Football Season Guide

Sochi were the most impressive underdog story of last season as the newfound club, who barely has any fans but can count on the support of Zenit Saint Petersburg, sustained a challenge for European places and eventually lasted the course to secure the fifth spot in the table. That outcome is a testament of the work put in by Vladimir Fedotov, whose disciplinarian approach made the team more than a sum of their parts and one that no opponent looked forward to facing last year. The recipe for Sochi will be the same this season, packing the space in behind with rugged defenders and relying on grit in midfield, while counting on a few dangerous attacking payers to find the back of the net. While losing Anton Zabolotnyi to CSKA Moscow is a blow in the latter regard, the team still has some options to call on and as long as Christian Noboa is staying put, he will keep the team ticking in midfield with his impressive intelligence and passing range. Sochi have looked abroad for signings so far and especially Victorien Angban is a good addition in the engine room while Rodrigao is expected to make up for the departure of Miha Mevlja in defence. Sochi are likely to be once again a team in the upper half of mid-table but another push for the top places is more improbable, given that none of the big clubs that finished below them are likely to have another inconsistent campaign.