The game was difficult as expected and it is always very tough to play after matches that need a big emotional input. Although the match did not start well, although in the first 15-20 minutes we played well, we controlled the ball, but later the pace and the course of the game fell off a bit. I think the mistakes that we made today in defense stopped us winning. We allowed them too much and weren’t aggressive enough in attack. We had a small number of obvious chances. We had good ball control, but, our defensive play was not good enough. I think the result is absolutely fair and the game didn’t come out as we’d hoped.
Do you think that at the end of the match you underestimated your opponent or did they deserve a draw?
I think it's both, Khimki took some chances because they needed to get back into the game, and we were not at our best.
It’s the first game of the season, and it seems you had only one real chance, where Khimki could have scored at least three. Is it possible to play like this?
Yes it’s the first game of course and there is still a lot of football to play. As for the game itself, I have already said it wasn't our best game ever.
Now many foreign players are re-signing their contracts rather than suspend them, are Zenit doing the same and can you give us any specifics about Wendel and the other players?
No, I have no specifics for you. Regarding contracts or the possibility of signing new ones, this is a question for the club’s legal team, who understand the issues here.
A few words on Rodrigao’s performance, are you happy with his game? What were the positives and negatives?
We will sort out any mistakes, but I will not get comment on personally. We played below our capabilities in defence and were not very stable there. There were a number of mistakes on our part, not only in defence and midfield, we didn’t dominate the areas we should have had.
We were not able to have the same energy we showed in the Super Cup, if we had we would have got a similar result.
A question about Zelimkhan Bakaev, he’s been with Zenit for more than a month now, and we saw him for 20 or 30 minutes in the Super Cup, and today we saw the same. He has looked good, but why isn’t he starting?
I think like in many clubs there is competition for places and the better one plays, where Zelimkhan plays we have Claudinho and Malcom there and they’ve looked great. He needs to work hard and prove that he is ready to play in the starting lineup. He’s only been with us a month, but he’s working hard and I have no doubt that he will be fine.
