The Old Man and the Sea: Eugene Starikov at Chornomorets

According to the UEFA rankings, the Ukrainian league is actually ahead of the Eredivisie and Belgian Pro League. Would be pretty awesome for him (and stunning) if he could find regular minutes there.

 

FYI, I believe this is a homecoming of sorts for Eugene, as I think he was born in Odessa.

In less positive news, Starikov played 77 minutes in a cup game on Wednesdays, but Chornomorets lost 1-0 at home to Vorskla.

http://www.chernomorets.odessa.ua/club/news/8716/

 

Chornomorets is going to fight for their UPL lives this season. They are firmly in the relegation zone thus far...

 

Got a point with a 0-0 draw at home against the same Vorskla team.

Starikov played 80 minutes. I watched a bit and he wasn't very involved; they had a lot of difficulty getting the ball to their attackers.

 

Lost 2-0 at Shakhtar Donetsk. Starikov went 90.

http://us.soccerway.com/matches/201...fc-chornomorets-odessa/2046358/?ICID=PL_MS_05

 

And Eugene Starikov scored in Ukraine (is not weak!) in Chornomorets' 5-2 win over Metalurh Zaporizhya.

— Over There (@socceroverthere) October 18, 2015

 

This was Chornomorets' first win of the season and brings them up to 7 points from 11 games. The team they beat has 3 points.

 

In the next 5 league games for Chornomorets (3 draws, 2 losses), Starikov played 86, 74, 0, 0, and 7 minutes. Chornomorets are now tied for 12th out of 14 with 10 points from 16 games.

 

Also, it's the winter break until March.

 

Eugene for Camp Cupcake '16

 

Starikov participated in Camp Cupcake back in 2011. But he didn't make gameday roster against Chile. Here is what Bob said:

"Technically a good player," Bradley said of Starikov. "[He's] tight with the ball and able to hold onto it [and] make good passes. Like a lot of these guys, we need to see what it's like in games."

At the 2011 Camp, Starikov was training as a winger.

http://yanks-abroad.com/content.php?mode=show&id=7299

 

In the first 2 games back, Starikov was on the bench but didn't play in a 0-0 home draw with Karpaty, then was a 67th minute sub in a 4-0 shellacking by Zorya Luhansk.

http://us.soccerway.com/matches/201...-chornomorets-odessa/fc-karpaty-lviv/2046410/

http://us.soccerway.com/matches/201...fc-chornomorets-odessa/2046415/?ICID=PL_MS_07

 

Started and played 84 minutes in a 1-2 home loss to Oleksandria: http://us.soccerway.com/matches/201...c-chornomorets-odessa/pfc-olexandria/2046423/

Subbed in at 56' in the 1-1 draw with Volyn: http://us.soccerway.com/matches/201...fc-chornomorets-odessa/2046431/?ICID=PL_MS_09

 

Here's an ode to Odessa, performed by an own son and one of the grands from the USSR days Leonid Utyosov. (some nice shots of the Black Sea and the city)

 

The Ukranian season ended and Chornomorets finished with an almost respectable 22 points from 26 games. They made some signings in the midseason window that helped them out. However, that meant Starikov didn't play too much in the 2nd half. The last time he even made the bench was April 23.

He finished the season with 10 league games (7 starts), 633 minutes, and 2 goals. He also played 1 cup game.

Looks like he signed a 1 year deal with an option last fall. Not sure they will pick up that option.

 

Transfermarkt has him without a club.
http://www.transfermarkt.com/evgeni-starikov/transfers/spieler/104203

 

Starikov still hasn't found a club. Will he ever play again?

 

It would be pretty impressive if he can make the Timbers squad

 

It would be particularly impressive because he's on trial with Minnesota.

 

i'm surprised Minnesota didn't try to get more Scandinavian or Scandinavian based players