
Born in the former USSR in 1971, Slutsky has spent his entire career both on and off the field in Russia, and with the Euros being his first real chance to showcase his talent on a continental stage, there is no doubt he will be looking to take it with both hands.
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Tactical Setup
Slutsky often lines up CSKA Moscow in a 4-2-3-1 formation, relying on the pace of his two wingers Roman Eremenko and Zoran Tošić to provide the bulk of his attacks. With an aging defensive lineup, Slutsky has at times had issues with covering the quicker teams defensively, but he has mostly managed this through his implementation of two defensive midfielders, mainly Pontus Wernbloom and Alan Dzagoev.
The main concept of his system is that of flexibility, most notably in that of his players. Dzagoev and Wernbloom hold the team together and more often than not can play a more Attacking Midfielder role if needed.
But it is up front that Slutsky seems to favor, and this can be seen through his lining up of the Russian national side in recent months. Slutsky seems to lineup the national side in a 4-1-2-2-1 formation, putting more of a focus on attack than with his normal lineup for CSKA Moscow. This is mostly due to the depth of Russia’s midfield, with players like Aleksandr Golovin and Oleg Ivanov pushing for positions alongside normal starters like Roman Shirokov and Igor Denisov.
Defensive issues could be Slutsky’s downfall for Russia. With an older backline and and more attacking formation, any quicker sides that get past the midfield could heap pressure on Russia and while they showed they could hold it off in the qualifying stages – Russia only conceded five goals the entire campaign and only one under Slutsky himself – there is a big question as to whether they can do it in France.
Previous Employments
Slutsky started his career in Russia, taking over former Russian Premier League side FC Moscow in July of 2005. Over the course of his two and a half seasons at the club, Slutsky guided FC Moscow to the club’s highest ever position of fourth in 2007, the same season he guided them to the final of the Russian Cup, where they would eventually lose 1-0 AET to FC Lokomotiv Moscow.
Slutsky then moved on to take the helm at Krylia Sovetov between 2008 and 2009, helping them to a sixth place finish before moving on to take the manager position at CSKA Moscow. Slutsky has been in the head role at CSKA since 2009, guiding them to three Russian Premier League Titles, two Russian Cups and two Russian Super Cups.
Under Slutsky, CSKA Moscow escaped the group stages of the Champions League for the first time in their history, making the quarter finals in 2009-10 and the Round of 16 in 2011-12. Slutsky currently maintains his CSKA Moscow role alongside his duties with the Russian squad.
Slutsky was appointed to the Russian manager position in August 2015, replacing Fabio Capello in the role. Under Slutsky’s management, Russia has only lost two of their eight matches played.
Conclusion
Slutsky is about to embark on one of those campaigns that one could only dream of happening while playing Football Manager. Having worked his way up to the big stage domestically and now running both the top club in Russia and the national team themselves, a good performance in the Euros would be a dream come true.
While Slutsky is dealt with a Russian squad that is a mere shadow of what the country used to be, there is enough quality to get the squad out of the group stage, most likely through a Third Place pass, thanks to the expansion of the Euros themselves.
Slutsky will be aiming to return Russia to the glory days of the past and with the eyes of the world soon to be on them as the play host of the Confederations Cup and World Cup, Slutsky will be aiming to be the man in charge for those competitions. And all of that can only start with a competent showing in France.
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