Coman and Olaru have successors with potential: FCSB juniors and youth have 3 finals and two more semi-finals in Elite.
Gallery of those from FCSBPhoto: Victor Cozmei / HotNews.ro
For FCSB, the 2023-2024 season is a complete success, which extends even beyond the Super League, the stage where all the spotlights still shine.
For the little ones, at the edge of the grass, the place where the present sportsman is twinned with the future, FCSB is also very good.
U19 and U17 finals
In the Youth League, Marius Ștefan’s team managed to qualify for the final after a balanced semi-final with Craiova University. FCSB U19 went to penalties, 6-5, after 3-3 in the round and 0-0 in the return.
In the last act, FCSB will meet Farul, a club that has dominated everything junior for many years. Hagi finally has opponents in the field of his extreme passion: the youth.
And at U17, Ionuț Ilie managed to take FCSB to the final after overcoming UTA in the penultimate act of the competition.
In the finals, the Bucharesters will meet Craiova University, the other club that took 4 teams to the Elite semifinals. Like FCSB, Craiova is rebuilding, over the years, the arc that pushed the club forward towards performance: the growth and cultivation of young footballers.
At the same time, FCSB’s U17s will also play the final of the U17 Elites Cup, with Farul.
Also good at U16 and U15
And at U16 FCSB is one step away from the final of the competition. Lucian Mezei’s team drew in the semifinal round, in Craiova, with the University, 2-2.
The return is scheduled for May 11. Sepsi and U Cluj meet in the other semifinal.
At U15, a FCSB – Steaua final is foreshadowed
At U15, Tudor David’s group is close to the final. It defeated Farul in the first leg of the semifinal and has a good chance of beating Steaua in the last act, which was away from U Cluj in the first leg, 4-3.
Was it a financial, competence injection or are the fruits of older work being reaped? Who knows, maybe it’s all of them together.
Budget cuts have made preparation more responsible
In 2021 FCSB spent 1.5 million euros annually for children and junior groups. A year later, Becali wasn’t kidding when he announced that he was no longer willing to spend so much money, having no results either in terms of trophies won or players proposed for the first team.
He cut 40% of the expenses, he came under the Lighthouse, which has a budget of over one million euros for the Academy.
After these cuts, the children’s and junior groups began to function much better. The club already has teams in 3 domestic finals, with the possibility of qualification in two more, and players brought up in the academy have started to appear in the first team.
Last year FCSB budgeted around 800,000 euros, but ended up spending around 1.3 million euros. It should be noted that an investment of over 350,000 euros in infrastructure is also included here. For 2024, the allocated budget is much higher, but the predicted deficit is also much lower than previous years, only about 100,000 euros.
Some basic players: Lixandru, Pantea, Musi
Results on the field, but the first seeds also appear among the players. Among those who grew up in their own academy, constant presences in the team or in the squad are Mihai Lixandru and Alexandru Pantea, the second in convalescence after a serious injury. Both have come to FCSB in the academy from a young age.
Mihai Toma, Andrei Pandele and David Popa also appeared on the bench many times, but they played quite a few minutes.
In addition, from next season, the main “weapon” for FCSB’s U21 rule will be Alexandru Musi, also a product of FCSB’s academy. The 19-year-old was loaned to Petrolul this season and had a successful championship: 36 appearances, 5 goals and 4 assists.
Tavi Popescu also came from the academy, but he only spent 3 years there, being transferred to the junior groups from Nucet, Craiova and Rapid.
Top conditions
Today, the FCSB base is among the most modern in the country. Only for the more than 20 groups of children and juniors, the red-blue club has at its disposal 3 normal-sized pitches, two of which have a night club, another pitch of 8+1 and another of 5+1, for the smallest.
In addition, the young footballers have at their disposal a dormitory with 4-star conditions, a kitchen separate from that of the big team. Those who live in the Berceni base are taken to and from the high school by bus, the coaches monitor their results and attendance at classes.
In the financial plan for 2024, an amount of 400,000 euros appears in the investment chapter. If Becali doesn’t cut it, of course.
Maybe financial restrictions sometimes make us all more responsible, but no one knows where the limit is. This season, FCSB has placed itself, almost magically, right on the golden and fragile border of success.
