Last time on Chasing CSKA, tensions rose with the news that Marcus Rashford’s transfer wouldn’t be happening due to high wage demands. Luke Hendricks discussed tactics for their upcoming Champions League Round of Sixteen tie against Juventus, whilst we had a recap of the sides friendly results.
Today, a new batch of young prospects has entered the CSKA Moscow academy with a young goalkeeper providing some real excitement. Luke and his team also review their opening leg of the tie against Juventus, with plans for the next fixture.
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Being a professional footballer is almost every young boy’s dream. From a young age they have a ball at their feet aiming to become a legend at their favourite club playing at the highest level. Only a select few are able to ever achieve that dream.
Every year, a group of young players aged sixteen-eighteen enter the CSKA Moscow academy having been deemed of good enough quality at the end of their time in the junior squads. This year is no different, with Head of Youth Development, Oleg Kornaukhov, playing a key role in evaluating who is entered into the clubs under 18s side.
“I started in the role in 2018, having previously worked for the club in a youth coach role as well as for the Russian National team in the same capacity. I was fortunate enough to play over a hundred games for the club and I am very pleased to still be working here today.”
“I have been fortunate enough to have seen the progression of the likes of Vadim Karpov, Igor Titov and Denis Dvornikov all of whom are currently in the first team squad. Denis came through last season and has developed exceptionally well in such a short time frame, he’s even played in the Champions League scoring his first goal for the club in October against København.”
“We are a proud club who place a major emphasis on bringing through our own. Just look at the last few years. We have had Igor Akinfeev, the club's number one goalkeeper for almost two decades come through the academy. We have Georgy Schennikov, a Russian international and Fedor Chalov who has continued to show how talented he is this season. It is a club that brings through many talented players and gives them an opportunity. We are fortunate that Luke has come in and continued to show faith in what we do here, and that is largely down to his long time connection to the club.”
In the two and a half seasons that Luke Hendricks has been the CSKA Moscow manager, he has handed 203 league games across eight players who all graduated directly from the CSKA academy. Out of those eight players, he has handed debuts to four of them with youth development being something Luke wants to remain focused on.
“Development is what being a coach is all about. If you are not looking to come in and make players better then what are you becoming a coach for. I was very fortunate to play at some of the best academies across the world. The likes of Ajax Cape Town and Ajax themselves were incredible places to develop and I am ever thankful for the opportunities they gave me. I also had the privilege of working under some incredible coaches who helped me every day and my aim since retiring was to help pass on that knowledge to the future generations.”
“This is a club that has always had a focus on the academy, Igor came through in 2002 and has been key ever since. It shows that you can generate your own talent without needing to buy ready made stars already. By in house development it also means players grow up with your system in mind ready for your tactics and they won’t need as much time to adapt. Not enough clubs focus on the benefits of a strong academy, fortunately we are not one of them.”
“As the manager of this football team it is my duty to ensure that those traditions continue and I am able to provide the opportunity to the future stars of this club. I am beyond proud to have already given four league debuts to players coming from our academy and I will be sure to continue to give those deserving their chance to prove themselves.”
With two of last year's graduates already participating in first team training day in, day out, last year's success still gives a sense of pride to the club. This year Oleg believes there are two or three standouts.
“It’s been another good year, I believe. We have a good group of players who can come in and play a role here, with a couple having a good chance of being first team regulars in the future. I believe our brightest prospects to be Anton Gubanov and Alexandru Ungureanu.”
“Anton is already a giant, standing around 6”5 and only aged sixteen he still has room to grow. Once he fills out his frame and builds some muscle he will be a nightmare physically for any attacker. He has some good technical ability for his age and is a smart player who makes good decisions already. I am very excited about his future.”
“The brightest prospect though has to be Alexandru Ungureanu, our seventeen year old goalkeeper. Alexandru is already a player with attributes you can’t teach, great work rate and a high IQ for the game. His reflexes are also at a top tier standard already and with a bit of work, we could be seeing another incredible goalkeeper come through the CSKA Moscow academy. Again Alex is a tall guy, 6”2 and he can still grow himself, he will be commanding in his area and can communicate well with his defenders. I think he has a ton of potential.”
This week hasn’t just been important for CSKA’s future with the incoming wave of youth players. It was also the opening leg of their Round of Sixteen Knockout tie against Italian giants Juventus. The match played at Arena CSKA saw a stalemate with neither side able to see a goal. Despite a lack of goals the performance pleased Luke Hendricks and his backroom team.
“Ah Bojan, have you got that report for me mate?” Luke asked his Chief Data Analyst Bojan Mitrovic.
“Yeah, here it is for you boss.” Bojan replied as he handed over the detailed report of the match.
“As I thought then, we were brilliant.” exclaimed Luke. “Fucking brilliant. I didn’t realize they only had one shot that Alex actually had to do anything about all game and that was eleven minuets into the game!” Luke said with a beaming smile.
“They had four shots in total, three inside the first ten. Thats an incredible performance. The midfield really controlled the game and even though we moved Matko forward earlier than planned it didn’t change much and we managed to dominate it still.” added Victor Onopko who was looking through his copy of the document.
“I can’t believe we didn’t win. I thought we were the much better team on the day but looking at this it makes it even more heartbreaking. That Ivan shot, that’s what the difference was. Had it been centimeters to the right it would have been in, they were saved by the post. But look at the positives, we just kept one of Europe's biggest and best clubs goalless with them having one shot after the tenth minute. Be proud of that lads, that's testament to your guys planning ahead of the game as much as it is the lads who went out and performed. Now we go again, let's get the group ready. We can beat Juventus, I am sure of it!” claimed an excited Luke.
Before Luke and his team turn their attention to the trip to Italy, they will face three league games starting with Lokomotiv Moscow in ten days' time.
Scott:It was very annoying, he would have been a massive signing but oh well, we will get on without him.
Jack:They are all very talented players indeed. Doesn't seem as though Luke will be rushing to make any moves though.
tedbro:The move for a striker may wait until the summer if Chalov is ever sold on.
Zed:Unfortunately no Will Grigg fiasco here!
Tango:Exactly, he would be great but not good enough to destroy the finances we have built up.
Today, a new batch of young prospects has entered the CSKA Moscow academy with a young goalkeeper providing some real excitement. Luke and his team also review their opening leg of the tie against Juventus, with plans for the next fixture.
Being a professional footballer is almost every young boy’s dream. From a young age they have a ball at their feet aiming to become a legend at their favourite club playing at the highest level. Only a select few are able to ever achieve that dream.
Every year, a group of young players aged sixteen-eighteen enter the CSKA Moscow academy having been deemed of good enough quality at the end of their time in the junior squads. This year is no different, with Head of Youth Development, Oleg Kornaukhov, playing a key role in evaluating who is entered into the clubs under 18s side.
“I started in the role in 2018, having previously worked for the club in a youth coach role as well as for the Russian National team in the same capacity. I was fortunate enough to play over a hundred games for the club and I am very pleased to still be working here today.”
“I have been fortunate enough to have seen the progression of the likes of Vadim Karpov, Igor Titov and Denis Dvornikov all of whom are currently in the first team squad. Denis came through last season and has developed exceptionally well in such a short time frame, he’s even played in the Champions League scoring his first goal for the club in October against København.”
“We are a proud club who place a major emphasis on bringing through our own. Just look at the last few years. We have had Igor Akinfeev, the club's number one goalkeeper for almost two decades come through the academy. We have Georgy Schennikov, a Russian international and Fedor Chalov who has continued to show how talented he is this season. It is a club that brings through many talented players and gives them an opportunity. We are fortunate that Luke has come in and continued to show faith in what we do here, and that is largely down to his long time connection to the club.”
In the two and a half seasons that Luke Hendricks has been the CSKA Moscow manager, he has handed 203 league games across eight players who all graduated directly from the CSKA academy. Out of those eight players, he has handed debuts to four of them with youth development being something Luke wants to remain focused on.
“Development is what being a coach is all about. If you are not looking to come in and make players better then what are you becoming a coach for. I was very fortunate to play at some of the best academies across the world. The likes of Ajax Cape Town and Ajax themselves were incredible places to develop and I am ever thankful for the opportunities they gave me. I also had the privilege of working under some incredible coaches who helped me every day and my aim since retiring was to help pass on that knowledge to the future generations.”
“This is a club that has always had a focus on the academy, Igor came through in 2002 and has been key ever since. It shows that you can generate your own talent without needing to buy ready made stars already. By in house development it also means players grow up with your system in mind ready for your tactics and they won’t need as much time to adapt. Not enough clubs focus on the benefits of a strong academy, fortunately we are not one of them.”
“As the manager of this football team it is my duty to ensure that those traditions continue and I am able to provide the opportunity to the future stars of this club. I am beyond proud to have already given four league debuts to players coming from our academy and I will be sure to continue to give those deserving their chance to prove themselves.”
With two of last year's graduates already participating in first team training day in, day out, last year's success still gives a sense of pride to the club. This year Oleg believes there are two or three standouts.
“It’s been another good year, I believe. We have a good group of players who can come in and play a role here, with a couple having a good chance of being first team regulars in the future. I believe our brightest prospects to be Anton Gubanov and Alexandru Ungureanu.”
“Anton is already a giant, standing around 6”5 and only aged sixteen he still has room to grow. Once he fills out his frame and builds some muscle he will be a nightmare physically for any attacker. He has some good technical ability for his age and is a smart player who makes good decisions already. I am very excited about his future.”
“The brightest prospect though has to be Alexandru Ungureanu, our seventeen year old goalkeeper. Alexandru is already a player with attributes you can’t teach, great work rate and a high IQ for the game. His reflexes are also at a top tier standard already and with a bit of work, we could be seeing another incredible goalkeeper come through the CSKA Moscow academy. Again Alex is a tall guy, 6”2 and he can still grow himself, he will be commanding in his area and can communicate well with his defenders. I think he has a ton of potential.”
This week hasn’t just been important for CSKA’s future with the incoming wave of youth players. It was also the opening leg of their Round of Sixteen Knockout tie against Italian giants Juventus. The match played at Arena CSKA saw a stalemate with neither side able to see a goal. Despite a lack of goals the performance pleased Luke Hendricks and his backroom team.
“Ah Bojan, have you got that report for me mate?” Luke asked his Chief Data Analyst Bojan Mitrovic.
“Yeah, here it is for you boss.” Bojan replied as he handed over the detailed report of the match.
“As I thought then, we were brilliant.” exclaimed Luke. “Fucking brilliant. I didn’t realize they only had one shot that Alex actually had to do anything about all game and that was eleven minuets into the game!” Luke said with a beaming smile.
“They had four shots in total, three inside the first ten. Thats an incredible performance. The midfield really controlled the game and even though we moved Matko forward earlier than planned it didn’t change much and we managed to dominate it still.” added Victor Onopko who was looking through his copy of the document.
“I can’t believe we didn’t win. I thought we were the much better team on the day but looking at this it makes it even more heartbreaking. That Ivan shot, that’s what the difference was. Had it been centimeters to the right it would have been in, they were saved by the post. But look at the positives, we just kept one of Europe's biggest and best clubs goalless with them having one shot after the tenth minute. Be proud of that lads, that's testament to your guys planning ahead of the game as much as it is the lads who went out and performed. Now we go again, let's get the group ready. We can beat Juventus, I am sure of it!” claimed an excited Luke.
Before Luke and his team turn their attention to the trip to Italy, they will face three league games starting with Lokomotiv Moscow in ten days' time.
Replies
Scott:It was very annoying, he would have been a massive signing but oh well, we will get on without him.
Jack:They are all very talented players indeed. Doesn't seem as though Luke will be rushing to make any moves though.
tedbro:The move for a striker may wait until the summer if Chalov is ever sold on.
Zed:Unfortunately no Will Grigg fiasco here!
Tango:Exactly, he would be great but not good enough to destroy the finances we have built up.
