"There was no misfire with Baltika — it's just that the start of the season is always difficult"

Dynamo Moscow has played its first official matches under the leadership of new head coach Valery Karpin. They all passed at home. First, the blue and white drew with Baltika Kaliningrad (1:1) in the Russian championship, then in the same tournament they won minimally against Rostov (1:0), and this week they got off to a good start in the National Cup, snatching a strong-willed victory over Sochi in the end (3:2).

The decisive goal in the cup game was scored by team captain Daniil Fomin from a pass from Denis Makarov, who is getting more and more playing time under Karpin. He is gradually returning to the main squad after being sidelined for more than a year under the previous head coach Marcel Lichke since the spring of the season before last.

In an interview with Izvestia, the Dynamo midfielder shared his impressions of the first matches under Karpin and told how he was getting in shape after being off the base for a long time.

— You are getting more and more playing time in official matches, you played from the first to the last minute against Sochi in the Russian Cup. Do you expect to be on the field in the championship for the same amount of time now?

— I just practice every episode on the field and try to help the team.

— In our recent interview after one of the friendly matches in the off-season, you spoke positively about working under Karpin. Can you say the same thing now after the first official matches of the season?

— I'll say even more. We have a very positive team environment. I really like the way the work is going, both in terms of preparation and tactics. Basically, the first matches in the league and Cup show that we are on the right track. I like everything, as does the team. We are all satisfied with everything, and we are working further to add even more.

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— In the same interview, you said that under Karpin, Dynamo is trying to play football similar to the one that Sandro Schwartz set for you in 2020-2022, with high intensity and constant pressure. Is it possible to perform this in practice in official matches now?

— Plus or minus, we try to play this kind of football. So far, we can't say that everyone in the team does it in every match. But that's the kind of football we're trying to play, and we're working on it. I think everything takes time to play as much as possible the way we want. You can't build something like this in one or two games, so it's okay - I'm sure we'll do more.

— Under Karpin, the team immediately conducts recovery exercises after matches, which is why it leaves the stadium much later than usual. Is it difficult to withstand such loads and does it help?

— No, there's nothing complicated here. It's only better for us to recover immediately after the matches. No one is against it — it only benefits everyone. We accept these demands of the coaching staff.

— Which of the coaches had the most difficult training camps?

— Valery Georgievich will definitely enter the top three (smiles). Schwartz, Slutsky, Karpin — that's what I would call the three coaches with the hardest jobs in my career.

— You had a misfire at the start of the season in the form of a 1-1 home draw with Baltika in the championship. After Kaliningrad defeated Spartak 3-0 last week, did you ever think that Dynamo got off easy in the game with this team?

— No, especially since we didn't have a misfire with Baltika. It's just that the start of the season is always difficult. With each round, we will get in shape and play more confidently, so nothing terrible has happened.

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— How do Dynamo's newcomers adapt to the team?

— Well, if Gleb (Danil Glebov. — Izvestia) has been with us for a long time, since the winter, and Vanka and Max (Ivan Sergeev and Maxim Osipenko. — Izvestia) has been at Dynamo for more than a month now and they have quite settled in, then Bache (Bakhtiyor Zainutdinov. — Izvestia), who has just arrived in Moscow, is still having a hard time. Moreover, he missed a lot due to injury at his previous club. But I think he'll get in shape quickly. And there is no doubt that all our newcomers are high—quality football players. And they will help us. Sergeyev has already started scoring goals. I'm sure the other guys will also benefit Dynamo and meet expectations.

— After more than a year of downtime, when you hardly played under Marcel Lichka, have you already gained enough playing and physical fitness to withstand matches without substitutions and constantly perform effective actions like an assist at the end of the match against Sochi?

— Of course, when you play more and more time in friendly matches, and then they trust you to play in official matches, your condition gets better, especially when you played the whole match, as I did with Sochi. Yes, I'm getting more confident every time. And this is just the beginning.

— Is it possible to fight for the championship in the current state of the team?

— There's a whole championship ahead. We go from game to game. Every next match is the most important one. If we win all the remaining matches, then it is clear that we will finish first. But we're not thinking about that right now — we're just paying full attention to every next game.