How satisfied are you with today’s result and Zenit’s performance?
The game was quite intense, especially in the first half, when the score was level. In the second, we had took a comfortable lead and controlled the game, with the opposition having a tough time. We came out and played well, and the second half side played the ball quickly.
In the second half we saw a more complete picture. In the first half we saw some poor quality, with some simple losses of the ball and unnecessary fouls near our goal. But in training camp conditions, tiredness can be seen and this probably influences some mistakes. Overall, it was a good training match.
Matvey Bardachev scored his first Zenit goal today. What can you say about the 17-year-old central defender?
We try to watch players who do well for Zenit-2 and the U21s. We invited Bardachev to first team training and brought him to this training camp. He played well today and gave him minutes in the second half against a very good team. I don’t think he’s had many matches against teams of Jeonbuk’s level. But he did well today. Of course, there were some errors, but everyone has them. He scored a very good goal and played quite confidently today.
Kerzhakov and Adamov both played in goal today, although in the last match they stayed on the bench. Why is that? Is it fitness related?
In the first match we played the keepers who were in the best shape. We want everyone to play and now the goalkeepers have been swapped and the other two played. We want to watch all of them, and collect information about them, and give everyone the opportunity to play and get minutes. Later we’ll see who is in what condition, and who is more prepared at that time.
How was your conversation with the Jeonbuk manager, was it friendly?
Yes, of course, we spoke to each other. We talked a little about Korean football. Jeonbuk is one of the top sides in Korean football. The team have won lots of titles and has won the Asian Champions League more than once. We talked a little about the level of football there, which teams are at the top and how they play, how big attendances are, we discussed a lot. We talked about working in Russia, he was previously at Kuban and Dynamo. Naturally, he remembers our country positively.
