Anatoly Davydov: “I saw that the boys were playing well”

The head coach of Zenit`s youth team commented on Zenit-Y`s victory on Friday over Amkar-Y.

– It was a tough match today, – said Anatoly Davydov. – Our opponents had three players from the main side who don`t play very often. We knew that it would be a tough match. The ball skidded a lot, and it was hard to trap it. Before the second half I told the boys that they have to be patient, that they`re playing well, that the opponent is not that complicated, and asked them to score a second goal.

– How difficult was it to get your team prepared for an opponent which either gets blown out or wins?

– It`s not my problem that Amkar-Y wins and then loses. The coach needs to understand his own team most of all (smiles).

– We`re you surprised by the play of Roland Gigolaev today? It looked like he ran more than anyone, got tackled the most, stole the ball most often and won the most battles?

– On the contrary, I told him yesterday and today that he doesn`t have enough emotion on the outside. I asked him to focus, to get involved in the match, to make runs on the opponent`s side of the field. The laurel for his efforts was the penalty kick that he won. Maybe he`s thinking about his future. It`s the end of the year, after all. The fates of a lot of footballers will be decided at the end of the season.

– Will the players` fate depend on the result that the team achieves?

– We`ll analyze who improved, who`s got what potential… We`ll have a meeting with the wholr club management on that account. But those questions will be decided later. For now our task is to win each match, and the boys know that.