Progress of young footballers and comparison of Guilherme with Neuer: what was discussed after the match Lokomotiv - Spartak

"Anyone can say whatever they want, but we won eight matches."

Lokomotiv head coach Marko Nikolic was in excellent spirits after the victory over Spartak, but did not show emotions too openly. 

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We scored three points and completed the task.

It's nice that we managed not to miss it again.

This is very important for the team.

Now we need to move on and recover for the next meeting with Rostov.

I also want to thank the fans.

Their support has been great. 

- Spartak head coach Domenico Tedesco compared Marinato Guilherme with Manuel Neuer.

What can you say about this?

- Gilya is in good shape.

Why did you succumb to the opponent's pressure at the beginning of the match?

Everyone can say whatever they want, but the fact remains: we won eight matches, practically do not concede, but we score a lot.

We handle different styles.

Lokomotiv has repeatedly confronted opponents with high pressure, but found a weapon against them.

The same goes for opponents who sit deep in defense.

Yes, Spartak suppressed us at the beginning of the meeting, but we took advantage of this and scored two goals.

- Whom did you pay special attention to in the red and white line-up on the eve of the derby?

- I can say that our own game is more important for us.

Again, we always find solutions against various actions of the opponent.

Spartak is number one, but we are well prepared.

I think that football in the performance of your team should be devoted 90-95% of the time, while the opponent's football - 5-10%.

- Were there any shortcomings in the game of your players?

- They are always there.

But I'm not ready to talk about it publicly now ... I think it was necessary to act a little more seriously in the end.

We could have scored a lot more.

- Today Anton Miranchuk came out as a substitute for the first time in a long time.

What form is it in?

- He is healthy and ready to play.

I am glad that Anton returned to the field.

He is a quality footballer who can benefit the team.

- Smolov scored five goals in the last five matches in all tournaments.

What is the reason for his transformation?

- Fedor scores constantly.

It's a striker's job.

When he scored a double against Sochi, I said that it was his duty.

He has all the necessary qualities to hit other people's gates.

I would also like to note the play of the young Alexander Silyanov and the entire defense line.

The guys played a very good match.

In the locker room I told them that only the whole team would win and lose today.

- Were you afraid to include Silyanov in the main squad, who had not played a match in the RPL before?

- He is one of a group of footballers born in 2001 who constantly train with us.

Actually, Stanislav Mukhin has already made his way to the base.

We are glad to see these guys and feel their progress.

Silyanov played an excellent game, although he did not come out in his position.

He's actually a right-back.

- Don't you think that Ayrton's removal was the key moment of the match?

- Removal always affects the game.

This helped us to win the final victory.

- According to rumors, Rifat Zhemaletdinov is experiencing difficulties with the extension of the contract.

- He will be with us.

This is a graduate of the club and a footballer of the Russian national team, who looks great now.

I don't know if Rifat will sign the contract, but I know that there is a desire on both sides to prolong it.

"I have rarely seen such a goalkeeper play in my life."

In turn, the head coach of "Spartak" Domenico Tedesco did not hide his disappointment with the result and the fact that his players interrupted the four-match winning streak.

According to him, they could well have scored eight goals if they had converted their chances.

- The start of the match was good.

We controlled the game as planned.

If Ayrton in a few moments would have found partners in someone else's penalty area, you see, they would have opened an account.

But Lokomotiv managed to do it in the very first attack.

In the future, they continued to play well, but shortly before the break there was a removal.

During the break, we changed the scheme and showed character.

We began to work more with the flanks, attack from the depths.

In the second half it would have been possible to score.

I will mention Guilherme.

I have rarely seen such a goalkeeper play in my life.

He can be compared to Manuel Neuer.

- The judge today could have put several penalties at the gate of the railroad workers, but he did not ...

- It's hard for me to say anything about referees.

That's all.

Have you seen a single VAR decision in favor of Spartak?

During the two years that I have been working in Russia, I can remember only one episode: in the match against Wings of the Soviets, the opponent was given a red for playing with a hand.

VAR can be a good tool if used correctly, like in European competitions.

We lost today, but we could have scored eight goals.

So I don’t want to talk about judges or VARs.

This is a very delicate topic.

We must concentrate on what we ourselves are able to change.

- Lokomotiv footballers often organized counterattacks after playing set pieces at their gates.

- You are absolutely right, but this is not the only point.

The main reason is Vedran Chorluka.

He won the whole fight and just drew the balls.

His actions became a problem for us.

It was necessary to work better on the rebounds.

And they got the second goal.

Chorluka won the fight after Ayrton's serve, and Lokomotiv fled into a counterattack.

- Spartak's opponents often take advantage of the fact that the team goes forward and leaves free zones behind.

There was no thought at least once to change tactics?

- Why should we rely on defense?

We won four wins in a row, playing number one.

Today we also controlled the course of the match.

In the second half, of course, they did not put pressure as high as in the first, but this is not so important.

We like to have a big advantage in the possession of the ball.

We scored a lot of points by acting in this manner.

- It seemed that Ayrton could have received a yellow card in the episode with the removal if he tried to play the ball.

Does he even know the rules?

- You will still need to watch the replay.

I will not say that we lost because of Ayrton.

The defeat is the fault of the whole team.

He looked good in the first half, and if he made a mistake, it was unintentional.

Now we have to think about who will replace him in the next meeting.

We will somehow cope with this.

"The reason that I was not called up to the national team was myself."

The main hero of the confrontation was Guilherme, who made ten saves and repeatedly saved his team.

Talking to journalists, the goalkeeper called the meeting with Spartak “a match for six points” and complained that Lokomotiv did not start it very well.

“We could have behaved more confidently.

Then we adjusted the game and began to run away in counterattacks.

The main thing is that it turned out to realize the moment that we had.

After sending off, of course, we tried to act smarter - on the result, ”summed up the derby Guilherme.

Following this, one of the correspondents noted that Marinato played “like a god” with Spartak.

In response, the footballer spoke quite frankly about his decline at the end of last year.

“When I went on vacation in winter, I thought that I should come to my senses.

I haven't played at the level I can.

At the training camp in Spain, I had a goal - to return.

I spent many years in Russia and I think that I don't have to prove anything to anyone.

But I wanted to prove first of all to myself that I could spend a few more years at my level.

It's early to draw conclusions, but I'm starting to come back.

Today God gave me such a game.

But it is important that the victory was won not by me, but by Lokomotiv.

If the whole team is not fighting, one person will not do anything.

Therefore, all the good fellows.

We've had a very difficult week.

After the meeting with Sochi, ten people fell ill, and it was not so easy to play.

But now everyone is determined to achieve the goal.

I believe we will succeed, ”Guilherme expressed hope.

The naturalized Brazilian also directly answered the question about his non-call to the Russian national team and recognized Cherchesov's decision as absolutely logical and correct.

“He knows my abilities well.

There are no questions for him.

The reason that I was not called up to the national team was myself.

Indeed, in the past year, many questions arose about the quality of my game, but Cherchesov still invited me, thereby demonstrating trust.

To be honest, I was not worthy of the challenge.

I will do everything to return to the national team.

This is my goal, ”added Guilherme.

Finally, Marinato confessed why he decided to grow his hair.

According to him, he wants to be like the former goalkeeper of the national team and Lokomotiv Sergei Ovchinnikov, who during his career took to the field with a pigtail.

Also, the results of the meeting were summed up by the Brazilian defender of Lokomotiv Pablo.

He, like Guilherme, called the game difficult and complained that the team lacked confidence in the opening.

“Our team is just being built, but it already has its own identity.

Even in difficult moments, we managed not to lose concentration and run away in counterattacks, which eventually brought us victory, ”said the defender.

Of the Spartak footballers, Nail Umyarov answered the journalists' questions.

The midfielder promised that the red and white will draw conclusions from this failure.

The player also admitted that he and his partners knew about the results of the match between Zenit and Sochi.

“The result, of course, was known, but no attention was paid to it.

I repeat, first of all it was necessary to win by ourselves.

Until nothing is lost, we will fight to the end.

First, you need to get Zenit.

This is the main task.

Now it will be more difficult to do this, but the chances remain.

We will also fight for the second place and the Champions League zone, ”Umyarov noted.

Nail told what tasks Tedesco set for him before coming on as a substitute during the break.

According to the athlete, he was required to perform a large amount of work in the center of the field together with Alex Kral.

“In any case, when the score is 0: 2, you want to win back.

We've got an ambitious team.

We rebuilt to the 4-4-1 scheme.

It was visible.

We had to go forward, which we did.

We created our own chances, but failed to realize them, ”added Umyarov.

The midfielder also called Guilherme a quality goalkeeper and noted that it was almost impossible to score for him that evening. 

“When goalkeepers catch such courage, it’s difficult to break them.

But we had to do it.

We create moments, and they also need to be realized, ”Umyarov emphasized.

Finally, the Spartak footballer did not discuss the work of Kirill Levnikov and admitted that he simply did not see the episode with the ball hitting Pablo's hand in the second half.  

“The judges watched the replay, it took a while.

If VAR agreed with Levnikov, he probably made the right decision, ”explained Umyarov.