The Sportbox.ru expert assesses the possible appointment of the ex-coach of Spartak to the top team.

Domenico Tedesco hasn’t had much success at club level but could find himself at the head of a strong team at a difficult time for the team. An unexpected rise and vague prospects for a German specialist.

No specific experience

Talk about the appointment of the former Spartak coach Domenico Tedesco as head coach of the Belgian national team surprised. National teams usually invite people with solid experience who have proven themselves in clubs. If we are talking about the top level at which the Belgians are, it is desirable for a potential candidate to already have experience working with national teams. Moreover, the “Red Devils” have seen a change of generations – they really need a high-class specialist.

There are enough well-known coaches with relevant work experience, but for some reason the Belgians preferred Tedesco, who is very young for such work, and does not have any outstanding results behind him. The only big win was the German Cup with RB Leipzig last season. He left Spartak without fully justifying the hopes placed on him. In Leipzig and Schalke, he also did not stay – they were fired for unsatisfactory results. For me, the possible appointment of Tedesco to the Belgian national team was unexpected.

Photo: © FC Spartak

The specifics of working in a national team is very different from working in a club. We need to find a common language with the players, pay a lot of attention to motivation and tactics. Tedesco does not have this specific experience at all. And here, after all, you still have to work taking into account the realities of generational change. I am not sure that for the same Kevin de Bruyne, who worked with Guardiola, the German will be a great authority. All this is true for other experienced players of the Belgian team. Relationships with leaders can be a problem for Tedesco. Will he make it? There are many questions here.

Was it possible to predict the sharp rise of the German in the future, when he worked at Spartak? The team looked good under him, but it cannot be said that he brought it to some fundamentally higher level. In general, for an objective assessment, Tedesco spent little time at the head of the team. Based on specific results, he did not lead the “red-whites” to the championship, he did not manage to demonstrate anything in European competitions. So, it was impossible to draw any global conclusions on the Russian stage of the coach’s career.