Opinion Raul Rusescu – FCSB: zero moment

How did it get here?

The causes are multiple and it would be simplistic to attempt a firm answer. In football there is rarely a single explanation for a losing season. However, there is a very clear, data-backed argument that largely explains what happened to this team.

But before the statistics, one thing must be said.

“A kick in the ass, a step forward”, says a Romanian proverb which, in the current situation, fits perfectly. For FCSB this may be the ideal time for a deep change, a change of mentality throughout the club, from top to bottom and bottom to top.

Charalambous – Pintilii

They are the coaches who brought the last two championship titles. They also had two European campaigns above expectations and matches where the team showed textbook football. A relevant example remains the match with PAOK from Bucharest.

They probably deserved a nicer breakup. Maybe one last home game, where they get a standing ovation for everything they've accomplished. But football is not built on feelings. Football lives in the present.

And the present shows something hard to imagine: the titular champion is in the play-out.

Elias Charalambous and Mihai Pintilii, former FCSB coaches

The statistical paradox

We are in 2026 and, little by little, data is starting to become relevant in Romanian football as well. Some clubs have even started to cultivate a passion for statistical analysis. Create dedicated departments.

Going through FCSB's figures from the regular season, on superliga.ro, a paradox emerges. The team coached by the couple Charalambous – Pintilii has team statistics that fight for the title!

At the end of the regular season, FCSB was:

• 1st place in big chances per game – 3.6;
• 1st place in shots per game – 18;
• 1st place in shots on goal – 6.4;
• 1st place on bars – 16;
• 3rd place in possession – 59.60% (Craiova has 59.97%, a tiny difference);
• 1st place in successful crosses per match – 6.7;
• 1st place in corners per match – 6.7;
• 2nd place in goals scored from the box – 44 out of a total of 48.

In other words, a team that dominates most offensive metrics.

But there is also the other side of the coin.

FCSB received 40 goals, only five teams in the championship scored more!

And here is the real problem. This data leads to only one conclusion: lack of concentration in finishing and indiscipline on the defensive phase can, ironically, take you to an area of ​​the ranking where the numbers no longer matter. And here the management should have intervened.

The Becali – Stoica – Charalambous – Pintilii quartet failed to raise the level of concentration and motivation of the players, especially in the matches against the play-out teams.

At times like these, competition from the pack becomes essential.

Normally, since July last year, transfers had to be made that would put real pressure on the holders.

When this pressure disappears, relaxation, superficiality and duels treated too lightly appear.

Mirel Radoi

But any difficult, dramatic period from a sporting point of view can become a great opportunity.

Now is probably the best time in the Becali era for a coach to show that he can be built differently.

The pressure on Mirel Rădoi is huge, but for the first time in many years there is room for things that until now seemed impossible:

• implementing a sports strategy;
• a new mentality within the batch;
• a real meritocratic system – whoever trains best plays;
• a transfer campaign built around a game philosophy.

In short, what in modern football is called high performance culture – a culture of performance.

Radoi's mandate is short, but it can become extremely important if he manages to provide one essential thing: proof of concept. Proof that this model can work. In this context, qualifying for the Conference League preliminaries would prove that the direction is the right one.

The numbers show that players can produce during the match. I can dominate the opponent, create chances and control the game. The problem is not the quality. The problem was concentration throughout the match.

Here, however, I have no big doubts. Those who do not rise to the required level will watch the match from the bench or from the stands. And the fact that from the first training the players were “in the ankle game” already says a lot about the change in atmosphere. Lack of concentration will no longer be tolerated.

What comes after Rădoi

I hope that Mirel Rădoi will stay from the summer as well. It would be extremely interesting to see what the Stoica – Radoi couple can achieve in a transfer campaign built on a well-defined strategy. Because that's exactly what was missing at FCSB for too long: the continuity of a sports direction.

Mirel Rădoi, the new coach from FCSB

If Rădoi will not continue, then the responsibility falls to Mihai Stoica. He has the task of finding a coach to continue what Radoi started. A coach who would maintain discipline within the squad, share the same mentality, integrity and most importantly be football compatible with the new FCSB.

Regardless of the coach's name, it has to be the zero moment for FCSB.