The last toast of Lviv by Georgy Tsetsadze

The Premier League seventh round home match, lost to Dnipro-1 with a score of 1: 3, was the last for Georgy Tsetsadze on the Lviv football club training bridge. On this occasion, at a press conference, a visiting specialist said: “Anyone has a moment when they understand that it is better to leave.” This phrase sounded like a toast that Georgians are generally famous for beyond the borders of their homeland. It is true that this toast was a bit late, and it is far from a fact that all the current problems in Lvov will be solved after the phase of a bitter hangover after the separation from Tsetsadze has passed …

Indeed, Tsetsadze’s own appointment to the team’s head coach position, which he followed in June this year, seriously surprised the vast majority of specialists and fans who closely follow the proceedings in the Ukrainian Premier League. The fact is, before that, Tsetsadze had never before in his coaching career had work experience outside of Georgia. Yes, in his native country he even won the championship title with Samtredia, but overall his mentor profile, so to speak, was not impressive even by Lvov’s level.

However, then it occurred to him that Tsetsadze was invited because it would be easier for him to work together with the many Brazilian legionaries from the Lviv team. In Soviet times, Georgian footballers were often compared to Brazilians in terms of the style and nature of their actions on the field, for their desire for feints, beautiful football, and the funny manner of their conduct. They probably did not dare to invite any Brazilian or Portuguese specialist to Lviv, considering the problems they had previously encountered in cooperation with Gilmar, and therefore a much more understandable and controlled specialist from Georgia seemed like a very committed figure. At least that’s what I thought when Tsetsadze had just arrived …

Finished the last season “Lviv” without any special problems. Due to the catastrophe that befell Karpaty, it became clear that the “blue-gold lions” would in any case retain their residence in the elite division of national football. Therefore, in front of Tsetsadze, there was a springboard for experiments. When Lviv drew Karpaty (1: 1) and Vorskla (2: 2) in the first two games under the new manager, it seemed that the idea of ​​inviting Tsetsadze could play out in the future. Even three consecutive defeats of Dnipro-1, Olimpik and Mariupol as a whole did not leave an unequivocally depressed mood from watching Lviv team matches. He tried to create chances, he hit a lot on goal, but the skill of the players, added to the lack of tournament tasks and the need to adapt to the demands of the new coach, are still affected. Again, so it was thought then …

After that, something strange started. Lviv slashed its stake in the Brazilians, many of whom left the club as free agents, and those who more or less managed to prove themselves at UPL were sent on lease in the hope that they would be bought and never return. … From the former colony of South Americans in Lviv there were mere crumbs, which in no way could personify the team’s game.

The transformations in Lviv were already evident at the beginning of the new season. If before the Brazilians gave the Tsetsadze team a “carnival” (last season, Lviv lost only to Shakhtar in the number of dribbles in the league: 985 against 1175, beating both Dynamo (900) and Zorya (890). ) and other opponents), but now Lviv residents look a bit bland. At the same time, both then and now, the quality was not added directly in the final phases of the attacks and therefore Lviv still gets very little. For example, in terms of expected goals, the “blue-gold lions” are already at the rear of the championship with a figure of 6.67xG, but even in this context, the team actually managed to hit the opponent’s goal only three times. …

Tsetsadze suspected something was wrong even before the start of the season. Then she convincingly told her that the situation would improve, because new ones would come to the team, which would help her take a qualitative step forward. But after the second round match with Kolos (the first round match against Minai, we recall, thwarted the coronavirus crisis, and now this game is scheduled for November 15), in which Ruslan Kostyshin’s team did not left stone unturned (0: 4), there was a complete understanding that this “Lviv” will be one of the main candidates for a demotion in the class at the end of the season.

The transfer vector changed from Brazilian to Baltic, Balkan, and even African, but this did not produce immediate results. As the journalist Artem Frankov said, recently Sergey Atelkin was responsible for personnel policy in Lviv, who believed that he could find his Srna, Lewandowski and Duliai for the “blue-gold lions”. However, the “Lvov” recruits could not immediately prove that they were the right choice. Frankov claimed that this greatly paralyzed Atelkin and led to his sudden death …

A couple of days before Atelkin’s death, the media leaked information that Tsetsadze was removed from his post as Lvov’s head coach. And although this information was later refuted, as you know, there is no smoke without fire. Under the guidance of the Georgian coach, the “blue-gold lions” managed to hold four more fights. We flew out of the Ukrainian Cup from Vorskla (0: 2), grabbed points in the match with UPL newcomer Ruh (0: 0) and then lost ingloriously to Shakhtar (1: 5), who with the Adequate level of motivation is pretty much it could have surpassed Ajax in that game for the highest score in major European football leagues this season.

It seemed that the rumors about the dismissal, which later dissipated, did not encourage, but on the contrary, it was as if Tsetsadze had been completely “nailed”. So when the Georgian manager announced his resignation after another defeat, it was neither sensational nor unexpected. Most likely, Tsetsadze “burned out” much earlier, and the current decision seems even too ripe for “Lvov”.

Another question is that Tsetsadze’s departure will definitely not lead to an instant improvement in the situation in Lviv. It is unlikely that the team, which at the beginning of the season seems frankly unbalanced on all lines (before, even in goal, Sarnavskiy periodically gave Lvov fans reason to rejoice in his game), will not be able to quickly transform under the guidance of a new coach. Of course, there is an example from Vorskla and Maksimov, but here it is worth understanding that in Poltava certain changes were made in the very structure of the club, so that the coach could give results. Are the leaders of “Lvov” prepared for this? A great question …

One thing is already clear: having made a bet on the Tsetsazda, Lviv surprised everyone and, as time has shown, not in the best way. Why the club’s management chose to look for a coach abroad, without seeing their specialists under their noses, is a question to which answers can be sought and found, but all run the risk of being incomplete and far from the truth. All of this has thrown “Lviv”, as it seems now, light years ago, so that the “blue-gold lions” even before the winter holidays risk falling so deeply into the “UPL cellars” that no transformation in the second part of the season can help … Of course, the departure of Tsetsadze is the right decision, but was it just timely and is there someone who can help this “Lvov” to align the course and stay afloat? We will see how it is customary to speak in such cases in Odessa …