Stanislav Cherchesov and his coaching staff announced Russian national team squad for international friendly against Germany (in Leipzig on 15 November) and UEFA Nations League match against Sweden (in Solna on 20 November) on Monday, the 5th of November. Stanislav Cherchesov then took questions from journalists.
— Can Chalov and Akhmetov be viewed as players who will regularly be invited to the national team from now on?
— Our U-21 lineup has ceased to exist as we know it. Akhmetov will no longer be able to perform for it due to age restrictions. And U-21 team has no matches in November which is why Chalov was invited. There was greater demand for him in Bushmanov’s U-21 team before. But this is not the only reason as Chalov showed an impressive performance in the Russian Premier League and the Champions League. Doors to our team are always open. It is quite possible that other young players may be invited when we have our next camp.
— Nababkin is not young and quite experienced. Why did you decide to invite him as well?
— He is very experienced indeed and he shows steady performance for CSKA and plays in the Champions League. We have two tough matches ahead. We may try Kirill as a right-back. Mario Fernandes plays at his position but he is more offensive-oriented and we wished to have one more player specialized in defence.
— Is Nababkin’s invitation related to Smolnikov’s injury?
— If Igor was healthy, we could have had certain options but we monitor all available players and choose those who are in their best shape.
— Don’t you have a feeling that Mario Fernandes, Daler Kuzaev and Roman Zobnin who played at the World Cup look over-exhausted?
- No. We are monitoring their condition and analyse how they feel in our team. Every club has its own psychological situation which may affect their functional conditions.
— You said before previous matches that Lunev was the national team’s main goalkeeper. Then Guilherme kept clean sheets for two matches in a row. Will Lunev remain the main goalkeeper anyway?
— Lunev does remain the main goalkeeper but we are monitoring the situation. Both Lokomotiv and Zenit have two more matches to play before the camp so we will see. And we never recoil when it comes to goalkeepers. We are pleased by how the three goalkeepers performed during the month that followed after our previous camp.
— Shunin kept clean sheets in three past matches. Any chance to see him during upcoming matches?
— We have two most important matches, and also final matches this year, ahead. We are guided by our standings in the tournament and our reputation. We trust all players and we will see what to do depending on the situation. As of today, I do not have a clear idea of having Shunin in the lineup. I think that we need to keep relying on goalkeepers who started the tournament. But then again, it all depends on the specific situation.
— Cheryshev sat out four matches due to an injury. What is his current shape?
— I just had a phone conversation with him half an hour ago. Denis still has certain discomfort and he will undergo an additional examination today. We invited 23 field players instead of 22 this time. We will monitor his condition and will contact him to make final decision in a few days. We never put anyone at risk.
— Ari performed very well this past month. Do you have a formal opportunity to invite him as well?
— You are right saying that he performed well only this past month. We monitor all players who are eligible to appear for the Russian national. We know Ari’s skills perfect but he needs stability. We have not made any major lineup changes this year .We already have a team with its own life. So we do not make major shifts and will see how things get to develop in the future.
— Monaco keeps suffering one defeat after another. What is Golovin’s psychological condition at the moment?
— They did not have many victories before our last camp either but Golovin came and did what he was expected to do. His physical shape is fine, even better than it used to be. He never complains about anything when I talk to him. Monaco experiences difficulties for certain reasons but Golovin has appeared in all matches and did a fine job.
— There has been much talk recently about your possible appointment as Spartak Moscow coach. Can you comment on that?
— Nobody contacted me about that. And my management in the Russian Football Union has not been contacted either. Or they simply did not tell me about that. I think you can only agree to become a Spartak Moscow coach to build a team that is capable of winning Eurocups.
— Joachim Low’s situation as German national team manager is rather unstable at the moment. You can contribute to his dismissal as national team coach if Russia beats Germany in Leipzig...
— I recently had a breakfast with Low in London. And I did not hear any disturbance in his voice. He is a great coach. The German national team showed poor results in the last few matches but they performed very well nevertheless. There are certain changes going on in the German national team and we have a tough match ahead. That is going to be a test match for us as part of our preparations to UEFA Nations League match against Sweden.
— Sorokin made only one appearance in the starting lineup over the past month. Why did you prefer to choose him and not Ilya Kutepov who is now the main defender in Spartak Moscow?
— Sorokin joined us for the previous camps and he manifested himself well. He has certain potential. We do not interfere into club affairs and player’s health is what matters the most for us. He recently appeared as a substitute in the closing minutes and scored which means he is in a good psychological condition. We monitor Kutepov’s performances as well but that is not the same Kutepov who played for us during the World Cup. He is yet to re-gain his shape. He knows about that himself and I hope he will accept our decision correctly.
— What is the Russian national team’s preparation schedule for this camp?
— We are gathering in Novogorsk on the 12th and leave for Leipzig on the 13th. We will have a pre-match training on the 14th of November followed by a match against Germany on the 15th. We will stay in Germany for two more days. We are not returning to Russia because that would mean an extra flight and we do not know what the weather in Moscow is going to be like. So we will have our workouts in Leipzig for two more days. We are leaving for Stockholm on the 18th of November and have a match on the 20th. We are returning to Russia immediately after the match.
— Zabolotny made very few appearances lately. Why is he still attractive for the national team?
— This is our last camp this year and every candidate is examined carefully. We rather not destroy the ties we have already built. Zabolotny looks fine when he appears on the pitch, he feels comfortable playing with Dzyuba and they developed certain mutual understanding. But if things stay as they are now, we will have to reconsider certain things after the winter break. There are certain aspects to be taken into consideration.
— Miranchuk brothers are back to the squad.
— They were not in their best shape during our first camp following the World Cup. Aleksey looked better during our previous camp and Anton is getting back into shape now, scoring goals and serving assists. But there are still details we will discuss during our personal meeting because every coach has his own requirements.
— Can the match against Germany be viewed as a warm-up before UEFA Nations League match against Sweden?
— We will examine the current condition of our squad to get a clear view of who will be better prepared to this match. We will most likely be allowed to make six substitutions during the match against Germany and we will utilize them all to keep the pace and get better prepared to the official match.
— You recently met Usain Bolt. Is he willing to join your team?
— I have recently opened an Instagram account so I need to upload some pictures. In fact, we met in an elevator at the World Cup final so he did not have a chance to demonstrate his speed. After that I watched a summary of his football matches and he is very speedy indeed but football is still different to athletics. But good for Bolt anyway.
— According to preliminary reports, one of the leading Swedish players Emil Forsberg will have to sit out the match against Russia. Will this affect Sweden’s performance? — Well, we did not have Erokhin at our previous camp. Every team may have such problems and they will try to resolve them somehow. Forsberg is clearly a good player and he proved that in Kaliningrad but we know that they still have players who are capable of replacing him. I don’t think this may have serious impact upon their tactics which remains more or less the same from match to match.
