“Zenit has one task - championship”: Shikunov and Gradilenko on the match of leaders in St. Petersburg and Tedesco’s debut in Spartak

"Rostov" shows the cutest football "

On Saturday, all the attention of Russian football fans will be riveted to the match in St. Petersburg, in which two teams from the leader group, Zenit and Rostov, will converge. Former vice president of yellow-blue Alexander Shikunov shared his expectations from the meeting.

- “Rostov” has already beat CSKA with Lokomotiv this season and parted ways with Spartak. Don't you think that it is even easier to play with the yellow-blue against the grandees than against the outsiders who close in their half of the field?

- Firstly, the top clubs and the mood is different, and secondly, the grandees usually act with the first number, which only benefits Rostov. The team very quickly goes on the attack. In general, I think that among the leaders yellow-blue show the cutest football.

- “Zenith” will probably have a desire to put the upstart in place.

- It's not just about Rostov. Petrograd just need to score points and go to first place, because they have only one task - the championship. But a serious problem for the hosts may be the departure of a large number of players in the national teams. Nevertheless, the team of Valery Karpin is less affected. This moment, of course, will give Rostov an additional advantage.

- Behind 12 rounds. Rostov is still in the group of leaders. Do you think Karpin’s wards will be enough until the end of the season?

- I'm sure yes. If leaders do not leave the team in winter, there should not be any problems, because Rostov has already created a decent gap. And mentally, the team has long been ready to fight for the championship. Let's not forget that just three years ago she was second in the RPL and played in the Champions League. Yes, there are practically no players left from that composition of players in Rostov, but most importantly, the club has gained invaluable experience. And now Karpin’s composition is no worse. And the city longs for a repetition, a return to the European arena.

- Artyom Dziuba and Eldor Shomurodov, which of them looks preferable?

- You can not compare them, after all, we are talking about absolutely diverse footballers, although they both score a lot. But Artyom now acts even more in the game than is the tip of the attack. But it’s too early to equal Shomurodov with him. Dziuba is the leader both in the club and in the national team, while Eldor is not yet. Yes, he scores, but he is very dependent on Alexei Ionov, Roman Eremenko and Ivelin Popov. Artyom is a well-established forward. If he started a game and started to luck, it’s almost impossible to cope with Dziuba. It is just a car. Dziuba has turned into a true master over the years and is now in the juice itself, both emotionally and physically.

- In this meeting six points will be at stake. Is it possible that the game will come out cautious and closed?

- I think the match will be interesting, in any case, Zenit will have a very difficult time. Rostov has nothing to lose. The team plays away, goes to the group of leaders and demonstrates excellent football.

- Serdar Azmun scores in the Champions League in every game, but in the RPL he scored only three times in 11 matches. Has he lost interest in the Russian championship?

- In my opinion, this is not the case. He has moments, he just does not realize them. In addition, Serdar always looked unimportant after traveling to the Iranian national team. At one time, Kurban Berdyev was tormented with him. There he felt like a star, and the coach had to “press” him a little. Bekievich knew how to communicate with him and what to talk about.

- Do not you think that Karpin conducts much more impressive work in “Rostov” than Semak in “Zenith”? Still, Valery Georgievich does not have the human and financial resources that Sergey Bogdanovich has.

- I would not want to compare them. Nevertheless, Zenit is initially under the pressure of high tasks, and Karpin in Rostov can work calmly, because the team does not require trophies every season, although the club wants to get into European competitions. But I must admit, Karpin holds the best season of his career. He adapted here, created a team for himself and retained the leaders.

“There is nowhere worse for Spartak”

On Saturday, the first match at the head of Spartak will be held by the young coach Domenico Tedesco, who led the red and white after Oleg Kononov left. The German will make his debut in a home match with Rubin. Former team midfielder Dmitry Gradilenko told what he expects from a specialist.

- How do you feel about the appointment of Domenico Tedesco to the post of head coach of Spartak? Is this the specialist the team needs?

- Very calm, because in any case it will not be worse, whoever you put. There’s simply nowhere worse. But Tedesco has an unenviable role: to lead the team right during the season and urgently get to know the players, the more so many went to their national teams, and he worked with them for only two or three days. It’s good that Spartak will have to meet Rubin at home. This should help. Still, some kind of shakeup with the advent of a new coach will happen. And the players in front of their fans will try to rehabilitate themselves.

“Don't you think Tedesco might not have enough authority?” Some Spartak players are older than him, while Domenico did not play professionally.

- Today, all football players are professionals and just do their job. I think it makes no sense to talk about it. In addition, Tedesco established himself in Schalke and took second place with the Gelsenkirchenians in the Bundesliga, although at that time Domenico had no experience at all.

- Do you see the logic in the actions of the leadership of Spartak? A year ago, the stake was placed on a Russian coach, now on a young foreigner.

- In May, the director general of the club was Thomas Zorn, who knows German football very well, and Tedesco is clearly his creature. Apparently, Zorn is sure that the new trainer can rectify the situation. In my opinion, such personnel decisions after the arrival of the new CEO at Spartak were obvious.

- Is there any feeling that Spartak will, in fact, have to finish the season? For the first five RPLs, the team will be hard to catch.

- So to play another 18 rounds, which means that you can win 18 victories! Therefore, you should not rush. Now it is very important how Tedesco starts in Spartak. I repeat, it's good that you have to start with Rubin, which does not shine.

- You were not surprised by the metamorphoses that occurred with Kazan? At the start of the season, Rubin was well-known, and then suffered four defeats in a row.

- We just got used to the fact that Rubin is a closed team, and the head coach was an unsociable person. And then came a young specialist Roman Sharonov, who boldly opened the locker room. Kazan began to play attacking football, score, even remaining in the minority. It was new.

- Do not you think that increased attention went to “Rubin” only to the detriment?

- I don’t think it’s just the property of the young team. She can issue one or two games at a high level, and then fail a few, which happened.

- Is it possible to say that for Spartak the next four matches in the RPL will be decisive, because the team at home will take on Rubin, Arsenal and Wings of the Soviets?

- In this segment, you can score zero points, or you can - 12. But, of course, this is a good chance for Tedesco to get involved in the work. Last year Oleg Kononov also started with relatively weak rivals. Of course, it is difficult to believe that Spartak will be able to cling to the top 5 RPLs, but God forbid.

- What personnel decisions do you expect from Tedesco? Maybe trust Nail Umyarov?

- If we talk about Nail, and compare it with Alex Kral, then I would prefer the young Russian footballer. Lack of hitters? It remains only to seek internal reserves. There is nothing to be done about it. I don’t know why the club released Zé Luis with Luis Adriano, and only Ezequiel Ponce took the replacement. This is strange and unpleasant, because the Brazilian with the Cape Verdean was at least regularly scored. And now forward Jordan Larsson with Lorenzo Melgarejo. But they are not forwards.