Reigning Russian champions Zenit have had one of the worst starts in the RPL in recent seasons. After seven rounds the team is in second place. In an exclusive interview with “Soviet Sport”, the coach of the St. Petersburg team, Anatoly Timoshchuk, analyzed the team’s start in the championship, evaluated the new signing of Wilson Isidore and said whether it is still necessary to wait for the newcomers to the team blue and white blue camp
— Wilson Isidore joined the ranks of Zenit. How would you rate this transfer? How much did the team need a player like that?– We’ll see. Now we have the weekend, so we will meet and see what condition it is in. In any case, we know its qualities. If that decision was made, it means we need a player. I’m sure it will benefit the team. The main thing is that you understand our philosophy, at Zenit there is no place for indifference, we all have character.
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— Did you discuss it in any way with Sergei Bogdanovich? – We haven’t had time yet. I only found out about this when I was going to the Tsymbalar memorial match. We haven’t communicated yet. I will return to St. Petersburg and discuss the plans, what and how.
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—Should we continue waiting for purchases from Zenit? until the end of the transfer window? “I think anything is possible in these few days.” Therefore, during this time we can present some more surprises. Fans should be patient and follow the news, that’s all I can say for now.
—Should we wait for the conditional Ekitike?– Don’t know. The situation that may happen does not always depend on us. There are some transfers that we cannot make due to certain circumstances known to everyone. Then we’ll see.
— One of the most talked about transfers of the summer was that of Mario Fernández. Many CSKA fans call him a traitor and criticize him a lot.“I understand why a lot of people are so upset about his transition. But I evaluate him only as a great professional in his field. He works very hard, he is one of the first to arrive, one of the last to leave.
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— In the match against CSKA, he ran off the bench to celebrate the goal against his former team. In football this is rude, how can this action be valued? “I don’t understand why everyone talks about this so much.” In other games it happens that the entire bench runs out to celebrate a goal. There is no reaction to this, everyone understands that they are emotions, that’s how people are happy.
—Can you tell me how Andrei Mostovoy is feeling? He was injured in the last friendly match. — It has not yet been subjected to an in-depth examination. It will pass, we will know. I think it will be soon. Then we can discuss this. At the moment we hope that everything is not so bad there and he can return to the field as soon as possible.
—Zenit is not doing as well as in previous seasons. How would you rate the start of the championship for the team?— Yes, there were problems with the result. But now we have improved the situation a little. We are back in the leading group. Unfortunately we are not in first place, but I hope we can improve the situation. The whole fight is still ahead and we will be fully prepared to impose our advantage on anyone and return to first place in the standings.
—Malcolm left Zenit this summer. It was said that he should come to a game to officially say goodbye to the fans, but it has already been a long time. Do you think he will keep his promise?– You know, they’ve already started, their championship has started. Malcom also already participated in the Arab Cup, where, by the way, he scored great goals. Therefore, as soon as possible he will come to say goodbye to the fans, as he promised. So don’t worry, he will return to St. Petersburg.
fake images
—Are you in contact with him now? Are you discarding?– It’s not always the same. Mainly on social media I can write something and congratulate you on a good game. But I think Brazilians communicate with him more, it’s easier for them.
— Do you monitor their successes in any way?— Of course, I follow his performances, especially when he scores. Whenever I can, I watch the head clips after the round. It is certainly interesting to follow his progress. In addition, the Saudi Arabian championship has become much more interesting: many world-class players came this summer.
— A few days ago the SHAMAN concert took place at the Gazprom Arena, which attracted several times more spectators than the last Zenit matches. It is not a penalty? VShould we see an image like this?– But why? We built a stadium for this, among other things, to organize concerts, so that artists would perform in a comfortable environment and people would come. Let’s hope that with each game we win more and more fans. Although in Saint Petersburg we already have the most visited stadium. We are ahead in this regard. The rest can only approach us.
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— Now the Russian team plays friendly matches. The Zenit players also perform there. Kovalenko and Vasiliev participated in the match against Egypt. Have you seen the game? Have you seen how the boys express themselves? — Just at that moment we had a friendly match with Sepahan. I saw the last five minutes of the game, the missed goal. I think this is an experimental team. We tried to make sure she wasn’t older than the opposing team. I think this is an interesting sparring match. I heard that there are difficult weather conditions there: heat. I think the boys should approach the second game with more concentration and play with more confidence.
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— On September 12, the main team will play a match against Qatar. What are your expectations from this game? — Don’t underestimate Qatari football. Furthermore, when the national team plays at home, it becomes a strong team that performs well. Of course, Russia is the favorite in this match. Once again, we must show our best qualities and fast, high-speed football. It seems to me that there are good players in the national team, who will pass the training camp successfully and will be as prepared as possible for this match.
