How are you feeling before the match against Fakel as it’s the last game of the season and it has almost no significance for Zenit? Zenit have been playing mostly without foreigners in the previous matches, what would you say about playing with a Russian squad?
“Speaking of the match and that it has almost no significance, I wouldn’t agree with that. I’ve said it countless amounts of time and I’ll keep saying it, the main motivation for all of our players is winning every match. I liked the way we approached these matches, our motivation and how we played. In some episodes we were lacking cooperation, quality in finishing our attacks and security in defence. Though we’re content with our control of the ball and the way we were dominant in the difficult away matches against Sochi and Orenburg, as well as in the home match against Krasnodar. We know what we have to work on and we pay attention to the players who don’t come on the pitch in the starting team very often. Every match gives an opportunity to learn new skills and get more playing practice.”
There’s a rumor that Dmitriy Chistyakov might join Lokomotiv, could you comment on this? Is it possible or not?
“The closer we are to the transfer window, the more rumors spread around. Sometimes we share a good laugh with the coaching staff reading all the news that appear. The majority of those rumors are far from being reality. If there’s any speculation going on, you can ask the club’s management, we don’t comment on that. To answer your question again, most of the rumors are absolutely unreasonable.”
Luciano Spalletti brought all his assistants to the press conference when he won the title. Could you say a couple of words on who’s doing what in the coaching staff? Usually all of the achievements are given to Semak, and that is correct, but maybe your assistants have unique skills?
“Speaking of assistants and Semak, the coaching staff and the players are one, they are a team. Contributions of each player and each coach matter. We all put our everything into the team’s success. Naming every person and saying what they’re responsible for would take a long time. Everyone’s doing their part of the job, and the fact that the team stays in the lead for so long is definitely thanks to everyone who’s part of the coaching staff, our medics and the other club workers who take their rightful place and do their absolute best. They work for the team and not for their own ego, and the person that receives credits varies too, some people love it, some hate it, but we have to do our job and we have to do it well. If you want to know who’s doing what in the club, I can tell you this later, otherwise our press conference will be too long.”
There’s a big party planned after the match against Fakel. If we look back to your school years, what’s your role at parties? Do you like dancing and which music do you prefer?
“My role at a party is the observer. I’ve always been the one to watch and control the situation more. Someone just has to stay on guard. Speaking of the dancing part, everyone has different views and tastes. I like many types of dances, watching them is nice. Speaking of the party on the pitch, it’s not going to be a regular party, we have a surprise for our fans as a present from the club, and they will love it. I don’t think I can share the details though.
We can’t wait to see our supporters, because the atmosphere they create is incredible. We’re proud that despite the new requirements a lot of our fans come to support us. Many clubs have to take notes and try to work with their fans as much as we do to increase the attendance rate. On our end, we’re going to try our best to thank our dear fans for active participation in our life, their love and help, by showing them quality football.”
Before the party there’s still going to be a match, and for Fakel it’ll be an important one. Do you take into account the opponent’s motivation, considered that they’re most likely going to be very competitive?
“The competitiveness level in the previous matches was very high, and all of our opponents were motivated as they all wanted to beat the leader. Fakel have been very competitive and motivated this season, and we understand the importance of this match for them. Though we do know what and who we’re playing for.”
Arsen Adamov came on the pitch in the starting team against Sochi for the first time this season, but he was substituted in the half time. What was the reason for this decision? Did he fail the game in your opinion?
“Failing the game is not the correct term. Every player comes on the pitch wanting to do their best, and some things go well, some don’t. Sometimes the changes we want to make aren’t visible on the pitch, and at that moment we decided to make the substitution, it’s not a big deal. The most important part is that every player tries to do everything they can. The episodes we were talking about weren’t very successful, so we had to change the formation a little bit. We know that it wasn’t the optimal position for Arsen as he’s used to playing as a central defender, and he was quite good at it during training camp. The lack of playing practice also affected the quality of the game, and the tension was noticeable.
Every player has setbacks in terms of quality throughout the season, but what’s important is that they stay motivated and ready to get on the pitch and help the team.”
The young players Aleksey Baranovskiy and Danila Kozlov took part in the previous matches, how would you rate their potential?
“Both of them have great potential, they’re talented players. When you’re young you have your ups and downs. For example, Kozlov did great during training camp, but now he’s not as visible. Baranovskiy, on the other hand, plays well now, so he gets more playing time. Both of them have a bright future ahead, but how fast it’s all going to work out depends on us and on them.”
What are Zenit’s plans for the summer training camp?
“Speaking of plans, vacation is not going to be long. After 20 June we’ll have medical checkups, and starting 23 June we’re going to resume training. 1-9 July we have a tournament planned, more information on this will be available soon. The Super Cup is on the 15th of July. The break is a bit more than a month, so the players will have about two weeks off, after that we’re going to start training and getting ready for the next season.”
