Football Season Guide

Trabzon had a very frustrating last season. They finished 6th but 31 points behind the champions and 21 behind 3rd spot. It was a year of turmoil and inconsistencies all around. The 3rd manager of the campaign Nenad Bjelica was appointed only in April. Bjelica is now having his first chance to tweak the squad to his own desires. Defender Barta is the only major departure so far. The new signings haven’t been hugely impressive though. It seems Bjelica is taking a risky game to wait for late moves on the transfer market as prices of players drop. Trabzon conceded 54 goals last season. None of the top 5 teams had more than 45. Bjellica signed 3 new defenders to try and address that. However, not certain how effective any of Benkovic, Aydin or Fernandez will be. The ex-Leicester centre-back Benkovic is the most promising of the lot. He’s injury-prone though. Staying fit for an entire season might be a challenge too much for Benkovic. Maxi Gomez will need to be better up front. To help him score more goals winger Orsic was added to the squad. Overall, if everyone is fit Trabzon could compete with good success. Bjelica is still untested over an entire season though. Also, it’s a big if for the many injury-prone players in the squad to stay healthy.