Her new mentor, Anatoly Byshovets, in a telephone conversation with Izvestia correspondent Mikhail Shpenkov shared his first impressions of the work.
After the holidays, it is always difficult for the players to get involved in the work, and your players still need to get used to the requirements of the new coach. How do they cope?
I must admit, at first we had difficulties in our work. And I am pleased that by the end of the first week of collection we managed to overcome them. That is, the team worked with genuine desire. Therefore, now the players have already gained the necessary form, and we can move on.
What was the most difficult at the beginning of the collection?
I do not want to single out one thing. Some players, for example, first had certain problems with being overweight. Which, however, is not so scary for the first gathering. It is much more important, in my opinion, that the uncertain situation in the club’s leadership, which lasted a whole month - almost until the New Year holidays, depressed the team as a whole. Some players were even late for our first classes in the end - they obviously lacked self-discipline. Therefore, it was important to quickly create a normal working atmosphere. And in our first two-way game, the players were already filled with positive emotions - there was so much passion!
Was it easy for you to divide the team into the first and second rosters before the mentioned game?
Yes, no difficulties arose. After all, we did not strive now to divide the team into a foundation and a reserve. Simply, based on the results of medical testing, we took into account the state of each player at the moment and determined two compositions that are approximately equal in their physical preparation. And the tactical drawing was selected taking into account the experience of the players. Fortunately, following the team last season, I tried to notice which game schemes were best for her.
How did this game end?
With a score of 2: 1. Traore and Izmailov scored goals in one team, and Korchagin scored in the other. Until the end of the gathering, we are going to hold four more test matches. Basically it will be meetings with the teams of the second division of the championship of Portugal. But in the last game we will have a much more serious rival - Dynamo from Bucharest. After all, by the end of the gathering it is important to check what we achieved at the first stage of preparation for the season.
Are the January fields in the south of Portugal comfortable for you?
Their quality is acceptable, although not at all perfect. But we were lucky with the weather - while we train exclusively in clear skies.
Scottish striker O`Connor, on the eve of the gathering, announced that he was planning to leave Lokomotiv for family reasons. Will you hold him?
We already talked to him in Portugal. And the conversation turned out, as they say, heart to heart. I remember this player since I worked at the Scottish Hearts, and he played for Hybernians. As it turned out, we had a lot of common friends with him in Britain. O`Connor confirmed that his wife does not want to move to Moscow and, if he does not settle the family issue, he will have to leave Loko. However, while he works with the team, and I am delighted with his attitude to the matter - a real professional. It’s a pity if you still have to leave.
The new president of the club, Yuri Semin, is now in Brazil in search of new players for the club. Will he continue to engage in the selection of “Locomotive”?
Hardly. The president usually deals with more global issues. But now serious changes are taking place in the structure of Lokomotiv, the breeding service is being re-formed. Therefore, we agreed with Yuri Semin that he would go to Brazil himself. I completely trust his footballing intuition and experience. And, I hope, already at the second training camp we will be able to check the Brazilian players in action.
How many Brazilians plan to take to the next camp?
Most likely three. Although the contracts will not be concluded with each of them. First of all, we now need a central defender. Indeed, Malkhaz Asatiani, who is being treated now in Germany, will not return to the system in the near future. And Emir Spahich and Bronislav Ivanovich last season played in the center of defense forcibly - they are, after all, extreme defenders.