In search of a savior: why Galaktionov is a logical, but not ideal candidate for the post of head coach of Lokomotiv

What is known about the appointment of Galaktionov?

One of the main stories of recent weeks has officially ended in the RPL.

Lokomotiv named Josef Zinnbauer's successor as head coach.

They became the current mentor of the Russian youth team and already the former helmsman of Pari NN Mikhail Galaktionov.

At the same time, this was announced on the last day of the 17th round of the Russian Championship.

The day before, the railway workers lost in the derby to Spartak and extended the losing streak to four meetings.

The red-greens with 13 points are on the 14th line, only one ahead of Khimki, who are in the relegation zone.

It is noteworthy that for the first time the possible arrival of Galaktionov to Lokomotiv was reported more than a month ago.

On October 11, information appeared in the media that the Russian was among the candidates for the post of mentor of the three-time national champions, and the club itself was already ready to conclude a contract with him.

But for one reason or another, the parties took a break, and Mikhail finalized the first half of the RPL in the old place.

Perhaps he himself did not want to leave the team at a crucial moment, perhaps the hitch was due to the unwillingness of the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region Gleb Nikitin to let the specialist go.

As the "Championship" reported, he insisted on continuing cooperation, because the team was formed for him.

One way or another, a compromise was still found.

And it looks like both sides were happy.

Galaktionov stressed that he and the club "parted as friends", this was confirmed in Pari NN itself, along the way praising his contribution to the development of players.

“The club has grown a lot with his arrival and his activities.

I think that we are developing correctly.

We immediately said that the club's strategy is to bet on the young.

We want to give them an opportunity.

And this applies not only to the players, but also to the coaching staff.

We are very glad that Galaktionov worked with us.

I want to thank him.

He just said correctly, and I confirm this: we part as great friends.

And who knows what will happen next?

- said at a press conference the general director of "Paris NN" Ravil Izmailov.

Why did the choice fall on Galaktionov?

Lokomotiv's decision is easy to explain.

Under the current conditions, Russian teams are practically deprived of the opportunity to negotiate with top foreigners, so they rely on domestic coaches.

And here Galaktionov really stands out.

At least, the ratio of potential and age.

He is currently the second youngest manager in the league after Guillermo Abascal.

It is worthy to accept a team that is far from being the strongest in terms of composition at the age of 38 - it is already worth a lot.

And this is exactly what Mikhail did in Pari NN.

In terms of the cost of performers, Nizhny Novgorod occupies 12th place, ahead of only Torpedo, Orenburg and Fakel.

And it is in this position that they are after 17 rounds.

And although Nizhny Novgorod did not jump above its head under Galaktionov, another factor should be taken into account when evaluating his work.

Namely, the progress of young players.

Under his leadership, Timur Suleimanov shone, who has already scored seven times more goals in the RPL than in the entire previous season.

Significant progress has been made by central midfielder Nikolai Kalinsky, who is in the top 20 best league assistants and the most highly rated footballers according to the FotMob portal.

Loaned from Spartak and Zenit, Ilya Agapov and Yaroslav Mikhailov, respectively, are performing well, Ibrokhimkhalil Yuldoshev has established himself at the base.

And the ability to reveal talents will certainly help him in Lokomotiv.

After all, the railroad workers share the title of the youngest team in the league with Krasnodar (23.4 years on average), and in terms of potential they clearly surpass their colleagues from Nizhny Novgorod.

Will it be a problem to combine posts in the club and the national team?

And it is logical to assume that Galaktionov acquired the ability to work with promising players and help them realize their potential in the national team.

The mentor headed it in 2018 and immediately led it to the European Championship, and four years later he could well have repeated the achievement, if not for the removal of Russia from international competitions.

Suffice it to say that even now his players share the second place in sextet C, second only to Spain.

And this despite the fact that the Slovaks, equal to them in terms of the number of points, had three meetings more.

And although Galaktionov has been working in parallel for the national team and the club for several months, some experts still doubt the success of this enterprise.

This was expressed by the former defender of the red-greens Roman Shishkin and the former Dynamo striker Dmitry Bulykin.

True, the latter was afraid that this would harm not Lokomotiv, but the national team.

“Unfortunately, this is bad practice.

Bad not for the club - for the national team.

I have always been against combinations, but the most important thing here is for Lokomotiv to get out of this situation, because after all, in terms of budget, composition and level, it is clearly out of place, ”Match TV quotes Bulykin.

However, now the youth is unlikely to suffer.

Due to the lack of the opportunity to play in international tournaments, the number of matches with her participation has noticeably decreased, and in freight trains there is no need to play for the result.

Therefore, now Mikhail can calmly focus all his attention on Lokomotiv and not worry that this will not have the best effect on the national team.

Is Galaktionov an ideal choice for Lokomotiv?

Although the reasons for the appointment of a specialist are obvious, and his talent is beyond doubt, Galaktionov can hardly be called an uncontested candidate for the post of Lokomotiv coach.

Especially in a situation where railroad workers are threatened with relegation to the First League.

And the team has not been relegated from the elite division since 1990, 32 consecutive seasons.

Despite all the advantages, in club football Galaktionov did not work in a team full of star masters and did not achieve great results.

As the head coach of Akhmat, he spent only four matches, scored one point and was dismissed.

And in "Paris NN" he spent only half of the season.

And this is clearly not enough to consider him the best choice under the circumstances.

Now Lokomotiv needs a mentor with experience in getting out of difficult situations.

After all, it is one thing to lead an unpretentious team in the middle of the table, and quite another to pull out a stalled giant from the bottom.

And this despite the fact that the management and fans of Muscovites are unlikely to be satisfied with the banal preservation of a residence permit in the Premier League.

With such a selection of performers, they should fight, if not for silver medals, then at least for getting into the top 5.

And to do this now is an almost impossible task.

In addition, Galaktionov has no experience of communicating with star and highly paid football players.

At Lokomotiv, he will face athletes with a completely different level of ego than he did at Pari NN.

And if the young and little-known players of Nizhny Novgorod were ready to fulfill all his requirements, then the conditional Pedrinho may not agree to this.

According to the media, friction already arose between him and the coaching staff last week, as a result of which he was allegedly suspended from training with the base.

Will Galaktionov be able to clean up the locker room?

Do not forget that a young specialist comes to a team that is currently not only at the bottom of the table, but also in an extremely difficult emotional state.

In mid-October, Dmitry Barinov publicly accused his colleagues of a lack of dedication, and a month later he duplicated this, but in an interview with the club's press service.

Moreover, in both cases, Wilson Isidore commented on his statements, expressing disagreement with the captain.

And the very fact that the stars exchange opinions in public space indicates the existence of problems within the team.

And it is hard to imagine that without serious achievements or a big name, Galaktionov will be able to resolve these conflicts in the shortest possible time and motivate his wards.

For this, rather, a more authoritative and more experienced and regalia mentor is needed.

For example, the same Yuri Semin is a symbol and legend of the red-greens, with whom their biggest victories are associated.

On paper, he is much more suited to the role of a crisis manager who can help Lokomotiv avoid failure.

But if the new bosses of the railroad didn't want to deal with an over-status coach, there were other options in the free agent market.

On paper, the same Igor Cherevchenko and Sergei Yuran are much more suitable for the role of saviors of the situation than Galaktionov.

Both previously took the distressed Khimki during the tournament and saved them from relegation, and the first managed to drag them to the eighth line at all.

The second very successfully started this season, after which he was sensationally dismissed.