A football team is a complex system consisting of many interacting elements. The main parts of this system are the players and the coach. Teams, like armies, go into battle, led by their commander-trainer. And the success of the team directly depends on the actions of the governor. Russian football has its own hero trainers, and one of the representatives is CSKA coach Slutsky Leonid Viktorovich.
Childhood and the beginning of the football path
Slutsky Leonid Viktorovich was born in Volgograd on May 4, 1971. Parents were very happy about the birth of a son. But, unfortunately, the tragedy broke the happiness of the Slutsky family: the family loses their father. At that time, Lena was only 6 years old. Further education of Slutsky was engaged in mother.
Leonid Slutsky, like all children, went to school after kindergarten. In the 3rd grade, Lenya begins to study in the football section. After receiving a school certificate, Slutsky Leonid Viktorovich enters a pedagogical university in his hometown. In his student years, Leonid began playing as a goalkeeper in the football club "Star" from the suburban working village of Gorodishche. Slutsky's goalkeeper career gained a good turn, and he began to prophesy a great future, but suddenly the career of a football player ends.
Slutsky Leonid Viktorovich received a household injury: he climbed to save a kitten on a tree and fell from a great height. The fall fell on one of the most important joints for the football player - the knee. After a long time spent in the hospital, Leonid Slutsky was recovering for a long time, but failed to get into the goal again. The resulting damage was incompatible with football.
The beginning of a coaching career
Finishing a career for a retiring footballer is hard. More than once we saw crying players at our farewell matches. When a career ends because of an injury, and even at a young age, for an athlete this is a severe blow. But not the person who can be broken was Leonid Slutsky. The biography of this wonderful athlete, despite all the obstacles, did not miss out on football.
In 1993, the twenty-two-year-old Slutsky began working as a coach in his hometown with a team of children aged 12 at the Olympia football club. Few people know that Slutsky Leonid is a coach who already participated in the education of several bronze medalists of Euro 2008. In 1999, Olimpia took first place in the amateur league in the South zone and won the Russian Cup among amateur teams. Thus, Olympia won the right to speak in the second division.
Uralan Elista
In 2001, a young coach receives an offer to lead the double team of the Elistin Uralan team. In 2002, Slutsky Leonid - a coach who leads the second Uralan team to the silver medals of the doubles championship. In 2003, Uralan loses the right to play in the Premier League, and Igor Shalimov (then-coach) is dismissed. Lead Uralan offer Slutsky Leonid Viktorovich. The following year, due to financial problems, FC Uralan was disbanded.
FC Moscow
After the collapse of the Elista team in 2004, Leonid Slutsky receives an invitation to FC Moscow as a mentor for the second team. Leonid Viktorovich did not train for a long time. The next year he is appointed coach of the first team. In the 2006-2007 season, FC Moskva, led by Leonid Slutsky, wins the silver medals of the Russian Cup and takes 4th place in the championship. But Slutsky’s achievements did not suit the club’s management, and it decided to break the contract with the current coach.
Samara wings
In 2007, the Samara club “Wings of the Soviets” changed its owner and management. The new club managers wanted to see the new coach at the helm of the team. On December 21, a contract was signed between the Samara club and Leonid Slutsky. The replacement of the coach played, and in the debut season of Slutsky, “Wings of the Soviets” take 6th place and get the right to play in European competitions.
The 2008-2009 season began successfully for the Samara team. “Wings of the Soviets” for a long time walked in the group of leaders and for some time led. But after the defeat from the Grozny Terek 3-2 in the 12th round of the Premier League, the team began to split the team. The hardest that season was the defeat in the qualifying stage of the Europa League from St. Patricks. After which Slutsky resigns as head coach of his own free will.
FC CSKA
Two weeks after Slutsky left the “Wings of the Soviets”, the Russian football grand CSKA announced that he was appointing Leonid Viktorovich as the team’s head coach. The debut in the new club for Slutsky was quite bright. On October 30, 2009, the Grozny “Terek” was beaten at home with a score of 1-0. Next was the game in the Champions League with Manchester United at Old Traford. The match was very tense, CSKA missed the victory in the last minutes of the meeting. Result: draw 3: 3.
Further in the championship, “CSKA” was inferior to the future champion “Rubin”. After a lost match, the team needed to win at all costs in the next game. And CSKA succeeds, a victory in the Moscow derby over Spartak 3-2. At the end of the season, a team led by their new coach wins over the Ramensky Saturn in the Russian Championship and Istanbul's Besiktas in the Champions League.
At the end of the season, CSKA Moscow took 5th place in the Russian championship and received a ticket to the next stage of the Champions League. In the 1/8 finals of the Champions League, CSKA faced the Spanish Sevilla. On the “Luzhniki” team played 1: 1. In Spain, CSKA wins 1: 2 and goes to the next stage of the tournament. In 1/4, the team opposed the Italian grand Inter. “CSKA” fought worthy, but lost both games with a score of 1: 0 and at this stage ended the performance in Europe. As a coach, Leonid Slutsky, CSKA gave what had been lacking for Russian clubs for a long time: self-confidence in the European arena.
The 2010-2011 season ended for CSKA with silver medals in the Premier League and winning 6 in the history of the Russian Cup club. So Leonid Slutsky gets his first trophy. His biography began to replenish with great victories.
The 2011-2012 season began quite successfully for CSKA, and after the first round the Moscow club was in the lead. A number of key victories were won over the main rivals: “Ruby”, “Zenith”, “Locomotive”. The first round was overshadowed only by the defeat of Spartak. In parallel, CSKA successfully plays in the Champions League. The “CSKA” in the group competed with the French “Lille”, the Turkish “Trabzonspor” and the old rival in the Champions League Italian “Inter”. In the last group round, the victory in Milan over Inter 1: 2 made it possible for the Moscow club to enter the elimination stage.
In the 1/8 finals, FC CSKA met with the Real Madrid Royal Club from Madrid. By the sum of the two meetings, “Creamy” reached the quarter-finals of the tournament, and CSKA finished this in Europe. Departure from Champions League knocked down the team, and in the spring season of the season 11-12, “CSKA” won only 3 victories from 11 matches played. Having lost the starting advantage, CSKA at the end of the season took third place and lost the right to play in the Champions League next season. Slutsky decides to leave the team, but the leadership does not allow him to do this, and Leonid Viktorovich remains.
The season 2012-2013 CSKA starts very poorly. Flies out of the European League qualifiers, losing to the modest Swedish AIK team, but despite this, the club extends the contract with Slutsky. The lack of pressure on the team in Europe made it possible to concentrate CSKA on the national arena, and by the end of the season the team won the treble: Russian Championship, Russian Cup and Super Cup. Slutsky Leonid - the coach, who became the 5th in a row, who managed to win all 3 national trophies.
The 2013-2014 season was a carbon copy with the previous season. A sluggish start, unsuccessful performances in the Champions League and a winning spurt in the spring stage of the championship. The season ended with the Premier League championship and the Russian Super Cup.
The season 2014-2015 was less successful for the team. In the group stage of the Champions League, she turned out to be an outsider. The Russian Cup was also lost, in the semifinals CSKA lost to Kuban, and in the Premier League was content with second place.
The season 2015-2016 was remembered for the team by a poor performance in the Champions League and a defeat in the final of the Russian Cup from St. Petersburg “Zenith”. However, she became the owner of the “gold” of the championship. The team pulls out Slutsky Leonid, CSKA is not left without prizes.
Career in the Russian team
Since August 7, 2015, Leonid Slutsky began combining work at CSKA with the national team. The coach was faced with the task of bringing the team to Euro 2016. Thanks to three consecutive victories (over Sweden, Moldova and Montenegro), the team, taking 2nd place in the group, received a ticket to the Euro. The Russian national team failed miserably, losing in two out of three matches and playing one match in a draw.
Family and hobbies
More than 10 years ago, the family was created by Slutsky Leonid Viktorovich, his wife Irina is far from football, but her husband's successes are always monitored. In 2005, the couple announced the birth of a boy.
In his youth, Leonid Slutsky played in the KVN team. Also at different times he helped KVN teams from the Premier League and the Higher League as a guest. In 2016, in the 1/8 finals of the Higher League, KVN was a member of the jury.