“There were a lot of tackles and long passes today. Unfortunately at the end of the match we made a mistake and lost the opportunity to return home with three points, but there’s nothing we can do now, it happens. We will be getting ready for the next match.”
What happened at the end of the match? There is information that you were shown a red card.
“Yes, I came up to the referee and asked him if he saw the episode where Rostov’s player stepped on Claudinho’s foot, and he showed me a red card, saying that I had no rights to come up to him. Well, now we know that.”
Dmitriy Chistyakov was substituted early, and it was clear that he was injured. What happened? Are there any details on that?
“He got a back injury, but at the moment I can’t say how serious it is. We’re going to examine him and see, but I hope there’s nothing major.”
Today Aleksandr Erokhin played as a centre forward and we saw many tackles with Osipenko. Was it a tactical move to play Erokhin on that position so he would draw the attention of the opponent’s key defender?
“Certainly, Rostov’s strongest side is their set-pieces, so we added a tall player who is good at tackles. Even though today he came on to play in the centre, during attacks he was higher, next to Mateo Cassierra.”
Starting this year St. Petersburg has a team in the Media League. Do you follow them? Would it be possible for a player from that team to be called up for a training camp with Zenit’s first team?
“It’s tough to say, but we’re going to be following them. As for someone being called up for a training camp, the chances are very low as it’s difficult to join a team that is fighting for a title when you’re playing in the Media League. Although everything is possible, so we’ll see, if there will be such players, why not?”
You’ve tried two formations in defence today, with two and with three central defenders. Which one was more effective in your opinion, considering that in the second half Rostov were playing in attack more and had more shots?
“I don’t think they had more shots. Mohebi created a good chance when he was shooting, but it was an offside. There were no dangerous moments except for two offsides chances at the end, so you can’t say that the game was very intense near our goal in the second half. We changed the formation because Rostov have many tall players who play well. The substitution was to help Vyacheslav Karavaev as it was difficult for him to play against the player who came on, so we changed the formation and added the player who's good in the air well to strengthen this aspect of our game. Generally, there was an intense episode after a corner in the first half when we gave the opponent an opportunity to shoot, but I don’t remember this happening in the second half. We played well in defence, but unfortunately we couldn’t get the win.”
Two players debuted for Zenit today. Eraković came on in the Zenit shirt for the first time and Fernandes played in the league for the first time after his return. Were you planning to let Eraković play today if it wasn’t for Chistyakov’s injury? What do you think of his and Mário’s skills?
“Speaking of Eraković, I liked the way he played. He controls the ball well and he’s quite fast, he’s also good at tackles. We were planning to give him playing time, but we knew that he has been training with the team only for a few days, that’s why we decided not to include him in the starting team. He would’ve come on either way. Regarding Mário, we can see that he is improving his fitness. As soon as he fully understands the requirements that we have, he is going to start helping the team. In a few matches he will be in better condition and his fitness level will be higher.”
