Football Season Guide

Dinamo Moscow had a rather mixed campaign last year as they certainly made some tangible progress under a good coach in Sandro Schwarz, who was not afraid to blood in youngsters and leave underperforming starts out, but on the same time their inconsistent results meant that Dinamo missed out on Europe. This certainly feels like a deflating outcome for a club that is aiming high and has a big budget. Schwarz knows that more is expected of him in what will be his first full season in charge of the Sky Blues. He has kept most of the regular starters in the squad and at the same time two experienced foreign players in Diego Laxalt and Fabian Balbuena will bulk up the quality of the squad and deliver more nous into the back line. It will be fascinating to see the development of Arsen Zakharyan and Konstantin Tyukavin, who showed real glimpses of potential in the spring and can certainly build on that. That said, Dinamo can look a lot better with a proven and reliable goalscorer to make the most of the chances they create and that is one area that they are certainly looking into adding. There is not too much else for Dinamo to add in terms of quality and while they are a pretty good outfit, it will take something special for them in terms of leaps and overachievement in order to push for a Champions League spot this season, which is what their board are aiming for.