"Talalaev has built a system where he can miss a match."

The main sensation of the current RPL season was Kaliningrad "Baltika". Having returned from the first league a year ago, Andrey Talalaev's team immediately joined the fight for medals and suffered only two defeats in the first 22 rounds.

However, in the last month and a half, Kaliningrad has experienced a decline: seven matches without wins, four draws and three defeats. After a 0-1 away loss to Lokomotiv, the team lost its chance of winning medals in the round before the end of the championship. Baltika is currently in sixth place, but if they defeat Dynamo Moscow in the final round on May 17 and Spartak and CSKA misfire, they can rise to fourth place.

In an interview with Izvestia, midfielder Ivan Belikov summed up the season, assessed the team's prospects and explained why Talalaev's absence from the sidelines in the spring should not have affected the players' game.

— Your team lost the chance to win the bronze medal in the round before the end of the championship. Are you disappointed that you didn't reach the medals in the end?

— I'll tell you this: the quality of our game is improving with each match. And the result will always come. We just need to continue improving the quality and fix what doesn't work.

— So the series of the last seven matches without a win happened despite the quality of the game?

— There are many reasons that influenced these results.

"Which ones?"

— With every game we lose people. Especially now that six people have dropped out due to injuries and disqualifications. This is one aspect. The second aspect is that we have had very difficult trips lately. Both Lokomotiv and Krasnodar are here. And I must also say that, after all, when a winless streak stretches, when you have four draws in a row, and in most cases we could have won, you sometimes break down psychologically. We didn't want to talk, but this factor has an impact a little bit.

Plus, it should be noted that the people who came in the winter, the people who replaced those who dropped out during the spring, are certainly progressing this spring, but their level is not yet the same as that of those who were at Baltika before that. Everyone is reaching a new level here, and the newcomers to the main squad have to catch up.

— Can we say that Baltika still had to survive this slump typical of RPL newcomers starting the season successfully, which they managed to avoid for the first 22 rounds?

— Everyone can say whatever they want. We should have "blown away" already on tour in the 10th (smiles).

— And they "blew away" only after the 25th, if we count only a series of three defeats.

— And "blown away" just now. And that depends on how you look at it. Everyone has their own opinion on whether we deserved this winless streak or not. Everyone will decide for themselves whether this decline is natural or not. I honestly don't know. We need to look at the numbers, statistics, and quality of the game. It's hard to say so simply.

— Did the absence of Andrey Talalaev on the sidelines affect most of the spring matches, first due to disqualifications, then due to surgery?

— My opinion is that he has built such a system in the team that his absence does not always matter. It was he who did it in a year and a half. The fact that Andrey Viktorovich works with us emotionally and psychologically leads to the fact that we grow. Therefore, he has built a system in which he may sometimes be absent.

— This spring, Baltika lost a lot of points, conceding at the end of matches — this was the case with the away defeat from Zenit (0:1), the away draw with Rostov (1:1), and the home draw with Pari Nizhny Novgorod (2:2). Can we say that at such moments Talalaev's emotions were not enough on the sidelines?

"Maybe." I won't say for sure, but it's possible.

— Will Baltika be able to compete for medals again in the next championship?

— I think we can do it all.

Drowned in the Baltic Sea: Krasnodar lost the leadership in the RPL

In other games, Zenit put the squeeze on Makhachkala, Spartak dealt with Akhmat, and the matches on the banks of the Volga ended with the same score.

— In the winter, Baltika was able to retain almost the entire squad, only Vladislav Saus left for Spartak. Are there any concerns that rich clubs will target most of your players this summer?

— No one canceled it. Anything can happen.

— Has anyone approached you and your agent with such offers?

— I feel good at Baltika, believe me. I'm developing here and I'm fully focused on my team. I didn't have any suggestions.

— What are your goals for next season?

— Show stability. It is possible to stay at the current level. But first of all, to show a stable, high-quality game. And avoid the current downturns. To ensure high results and high quality of the game.