“It was a true cup match. I think we were lacking emotions today, the previous games were exhausting. Unfortunately we weren’t mentally ready for today’s match. It’s obvious that you have to score whenever you have the chance to. Baltika had their chances and they scored, but we didn’t use ours, even though we had a couple of good ones. Overall the match was good, the atmosphere at the stadium as great, the active supporters were motivating their teams. It’s nice to play in these conditions. We’ll be getting ready for the next match.”
Considering the Cup’s format you have six matches in the group stage, how upsetting was it for the team to lose today?
“Losing is always unpleasant. Speaking of being upset, we do realize that the Cup is part of the process of getting ready for the league matches, though the teams are different and they have different aims. Most importantly all of the players got a certain amount of playing time. Luckily nobody is injured, so the first objective is complete, everyone got playing experience, somebody got more time, somebody got less, depending on the initial plan. As for the result, unfortunately it wasn’t in our favor today, and at the moment it’s not a big problem.”
What are your thoughts on the atmosphere at the stadium, and do you think that Baltika lost some points because they didn’t have the active support that we’ve witnessed today?
“The atmosphere was amazing today. Speaking of losing points, before the match I said that Baltika are a strong team, but they were unlucky with the fixtures, they’re playing six out of eight matches away, and obviously it’s more difficult to play away. It’s not a big deal though, if the team keeps playing the way they do now, they will earn more points both in the league and in the Cup.”
Which substitutions were planned and which ones had to be made? Doesn’t it seem like you sent the main players, especially foreigners, on too late?
“No, all of our substitutions were planned. We had five footballers that we could play, but we couldn’t afford sending them on earlier, you never know what might happen. Somebody might have got injured, and it would’ve left us playing down to ten men. Therefore we let the footballers play as much as we initially planned to. We just couldn’t risk it, and we’re glad that nobody is injured.”
Match TV usually choose the man of the match. Whom would you pick? It doesn’t have to be a Zenit player, could be someone from Baltika too. Who was the man of the match today in your opinion?
“It’s difficult to say, I don’t think you can point someone in particular today. Latyshonok didn’t concede, so he could be the man of the match. Other than that, I don’t know whom I would pick. Baltika’s players tried their best and looked great, but it’s difficult to point someone out from our team. The second time was quite good, but we could’ve created even more chances. We’re going to work on it!”
Many players were on the unusual positions today. What was this experiment about? Does the substitution of three players in half time mean that it went poorly?
“No, this substitution was planned. Mário and Vyacheslav Karavaev were set to play for 45 minutes, and the same can be said about Wendel, he played less than Claudinho and he missed a lot, so we planned to give him only 45 minutes. Speaking of Douglas, considering his position, one half is enough for him. Mateo Cassierra’s fitness good, so he was able to play for 45 minutes. Some of the players were meant to come on later as we had five substitutions, so it’s not connected to the game and its quality. As for the positions, that’s what we’re currently dealing with, we have troubles with the position of the central defender as all four of our central defenders are out at the moment. Dmitriy Chistyakov and Rodrigão are still recovering from injuries, Robert Renan is sick and Erakovic has a minor injury Unfortunately we have to come up with new formations for each game based on the players we have available.”
One more question about the lineup, Bakaev is left-footed, but he played on the right, and Sutormin with the leading right foot played on the right. Why was this your choice?
“First of all, this was more convenient. Both Sutormin and Bakaev are facing only one challenge, which is the defensive part of the position, while the attacking part stays the same, so it was more convenient for them to play in the center as they could use their leading foot. I’ll reiterate, this decision was made based on the available players. In the beginning of the match Bakaev had a couple of nice chances, but after that he wasn’t doing anything out of ordinary, and he was struggling in defence as well. We’ve tried him on one position, then on another, we’ll see how he would be able to help the team in the future.”
