"I dream that Khimki will pay off its debts"
The new Russian Football Championship draw on July 18 began with an unexpected result. Kaliningrad Baltika, who returned to the RPL from the first league, achieved an away draw with Dynamo Moscow (1:1). In an interview with Izvestia, defender Alexander Filin commented on the outcome of the game, assessed the prospects of his club in the beginning of the season and spoke about the situation with the bankruptcy and debts of Khimki, for which he played last season.
— Are you satisfied with the team's result in the first round?
— No, probably not. You go out on the field anyway and set yourself up to win. Moreover, we had our first game, it was only after the training camp. All the teams are in different states — you understand that you can beat any of the opponents, even if they seem to be the favorite of the match. Yes, Dynamo is a good team, but we understood that we had to start scoring points from the very first round. This time they could have taken three points at once, so there is a slight understatement from the result. But there's nothing you can do about it — you just have to keep working harder, you have to try to add more. And then there will be victories.
— Has Baltika already adapted to the RPL? As someone who played in the Premier League last season, do you see that the rest of the team is ready to perform at this level?
— It takes a certain amount of time to adapt. In principle, the team is physically well prepared, but we can still improve during the first rounds. Plus, it will be even better to establish gaming connections, those guys who have not played RPL before will gradually gain experience at this level. And it should be even better from now on.
— Is the very quality of Baltika's game against Dynamo pleasing?
— We played well and could have won. In principle, we can say that we lost two points rather than gained one. After all, we were leading, we could have scored even with 1:0. As a result, we allowed Dynamo to equalize, but the opponent did not create almost anything else at our goal.
— What prevented you from winning?
— I didn't have enough concentration. In principle, we played good football, tried to play on equal terms with Dynamo, and did not put the whole team on the defensive to keep the score. And I think that in general we acted correctly, but we didn't have enough concentration to avoid a goal against us — Dynamo played the standard well and scored. There is a certain understatement from such a result, but, on the other hand, we understand that we can fight for victory with any opponent.
— Have you moved away from the Khimki story?
— I'm at Baltika now and I'm trying to talk less about Khimki. I understand that there are still a lot of questions about them, and everyone is interested in everything. But I want to focus on my new team.
— Are you still hoping to receive the money owed to you from Khimki?
- yes. I'm a dreamer (smiles). I dream about it. I dream of the best.
— And if you really look at the situation?
— If it's real, I don't know. Maybe someone will help close all these debts. We need to believe in the best.
— Is this the first time in your career when you are owed so much?
— I have, yes, the first one. Hopefully the last one. But here, first of all, managers must decide and control something. When an RPL club ends its existence and does not pay what is due to the players, coaches, staff, and employees of the club... It's not normal.
— Has the lack of payments from Khimki affected you much in the last six months? Or were there savings?
— It's just unpleasant in itself. Like any person, whether they're a football player or an employee of any institution, I hate it when you don't get the money you're contractually entitled to. Moreover, you and your team are trying to do your job well. And I think that we did it well, since we were able to keep Khimki's place in the RPL on a sporting basis, even without joints.
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