"It's wrong to say that our squad has gotten worse"

Rostov's players started the new season with two away defeats in the Russian championship. At first, they couldn't cope with Zenit St. Petersburg, when they lost 1:2, although they had a lead of 1.:0. And last weekend they lost to Dynamo Moscow (0:1), whose head coach since June has been Valery Karpin, who left a similar post at Rostov at the end of February.

In an interview with Izvestia, Ilya Vakhania, defender of the Don club, shared his opinion about the first matches of his team this summer and compared Karpin's current Dynamo with his Rostov, and also explained how Rostov residents will cope with the loss of a number of leaders who left in June — striker Nikolai Komlichenko and defender Maxim Osipenko, as well as the yellow and blue in the winter of midfielder Danil Glebov.

— What prevented you from scoring at least one point in the first two rounds?

— We didn't create enough chances in attack. Hence they didn't score a goal.

— You had your first game against Valery Karpin after he left Rostov. Have you had time to chat?

— We just shook hands after the game, that's all.

— Did Karpin's Dynamo somehow remind Rostov of his time?

— I think so. Although it was less evident in the match against us. Because Dynamo played more because of the long passes. I think this is to some extent our merit, our pressure. But all the same, the coach's message was visible from the opponent that he wanted to play through a short pass.

— You had your first preseason in the summer with Jonathan Alba as head coach. Has anything changed in preparation compared to Karpin's time?

— Everything is the same, everything is the same.

— After two defeats at the start, is there a reason to panic? Or can it be attributed to the level of rivals?

— Of course, the high level of the opponents affected us, but at the same time we wanted and could have taken points in these games, but it didn't work out. We will look further into the future and move forward. I think that if we continue to play the same way and improve a little, the results will improve.

— How much did the departures of Nikolay Komlichenko and Maxim Osipenko make life difficult for the team in the summer?

— Of course, their departure would be a loss for any RPL club. But as we can see, we managed to replace them with high-quality players and keep a high-quality team.

— Did the constant rumors about the imminent departure of the club's management, coaching staff and most of the squad affect the team's situation in the summer?

— No, there was nothing like that. At least, I'm talking on my own.

— Is Alexey Ryskin, Rostov's sports director, who confirmed his departure to Sport-Express but never officially left, still with the team?

— It's the same as last season and the season before that.

— There were a lot of rumors in the offseason that you would leave for one of the top clubs. How realistic was it?

— I do not know. I read about my departure in the telegram channels. And that's basically it. I can't say anything more. Only I got information from the same place, and that's where it all came from.

— So no one from the clubs approached you and your agent with offers?

- no.

— Did Artashes Harutyunyants, President of Rostov, and Alexey Ryskin, sports director, also not talk about the interest of other clubs?

— There was nothing like that.

— Are you still considering leaving Rostov before the end of the current summer transfer window?

— I am a football player of Rostov.

"For how long?"

— I have a four-year contract (smiles).

— What result will you consider successful for Rostov in the current championship?

— Of course, we want to be as high as possible. Naturally, just like any team.

— How can this be done if the leaders have left?

— As I said, new players have joined us. And they are very high quality. So it's wrong to say that Rostov's squad has gotten worse. It has changed, but the essence remains the same.

— So he's no worse now than he was under Glebov, Komlichenko and Osipenko?

— I wouldn't say it's worse. As you can see, we have found a replacement for everyone, and we are not sinking in terms of level.