"Some kind of hostility between them": Cherchesov on the conflict between Sobolev and Dzyuba, Barinov's injury and Malcolm's naturalization

"I should have gotten to know Lutsenko better"

- Andrei Mostovoy and Evgeny Lutsenko were summoned to the Russian national team for the first time. What attracted you to these players?

- We have known them for a long time. Mostovoy had a good season at Sochi. Now he is back at Zenit and is a regular substitute. And being a substitute and feeling comfortable is also a great skill. In the last match against Tambov, he gave an assist at all. Sergey Semak trusts Andrey. The fact is that Oleksiy Miranchuk was injured, and we were forced to act according to the situation. They wanted to call Mostovoy back in March, but then there was no gathering. By the way, as soon as he found out that Zenit was taking him away, he began to play a little worse. This is also a message to him. 

Lutsenko is one of the top scorers of the last RPL season. He also started the new one convincingly: he works for the team, scores. We had to get to know him better and understand for ourselves what we can count on in relation to Eugene. I must say right away that Lutsenko will only be able to take part in the first match. Will not fly to Budapest. He does not have a visa and his passport expires in November.  

- Yegor Sorokin also received a call to the national team, who in the new RPL season spent only half an hour on the field ...

- Sorokin did not play several matches, but I spoke with the general director of Krasnodar, Vladimir Khashig. Egor is in good shape and healthy. Plus, in the next round, he will definitely play, since Kayo received a red card. This is important for us. Plus Egor was already in the national team and knows our requirements. And when a lot of newcomers come, it's a completely different atmosphere.

- The team met for the last time in November last year. What features and nuances does such a long pause carry for you as a coach?

- If they gathered more often, perhaps several new names would appear. The fact is that when you have not seen the guys for a long time, you don't want to half-renew the team. We have already gone through this. We know how difficult it is to turn players into a single team in a couple of days. There was a long break, but I communicate with everyone. Everyone was bored, wanted to come and do everything to play well.

- Roman Zobnin in Spartak has been playing on the wing lately. Considering Barinov's injury, do you count on him as a central midfielder? How long will it take him to adapt?

- Regardless of the situation with Barinov, yesterday I talked with him and with Alexei Miranchuk. With Denis Cheryshev too. Today we made a decision that Denis will not join the team. We still regard Zobnin as a central midfielder, and I said this a long time ago. But the fact that he plays in the team in two positions at once is a big plus. Then we can act situationally. And we do not interfere in team affairs. Everyone should make those decisions that he sees fit. I do not think that Zobnin will have to adapt for a long time. Moreover, at the start of the season there was a moment when he spent 20 minutes in the center.

"Sobolev allowed himself things that he shouldn't have allowed"

- Why did not Alexander Sobolev receive a call to the national team, who started the season well?

- Compared to the first games for Spartak, he has significantly improved. The situation is simple. With Artyom Dziuba, Alexander had a certain unpleasant situation. They must resolve this issue among themselves. We don't want to have players in our team who don't understand each other well enough. Competition is okay. Everyone wants to be better than their colleagues. But what Sobolev allowed himself ... Apparently, there is some kind of hostility between them. I think he needs to somehow close this topic. Now Artyom will come to the location of the national team, and we will also talk to him. He, as a senior, can himself make some attempts to remove the issue from the agenda. Agree, you cannot assemble a team knowing that there is a misunderstanding of such a plan. Last year, there was a skirmish between Georgy Dzhikia and Magomed Ozdoev. But these are momentary moments. And here the situation is deeper. We must neutralize it in a calm mode. You can tell tales, but I would not want to. He said it as it is.

- From your words one gets the feeling that Sobolev is no longer right in the conflict between football players.

- It is clear, he had a misfortune. I expressed my condolences to him. But there is one situation, and there is a second. Naturally, this is the case when Sobolev, I do not know for what reason, began this story. I do not support anyone, Artyom is the team captain, he has been showing his skills for many years, he has been working for the national team. The young footballer allowed himself things that, in my understanding, should not have allowed. He started this topic and must close it.

- You said that Sobolev should close the situation with Dzyuba himself. How can this be done, and why should he do it?

- Well, who should do it? I AM? The head coach made his decision. This is a normal moment.

- That is, Sobolev should call Dzyuba himself and explain the statement that was made in the release of the Krasava YouTube channel?

- Yes. The point is not that Sobolev does not want to be compared with Dzyuba. But there are not entirely correct points. And I have not seen this issue. But I saw a skirmish between them during the game in the Russian Cup and immediately said that something must be wrong here. Gathered information. Whether it is true or not, I will find out at the training camp when I talk to Artyom. We have two games ahead of us. We don't have many good players to throw around. But we must understand that if there is no unity within the team, we will not represent anything of ourselves. The team spirit is our strength, and the players shape it. The young guy said something, did something. If he said this in a room alone, there would be no questions, but here it was done publicly. I do not pretend to be the ultimate truth, but I think in this situation you will support us. We need a healthy competitive environment.

Sobolev will read what I am talking about. I haven't talked to him about this yet. Dial him? I don't see an educational moment in this. Experience tells us that actions are always perceived better than words. The situation is as it is. He will read and make a decision. He has my number. If he wants, I will explain everything to him. Once you have opened a situation, you can close it. Dziuba will arrive, we will talk with him.

"Cheryshev called in the morning and said that the damage had not completely healed."

- The list of the national team includes Daler Kuzyaev and Roman Neustadter, who currently do not have a club. Did you want to support the guys in this way or did you pursue other goals?

- Kuzyaev and Neustadter finished the season on July 22. A month passed, they were in good condition. We were in touch, they are training. It is clear, we are talking about individual training. But Neustädter will soon be in shape with one of the teams. Now the guys will be with us. On the one hand, we supported them, on the other hand, it was difficult to summon a large number of new players at once. We decided to stop at those whom we know well, yet we haven't gathered for almost a year. In two weeks Daler and Roman will be with the teams and will be able to help us. They are ready to do it now. Will contract moments prevent them? We did not even discuss this topic. If they are ready, they will play. And you can get injured going down the stairs. 

- What exactly happened to Cheryshev?

- We talked to him two days ago. Denis trained after an injury, but I asked him to test again. He did an MRI. In the morning I called and said that the damage had not completely healed. There is no sense in calling him, although a footballer of this level can go out for 15 minutes and help. But the sore does not allow him to fully train. In the current conditions, taking into account the flights, they did not consider it necessary to pull out Cheryshev. Let him put himself in order.

- Didn't Zelimkhan Bakayev's unimportant form confuse you? At the start of the season, he even started two RPL matches on the bench?

- It didn’t please. So they gave him a call in time. Moreover, we must not forget that in June Zelimkhan fell ill with a coronavirus. It is necessary to understand the reason for the decline. He played the last match with Lokomotiv at a higher level. He came to our training camp, showed his best qualities. This is the footballer we are counting on. Therefore, he is with us.

- How would you rate Fyodor Smolov's form?

- I talked to him. In the match against Spartak Fedor got a small sore. But the test results showed that everything was fine with him. Smolov spent almost six months in Spain. We will discuss this period as well. We see changes in his game after this lease. I would like Fedor to come up to the Champions League in this state.

- What exactly did Smolov add?

- In the first game in Spain, he did not reach at one of the moments, and he was immediately told about it. Then he finished every episode to the end. We want him to continue the work started there. In the last game in a couple of moments this was no longer. 

- Only Mario Fernandez has been called from CSKA. Does this mean that you no longer see candidates for the national team on this team?

- We see. There is Konstantin Kuchaev, Igor Diveev, Ivan Oblyakov, but they are in the youth team. They have two important matches ahead. We met with Mikhail Galaktionov twice that week and discussed plans. We decided that the above players should work out the two upcoming meetings to the maximum, so that there would be no drastic changes in the team.

“Everything revolves around Miranchuk in Lokomotiv, not yet in the national team”

- After the injuries of Alexei Miranchuk and Barinov, the list of players you were planning to call has changed a lot, if you do not take these two players into account?

- Plus or minus was the same. Only one surname could differ. We talked with both Barinov and Miranchuk. It is clear that Aleksey has his own history with negotiations with Atalanta. He will devote the time freed up due to injury to them. In every interview I say that we would like the players to go to Europe, to leagues, where they will develop and form as individuals. If Miranchuk goes to Atalanta, we will only approve. He knows my opinion. 

- What is the reason for the fact that Alexey Miranchuk does not show his maximum in the national team?

- We talked with him on this topic. He played well, scored and provided assists. We saw this and made certain plans. The players in the national team understand that they must earn chances, and we will give them. We do not have this: "Give me a chance, and I will use it." He deserved his own, it is not by chance that Atalanta became interested in Miranchuk. But we cannot hold two or three games a week for him to find himself. Lyosha is from that breed of footballers who must always be around. Maybe leaving for Italy will make him better, he'll get out of his comfort zone. There he will learn to work with his elbows and become more self-sufficient. Everything revolves around Miranchuk in Lokomotiv, not yet in the national team. 

- How do you feel about the possible cancellation of the League of Nations?

- Nobody asked me about this, but Alexander Alaev knows my opinion. This tournament is needed. There are glasses, a trophy, a toss. I would like the League of Nations to continue to exist. Another thing is that we do not know how the situation with the coronavirus will develop. UEFA has smart people. Who knows, maybe the decisive matches will be held in one place so as not to fly a lot.

- What will be the anti-coronavirus regulations in the national team? In case of passing questionable tests, will the whole team go to quarantine?

- On Thursday we will conduct testing. Plus, all players will come tested from the clubs. Evgeny Bezuglov just called and said that testing will also take place on September 1 and 3, so that we will be allowed to Budapest. On the 4th we'll be there. There are many nuances that we were told about. 

- Is Malcolm's naturalization possible?

- Everyone makes a decision for himself. If Malcolm can play for the Russian national team, we consider him on a par with the rest. But asking someone to take citizenship means giving a subscription. Another thing is that there are players with Russian roots playing in other leagues. If there is information that they can play for the national team, why not pay attention.

- Daniil Fomin did not receive a call to the national team, who replaced Ufa with Dynamo. Why?

- We see that in his position there are performers who suit us and look preferable. If Aleksey Miranchuk had been healthy, Mostovoy would not have been summoned either. Fomin played well against Ural, and the next two games were not the way we wanted. Let him first adapt to Dynamo. If there is progress, we will not pass by. After all, the national team drew attention to Fomin earlier than Dynamo.

- Who has added the best quality to the national team in several years?

- You can't tell it offhand. Each in its own way. As Ilya Kutepov added at the World Championship, no one added. But then the problems started. I spoke to him recently. He played five matches at the World Cup, and then disappeared. We are a strong team, but if European clubs pay attention to our players, it means that they are adding. Another thing is that we would like more.

- Describe in one word four years in the national team?

- Privilege.