"The chances of becoming Spartak's main goalkeeper were slim to none"

As a result of the last season in Russian soccer, Kaliningrad Baltika dropped out of the RPL, although it was remembered for reaching the final of the Russian Cup, where it lost only in the end to Zenit St. Petersburg (1:2). Now the club is trying to return to the Premier League, but is still lagging behind the leaders of the first league. Goalkeeper Ilya Svinov, known for playing for Voronezh Fakel the season before last, has been called upon to help them solve the problem. And in the last championship he was in Spartak Moscow, but lost the competition to Alexander Maksimenko and Alexander Selikhov.

In an interview with Izvestia, the 23-year-old goalkeeper shared his emotions from the game in Kaliningrad, speculated about his chances of playing at Spartak, commented on the departure from the club of its captain Georgiy Dzhikiya and the scandalous parting with striker Alexander Sobolev, and also explained why Fakel avoided relegation from the RPL two years ago with the smallest budget in the tournament.

"The first 10 matches were not entirely bad"

- How do you feel about Baltika after two months of playing for them?

- I like the team very much. Probably, I like the goalkeeper coach (Gleb Presnyakov. - "Izvestia") more. He gives me something that I kind of lacked ... Namely he gives me those details that many people did not pay attention to. He prompts me, corrects me somewhere. He kind of points out the details. And the transition itself, the game practice, of course, is important. Honestly, when I played in Volgograd (away match with Rotor (0:2), the first for Svinov in Baltika's base. - "Izvestia"), it was very hard - just megadifficult. Because I completely forgot how to play - it was a very long downtime. In principle, I like everything in Kaliningrad. The team is up to the task. I think that the starting period, the first 10 games, if we evaluate it, we didn't play badly. We are already doing a lot, but we will still correct many things - there is a lot to work on. But further, I think, it will only get better and better.

- What details does the Baltika goalkeepers' coach tell you that they didn't tell you at Spartak?

- A lot of things. You know, there's nothing so special, some small little things, which, perhaps, will be clear only to fellow goalkeepers, if we talk about them. Banal things - stance, back position, hand position, position on the field. I actually learned a lot of interesting things, a lot of new things for myself. And, I think, I have added, I have managed to add a lot during this period, during such a short period of time that I am in Baltika.

- Are you required to play with your feet more in Baltika than in Spartak and Fakel?

- Probably more like Fakel. The requirements are about the same.

- The time of Oleg Vasilenko?

- And Oleg Petrovich Vasilenko, and Dmitry Anatolievich Pyatibratov, and Vadim Valentinovich Evseev. Andrei Viktorovich Talalaev has about the same requirements at Baltika. Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Grishchenko, with whom we started this season, has slightly different requirements. In his scheme the goalkeeper is a little more involved in the beginning of attacks. Grishchenko demanded to start attacks through short passes. Under Talalaev, we need not to take the ball out, but to make a longer and more accentuated pass to the edge. Well, these are just the basic requirements. And so even under Andrey Viktorovich sometimes you can play calmly downfield, if the situation allows.

"I still competed with people who played in the Champions League and Europa League"

- Was there a chance to break into Spartak's starting lineup?

- Well, I was on the pitch. So there was a chance.

- And yet you didn't get the feeling that there would be a chance only if Alexander Maksimenko and Alexander Selikhov got injured at once or failed too obviously?

- Of course, there was such a feeling. But I think it's deserved. When I was at Spartak, Maksimenko and Selikhov were competing on a roughly equal footing. There were times when Maxi started the season, but then Selya took over the initiative a bit, and Abascal trusted him more. Then Selikhov suffered a back injury, and Maksimenko got back into the goal. I believe that at that moment he had a great season - the best in his career, as Vitaly Kafanov (goalkeeper coach of the Russian national team. - Izvestia) said. In general, if we talk about my chances of becoming the main goalkeeper at Spartak, they were minuscule. After all, I was competing with people who had played in the Champions League and Europa League.

- When was there a minimal opportunity to get a grip on the starting lineup?

- I do not even remember such a moment. Or maybe I don't know. Or maybe there was no such moment at all. I just trained, tried to do everything that depended on me, and there as it fell. I had a chance to at least play. But it happened as it happened.

- Why did Spartak have a bad season last season, which was ultimately underperformed by then-head coach Guillermo Abascal?

- Honestly, there is no understanding. Somehow things didn't go fast enough. And went until the end of the season. There was no result. We didn`t get much, the game didn`t go well. Why it happened, I do not know.

- Were you surprised by Alexander Sobolev's departure from Spartak and how scandalous it turned out, with the loss of his place in the lineup and his transfer to Zenit, the Red-Whites' nemesis?

- In principle, I was not surprised. If it was Oleksandr's decision, then I think he should be supported and respected. You have to respect the decision of a soccer player - any soccer player. Yes, of course, it turned out to be such a story, a little bit from such an angle.... It is the departure itself, probably, did not turn out the way the fans and Sobolev would have liked. But I don't know... We have what we have. Sobolev is like that. He's a little bit difficult, but I think that his decisions should be respected and understood. Understand that he has one career, one family. And he needs to understand... He always chooses the best for himself. I can't say more in detail, because I was no longer at Spartak at the time of Sobolev's departure.

- Have the prerequisites for Georgiy Dzhikiya's departure already been felt?

- Well, when Dzhikiya left... I don't know. I wouldn't say that before that it was felt that he would leave. Georgiy is a great professional, he still loves Spartak very much. He didn't show, didn't give the impression that he was going to leave soon. And I wouldn't say that his imminent departure was felt. Everyone thought until the last moment that the story of Spartak and Dzhikiya would last.

- Do you like the way Spartak is playing now under Dejan Stankovic?

- Yes, very much.

- Are there any chances to compete for gold, or is Zenit out of reach?

- Out of reach, of course. So there are chances.

"Our team needed just such a shake-up."

- How do you like Fakel now? Is there an explanation why it has avoided relegation in the last two seasons with the smallest budget in the RPL?

- I don't know. It's hard to say. I can only speak for the first season in the RPL (2022/23. - "Izvestia"), as I was in the team's locker room. Due to the fact that there were players who fought. The team was good, united. Obviously, these are trite words. But this is what helped us to save ourselves. Plus the fact that Khimki and Torpedo Moscow, if I'm not mistaken, were knocked out of the RPL.

- Yes.

- It seemed to me that both Torpedo and Khimki were a little bit less organized than us. They were a little more sloppy, if I may say so. I don't know what the right word would be. I think it was due to organization and team building that "Fakel" came out of it. Or at least, not just out, but ahead of Khimki and Torpedo.

- "Fakel" avoided relegation from the RPL two previous seasons. In both cases, it changed head coaches twice in the course of the championship. What makes it work so well?

- I don't know. I can't say for sure. I can say one thing for sure: in my season, when Evseev came, the result went up sharply. Then, perhaps, our team needed just such a shake-up.

- Even taking into account the fact that under Pyatibratov before his resignation we beat Dynamo Moscow away?

- Yes. We beat Dynamo very well. But Evseev came in and somehow we managed to get things going, to make a breakthrough. But I don't know... It's quite possible that even with Pyatibratov we would have stayed in the RPL. But I personally liked working with Evseev. Not only with him, but with his entire staff.

- This season in the first league is very competitive. Following the results of the last championship three not the poorest clubs - Baltika, Sochi and Ural - left the RPL. In addition to them, Arsenal Tula and Torpedo Moscow are actively fighting for promotion to the Premier League. Perhaps Rodina and someone else will be added. Can we say that now the top of the first league is not inferior in level to the second eight of the RPL?

- To understand how the second half of the RPL is playing now, you should probably play there. I can only say that, in my opinion, the level in the first league is a little bit lower. That's all I can say. For me personally, playing in the RPL is somehow... Not that it's easier. Rather more comfortable and understandable than in the first league. In the first league there is more fighting. And such games are very tough with any team. There are no passing games even close. Even if a team has just come down here from the RPL, it doesn't mean that they will definitely beat someone - there is a tough fight with everyone.