The sports director of FC Spartak (Moscow) Stanislav Cherchesov gave an exclusive interview to Gazeta.
- You played for a long time in the West. It seemed that you were not drawn to your homeland ...
- I was in Germany for two years, then returned to Russia for six months. Then fate threw me to Austria. And who would have thought that I would stay there for ten years. In Austria, I went through the stages of both a football player and a beginner coach of twelve-year-olds, then a regional team, then a bonus league. In general, ten years passed like one day.
- They say that a silent goalkeeper is a bad goalkeeper. Do you agree with this statement?
- In my practice, there have been such cases. In the first four to five games abroad, I conceded fourteen goals ...
“How did you not get kicked out?”
- Thank God there was a contract. And since I had fourteen goals in Spartak and did not miss a season, for me it was a shock. Therefore, while you find the word in extreme situations, the ball will already be at the goal. You put the wall and shout: "Left, left." And then it turns out, in German "to the right" it was necessary to speak. So I was quickly put in the reserve, and I looked at nine games from the bench. Ripened, understood the league, learned the words. And then in the team he became his own. And only later became the main goalkeeper and without substitutions spent all the games.
- About ten years ago it was believed that goalkeepers are not like all other players.
“If you want, you don’t want, and the profession makes you not like everyone else.” I do not want to offend people who play far from their gates. But water is like a goose from them: well, you didn’t score - the next time you score, you didn’t hit - what now to do. But here, all the same, the responsibility is big, so the mood is special. A person becomes a little reserved before the games, all this affects the character. You are a team in a team, one, isolated.
When I went to the first games in Dresden, the fans encouraged me. I even thought: like in hockey. But everything is clear in hockey - the hockey goalkeeper plays a huge role. If the goalkeeper does not help the team, then she has no chance. There are a lot of moments. And then I realized why I was also encouraged: my gates also had a lot of moments, in the Bundesliga without a lot of moments there are no matches at all, no matter which team you play with. Therefore, I had to rebuild my psychology.
- “Spartak” was the champion in Russia, and abroad you came to the team that fought for survival. How did you psychologically deal with this?
- It was very difficult. The situation in the team was deplorable, this was another reason for inviting a new goalkeeper. It was very interesting why they invited me. People from Dresden sent people to see our player, who at that time was in full view in Europe because he scored a lot. We played with Finorb at the Torpedo Stadium. After the game, they said: "No, we don’t take this player, but we liked the goalkeeper." So the case played a role, and I got there. The goalkeeper (that is, me) was necessary, because it was often necessary to help out a team. Although the first four games, I think they clutched their heads.
- What is your generation of footballers most yearning for now?
“I'm not longing at all.” At that time there were no foreigners, there was no open Europe, there were not so many opportunities, money, advertising. Before, Moscow teams generally stood apart, everyone wanted to get there. I hope that now in the regions the standard of living will rise so much that Moscow will not stand apart, even though Russia is such a country that Moscow and St. Petersburg will always live separately. All teams are now much stronger. Previously, two or three teams, including Spartak, were a cut above the rest. And today, all games are not easy, you have to give all the best.
- Do you have nostalgia for bygone times?
- Nostalgia, probably, everyone has it. Nostalgia for Dresden. By the way, I have been in Austria longer than in Moscow. I lived in Moscow for nine years, and in Austria for ten. There I won some titles, there are a lot of friends, a lot of things happened. And this is positive nostalgia. And what happened before, when we beat someone, well, now what to turn around? We must live and look only forward. Another thing is that we must not forget the victorious traditions. I think that we will wait until we get firmly on our feet so that money not only in life but also in football does not devalue.
- “Spartak” used to exist on some concepts defined by Starostin, the whole history, the people. Can this be explained to the modern Spartak footballer?
- People are different. We have a good school, we have a double in the first place. There are guys who are growing, we are very closely following them. Shishkin has already begun, and let Dziuba. In general, in “Spartak” the people are not only alien, but also brought up with us. The foreigner who comes, it is necessary, so to speak, to convert his religion. This is probably the most difficult. When a foreigner arrives, in any case, he knows where he is going, that is, of course, there is a certain respect. But “Spartak” for me and “Spartak” are completely different things for him. Therefore, often with the advent of a foreigner, nevertheless, some negative things arise. I myself have been a legionnaire for twelve years. Often, foreigners did not play here because they did not feel any kind of support: you cost so much, you get so much. Ball on you and score! Now it has become much more interesting, everything has settled down, the amounts are equalized, foreigners are coming in good, the quality of football is growing. The main thing is to lure them, convert them to their religion so that they play not just for money. Although greed is also sometimes of good quality. Greed can be for titles, for money. But money is given when you win, which means it is a certain incentive. Although no football player in the world thinks during the game: "I will win and get."
- The concept of club spirit, club patriotism devalues over the years, because there are more transfers?
- I repeat, people are different. So I'm back, and it's not easy for me to get into the rhythm. True, I left Moscow, came to Moscow, but it’s not easy for me after Austria, where everything is low, only the mountains are high. Well, let's say you won’t scare me with mountains. But here the pace is crazy, you have a pulse of 300 all the time. You have to get used to it. And can you imagine, another player arrives who does not even know the language ... The leader, the director must feel, this or that sports player will do. At Tirol, I rarely made a mistake, but it was easier there. There any more or less good football player will take root. I always took a player only after talking with him to understand his character, how he would enter the team. We need a sieve to filter out who will remain, who wants to enter our religion voluntarily, quietly. Although a professional should forget everything and work.
- Why, in your opinion, goalkeepers so rarely become coaches?
- Let's see purely proportionally: how many goalkeepers are in the team? Three. And how many players? Twenty five. That says it all.
- For the most part, goalkeepers are not able to become coaches, or is it something specific that bothers them?
- When you are a goalkeeper, you are responsible all the time for yourself, as if you are withdrawing into yourself, and as a coach you need to answer for the team, think bigger. Although you should not forget that the work of the coach and the work of the goalkeeper have much in common. Great responsibility for the result, constant stress that is not visible. If a person stood at the gate all the time, this does not mean that there are no nerves at all. It’s just that a person needs to learn not to show excitement, so as not to give his opponent a chance to think that he is stronger. Therefore, the nervous system is depleted faster.
- You said that you played absolutely calmly at the goal. Was it really a setup, or did you come up with it later so as not to give your opponent a chance?
- No, I didn’t think of it. Until a certain time, the learning process is underway. I already said in an interview that late, at the age of 35, I understood how to play in the goal. I realized that you should not worry, you know everything, you see everything. So in coaching. Now I’m a young coach, I’m nervous, maybe in vain. A certain experience must accumulate.
- In England, they just think that after 35 the most goalkeeper age comes ...
- Experience is experience, but it should be supported by condition, reaction, and appropriate training.
- Van der Sar became a brighter goalkeeper after 30 years ...
- Once at a time it is not necessary. I know Van der Sara personally: a serious guy, knows what he wants. It is no coincidence that he is playing in Manchester now; it is no coincidence that he is still a solid goalkeeper. With his condition, with his attitude to the matter, I think that he will at least accurately play for another five years.
- Your current job at Spartak. The role of a sports director is not direct coaching. Is there any kind of jealousy, do you want to train your team?
- Not. If it were, I would not agree to this post. I worked for three years, and the time comes to watch, evaluate my work, take a break, change something in the worldview. When you’re on the field all the time, it’s hard to stop and think again, analyze, because there is game after game, constant stress, constant tension, so a short pause is needed to digest the accumulated experience, especially returning to Russia. It’s necessary to get used to, breathe a little Russian football air. When I arrived in Germany, I had to change even my goalkeeper tactics, there is a completely different football. Now I am back, I work calmly, my work gives me pleasure, I have the opportunity to recover. My coach and I complement each other well: he is calm, reasonable, and I am tough, more emotional, more abrupt. No one knows in advance what is best for him. That's when I stood at the gate, I knew for sure that it was mine.
- How long have you been going to the current post in Spartak?
- I worked in the regional league - I brought the team to the second league. He worked in the Bundesliga. Created a team there virtually from scratch. Now I work as a sports director at Spartak. We already have 31 points, already sat on the wheel of CSKA. Quietly, but it is necessary to make a combat-ready team. Not the battle-worthy players, but the team. In my opinion, something good is being planned, and this is already pleasant.
- Do you have a special attitude to the goalkeepers with whom you work?
- No, no special relationship. When I worked as a coach, I generally did not look at goalkeepers. By the way, when I finished my goalkeeper career, I never got up on goal. After all, until 40 to finish the game at that level ... I was the oldest player at the World Cup in 2002. True, Spartak veterans call and invite. I need to put my knee and the whole body in order, and maybe I will play, but I gave everything so much that the supply is almost exhausted.
- I heard from many coaches that the hardest thing is to explain to the player that he is not in the lineup, that he has to sit on the bench for now. Did you easily step over this?
- No, it is often difficult. I’ve never seen a football player who wasn’t put on the game, and he said: “Thank God I’m not playing again.” This does not happen. But sometimes bias took place, because he is not mistaken, who does nothing.
- What country did you find when you returned? And what did you bring us from a German character, from that experience?
- Let's take a household question. I live in my old apartment. The repair was done twelve years ago, then it was a luxury, and now you sit and think: you need to change it, you need to change it. Now this is not a problem. He took the newspaper, read, called, the manager arrived, measured. They said: they will bring windows in seven days. Seven days later they brought everything they needed, they dismantled the old windows, put the new ones and left. The windows are standing, but I didn’t even understand how it all happened. Can you imagine how it was at that time noise, din, garbage ...
- And what can you instill in Russia from the Austrian experience?
- Much has already been vaccinated. I try to free the head coach from some kind of conflict situations, because we have players from many countries, and I know English, German. I understand a little bit of what they have in mind. Because I was there for a while and I know what the Austrian or German is thinking. He worked with Italians, Americans ... When you know more or less everyone, you build relationships faster. Soccer player arrives. This has nothing to do with Fedotov, the player is talking to me, and I appoint him the day when he should arrive. Well, mine for them to some extent. The man came, they talked without emotion. No need to shout, explain anything to anyone. But the football player says in his eyes what he should do. The main thing that we have recharged today is a positive attitude towards business. This is what, incidentally, is so lacking in Russian football. And maybe in our life as a whole ...
Alexander Shmurnov, Mikhail Melnikov