"We must match the ambitions of the club"

On October 28, the head coach of the Russian national football team, Valery Karpin, announced the expanded national team for the November matches with Peru and Chile. Traditionally, it featured midfielder Danil Glebov, who has become one of the key players of the national team under the current coach. He played for Karpin for a long time at Rostov, and this season he is working with him at Dynamo Moscow. The capital's club is not doing very well in the Russian championship so far. At the end of last week, the blue and white lost away to Zenit St. Petersburg (1:2) in the match of the 13th round and after almost half of the tournament they are in eighth place, 13 points behind the first.

In an interview with Izvestia, Glebov appreciated the team's results, expressed hope for their rapid improvement, and also shared his expectations for the upcoming matches of the national team and spoke about his reaction to the change of leadership in Dynamo and Rostov.

— What do you expect from the November matches of the Russian national team against Peru and Chile?

— We will have good rivals. That's why I'm looking forward to interesting and challenging matches. The same as our previous games. I think it will be very useful for us to test our strength against teams like Peru and Chile.

— Why couldn't you score at least one point in the match against Zenit?

— To put it simply, we couldn't score at least as many goals as our opponent. I think we played well and put up a good resistance against Zenit. But somewhere in some nuances they turned out to be a little weaker. But we need to move on. There will be a theory where our coaching staff will sort this match out with us. We will try to take something positive out of it, with which we can improve our results in the next games.

— As someone who has worked with Karpin for a long time in the national team and Rostov, can you say how much in his case the long winter training camps should help radically improve Dynamo's game and results?

— Time will tell, but I think it will be a very serious help. During the winter break, all our teams always have more time to work and prepare. This is also important for Valery Georgievich, because the pre-season is not so long in the summer, and Dynamo still has a lot of newcomers before the season and already during it. Therefore, it will be important for the coaching staff to get the necessary time in winter to work with our team from the first to the last day of training camp. But, of course, even before the break, we all intend to add to score the maximum number of points.

— In your opinion, with such a gap from the leaders as it is now, is it possible to compete for medals?

— Of course, the gap is big. But you can't give up. You need to play with maximum efficiency in each match and score as many points as possible. Then anything is possible. We have seen cases when teams failed the first part of the championship, but then caught up with competitors in the spring and achieved success. And we need to start doing this now, before the winter break.

— What do you associate with Dynamo's results in the first 13 rounds?

— There is no stability in the game. And in the composition too. As you can see, due to injuries and disqualifications, we have to change players. In the match against Zenit, we missed several guys who could help. But that, of course, is not an excuse. In any case, we must try to win with the players we have and achieve maximum results. And the game needs to be improved.

— In your opinion, those Dynamo players who, unlike you and Maxim Osipenko, had not previously worked with Karpin at the club, got used to his demands?

— It's necessary to ask them, but it seems to me that someone has already got used to it, someone else is getting used to it. Everything is individual here. But it is clear that there is something to work on. If we are in the place where we are now, it means that not all of our plans are working.

"There is also the lapping of coach to team and team to coach"

Dynamo Moscow football player Daniil Fomin — about the reasons for the failures of the blue and white in the first months of work under Karpin, his disqualification from the match with Zenit and his father's success in the Russian Cup

— Is this eighth place mentally burdening you?

— It is clear that our fans want much better results from us. But today we have what we have. We will continue to work to rectify this situation.

— At the level of feelings, is it noticeable that the eighth place with Dynamo, with its championship ambitions, is perceived much more painfully than the eighth place with Rostov, in relation to which Karpin always said that the task is not to be eliminated from the RPL?

— Yes, there is such a thing. It is clear that Dynamo has higher opportunities as a club. Accordingly, the ambitions are higher. We must match them.

— Have you already got used to living and working in such an environment?

— What other options are there? Yes, I'm used to it and I'm trying to match it. I hope that we will reverse the current negative situation in terms of results and soon begin to meet the expectations of the fans.

— How did you react to the change of the club's management in early October, the departure of Dmitry Gafin from the post of chairman of the Dynamo Board of Directors? Have you talked to Alexander Ivlev, who replaced him?

— No, we haven't talked yet. As for Gafin, of course, his departure was unexpected. Moreover, he worked for a very long time in the management of Dynamo, played an important role in the life of the club. But this is football — everything happens here, including such unexpected permutations.

To Zenit for glory: will Dynamo be able to improve the standings

In the main match of the 13th round of the Russian Premier League, the blue and white will travel to the Northern Capital.

— This month, changes have also happened at Rostov, where Artashes Harutyunyants, under whom you have played for many years, left the post of president of the club. Will the team's life change much after that?

— It's hard to say... We need to see what the new managers will do, what thoughts they come to the club with, how they see its development.

— It seems that the success of Rostov in recent years has been very closely dependent on the personality of Harutyunyan, sports director Alexei Ryskin and head coach — first Karpin, now Jonathan Alba. Can we expect the club to change a lot soon compared to how you knew it?

— Let's see. Yes, it is clear that Rostov has been associated with the people you mentioned for a very long time. Thanks to them, the club has performed very well in the championship for many years. I am grateful to them for spending a long period of my career at the club, gaining a foothold in the RPL, and reaching the national team. But it's very difficult to predict anything further. This is football life — in it, as I said, it is very difficult to predict something much in advance.