The head coach of the Russian national team Valery Karpin began the press conference by assuring that the first list of called-up players announced by him is not yet final and may change before the first matches in the qualifying tournament of the world championship.
- This is not an extended list, this is a semi-extended or short extended list, call it what you want.
Everything can still change due to injuries, we have two more rounds in the RPL.
Footballers from this list may not yet reach the training camp in Novogorsk.
This list is not yet final, it will be final on 23 August.
Someone might fall off.
- Why did you choose such attackers, will Anton Zabolotny recover and why are there no Artyom Dzyuba and Alexander Sobolev?
- Zabolotny still has an injury.
But, according to our doctor, he is already preparing for the next round against Akhmat, everything should be fine if nothing happens.
Regarding Dziuba and Sobolev, it's no secret that they are not in their best shape for various reasons.
Artyom did not even make the starting lineup of Zenit, Alexander did not appear in two matches of Spartak.
Personally, my opinion is that in order to play in the national team, you first have to play for your club.
Therefore, the choice of the attackers comes from this.
- When you talked with Dziuba, did you discuss the possible non-inclusion in the lineup?
- I talked with all the players, I either met with all of them, or spoke on the phone.
Our communication means absolutely nothing.
Any player may not be included in the list, what kind of main squad can we talk about?
- If there are still two rounds ahead, then Sobolev and Dziuba still have a chance to get a challenge?
- Changes in the list can be both positive and negative.
- Did you choose the goalkeepers? Can you explain this choice?
- Vitaly Kafanov chose the goalkeepers.
He is sure of them.
He talked with Marinato Guilherme, with Alexander Maksimenko, with Sergei Pesyakov.
The only thing is that he did not communicate with Yuri Dupin, but they worked together for a long time.
Perhaps someone is missing on this list, but this is already taste.
Here I am guided by the opinion, by the last word of Kafanov.
- Does it bother you that there is no stable first number in the national team's goal?
- Many things strain me, and the absence of the first number in the national team is one of them.
Probably, there are players in other positions who are closer to the starting lineup.
- Stanislav Cherchesov took Soslan Dzhanaev to the team to maintain the atmosphere. Do you need Pesyakov for this?
- Better to ask a question to Kafanov.
But there is no need to ascribe other thoughts to me at all.
Pesyakov is definitely not to maintain the atmosphere, but to create at least competition.
- Are there any candidates for the title of captain of the national team?
- The captain will be determined at the training camp.
Today we have some players, by the October training camp there will be others, many may disappear due to injuries.
The captain will be determined at each training camp.
When I talk to all the players together, look at them in everyday life and in training, I will decide whether I will appoint a captain, or the team will choose him.
It doesn't bother me much now.
- Are you considering a scheme with three central defenders?
- This list is not yet final.
I spoke with Fyodor Kudryashov, he started training recently.
He wants and is ready to help at any time, but the day before yesterday he said that he would not play in Turkey in the first round, he is not yet in optimal shape.
Let's see if he can play for the club in the next round, then we'll decide.
- Did you communicate with legionnaires from Europe?
- I talked with Denis Cheryshev, Alexander Golovin and Alexey Miranchuk.
If you're interested, tomorrow I'm flying to Milan to talk to Miranchuk, then to Monaco to Golovin.
We made an appointment by phone.
If I can talk eye to eye, then why talk on the phone?
- Can you consider the current list as a course for the rejuvenation of the squad?
- I would not interpret it that way.
At the moment, these are the players who are in optimal shape.
If tomorrow Konstantin Tyukavin and Arsen Zakharyan do not show the game they are showing now, then they will not be in the national team.
The national team is not a club.
It is necessary to call those players who are useful today.
- Do you have an intention to play in Zakharyan's national team?
- There are no intentions to flirt with anyone just like that.
If we decide that he will be useful to the national team, he will play.
- Mario Fernandez is injured, will he be able to play for the national team?
- Fernandez is preparing for the next round.
- The Russian Football Union sent out a reform project to the clubs to change or cancel the limit on foreign players. What is your opinion of him as the head coach of the national team?
- I haven’t studied the project, I don’t even have time for it.
My attitude towards the limit has not changed since 2008.
What has changed since then?
If the player does not win the competition here, then he can play in Croatia, Czech Republic or Finland.
Or let them win the competition.
- What will you change so as not to repeat the failure of Euro 2020?
- I can say a lot of beautiful words about the changes, but everything will depend on the result.
If it is positive, then everyone will clap their hands, and if it is negative, then everyone will say that nothing has changed.
It all depends on the result.
- What position do you see Golovin in?
- Golovin can play in any position, we will decide before each specific game, depending on the opponent.
Such a player can play in different positions, like Miranchuk and Daler Kuzyaev.
- Is there an option that you will play three central defenders with Croatia?
- There is an option that two.
What am I going to say, how are we going to play?
I will not open up.
Why should Croatia know?
And if all our defenders are injured?
- Will your conflict with Dziuba affect his challenge, if he still gets in shape?
- We have a relationship between a coach and a player.
What else could it be?
We talked for over an hour about what was interesting to me.
The conflict is not just settled or not, I have no time for this.
If we consider that he will be useful, then he will be in the team.
Dziuba said that he is ready to come to the national team, that he wants and dreams.
- Have you already studied the Croatian national team? What can we expect from this rival?
- I don't think Croatia will come to us and stand with ten players in the penalty area and fight back, unless we drive her there.
- Did you have a conversation with Igor Akinfeev?
- Kafanov talked to him, and Akinfeev refused the call.
He said he wanted to spend time with his family and recover.
I also graduated from the national team at 33 to focus on the club.
- You said that many things stress you. What else excites you?
- I am absolutely annoyed by everything - central defenders, forwards, midfielders, physical condition of all players, not the best form of Dziuba and Zabolotny, preparation of Zabolotny, replacement of Fernandez and Samoshnikov.
There are a lot of things that are annoying.
Only the situation in Novogorsk is not annoying, everything is ready for the meeting of the national team.
- Will you be satisfied with seven points in the next three matches?
- Seven points will not be happy.
Will it suit you?
Maybe yes.
We will all be happy with nine points.
Seven points - well, okay.
Six too.
What if it's six?
Shoot?
The most defining matches will be later, with Slovakia and Slovenia, if we score seven or nine points.
- Is Smolov the best Russian forward now?
- I would not say so specifically that Smolov is the best forward in Russia.
There are players of a different plan, with different functionality.
Smolov, Tyukavin and one big forward, which may be Sobolev, Dzyuba or Zabolotny - they are all different.
The game is built on their strengths.
I would not say that one is strong and the other is not.
It all depends on how you build the game.
- What is the strength of Maxim Osipenko? Can he play against Croatia?
- Under certain circumstances, everything can be.
It is clear that I would like to call someone else from Rostov or from those with whom I worked, because there is very little time for preparation.
I would like more players who understand and know all the requirements, even in everyday life.
But first they have to match the level of the national team.
- Is the player's young age an obstacle to being called up to the national team? Could it negatively affect a young footballer?
- I think that a call to the national team cannot have a bad influence if everything is normal with a person's head.
I do not consider this an obstacle.
If a football player shows the level of the national team, then he will be called regardless of age.
- What are the requirements in everyday life for Valery Karpin?
- These are common requirements, as in any professional team.
It still takes time.
Somewhere you can talk on the phone at lunch, but in the national team it is impossible.
Not everyone is used to this in their clubs, somewhere they allow more, somewhere less.
Or maybe you won't have to get used to it.
- Did you talk to Yuri Zhirkov about his return?
- As far as I know, he is still without a team.
If we haven't seen it, how can we call it?
We do not know if he is alive or healthy.
- Can forward Ivan Sergeev count on a challenge?
- We are watching all closely.
There is a roster of 55 people and it expands after each tour.
We are also watching Sergeev and will see how he will progress at the RPL level.
Nobody is forgotten.
- You called Denis Makarov, who played two incomplete matches. Why?
- He was in the national team, we talked about him with Leonid Slutsky.
We understand that this player can come in handy even though he was not in the best condition when Rubin started the season.
We think that he played well at Dynamo.
The good qualities that he has remained with him.
- How do you assess the intensity of the matches of the Russian championship? On the example of the match between Zenit and Lokomotiv, where the speeds were not high.
- It also seemed to me that the speeds were low.
I wish there was more intense football.
Then I watched the game of Rubin and Krylia Sovetov, and there was intense football, despite the fact that Kazan played 120 minutes on Thursday.
I have a question, what should I do?
Now is not the time to talk about Russian football in general.
We need to work on everyone, all the players need to improve in technique, in the vision of the field, in the speed of decision-making.
- You would like the national team to play more attacking football. How did the players react to this requirement?
- The players reacted to this with joy.
Let's see if they are ready to play on September 1st.
It's one thing to speak, but you need to show something on the field.
In general, they reacted very positively to this.
- For you, Fedor Smolov became better after he performed in Spain?
- Smolov did not get better or worse.
As he was, he returned.
There are times when a player is in better or worse shape.
Nobody is immune from this.
No one is capable of playing equally well throughout the season.
Now Fedor looks pretty good.
What will happen next, no one knows, and he himself.