FK Žalgiris manager Rolandas Džiaukštas is overseeing a significant squad overhaul as his side prepares for the 2026 A Lyga season, with only half of last year’s squad remaining and even fewer expected to feature in the starting eleven.
Speaking to Baltic Football News at the Skonto Hall in Riga after a pre-season friendly against Latvian vice-champions FC RFS, where the home side won 4-2, Džiaukštas was candid about the scale of the rebuild. “In a way, we are starting from zero,” he said. “However, the players coming in understand the mentality required here: we must win every game. We are preparing them for that pressure.“
The Lithuanian side has three weeks until their opening league fixture, and Džiaukštas acknowledged the challenge ahead. “I’ve spoken with the players, and they recognize that we aren’t a ‘unit’ yet,” he said. “I expect our collaboration and chemistry to improve significantly in that time.”
Žalgiris are still active in the transfer market, with Džiaukštas targeting reinforcements in specific areas. “We are specifically looking for wingers, perhaps another central midfielder, and we definitely need one more defender,” he confirmed.
Aggressive Pressing and Possession Control
The manager has outlined a clear tactical vision centred on ball control and high pressing. “We want to dominate possession to build meaningful attacks and score high-quality goals,” Džiaukštas explained. “When you have the ball, you don’t concede goals. Possession allows you to create chances, but it also allows the team to rest while in control.“
The emphasis on keeping the ball represents a continuation of Žalgiris’ philosophy, but with an added edge this season. “This year, we aim to be more aggressive and much better in our pressing,” Džiaukštas said. “Our goal is to intercept the ball in the final third – near the opponent’s goal – and convert those moments into scoring chances. That aggressive mentality is the Žalgiris way; we want to win every game.“
The friendly against RFS exposed areas requiring improvement, particularly in individual defensive battles. “We aren’t satisfied with certain defensive moments – particularly in one-on-one duels. We lost too many of those challenges,” Džiaukštas admitted. “To compete at this level, we have to win our individual defensive battles.“
The RFS match also highlighted the gap Žalgiris must bridge to compete consistently at European level. “To be honest, RFS currently has more quality and depth,” Džiaukštas said. “Today, they showed they essentially have two starting-eleven squads of equal quality. We aren’t at that level of depth yet, but we are on the way.”
Squad depth will be crucial for Žalgiris’ European campaign, which begins in approximately six months. “By then, I hope we will be in much better shape and more cohesive as a unit,” Džiaukštas said. “We don’t know our opponents yet, but we will fight to go as far as possible in the Conference League. That is our primary objective.”
Asked about the possibility of a potential future Baltic League, Džiaukštas suggested it would create compelling competition. “The Latvian league has many strong teams, perhaps more depth in quality teams than Lithuania at the moment,” he said. “However, when the top Lithuanian teams play the top Latvian teams, it’s always a great challenge. You never know the outcome. Games like this prove that a Baltic competition would be very competitive.”
