“There is no point in making any plans”: Goncharova - about the possible skipping of the Games, the successful start of Dynamo and new relationships

- This season is already your 16th season with Dynamo Moscow.

Does the number scare you?

- No, not at all

.

I like everything here.

There were victories and defeats, I have been going with the club together for so many years that I don’t want to leave.

As for the conditions, we always managed to agree with the management so that everything suited everyone, thanks to this, such a long-term cooperation became possible.

- Didn't it bother you that Russian teams were left without European cups this season?

I don't believe you didn't have offers from Europe to play in the Champions League.

— Such proposals, of course, were.

But in the current situation, it seemed safer for me to stay at home.

I like the team, I like the coach, I feel comfortable in Moscow, so I stayed.

- Last season, for the first time since 2005, Dynamo, with the exception of the tournament stopped due to the pandemic in the 2019/20 season

- I think that any athlete has a residue after an offensive defeat.

Especially when it is not possible to play for the first place.

But this is life, anything can happen, so there is no point in dwelling on failure for a long time.

We need to forget and switch to a new championship.

Therefore, now all thoughts are only about the current season, and I no longer want to think about the past.

Good is a priority, so I want to play in the final again.

- At the beginning of the season, this mood is felt: the team scored five victories in a row in the championship, reached the Final Four of the National Cup.

- We had a very good hard training camp this summer, the team is in a great mood, everyone has a winning spirit, so I want to continue in the same spirit.

- After the interrupted season in 2020, Dynamo did not win a single title, while before that they had become the national champion four times in a row.

How can you explain this decline?

- It is hard to say.

It probably had nothing to do with covid.

If so, then the decline would have been for all teams, most likely.

Apparently it wasn't our time.

Although we did get to the final in 2021, and we were only a few points short of victory.

Everything could have turned out differently, and now you would not be talking about a recession, but about a title.

- That is, the factor of chance played a role?

Both accidents and bad luck.

- A couple of years ago you complained about the low level of competition in the championship.

Is the situation improving now?

- In any championship there are several top clubs that share prizes among themselves.

There is competition between them, it is high, but the rest of the teams in the class still lose.

Although they can always give a surprise, it can be just as difficult with them.

In Russia, I would single out the top five teams, between which a serious struggle for medals is unfolding.

- Since last season, the Women's Super League has a new format: now the medals are played not in the Final Six, but in the playoff series.

What is closer to you?

- I like it better when two teams play up to three victories in the final.

In the Final Six, the random factor is still great.

One game can decide the fate of a team that has been scoring points for a whole year, beating everyone in a row.

It happens that one day doesn’t work out, you lose only one match and you don’t get to the final.

You could say the season is going down the drain.

It's very disappointing, so I'm in favor of longer episodes.

- And for the audience, it's probably more interesting.

How now, by the way, with attendance of matches of the championship?

— During the quarantine and immediately after, there was a big problem.

The stands were empty and it was very difficult to play.

And even when the fans were allowed to attend, there were still few people.

And silence in the room.

Now it has become much better, the fans are coming, there are more and more of them, they are becoming more active.

It's great!

We try to play for them, share our emotions with them, and they are with us.

- This year, instead of the World Championship, volleyball players had a Spartakiad.

With what feelings did you miss the main start of the season?

- We didn’t have any choice, so I tried not to even think that we weren’t playing at the World Cup.

As it happened, it happened ... We had a Spartakiad, and we took it as seriously as possible, because the team was immediately tasked with winning the title.

In terms of time, of course, it is unusual that such a major tournament took place just a month after the start of preparations.

It was hard.

But on the other hand, we got both playing experience and additional psychological confidence.

Yes, we lost somewhere, but we managed to win the title, and I think it's great.

Did you follow the World Cup?

- I didn’t watch the games, but I kept track of the results.

To be honest, I did not expect that the Serbs could win in the final.

They didn't have the most stellar line-up, they used to be much better, but they proved that they deserve to win.

Well done, I'm happy for them.

- At the same time, you missed the September training camp of the national team.

Why?

- As I understand it, young volleyball players were gathered for it to look at them and assess their readiness.

It was rather not a training camp, but more a viewing of the players.

Apparently, this is a look into the future.

- But you probably keep in touch with Zoran Terzic?

- No, and, frankly, not aware of his plans for me.

If they call me from the national team, they invite me, then I will think it over and make some decision, but so far there have been no conversations.

- You used to say that you were ready to stay in the team until the Paris Olympics, but now there is no certainty that the Russian team will get to it at all.

Yes, we are all in uncertainty.

Therefore, in my opinion, there is no point in even thinking about something and making any plans.

Let's see how life will develop, will our team be allowed or not.

I decided that it’s better not to hope for anything, and there, perhaps, everything will be fine in the end.

- In this regard, there is no feeling of bitterness that in Tokyo it was not possible to get to the medals?

- I am such a person that I don’t worry about anything for a long time, so I have long left the Olympics in the past.

In addition, I think that, despite the result, our team performed well and with dignity.

Yes, somewhere it was not enough, we lost, but this is a sport.

It all depended on us - if we had won the Brazilian national team, we would have gone further.

They didn't win, they stayed where they were.

- And there is no feeling of indifference in connection with everything that happens?

There is no Champions League, no national team games either ...

— No, absolutely.

We're not messing around all the time that was freed up due to the lack of international matches.

We train, and often these practices are even harder than the games themselves.

Therefore, no, we keep ourselves in shape, in good shape.

On the contrary, the mood for these games, of which there are not so many left, is now even higher.

— What do you do when you want to forget about volleyball for a bit?

- I think, like many athletes, after games and training, I just try to relax properly, get enough sleep.

I spend time at home with my loved one, I meet with friends.

- After the divorce from Alexei Obmochaev, for a long time you did not publicly say anything about your personal life, but now they began to share such moments on social networks more.

Tell us about your young man?

“I just let everyone know that I’m fine.

I have a favorite, I'm happy.

Everything else I would like to leave for the two of us.