Dismissed the team: Slutsky leaves China with two trophies, but without a championship

There is one less Russian coach in foreign football — Leonid Slutsky announced his retirement from Chinese Shanghai Shenhua on August 2. He led this club for more than two and a half years, won two Super Cups, two championship silverware and led the club to the 1/8 finals of the Asian Champions League. But this season the club is not far from the relegation zone. How to evaluate the work of a Russian specialist in China and where he can continue his career — in the material of Izvestia.

From a sinking ship

The reason for Slutsky's departure from Shanghai Shenhua lies on the surface: after 20 rounds, the team is in 12th place (19 points) and is four points away from the direct relegation zone. This is too low for a club that became the vice-champion of the country in the previous two seasons.

The last straw was the third consecutive defeat in the Chinese Super League — on August 2, Shanghai lost to the club from the eighth place in the standings, Liaoning Shenyang (1:3). And before that, with the same score (0:2), he lost to his direct competitors in the struggle to retain registration in the Super League — Shanghai Port and Tianjin Teda.

Perhaps Slutsky left early: Shanghai has a fairly simple calendar ahead of them — matches with low-profile opponents. Qingdao Hainyu ranks last, while Henan Jiani is only one line higher than Shenhua. It is quite possible to take at least 4 points in them and improve the standings.

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But it's not just about the latest results. In announcing his resignation, Slutsky made it clear that it was hard for him to work in the situation the team was in. A month and a half before the start of the season, in January, the Chinese Football Association completed an investigation into the involvement of a number of clubs in match-fixing in 2015-2021 and announced sanctions. Shenhua was stripped of 10 points before the start of the championship. That is, he started the tournament with a score of -10 in the "points" column.

The Slutsky club was not the only person involved in the scandal. The same 10 points were taken away from Tianjin Teda, seven more teams lost from 5 to 7 points.

Obviously, in such conditions, you can forget about the Shanghai Shenhua championship. And about medals, too. But Slutsky taught the team to fight for the highest places. If not for the punishment, Shenhua would have 29 points now and would be fighting for a place in the top 3.

What Slutsky won in China

Slutsky can be understood. Apparently, he gave this team everything he could. And he realized that he would not win the championship in the next year or two. But even during the two and a half years that Slutsky has been working in China, Shanghai has achieved very good results for itself.

Firstly, for the first time since 2010, Shenhua won the championship medals (and for the first time since 2008 it became the vice-champion).

Secondly, after the team's success in the Cup of China in 2023 (even without Slutsky), the trophy celebration was extended for two more years — in 2024 and 2025, Shanghai Shenhua twice upset the national champion and won the Super Cup.

However, Slutsky did not reach the top in the Asian Champions League. His maximum was reaching the 1/8 finals in the 2024/25 season. In total, Slutsky's Shanghai suffered 11 defeats in 18 matches of the tournament, scoring only five victories.

But in any case, Shanghai should be grateful to Slutsky for being among the strongest in China and fighting for the championship. Actually, this is what the club said in its statement regarding the resignation of the coach.: "Slutsky's achievements over the past three years speak for themselves, and thanks to his professionalism and dedication, he has gained the respect and recognition of all the club's employees."

What awaits Slutsky next

Shanghai Shenhua became the third foreign club in Slutsky's coaching career. Before China, the former coach of the Russian national team coached English Hull City and Dutch Vitesse. In the latter, the specialist worked, for example, with the current captain and leader of London Arsenal, Norwegian midfielder Martin Edegaard (39 joint matches).

So Slutsky is now known not only in Asia, but also well remembered in Europe. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that Slutsky's coaching career will continue in the Old World. In the current situation, it will be a little easier to move there from China than from Russia. The issue of demand.

And there will definitely be a job for Slutsky in the Russian Premier League, Honored coach of Russia Yuri Semin is sure.

— Slutsky is a coach with a lot of experience, — said the ex-coach of Lokomotiv and the Russian national team in an interview with Izvestia. — He has repeatedly won championships and cups. He'll probably take a short break and continue working after that. Also, not every team is able to invite him, because he is an elite coach. Can he return to the RPL? He can't, he has to come back. The people who run football should take advantage of this potential.

Slutsky may well wait for the first coaching resignations at the start of the season and pick up a team to improve results. For example, Dynamo Moscow, which is still lame after the return of Sandro Schwartz: a home goalless draw with Krylia Sovetov and an away defeat from Kaliningrad Baltika. This is not the kind of start expected from a team with annual ambitions to win at least medals and the Cup of Russia. And if Dynamo gets further away from its goal with Schwartz every week, Slutsky may well come to their aid.