"The rivals are getting stronger and no one is standing still at all"

Zenit St. Petersburg is already preparing for the next season in Russian football, which starts in less than three weeks. For the first time in a long time, the blue-white-blues are approaching the start of the RPL draw not as the current national champion — in May they became only the second in the national championship after six years of dominance in this tournament. One of the main old-timers of the team was midfielder Alexander Erokhin. He has been competing in St. Petersburg since the summer of 2017 and won six gold medals with the team at the championship. In an interview with Izvestia, the 35-year-old football player assessed his form after Sunday's friendly match with Serbian Red Star (3-0) in Sochi, explained how he remains motivated to play after so many trophies, and also appreciated the difficulty of fighting for gold in the RPL.

"As soon as you start the season, you will continue it"

— How would you rate your form?

— We are still in the process of setting optimal conditions. A few days ago, we played a two-way game with Zenit-2 (4-2). It wasn't easy for us to do a lot, because it was the first such game in the current pre-season. But in the match against Crvena, we felt better already — many elements in our performance were easier. From the way everyone looked in the match against Crvena, it is clear that the guys are gradually improving during the preparatory period. I can say the same about myself based on the allotted playing time. It's good that we have the opportunity to test ourselves against such a serious rival as Crvena Zvezda. In general, everything is in working order, we are systematically preparing for the season.

— How is this preseason different from the previous ones?

— It's hard to say. The first part of the preseason, which we are currently running, is always devoted to physical fitness, running, and a lot of work in the gym. Nevertheless, we started holding friendly meetings early enough — this can be called a new phenomenon in our current summer preparatory period compared to previous ones. We will have games every two or three days. So in terms of the game, the preparation will also be good.

— You even have two matches with foreign clubs this pre-season. This is not the first time you have played with Red Star in the summer, and on July 9, Swiss Sion will arrive in St. Petersburg — you will meet with a team from a Western European country for the first time since February 2022. Any special expectations from this match?

— The main thing for us is that there is an opportunity for good and varied sparring. There is Crvena, and in a few days there will be a game with Dynamo Makhachkala, which proved to be a very difficult team in the RPL last season. And it's also very interesting to meet with Sion. It's good when a club can afford to organize matches against strong opponents in the pre-season. It is very important to test your strength against their background.

— For the first time since 2018, Zenit is approaching the season not as the current champion of Russia. What is the mood in this regard?

— I think we are approaching with exactly the same mood as before. With maximum concentration and attitude. We are determined to get into our best shape so that from the very first round of the championship we can start demonstrating the game that the fans expect from us and that we expect from ourselves. As you start the season, you will continue it. That's why it's very important to get off to a good start.

"The championship is leveling up, which is good news"

CSKA CEO Roman Babaev — about the successful completion of the season, the victory in the Cup of Russia and the chances of gold in the next championship

— There is a stereotype that staying at the top for a long time puts a lot of pressure psychologically before each season. Now, after the loss of gold, can you confirm or deny this?

— Zenit always has one philosophy — to win. Therefore, before the start of any season — and the championship seasons, and even more so the upcoming one — the attitude is absolutely the same, working. The goal is always the same — to get in shape as quickly as possible and show your best football in order to finish the upcoming championship in first place and return the gold.

"Some of my former partners are already working at Krasnodar as coaches."

— The championship was taken away from Zenit by Krasnodar, where you started playing in the RPL more than 10 years ago, when the club itself was spending its debut season in the elite. Has anyone you know stayed there since?

— Sergey Nikolaevich Galitsky. And, of course, there are many people among the staff who still work at Krasnodar. When we come to play with them, I meet with some of them, we communicate. Some of the guys I was playing with had already finished their careers and become coaches. And someone is already working at Krasnodar as coaches and functionaries. I congratulated all of them on this championship.

— In 2011-2013, when you played for Krasnodar, he was an average player in the Russian Premier League. Could you have imagined that after a little over 10 years the club would take the championship gold?

— It's hard to say. It is difficult to answer such hypothetical questions, how it could have developed and how it developed. As of today, it is what it is. Krasnodar won this championship. Now our task is to prepare well for the new season and regain the gold.

— Will the upcoming championship be as difficult as the previous two in terms of gold?

— All the championships were not easy for us. Not just the last two, when we won gold in the last round a year ago and lost the championship to Krasnodar this spring. Even when we were ahead by a wide margin, we still had to make every effort. Now the rivals are getting stronger and no one is standing still at all — everyone wants to compete. Therefore, in any case, it will be a difficult season — this can definitely be said.

"We didn't lose the championship, but Krasnodar won it."

Zenit head coach Sergey Semak talks about the emotions of losing the RPL gold medals for the first time while working in St. Petersburg and the motivation to continue the fight.

— How do you find motivation to continue playing after six championships?

— That's a strange question. The only motivation is to win. There is no point in playing football if you don't always strive to win. So there are no problems with motivation if you want to win, be the best and try to win another championship.

— Are you thinking about trying to get closer to Dmitry Ananko's record for the number of wins in the Russian championship — he has nine with Spartak?

— I try to live in the present moment. Of course, you can't erase past achievements, but I prefer to focus on today, on preparing for next season — all my thoughts are on that.