Russian goalkeeping coach explained the mistakes of goalkeepers in the Champions League

– Do you feel the cup spirit with the current very strange regulations, when you can continue the fight even after losing?

– According to the first winter-spring, let’s say, test – completely. Due to the poor quality of the field, the game turned out to be a real cup game. Battles for every meter, rebounds, martial arts – all this came to the fore. And by and large, only time will tell how the new scheme of the Cup will justify itself. If we take the autumn group stage, then additional matches have only benefited our big country. If we talk about the principle of losing – flew out, we see the same thing today in European competitions. From one tournament teams “fall” into another, from another – into the third. You can remember how we knocked Ajax out of the Champions League with Rostov, and then the Dutch reached the Europa League final. In other words, teams are given an extra chance. I don’t see anything wrong with that.

– Cup matches are like a litmus test of the work done at the training camp. Is there any satisfaction from the preparation and the result of the first official game, which you had a hard time bringing to a draw at home?

– We were preparing on ideal fields, but we had to play on ugly ones. The situation is completely opposite to that in the USSR. They kneaded the dirt during the preparatory period, and then went out onto decent lawns. Therefore, it did not work out to play the football that Karpin and Goncharenko profess. We tried in the first minutes, but left this idea, realizing its futility.

– “Rostov” was inferior for a long time, conceding in the debut from the penalty spot. Before that, you noticed a curious nuance that all the players who beat Rostov changed their angle. Kashtanov’s blow from the same series?

– Yes. Before, he hit in the center and to the left of the goalkeeper.

– Changing angles, you scored all five 11-meter. But Kvaratskhelia, having acted in a similar way on Tuesday, missed the blow in the Champions League. Now Napoli will change the penalty taker?

– In Rubin, I remember, I hit once, when I myself earned a 11-meter penalty. Unsuccessfully. In this case, the words of Vladimir Nikitovich Maslachenko were confirmed when he said that the victim did not need to approach the 11-meter mark. Now in the game with “Eintracht” they did not bring down Khvicha, but, apparently, it was the decision of the head coach. And then Spalletti will decide.

– Valery Karpin insisted that you work with the goalkeepers to get through the pass. But now it is precisely this desire that has led to monstrous mistakes in the championship league of the great Courtois and Alisson. Is the game worth the candle?

– In hot pursuit, these episodes were discussed with both Valery Georgievich and the goalkeepers. Our video library has a large selection of similar moments when great masters make mistakes. Here it must be said that the nature of the errors is different. In the case of Courtois, it was a technical marriage, and Alison made the wrong decision. If to generalize, then the point is not how someone plays with their feet, but in the notorious human factor. All living people, and such incidents will always be. I remember that in one season, Valdes “brought” Barcelona 14 goals, but Guardiola did not scold him. On the contrary, he continued to impregnate with his philosophy. At the pre-season cup tournament in the match against Sochi, we were also punished with a goal, but this is no reason to change the principles. After such injections of the ball, in 5-6 passes we reach the opponent’s penalty area, and the implementation depends on the level of performance in the final stage.

– Karpin wants his goalkeepers to play like Ederson from Manchester City. But surely not like he missed yesterday in the Champions League?

– It’s definitely his mistake, he just didn’t calculate the flight of the ball. As for the passes, in short, medium and long behind the back, he is really a great master. We ask you to use all this diversity.

– “Rostov” is called the coaching team, based on the ratio of composition and position. What’s the secret?

– There are a lot of young, inexperienced guys in the team, so this is the assessment. And there are no special secrets. Our coaching concept stands on three pillars – daily tactical exercises, game discipline, dedication.

– Let’s get back to the internal cup battles. How would you comment on the goal of Spartak Prutsev against Loko? Is it Lantratov’s fault, because the blow was not strong at all?

– At the meeting I will ask Ilya, but there is nothing to reproach him with in the picture. It was closed by the players, and the ball went into grinding with the bar. And so he played simply and reliably, quite soundly. Do not forget that this was his first official match for Lokomotiv.

– Safonov and Shunin conceded five goals for two. Not the best, agree, restart for the main candidates for the national team?

– If you look at the quality, both played without errors. Perhaps in some situation they simply did not help out.

– Let’s leave the goalkeeper topic for a while, because you are also responsible for the set pieces. Almost 23 years ago, Kurban Berdyev gave you the “corners” at the mercy of you when you started training together in Smolensk. And many years later, already in Rostov, your famous Sparta corners appeared. But surely it is more and more difficult to surprise an opponent?

– Be that as it may, 30 percent of all goals at the World and European Championships are scored from “standards”. So there is room for action.

– Were you surprised by the ease with which Modric’s free-kick was realized by Real Madrid?

– Absolutely atypical goal for the defense of a team of the level of “Liverpool”. The placement of the players was wrong. Before the line of defenders there was a free zone, where the pass suggested itself and where Militao ran freely. No one was taken away, there was simply no player of the hosts. Well, Luka gives with his foot, as if with a hand.

– The Russian team is likely to play with Iran in a month. Already have thoughts about the first number, if it will be entirely your decision?

– I really hope that the upcoming games will answer this question. During the training camp, I visited the training sessions of Zenit, Lokomotiv, Krasnodar and Ural. If we start from the end of last year, then it would be someone from the trio of Selikhov, Safonov, Shunin.

– Finally, a few less eventful, but no less interesting questions. Before the pandemic, you held conferences for coaches on working with goalkeepers, which brought together 200 specialists from Russia and neighboring countries. Are you going to continue?

– We have already agreed on this with the technical director of the RFU Andrey Leksakov. Approximately December.

– After the World Cup, you somewhat unexpectedly praised the defiant behavior of the Argentine keeper Martinez. That is, there is generally no limit to what is permitted when such a result is at stake?

– He did not say or do anything offensive – he influenced psychologically. He did not cross the threshold of what was permitted, and that the Frenchman, after this throwing the ball away, struck past, is entirely his merit.

– When I hear your opinions about different goalkeepers, the feeling that you know everyone in the world…

– Of course, this is not so, but I follow successful goalkeepers as much as possible. What matters is how they get there. First of all, from the point of view of psychology, since everyone has their own thorny path to the top. How a person nurtured himself in any field of activity, isn’t that interesting? So I give these examples to young Russian goalkeepers – let them know what awaits them.

– At one time you did not take Buffon to Rubin, and his book memoirs confirmed this story in full. Are there no authorities among goalkeepers for you at all?

– Of course, Gianluigi is a huge authority for me. It would be a great happiness to work with him, to help keep fit. You don’t need to prepare him psychologically. But shortly before this proposal, I voiced the need to revive the Russian goalkeeping school. I couldn’t contradict myself.

– Since conformism is alien to you, it somewhat hurt that “you will be in Rostov as long as Valery Georgievich is needed” …

– I always treated Karpin with great respect – both as a great player and as a coach. It is also very important for us to have the support of the management, which creates all the necessary conditions. We feel boundless trust.