IN SHORT:
After parting with Daiņas Kazakevičas, the national team must look for a new coach
The leadership of the Federation will rather look beyond the country’s borders in the selection of candidates
For the national champion FC RFS coach Viktors Moroz, a risky job in the national team might not be very tempting
The fact that footballers play in clubs of mostly modest leagues makes it necessary to be especially careful in the selection of the national team coach
Latvian Cup winners “Riga” FC continue the tradition of changing coaches frequently
Viktors Skripniks, a Ukrainian who previously worked in Latvia, could be a valuable candidate for the position of national team coach
LFF fulfilled the wishes of many Latvian football fans by terminating the contract with national team head coach Daina Kazakevicus, who worked with the country’s main team for four years. So much has been said about the failures of the Latvian national team that it is enough to mention the main fact – in 2023, the national team celebrated one victory over Armenia in ten matches, but experienced nine losses.
Well, the former coach of the national team can whine about the lack of luck, because in a couple of matches losses were experienced in the last seconds, also due to injuries, a couple of leading players could not help the national team for a longer period of time, but that is sport. The four years worked in the national team is quite a long period of work, because
during the restored independence, only the first head coach of the national team Jānis Gilis (1992-1997) and the legendary “Euro 2004” miracle author Aleksandrs Starkovs managed the national team for a longer period of time during the second of his three approaches to the national team management console (2007-2013).
Therefore, the fans had even more reason to demand more pleasant results from the team led by Kazakevic.
The LFF management promises to find a new head coach of the national team by the end of January, but it is clear that it will not be an easy task. Especially if there is really an idea to offer the new coach a contract for 1+1 year. It is hard to imagine that serious specialists would agree to such an offer, because usually coaches plan their work several years ahead. In the case of Latvia, it could most likely be about a foreign coach, because it is difficult to see a suitable candidate in the local football crowd.
This year, the head coach of the country’s new champion team “RFS” Viktors Morozs was recognized as the best coach of the year in Latvia for the second time in three years, but I do not believe that he would want to leave a warm place to participate in such a risky event as the Latvian national team for a trial period. driving. Jurgis Kalna, the head coach of “Valmiera” FC, was recognized as the best coach of Latvia last year, but this year the Valmiera team showed a very unstable performance. No other serious candidates are visible in Latvia, and rumors about the return of the former head coach of the national team sound more like a bad joke.
In order to attract a good foreign coach, the LFF management will definitely need to open their wallets, but the head coach of the national team is definitely the section where you should not skimp.
Especially because we cannot be proud of the brightest generation of football players at the moment, and the work of a coach is even more important. Currently, not a single Latvian footballer plays not only in the so-called “Top 5” European football leagues, but there are no representatives of us even in the top ten leagues of the UEFA ranking. Currently, the Latvian national team captain Kristers Tobers, who plays in the Swiss Super League with notable success (12th place in the UEFA ranking), midfielders Andrejs Ciganiks and Alvis Jaunzems play in the Polish Ekstraklasa, while striker Vladislavs Gutkovskis has moved to exotic South Korea. This is also our entire representation in the highest leagues of respected football countries.
The richest unit of the Latvian Super League “Riga” FC, which won the Latvian Cup this year, but missed out on the title of national champion in the last round of the Super League, letting the main competitors “RFS” pass in front of them, traditionally does not celebrate coaches who are unable to achieve their maximum goals. As could be expected, the management of “Riga” FC did not forgive such a failure to the team’s head coach Tomislav Stipić, parting with the Croatian specialist after one year of working together. Ironically, that
even in the summer, in interviews with the press, Stipičs was not shy about publicly philosophizing about the possibility of leading the Latvian national team in the future, but now, it seems, we will have to forget about these hopes.
According to the parameters of “Riga FC”, it cannot be said that Stipić was not given time to prove himself, as he became the first head coach in the club’s eight-year history of the Premier League, who worked a full season from start to finish. The Riga club has already been managed by 17 head coaches, and in this respect “Riga” FC is very different from the capital’s other big football club “RFS”, which has also spent the same amount of time in the Premier League, but has used the services of only six head coaches. In addition, Viktors Moroz has worked at the “RFS” control panel for four seasons, competing with eight “Riga” FC head coaches during this time.
“Riga” FC has already tried one and a half dozen foreign head coaches, of which only one has lived up to expectations – in 2018, the club’s first title of Latvian champion was secured by Ukrainian Viktors Skripniks. Under his leadership, “Rīga” won all of them in a row that year, almost not conceding a goal.
Skripniks currently continues to train in the war-torn Ukraine, so there is a tentative guess as to whether he could be a suitable candidate for the position of head coach of the Latvian national team.
The Riga club did not delay in finding a replacement for Stipic, approving Finnish Simo Valakari as the team’s head coach, who led FK “Auda” to the bronze medals of the Latvian Championship this year. Thus, it can be said that “Riga” FC already followed the familiar path for the second year, because a year ago Stipić also took the same path. It is not for nothing that “Auda” is called the unofficial farm club of “Riga” FC, because both teams also regularly exchange players, but in two seasons in the Premier League, “Auda” not only has not yet taken points away from “Riga” FC, but has not even scored a single goal in eight mutual matches. .
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