Football agent Lachezar Tanev discussed a range of topics, including the Bulgarian league title race between Levski and Ludogorets, the national team’s tour in Indonesia, and CSKA 1948 under Tsvetomir Naidenov. Tanev also briefly addressed his former club, CSKA, stating they are building a foundation comparable to those seen in La Liga, and offered his perspective on the redistribution of funds from Naidenov’s company to the broadcasting company NOVA.
“What can I tell you, I follow our championship. As an intrigue, there’s tension, there are good matches. Hopefully, we continue to improve the game and performance, but the Bulgarian championship is interesting for us Bulgarians,” Tanev said.
“I was just thinking, I believe Mario Zagallo once said, ‘Play well and victory will come.’ Sooner or later, good performances lead to victories, and titles.”
“The chances are very good. I’m sure that if Levski had been told before the season that at the end of March they would be nine points ahead of Ludogorets, they probably wouldn’t have believed it. This is mainly due to a seriously constructed foundation by the coach, keeping the entire team in good condition. There are no major conflicts in the locker room, the coach has been left to work peacefully by his superiors – the results are visible. No matter how pessimistic someone is, Levski hasn’t played like this in years. Utilizing Ludogorets’ more relaxed approach, I think their concentration is waning, although they are still a very strong team. Ludogorets’ strength lies primarily in their attack, in the last 30 meters before the goal. They are worth a lot of money.”
“The most valuable players are in the last 30 meters, which is why they are the most expensive. I’ll just give one example – where would Levski be with a central striker like Duah if they could afford him? You have to gaze at the realities. Levski is competitive with a smaller budget, compensating with organization, physical preparation, player rotation, and good pressing. They compensate for the lower class in the last 30 meters with other components. A little unexpected, but deserved.”
“This final four will be quite interesting, every point lost is crucial. That’s what the fans want to see. It’s hard to predict. This nine-point difference is…”
“As for them, they have quite good players, that’s clear, they tightened up the ranks with the new coach. He shook things up. They had gotten a little sleepy in the fall. The tradition of becoming champions sometimes lulls a team to sleep, and I think that’s perfectly normal. It might even lead to complacency in some matches, and I know what it’s like to enter a match thinking you’ve already won. No matter how hard you strive to wake up, things don’t work out. In modern football, if you don’t enter concentrated, anything can happen. They otherwise have a huge football capacity, and financial resources as well.”
“You could see the tension in some matches – rashness in actions, it’s normal… When the other team isn’t making mistakes. If you compare the two teams line by line – the goalkeepers are at the same level, the defense too. In midfield, Stanic provides the creative player, better than Levski’s. In attack, as we said, finances are very important to get a central striker. There’s a difference, but it’s not entirely footballing. Such an organized and stable Levski hasn’t been seen in recent years.”
“Tsvetomir, we know each other well, he’s been a football fan since he was a kid. Before he even thought about creating a club and participating, he was a fan, and to a large extent, he’s having fun. He tries to do things seriously, bringing in a lot of players, recently from abroad. He has good financial opportunities. For me, the position of CSKA 1948 isn’t surprising, there’s a certain pattern, although he’s not patient with coaches. Still, things are happening.”
“We Bulgarians are quite detached from conflicts of interest, we accept it as normal. It’s undeniable that his company is a sponsor. But these funds go to the television station, and they shouldn’t. That’s ridiculous. All rights have been given to NOVA, which has nothing to do with TV rights. The league name – the money should go into the League or the Union. There are so many absurdities in our football that no one comments on. It’s one thing to sell TV rights to a television station, and another to sponsor the league name. It’s not possible for two teams to be sponsored in the First League, when they are sponsored by 3-4. Due to the fact that we are economically quite behind in football, I understand why it’s allowed – several teams to have the same sponsor. If those funds are stopped, our football will completely die.”
“I know one thing for sure, Nasko Sirakov looks at the best financial interests of Levski, including those of the sponsors. The leaders in blue need to be careful, because any possibility of a connection between the two clubs is very painful. For both sets of fans. Even a hint will lead to more serious moods, let the negotiators think about that.”
“What does it lead to, having a beautiful stadium and no good play?”
“It’s not just about CSKA, look at how many fans are in the stadiums – that shows the quality. It’s so elementary, you can’t imagine. You look at how many fans each team has and it shows you how well they are playing, whether they are doing well or not. These efforts by CSKA management with the new stadium, the transformation of the base in Pancharevo, the construction of a youth complex – that’s Primera Division level. But you also need a good team. All these things are important advantages, the main thing is how the first team plays, then you will benefit from the new stadium. It will also be bought out then by sponsors, various rights will be sold. Lodges and so on will be sold. The balance between good conditions and a good team is very important. I think they will finally get on the right track, they are looking for an identity. CSKA has always dominated when they play football. Even when they haven’t been champions – CSKA has always played 4-3-3, with wingers, with a stable striker. Something similar is true for Levski. Fans want a dominant team that knows what it’s doing on the pitch, that flows between the lines – it’s getting more and more complex. They need to strive for that, I believe they will soon demonstrate better football and a more serious appearance.”
“These two clubs are made from the owners’ desire to be involved in football. Go to Spartak Varna, Cherno More, Botev Plovdiv, they aren’t as full as the crowds. Lokomotiv Plovdiv is doing well, it’s a little better there, but Lokomotiv Sofia and Slavia… when I played, their stadiums were full. Neither Botev, nor Lokomotiv, nor Slavia, nor Lokomotiv Sf… Levski and CSKA will always have fans, sometimes one more, sometimes the other. But football isn’t just these two teams and Ludogorets. Football is when the others are strong too and raise the level.”
“I was most surprised by Botev Vratsa by the way they play. They strive to play much better football than before.”
“The methodology must be from people who are involved in football. Everyone talks about the state, it can help somewhere with stadiums, with infrastructure, but this is the most attractive and social sport. When a country’s people are happy, there are spectacles, it’s been said for a long time.”
“And here they maintain the rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid,” he said about Spain.
“When you use friendly matches, when you don’t dictate the search for opponents, you’ll travel to Indonesia. Such a tournament will rather be beneficial for the coach to see players. I think it has its benefit. But it’s a different matter – we are not a European power that can choose its opponents. FIFA series are for teams that have difficulty finding opponents. Some boy will have a chance to prove himself.”
“We’ve said it many times – there’s a long road between initial interest and a transfer – there are observed people, I don’t want to quote what I know. There is serious interest in two players from Levski, two players from Slavia. Ludogorets has always been of interest to many players. But there the criterion is different, they can afford to leave some players for a year or two and look for results. It has always been watched and observed. It depends a lot on the dynamics of the match they will come to watch. All these systems are very good, but they are for an initial idea. The player’s condition in the specific match is very important.”
“I think the BFS (Bulgarian Football Union) should withstand the pressure, I think the refereeing isn’t worse than in Spain. Everyone makes mistakes, the important thing is whether it’s intentional or not. With the VAR system, this is corrected, we are not a trusting people. The system we live in after World War II makes us distrustful, we are quick to come up with some intrigues. We need to have more trust in the systems, especially football. I think they are trying to referee correctly.”
“I think Levski is more of a champion than Ludogorets. Anything is possible, but squandering points in the fall cost them that ranking. It will be interesting in any case. One slip-up in a match could cost them the title. The good thing about Levski is that most of them are foreigners, they probably don’t understand what is written and said.”
Photo: BGNES
