Former CSKA Moscow coach Valery Gazzaev should be the new coach of the Russian national team, CSKA and Russia midfielder Alan Dzagoev told RIA Novosti on Monday.
Gazzaev is the second most successful coach in the history of the Russian Premier League, having won four titles with CSKA and Alania Vladikavkaz, but has not coached since leaving Dynamo Kiev in 2010.
“I’d really like it if Valery Georgevich [Gazzaev] became the new head coach of the national team,” Dzagoev said of his former CSKA coach.
“He’s an experienced coach and in my view the very first option that needs to be looked at.”
Dzagoev added that he expects to play for Russia at Euro 2012 despite being sidelined with a torn muscle in his right leg.
“I expect to manage to complete recover in time for the European championships if the coaching staff decided to call me up to the national side.”
He is currently unable to train, he added.
“My leg’s still swollen and I can’t even wear shoes,” he said.
Since joining CSKA in 2008, Dzagoev has made 153 appearances for CSKA, scoring 37 goals and setting up a further 30.
Since making his international debut in 2008, he has amassed 18 caps and four goals for Russia.
Like Dzagoev, Gazzaev hails from the Russian border region of North Ossetia, where he now works as president of hometown club Alania Vladikavkaz, where he won his first Russian title in 1995.
