Roman Yevgenyev
Before the game against Ural, Roman Yevgenyev told about his way of surviving defeats and how often he looked at the standings. You can read the full interview of our centre-back in the official club program, which will be on sale at VTB Arena on Saturday.
— The derby against CSKA ended with a disappointing result. Do you take a long time to survive defeats?
— It usually takes a couple of days to clear off negative emotions after a disappointing match. The next day after the game we always have a recovery training session, then a day off, after which we start preparing for the upcoming match. By this point, I'm already trying to get the previous game out of my head and focus on the next one.
— Could the score have been better?
— Of course! In principle, we played better, put pressure on the opponent. And I won't say that the conceded goal cut the ground from under our feet. The coaching staff made substitutions, and then we switched to a formation with three centre-backs. A year ago in Krasnodar, this transformation helped us to come from behind. But it didn't work this time.
— What was happening in the dressing room after the game?
— There was nothing special. Everyone was sitting, being upset by the defeat. Nobody raised his voice, no one threw sandwiches. Then Sandro Schwarz made a speech, and we parted ways.
— Did you believe that Krasnodar would be able to share points with Zenit or even win?
— Somewhere in the back of my mind I hoped so. But it was clear that Zenit were favorites in this match. The level of teams is different. And Zenit proved it.
Roman Yevgenyev and Jorge Carrascal
— Do you look at CSKA and Sochi in the table or you pay more attention to Zenit performance?
— I try not to look at the table at all. It seems to me that all these calculations are simply useless. You can make any predictions, but this is football, a game, anything can happen here. Therefore, I prefer analyzing the opponent to studying the table.
— What do you think about the schedule? Whose calendar is more difficult?
— There are four rounds until the end of the Premier League. Every game is important. At the same time, the matches against teams like Ural can be more difficult than the derbies. The outsiders are trying to escape relegation and will come to the pitch in order to give everything. It is always hard to play against such rivals. In general, the closer the end of the season is, the points can be earned in a more difficult way.
— Ural have changed under Igor Shalimov. They are likely to play from defense on Saturday. Does this mean that you will join the attacks more often?
— I don't think so. We need to be disciplined in defense in Saturday's match, create chances and succeed in finishing.