"There is motivation to prevent Krasnodar, but we are thinking about our tasks"

Next weekend, the players of Dynamo Moscow will play away against Krasnodar in the match of the last, 30th, round of the Russian championship. In the event of a victory, the blue and white team can win bronze medals if the third-placed CSKA loses points in the match against Pari Nizhny Novgorod. In addition, Dynamo have a chance to deprive Krasnodar of the championship — so far the bulls are leading in the RPL, one point ahead of Zenit St. Petersburg.

Recall that a year ago, Krasnodar and Dynamo also met on the Bulls' home field in the last round of the last championship. Then the blue and white team lost 0:1 and missed out on gold, although they approached the last game as leaders. Marcel Lichka, who was then in charge of the team, was dismissed from the post of head coach in early May. Under Rolan Gusev, who replaced him as acting coach, Dynamo won three out of three matches. At the end of the last one, at home with Tolyatti Akron (2-1), the club held a celebration for its long-time goalkeeper and captain Anton Shunin, who ended his playing career.

In an interview with Izvestia, Dynamo midfielder Daniil Fomin spoke about Shunin's retirement, stated his desire to win the match against Krasnodar and spoke about the changes in the team's game after Lichka's dismissal, and also shared his expectations from the June matches of the Russian national team against Nigeria and Belarus.

— How do you like seeing off Anton Shunin, who finished his career as a player?

— I think we will meet with him again and talk about his retirement. As it is, I think it was a great day when, together with the match against Akron, our club held such an event in honor of Anton. He is a great person for Dynamo and deserves such a farewell to the fans on the occasion of the end of his football career.

— What can you say about him as a person after four years of playing together?

— When I joined Dynamo, he was the captain of the team. And he gave me a lot of support. And not just me. He was always treated with respect in the team. That's why he was the captain of Dynamo for more than one year. He has the best human qualities.

— Dynamo CEO Pavel Pivovarov said that the club offered Shunin the position of goalkeeper coach at the academy. Do you represent him in this capacity?

— Knowing him and communicating with him about it, I can say that he is more inclined to an administrative and managerial position. And he wants to work in this field. But I will support him in any capacity. If he works as a coach, it's also good.

— We have not communicated with you since the resignation of the Personal account. Can you tell us what changed after the head coach's change?

— Some things have changed, both in everyday life and in game requirements. I would not like to talk about this more specifically now, but there are changes. Both individually for the players and as a whole for the team. This is normal for a coach change situation: everyone sees football differently and brings in something new.

— What are the results of almost two seasons of working with the Personal account?

— More positive. We fought for the championship last year. That's why I want to thank Marcel for this period. He came to us immediately after his retirement, and we had a good conversation. We'll be in touch.

— Is there no feeling that the missed championship has affected the mood of the team this season, which is why there were such failures that led to Marcel's resignation?

— I'm not ready to agree with that. It seems to me that we played normally in the fall. There was no psychological fatigue or anything like that. We were competitive and wanted to succeed.

— Is there a grudge that in the summer of 2023, before the start of his first season at Dynamo, the captain's armband left you for Fabian Balbuena?

— I said back then that I was unhappy with this decision. But the coach accepted it. If he thought it would benefit the team, then it was the right thing to do. We talked to him then, and I accepted it.

— Is it important for you to get even with Krasnodar for losing in the last round of the last championship?

— Of course, there will be an additional mood. Everyone remembers the end of the last championship. Plus, I hope that we will now be able to win the bronze medals of the current championship. And for this, it is necessary to beat Krasnodar in the last round. So we have the motivation to prevent Krasnodar, but first of all we think about our tasks.

— Is there still a big difference between third and fourth place for you? After all, the current Dynamo has already won bronze twice and was close to gold once.

— Of course, the medal still matters. So there is a very big difference between third and fourth place. I believe that our team has been growing in recent years, so third place is now considered a failure for Dynamo, an unsatisfactory result. But that doesn't mean that we don't have to fight for the bronze medal if we have a chance to win it. I hope that in the next championship we will fight for the championship, but now we need to win against Krasnodar to take the bronze.

— What are your expectations for the upcoming friendly matches of the Russian national team against Nigeria and Belarus in the first half of June?

— Nigeria and Belarus are great rivals. Let's see how the matches turn out. I am sure that the national team, as always, will prepare as seriously as possible for these meetings. I hope I will be called up for these matches — I will be happy to play in them (this week Fomin was included in the extended squad for the June matches. — Izvestia).

— Can these matches in the national team under the leadership of Valery Karpin be called partial preparation for a possible job with him at Dynamo, rumors about his arrival in the team have been constantly appearing since the winter?

— I'm not ready to comment.