It is not so easy for a brisk and technical striker to prove himself in modern football, especially in Russian, with its unimportant fields and defensive models of most clubs. However, Maxim Buznikin managed to leave a bright mark in the history of Russian football, becoming the country's champion twice in the Spartak team and twice in the Lokomotiv team.
The current period in Buznikin’s career cannot be called particularly successful: after a significant debut in the fall of 2005 in “Rostov” Maxim spent a controversial season. But still full of optimism and hopes to play in a team that will fight for victory in the Premier League. NTV Plus commentator Aleksey Andronov and Gazeta observer, NTV Plus commentator Alexander Shmurnov are talking with Rostov striker.
- Why is Maxim Buznikin - a bright, talented striker - lately too rarely in the spotlight?
- This is how my football career develops. Something depends on me, but something depends on the circumstances. I would like stability, but some sort of trouble occurs all the time.
- For the national team in five matches you scored five goals, in the first season for Spartak you have eight goals in your twenty games, and in Rostov, where you appeared at the end of last season, there are also eight goals in just 13 matches - excellent results . It turns out that when you first appear on the team, you manage to show the class, make something bright, and then everything goes into decline. Such a character? ..
- If you trace my entire career, you will not find any obvious failures. There were injuries, there were circumstances not related to football, which prevented playing in full force. But if I'm in good shape, then the results will not be long in coming. So the point is not in the freshness of perception.
- Where is it easier to play: in a team that is fighting for the championship, or in the middle peasant - such as Rostov?
- It’s easier for me to play in a strong team. From a psychological, tactical, physical point of view, since a strong team spends more time in attack, the load is evenly distributed to all players. Of course, in a strong team it is more difficult to prove yourself, to find your place because of high competition. But after all, healthy competition contributes to the progress of the football player.
- How did you get transitions from club to club? Was leaving Spartak and Lokomotiv forced?
- There are purely technical rearrangements, and there are psychological ones, of course. But with experience, everything is smoothed out. It’s easy for the player to play to adapt to any team. And I’m not used to doing tragedies from the changes.
- Is it difficult to adapt in a provincial city after Moscow?
- Here everyone makes their choice. Someone from Moscow does not want to leave anywhere and is even ready to sit without work. For me, the ability to play football is more important than household amenities and comfort. Despite the fact that I am a lover of Moscow life, here is my family, home, but in order to play football, I am ready to break down and go to another city.
- In the West, sports, including football, have long turned into part of the show industry. Famous football players are advertising people, people of "party". In Russia, this process is also underway. How do you feel about participating in various shows and projects not related to football?
- Positive, if all this does not interfere with the main case.
- Have you come across misunderstandings or even taunts by coaches or teammates? For example, the story with Kerzhakov and his book is fresh, after the release of which no one else called him a "writer".
- At that time Kerzhakov played well and proved that he was the number one scorer of the Russian championship. And all these conversations could be conducted only by ill-wishers and envious people. And I had a similar story six years ago when I recorded a disc. They told me that. And this was done during the holidays for fun. Then, my fellow musicians suggested seriously recording in the studio.
- What kind of music was this, what style?
- The most different. Modern rhythms. And the songs are about life, about love.
- You yourself are a graduate of the Krasnodar football school, the Kuban club. When the team last time got into the big leagues and it needed players, was you made an offer?
- Yes, but then a concrete conversation did not work out. Now I am theoretically ready to show interest in their proposals. I am no longer twenty years old, and at the end of my career I want to pay off my debts. I dream that this time Kuban not only entered the elite league, but also gained a foothold in it and fought for medals.
- You said: Moscow is my home, but what about Krasnodar?
- This is also my home, my parents and friends are there. I do not know how my life will turn out, the ways of the Lord are mysterious. It is possible that I will return to the Kuban and Krasnodar. But still I still feel within myself the strength to play for the leading clubs and fight for the championship. And as for the “Kuban” - it is still a prospect, a dream, not related to today.
- Do you communicate with those who, like you, have left the Krasnodar football school and are playing now in Moscow and other cities? For example, with Dmitry Khokhlov?
- Yes, we meet him, alas, not very often, as far as our schedule allows. But I saw each other the other day. Sometimes we meet in Krasnodar during the holidays.
- Your appearance in “Rostov” in 2005 was almost enchanting, but the past season turned out to be crumpled. Is the club interested in you now?
- So far I can’t understand in principle the club management: what are they interested in, what team do they want to do. I want to fight for first places, for exits in European competitions, and not for survival. The management solves its problems so far, and all this is transferred to the team.
- “Rostov” performed well this season. And CSKA beat Moscow, and fought with other Moscow clubs. However, the end of the season was rather annoying.
- The team gathered good players. But the attitude to the team, the organization left much to be desired.
- This championship was called the dirtiest, bearing in mind a lot of contractual matches. What do you think of it?
- It seems to me that our championship is called dirty and contractual every year. But so far no one has been able to prove anything. As for the participation of “Rostov” directly in the contractual games, I would not want to talk about this topic. I remain a member of the team and do not want to make dirty linen in public.
- What feelings did you have from playing for the national team?
- I played in the era of Romantsev, while less attention was paid to the game on the part of journalists, spectators and the authorities. But the team was an object of special attention. And I have always been more successful at the international level, when you can show yourself to people.
- Is your football credo “a game of pleasure and a game of public”?
- When there is open football, when there are teams that allow each other to play, both spectators like this and most football players. International games, as a rule, pursue just such a task. There are good fields, good stadiums, and a great atmosphere, so you get enormous pleasure from the game.
- Does it matter to you - empty stands or a crowded stadium?
- I, like any football player, an empty stadium and a bad field do not inspire. In this sense, by the way, in Rostov I always felt comfortable, feeling the support of the full stands.
- It’s not a shame to hear the phrase: “Well , how does Buznikin know how to fall, we all know”?
- I don’t fall specifically, but this is part of the game, part of the show. It’s very difficult to be a defender, you need to be able to play in the penalty area, where any of his incorrect, inaccurate movements can be interpreted as a foul and lead to a penalty. And the attacker needs to replay not only the defender, but also the judge. If the defender does not know how to cleanly take the ball, then let him go practice.
- You had to score a lot with your head, despite the modest physical data. Can you consider the ability to play the head as your gaming characteristic?
- In order to score with your head, you need to have not so much high growth as the ability to react quickly, to cunning on the field. My father is also small in stature, and he played great with his head. We can assume that I learned from him.
- Our football players and clubs so far with some doubt and even neglect the lease. You rented three times, what do you think about it?
- There was a stereotype that the leased football player does not need the previous club, that they put an end to it and therefore gave it away. Hence the negative attitude to the lease both among the players themselves and the public. In the West, the approach is different. They buy a good, dear player and can immediately rent it out with a subsequent prospect. And sometimes a football player is rented out to us because the team does not need him now, but it is not possible to sell profitably. And psychologically, a footballer is harder because he is in limbo. But it all depends on the person, on his psychological stability.
- There is another side to the coin: the player who is rented is perceived by both new partners and fans as an outsider who has come on time.
- Yes, on the one hand, he is not ours, but on the other, he must prove his viability to the new team. That is, the player’s rental becomes a kind of probationary period. I just note that sometimes this is a test for both sides. I spent my first probationary period in 1999 at Saturn so that I started the next season again at Spartak.
- Do you think it is logical that clubs when renting, and sometimes when selling a player do not let him out on the field in person?
- From a football and gaming point of view - this is complete nonsense. In a meeting with the previous team, and even more so with the one that leased it out, the football player, on the contrary, wants to prove himself, but they do not give him this.
- In your childhood you had football preferences, idols, teachers?
- As a child, I collected articles, photographs, and records about Milan in the late 1980s and early 1990s with Gullit, van Basten, and Raikaard. Of course, the 1986 World Cup with the participation of Maradona watched the whole. Maradona was certainly an idol. They spied on him, tried to repeat him. I can say that now football has changed, but for me it is precisely that time that remains a guide and a kind of ideal.
- Football has changed, and first of all the players themselves have become more tall and massive. Is a football player of your constitution a rarity now?
- In the selection of players, priorities have changed. In youth schools, they pay more attention to physical condition, as football has become faster and more powerful.
- And when the professional career began, did you spy on someone, studied?
- I still note for myself the best moments in the game of partners and opponents and I do not consider it shameful.
“ Are you devoid of envy?”
- The desire to be the best should not interfere with the absorption of what is around. A football player consists of strengths and weaknesses, and the coach’s task is to ensure that all the qualities of the player are used for the good of the game. And the player’s task is to improve.
- Are you interested in what is happening with the national team now?
- Of course, I live in football. I really want our country, our team to be respected in the world. Hiddink needs to choose twenty out of sixty good players, the choice is small. Now there are few of our players, more than half of the championship players are legionnaires. Hiddink is doing the right thing by inviting young players - they need to gain confidence. In general, our football has a big problem with psychological preparation. I myself know, the closer the crucial match, the greater the burden of psychological responsibility, which not everyone can handle. And at the international level, psychological stability is in the foreground. And here the experience of international meetings, which is not very large here, is important. And European football players are able to cope with stresses and largely thanks to experience.
- By the way, would you like to try your hand at Europe?
- I'm tired of all the troubles, talking about contracts, rents and salaries. First of all, I want stability, I dream of completely switching to the game. For a long time I did not feel the taste of big football.
Alexey ANDRONOV, Alexander SHMURNOV