Italy’s Massimo Carrera praises work with Russian football club Spartak Moscow

Massimo Carrera, the former head coach of Russia’s Spartak Moscow football club, said he was satisfied with his work at the helm of the club and thanked everyone involved.

Spartak FC announced on Monday its decision to terminate a contract with Italian manager Carrera citing the club’s unsatisfactory results in recent matches. The decision to terminate the contact with Carrera, 54, came at the hands of the club’s Board of Directors. Spain’s Raul Riancho, 58, a member of Carrera’s staff, has been appointed the acting chief coach.

"First of all, I would like to remind all that I spent two and a half years with Spartak FC and these were the wonderful years," Carrera said addressing journalists in Moscow on Wednesday. "It was my first-hand experience in the capacity of a club’s head coach and I managed to pass on to the team a lot."

"The club was short of winning the [national] championship for 16 years and I led the team to winning this title," Carrera said. "It will always remain in my heart, but then I won the Super Cup. Speaking about the results of my work - I believe the result was positive although there were rises and falls."

"We have situations, when the coach is directly connected with the result of the team," he said. "In case the [club’s] president is dissatisfied with the results he has the right to dismiss someone. This is how the life goes - the result is the most important."

"This season we [Spartak FC] were only a point short of the second place and I was ready to continue my work," he said. "I would like to address the club’s president, Leonid Fedun. He gave me an opportunity to become a coach and believed in me. I will be always grateful to him for giving me this opportunity."

The Italian football manager said he would stay in Moscow for about two weeks, then go for a vacation, and afterwards was open for new proposals.

"I will be staying in Moscow until November 7-8 and plan to set off for a vacation," Carrera said. "Being a coach is a major stress. The mind is always awake even if you sleep and this stress needs to be rid of."

"Later on, if there is a vacant place, I am ready to take up the job, even if it is an offer from a Russian football club," Carrera added.

In the 11th round of Russia’s national championship last Sunday Spartak suffered a 2-3 defeat playing against Arsenal FC at home and it was a three-game losing streak. The Moscow football club is currently 6th in the Russian Premier League standings.

Before joining Spartak FC in 2016, Carrera was an assistant to Antonio Conte, who managed Turin’s Juventus (2009-2014) and the Italian national team (2014-2016). Carrera was initially responsible for Spartak FC’s offensive line strategies.

In August 2016, he took over as the club’s head coach replacing Russia’s Dmitry Alenichev, who had announced his resignation. The first season under Carrera’s charge saw Spartak FC winning the national champion’s title - for the first time in 16 years.

Carrera-led Spartak Moscow FC also won Russia’s Super Cup, beating Lokomotiv Moscow FC (2:1).