"I have a provocative style"

This season, defender Maxim Shnaptsev, who previously played for the Russian youth national team, has gained a foothold in the main squad of Pari Nizhny Novgorod. He's trying to help his club stay in the Premier League. With 11 rounds to go, the team is in 15th place, in the direct relegation zone. In the last match Nizhny Novgorod lost away to Moscow "Locomotive" with a score of 1:2.

But it was Shnaptsev who was the brightest player of his team in this meeting. At the end of the first half, Loko midfielder Alexander Rudenko received a second yellow card and was sent off for a foul. And in the middle of the second half, the referee fixed a violation of the rules on Maxim and awarded a penalty, from which Paris NN equalized the score. In an interview with Izvestia, the 21-year-old explained how he annoys his rivals and assured them that his team is ready to fight to the end to keep its place in the RPL.

— How did you manage to force the referee to punish the opponent so harshly with a penalty kick?

— I'm starting to come to the conclusion that my style is a bit provocative. I immediately tell the player who is facing me on the flank that it will not be easy for him with me. We're constantly pushing each other. And I think I'm getting him emotional a little bit. Hence such moments as with Rudenko.

— Can you call it a three-punch, like in MMA fights?

— I read the news a little bit right after the match with Loko. In particular, the post of Punk (Andrey Pankov, journalist. — Izvestia), who, in the context of the penalty shootout, recalled my episode with Chertanovo and Saltyk (in the spring of 2021, after a match between the Chertanovo and Lokomotiv youth teams, a scuffle broke out between the players, during which, according to rumors, the current Loko midfielder Nikita Saltykov injured Shnaptsev. — Izvestia).

I won't go into what happened there. But then there were rumors that I was getting personal, insulting someone. There was no such thing. And after that moment, I know for sure that I will never get personal. When I go out on the football field, I can tell my opponent that it will be hard for him, that I will not give in to him, I will push and kick. But I'll never get personal. I'll use some tricks, but everything is within the rules.

— What is the limit?

— Constantly put pressure on the opponent. But I think it helps me psychologically, and it affects the opposing players. I recall the last match before the winter break in the championship against Dynamo Makhachkala (1-0). In my opinion, Nikita Glushkov fouled me. There was a penalty, although the ball was generally in the other direction. There was a moment where I provoked him a little bit in the center of the field. The judges didn't see it, but he got turned on and decided to use a wrestling move on me, execute it on me. So this is not the first time.

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— Aren't you afraid that after some time this will stop happening to the judges?

— This is psychology, the human factor. If the players stop reacting to me, then it's good. Then I'll just wind myself up, jostle, maybe arrange a verbal altercation, although without getting personal, as I said above.

— Does the head coach of your team Alexey Shpilevsky approve of this? Maybe he advised you to do this?

— By the way, the whole coaching staff does not like that I am "in the camera" many times because of such moments. He says we need to clean it up. I try to listen to them, but it still doesn't always work out.

— After the first long training camp under Shpilevsky, did you manage to assimilate his demands regarding pressure, which you did not manage to assimilate during the short summer preseason?

— I think we've improved 100%. In the match against Lokomotiv, we didn't really have quick counterattacks, we didn't really manage to run into them the way the head coach requires. But I'm sure you'll see how sharp our counterattacks are in the coming matches. Like a blade.

— So the team is ready for the spring struggle for survival even after it fell back into the relegation zone due to the defeat by Loko?

— Yes, nothing is lost yet, everything is just beginning. It's unpleasant to be in the penultimate place, but we are only one point behind the transition zone and four points behind 12th place, which gives us the right to remain in the RPL without a tie. So everything is ahead. It's going to be a tough fight, but we will give our best 100, 200, 300% to stay in the Premier League.