"It's easier for the referees to make a decision against Zenit than in its favor."

When the whole world was watching Alexander Ovechkin's great record, Andrey Arshavin went to the USA and saw the 895th puck of the Washington forward live. It was possible to follow the American adventures of the Zenit legend in the video blog format, and we did not miss the chance to ask Arshavin about his impressions after his return, as well as discuss the main issues before the end of the season in the RPL.

On May 19, Andrey played in the charity match "Bet and Win", and then answered questions from Izvestia and Sport-Express about Alexander Sobolev's form, Sergey Semak's future and refereeing.

It would be hard for me to live in Moscow.

— How was your trip to the USA?

— Top! Just great! Look at the T-shirt I still wear (Arshavin showed me a T-shirt with the number 895 in honor of Alexander Ovechkin's record). This is not my first trip to America. I've been to Miami a couple of times, but they say it's not the USA.

— Ovechkin told me that he can afford two glasses of beer to recover after matches. Could you when you were playing?

— I don't believe that's the case with him. We usually didn't drink anything in the locker room. And I don't like beer. I love harder.

— What impressed you the most about the USA?

— There was something that I hadn't seen before. Washington is a beautiful city with wide roads and the Capitol. We were in Atlanta, at baseball stadiums. I got the impression that this is a different life. On another planet.

— You've been abroad, and you've been playing in London for a long time. Is it interesting to live somewhere else as an experiment - outside of St. Petersburg?

— No, I'm very homely. It would be hard for me even in Moscow... On the other hand, he lived in Alma Ata and did not suffer.

I hope to continue working at Zenit

— How are things going with your future at Zenit?

— The contract (of the Deputy Chairman of the Board for sports development of Zenit. — Izvestia) expires at the end of June. No extension has been offered yet, but I have confidence that everything will turn out well. I hope to continue working at the club.

— You allow yourself to criticize Zenit this season.

— The way he plays, that's what I say.

— It's safe for an employee of the club.

— I would say that it is still neat.

— Previously, Zenit hardly touched on the topic of refereeing. And this season they started, and quite often. Why?

— It seems to me that we always react appropriately. If we believe that there is a mistake, we write [appeals to the RFU ESC], if we do not believe it, we do not apply anywhere. I can't say that Zenit is being sued.

— But, apparently, it was judged better before.

— It seems to me that now it is easier for the referees to make a decision against Zenit than in its favor. That is, they understand that if they side with the people of St. Petersburg in a controversial situation, there will be more scandals and they will start to be stigmatized. And if you make a mistake against [Zenit], then everything is fine.

— So they're afraid of criticism?

— It turns out like this: if they make a mistake not in favor of Zenit, there will be less criticism than in the opposite case. I can feel it.

— There is another opinion: allegedly, the referees are helping Spartak and Krasnodar this season.

— If Spartak had been helped, it would not have been in fifth place.

Golovin at Zenit — it would be interesting

— Recently, people have been saying more and more often that it's time for Zenit to fire Sergei Semak. And what is your position?

— He has a contract until 2030. No one is going to and will not clean it up. The man has been winning for six years in a row! And now he can become a champion for the seventh time. What kind of questions? Guardiola has won the championship only three times in so many years at Manchester City. Even they are losing.

— Do you have an explanation for why Sobolev improved at the end of the season and started scoring?

— Because we don't give him the best player of the match (laughs). But he's doing great. Rostov scored a super goal! For such a game, which Zenit is currently showing, he is irreplaceable.

— Sobolev has become Zenit's most high-profile transfer in recent years. And from Alexander Golovin's interview, we learned that he could also play in St. Petersburg now - the club had approached him...

— But he never wanted to return to Russia [after leaving CSKA].

— But now he doesn't rule it out.

— I don't know if Zenit is targeting him. I might be interested, but I do not know the position of the club. In any case, he will stay at Monaco for next season. And then how old will he be? Over 30...