Representing A Continent

Time for Luke to invest in some of these [^] lads as his bodyguard while he's still in Moscow. It's for his own pRoTeCtIoN! Would definitely be very interested to see what you could achieve elsewhere, but the potential to secure a legacy at CSKA is a very exciting proposition too!

Gutting to see you turned down by Inter for both reasons of a better job and better security. Now to persist with CSKA!

Shame but you still have a magnificent side to work with. If you can assert yourselves in Europe this coming season, more doors will open for you. Provided they don't get shut by your off-the-field enemies....

Would've been a great move for you, but I've a feeling next year with CSKA will be legendary!

Maksim Smirnov - Season three is off to a bang under Luke Hendricks, as we secure the first trophy of the season and go unbeaten, winning four of our first five league games. Let’s take a closer look at the month.



Vadik Vassily - Well we started the competitive season with that horrendous game in the SuperKubok against Zenit St. Petersburg. Neither side were at their best and it was a very dull affair. Thankfully we managed to secure the victory and claim the first trophy of the season which is always a great way to kick off.

Maksim Smirnov - That was then the complete opposite in the next game, with goals flying in everywhere. The first half alone had eight goals, with Roman Yengenjev getting his first two goals in his CSKA career. Zlatan Sehovic also bagged his first goal for the club but was later sent off for a second yellow card. Fedor Chalov and Arnór Sigurðsson also started the season off well, getting a brace each in the opening day thriller. It was disappointing to see the side concede so many though, especially to a team nobody is expecting much of this season.

Vadik Vassily - Well the goals continued to come in the second game of the league season, as we put four past newly promoted Baltika Kaliningrad. Fedor Chalov once again opened the scoring inside ten minutes, before Arnór Sigurðsson scored twice in the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth minutes. Baltika pulled one back but Matko Miljevic secured the victory with his first goal of the season. Another three points and eleven goals scored in the opening two games.

Maksim Smirnov - Matko was again on the scoresheet in our next game, with a fourth minute goal against a tough Yenisey Krasnoyarsk team. The newly promoted side have impressed so far, proving hard to break down. However, after they leveled the game we took back control having thirty-seven attempts on goal, with twenty-one of those on target, the Yenisey keeper was in top form. Fans player of the year, Magomed-Shapi Suleimanov, managed to give us back the lead before Alexandr Sobolev opened his account for the season with a thunderbolt from twenty-five yards to ensure the 3-1 victory.

Vadik Vassily - Following two games against two newly promoted sides, we then faced the two sides who finished directly below us last season. Starting off with Lokomotiv Moscow, who finished 3rd last season. Once again it was a fine performance from the side and although the Lokomotiv defense and in particular goalkeeper, Michael Esser, stood firm for the majority of the game, Magomed-Shapi Suleimanov managed to give us the winning goal in the seventy-sixth minute.

Maksim Smirnov - That victory over Lokomotiv also saw our first clean sheet of the league campaign and showed the improvements of our defensive unit. That was seen once again in the next match against Zenit St. Petersburg. Holding the highest paid squad in the league, to just a single shot on target. We were unfortunate to not take the victory but thanks to a brilliant performance from Stanislav Kritsyuk who made numerous crucial saves, Zenit held on for the point.

Vadik Vassily - That point means we currently sit second in the table, with a game in hand over Krasnodar. Ourselves and Krasnodar remain the only two sides to currently stay unbeaten. Lower down the table Zenit sit in 4th having lost to Arsenal Tula, who have started well and sit 3rd. Lokomotiv Moscow are in 5th having lost to both us and Akhamt, whilst Spartak Moscow have had a tough start to the season losing to both Zenit and Lokomotiv Moscow in their opening two games.

Maksim Smirnov - It was a tough start for Spartak for sure, but that only benefits us so who’s complaining. However, what might not benefit us is the fact that the transfer window is still open and a number of offers have been coming in for some of our key players. Hoffenheim offered a reported £28,000,000 rising to £42,000,000 for Arnór Sigurðsson . Upon that being rejected they improved the offer to £32,000,000 rising to £47,500,000, at what point does Luke start considering these offers Vadik?

Vadik Vassily - I imagine it has already been considered quite a lot. We are getting into the Nikola Vlasic sort of money here but it shows how well we are doing financially since that deal that we are no longer rushing into sales. Current reports say our profit from last season was £48,685,463 which is a massive improvement from recent years. With the team performing well and the Champions League money coming in once again this season, we aren’t in a position to sell whenever a decent offer comes in. We have some extra power in the markets now which is a great thing to have. If we don’t want to sell Arnór, we don’t need to and why would we after the start he has made this season.

Maksim Smirnov - The improved finances has also seen the club announce developments to both the training and youth facilities with completion dates said to be October 2022. This announcement shows the club are looking at the future and want to be building something self sustainable and long standing, something I am all for.

Vadik Vassily - Agreed, and I am happy to see it happening, it will also help entice players to both come to the club and to stay put. Arnór isn’t the only player to have had reported bids made this month, with Mário Fernandes having a £21,000,000 bid rejected from Inter Milan and Ivan Oblyakov having a £40,000,000 bid rejected from Stoke.

Maksim Smirnov - Two more big offers but two more rejected, Luke certainly seems to have a core group he wants to keep together here and won’t be looking to seperate them if possible. I assume Nikola Vlasic was in that initial plan but following his sale, Matko Miljevic has come in and been an inspiration, right Vadik?

Vadik Vassily - He has been phenomenal, especially early on this season. In five games, he already has five assists and two goals to his name. With the Russia Today Sports pages rating him on average at 8.08 a game so far this season. A remarkable average that he has well earnt. I believe he is our July Player of the Month.

Maksim Smirnov - I have to agree. Many were skeptical of whether he would be an adequate replacement for such a key player in Nikola Vlasic, but he has certainly proven his worth so far. He’s worked hard to be in the position he is in and is said to be one of the best trainers at the club. Matko has deserved this month's award for sure.


Maksim Smirnov - After a great first month to the season, we have another important month coming up. We start off with a home game against Ufa, before travelling to fifteenth place Rubin Kazan. Dynamo Moscow will then come to CSKA Arena ahead of a giant first vs second game against Krasnodar at the end of the month.


Vadik Vassily - Another interesting month there, the first three games are teams who perhaps aren’t doing as well as they would have liked so far this season and will be out looking for a big win to kick start their seasons. Currently, there is no bigger win in Russia than against us, so we will have to be at our best to ensure we meet our standards. Then Krasnodar who on the opposite end are probably over achieving so far this season, but they have earnt the respect that we will need to show them. It's a tricky one to predict but I think we will take all twelve points.

Maksim Smirnov - A big month ahead that will see whether or not we can hold onto the key players in the squad and if we can take that top spot back in the league. For now, thank you for watching, good bye.

*Taken from the CSKA Armiya Youtube Channel 31st July 2021*

Replies

Scott:It certainly sets up a good place for Luke to take advantage and continue to build on recent success. The team has seemingly got off to a good start, hopefully it'll continue.
Griffo:It does, Inter would have been fun, spoiler they were offering a budget of 219mil However, we need to concentrate on the job at hand.
tedbro:Inter would have been a massive move, but now he has to continue proving his worth here!
James:Luke is in a good spot career wise. Getting some big clubs interested in him and offering interveiws but also very comfortable in his role at CSKA with a lot of potential. Personally, things might not be so secure!
Jack:CSKA still offers a great job where the club is in a brilliant postion to suceed as long as Luke continues to do that, other jobs will come.
Justice:The side seems primed for a good run in Europe this season with the possiblity of advancing in the Champions League, as long as the group isn't like it was last season.
Zed:It has started off well and now the aim is to continue this run!

A strong start to the season as Moscow look to retain their crown. Matko has been fantastic since arriving and has really proven himself. The financial situation looks pleasing and certainly aids the club going forward.

Spotted: the CSKA fans celebrating your start to the season. Matko is a brilliant capture for you, I think it's only a matter of time before clubs begin to offer silly money for him. You're in a good spot at CSKA, but with the off-field drama never seeming to go away... it might be time for Special Agent Luke Hendricks to depart Russia.

A great start to the season there. Bit disappointing not to get one over Zenit when at home but at least your ahead if them in the league

7-4 .. wow my god!

Also that Inter budget is mouthwatering

Maksim Smirnov - Following a long first month to the season, we had a much kinder schedule this month, playing just four games. We once again went the month unbeaten, managing to extend our record to twenty-eight games without defeat dating back to last season.



Vadik Vassily - It was a great month that saw us score fifteen goals, taking our tally for the season to thirty already. We started it off with a victory over Ufa, who weren’t expected to put up much of a fight. Arnór Sigurðsson gave us the lead after thirty minutes but a Roman Yengenjev howler allowed them to tie it up just four minutes later. Yengenjev has had a mixed start to life at CSKA but Luke seems to be keeping faith in the youngster. Coming out of the second half, Matko Miljevic converted a penalty before Sigurðsson and Chalov completed the scoring.

Maksim Smirnov - That victory set a new team record of games unbeaten, with the tally going to twenty-five league games unbeaten, dating back to last season. That run continued in our next game as we beat Rubin Kazan away from home. Once again it was Arnór Sigurðsson who gave us the lead, this time just four minutes into the game. Ivan Oblyakov, who has started the season in his usual quietly brilliant way, got his first of the season. Kazan then bought one back, with Igor Akinfeev making his third poor mistake of the season leading many to question if the club legend should be replaced. The mistake wasn’t costly, as Oblyakov confirmed the win late on, however, it seemed as though Hendricks took the decision to drop his good friend, Akinfeev, after his poor start to the season.

Vadik Vassily - Correct, Igor, for the first time in almost two decades was dropped as the starting goalkeeper due to form. Akinfeev who is now aged thirty-five, has announced his retirement at the end of the season, and Luke replaced him with Matvey Safonov, who is thirteen years his junior. The dropping of Akinfeev was joined by the loss of Mário Fernandes who suffered a hernia, meaning Felix Passlack made his first start for the club. Despite the much changed backline, Safonov was unfortunate to not have a clean sheet on his debut as an appalling penalty decision allowed Dynamo to score. Yengenjev made an inch perfect challenge on Alexandr Kokorin, with the ball clearly being won as it went out for what should have been a throw in. However, the referee who was way behind the action gave a penalty which was put away by Joãozinho. Not that it mattered as the game was already won, Fedor Chalov claimed a hattrick, whilst Volodymyr Shepelev and Lucas Santos opened their accounts for the season.

Maksim Smirnov - It was a brilliant performance and we continued it into the next match as Safonov secured his well earnt clean sheet against former side Krasnodar. Fedor Chalov once again impressed as he scored a brace. The goals equalled his tally in the league in his twenty-eight games last season. His goal a game record so far this season has been highly impressive and long may it continue. The game was won two minutes after the half-time break as Ivan Oblyakov scored his third of the month.

Vadik Vassily - The game wasn’t without it’s issues though. Before the game we lost Jesús Vallejo due to a pulled pectoral muscle. Thankfully the international break gives him time to recover for our next game against Rostov. However, one man won’t be fit is that of Zlatan Sehovic, who was injured for up to six weeks due to shin splints suffered in the Krasnodar match.

Maksim Smirnov - That injury to Sehovic couldn’t have come at a worse time either as Luis Olivera was allowed to leave on loan just twenty days earlier. Olivera, who impressed last season, has seen his starting spot lost to Sehovic and due to foreign player rules, he was allowed to leave to Gent. Now with the Sehovic injury, CSKA are likely to employ Georgy Schennikov in the role.

Vadik Vassily - Luis Olivera isn’t the only player to have left the club this month either. Also allowed to leave on loan was Lassana N'Diaye, who joins Sochi. The twenty year old has already opened his account for the side who look to be fighting relegation this season. The only player leaving on a permanent basis was Vitaly Zhironkin for £500,000 to Torpedo Moscow. The striker was never likely to force his way into the first team squad and we made a good profit on him having seen him come through the clubs academy.

Maksim Smirnov - There is also one arrival who has agreed a pre-contract deal this month. Highly rated youngster, who some have labeled the next Neymar due to his incredible flair and dribbling ability, is Talles Magno. The nineteen year old already has 129 career games and from the left wing has thirty-seven goals and sixteen assists. The talented winger will join on New Years Eve this year and will be available for the second half of the season.


Vadik Vassily - A wonderful signing who will provide some great competition for places in a number of positions across the front three. He is also a Brazilian Under 23s International and will be a star in the future according to many.

Maksim Sminov - He is someone to be excited about for the future. But someone to be excited about now is Fedor Chalov. The striker, who disappointed many last season with a lack of consistency, something he admitted to, has turned it around so far this season. The striker has six goals in four games this month, only failing to score against Rubin Kazan. He is well deserving of the August Player of the Month.

Vadik Vassily - Without a doubt. Following his hat trick in the Kubok Rossii final last season, Fedor admitted he wasn’t pleased with his performances this season and credited Alexandr Sobolev for providing good competition to his place, and for spurring him on. Since then Fedor has seemed a different player and currently leads the league's top scorers.


Maksim Smirnov - The unbeaten run will face just two tests next month as we play Rostov and Spartak Moscow in the league. We will also play Sochi in the Kubok Rossii 5th round as we begin our defense of the trophy. Our Champions League action also begins next month having been drawn in a group containing Chelsea, who currently sit 15th in the Premier League, SL Benfica and FC København. We begin the campaign in an away game against Benfica before welcoming English side Chelsea to end of September.


Vadik Vassily - A big month in our season here. Rostov has always been a tricky test for us under Luke and I would expect no different this time around. It is still a game I expect us to win but it won’t be easy. Benfica are a team who continue to dominate in Portugal and every European match is tough. Going away will most likely mean our best hopes are a point against them. Sochi should be an easy enough victory but we can’t take them for granted. Spartak Moscow haven’t had the best start to the season, however, derbies are always a different ball game and they will be going all out to extract revenge after our dominant win in the Kubok Rossii final last season. Chelsea will be the biggest test we have faced this season and anything will be a good result against them, despite their struggles in the league so far this season.

Maksim Smirnov - As you said, another big month and one we look forward to seeing play out, but for now we are having to say goodbye.

*Taken from the CSKA Armiya Youtube Channel 29th August 2021*

Replies

Scott:The finances are really strong at the moment, mainly due to the Vlasic sale, we can certainly be pleased with that. The season has started strongly and we are looking good so far.
James:Matko is probably the best bit of business we have done so far. Selling Vlasic for 50+ million, before signing Matko at 7million, a bargain it seems at the moment.
tedbro:The Zenit game came at an unfortunate time, we didn't have a long pre-season and it came at the end of a long month. We looked good and performed very well so I wasn't too dissapointed with not winning.
Griffo:It was some game! Yeah that budget was something else and really would have made me think had I been offered it.

You seem to have control of the league with a few teams still keeping pace, all focus has to be on the Champions League though!

Another good run of results. Momentum is a big factor in football and it seems Moscow have plenty heading into September. The Champions League group will be an interesting challenge as I suspect it'll be a battle between Moscow and Benfica for second. Fedor has certainly upped his game from last season and seems to be maturing nicely. Talles Magno is an unbelievable acquisition as I think most are aware of his potential.

You battered Dynamo, are they considered a rival due to also being a club from Moscow? What are the rules in regard to foreigners allowed?

Great month of football, you've stamped your mark nice and early. The signing of Talles Magno will only strengthen you, but him being hyped as a Neymar-esque player could either lead to disappointment if he doesn't fulfill his potential, or complete rage at his petulance. Hopefully it works out for Luke

Another good month. All getting you ready for the group stages starting for the Champions League

Talles Magno can do wonders in the pitch, very good signing