Tarkhanov revealed the reasons for the success of Fedotov in CSKA and Abaskal in Spartak

Alexander Fedorovich Tarkhanov, during his long career as a football player and coach, managed to be the captain of CSKA, coach of the national team, and work in many domestic and foreign clubs. He, like no one else, knows the features of sports life in today’s difficult political conditions. The player of the Armenian Pyunik, where Alexander Fedorovich holds the post of vice-president, Russian Mikhail Kovalenko could not get to the Conference League game against Zalgiris, scheduled for October 13, because Russian citizens were no longer allowed into Lithuania.

We talked about this and much more with Alexander Tarkhanov at a press conference at MK. Which began with the congratulations of the patriarch of Russian football Nikita Pavlovich Simonyan on his birthday.

– October 12, the patriarch of Russian football Nikita Pavlovich Simonyan turned 96 years old. We heartily congratulate him and wish Nikita Pavlovich good health, happiness and family well-being!

– The most important thing is Nikita Pavlovich’s health! So that he works as long as possible for the benefit of Russian football

– You have repeatedly crossed paths with Nikita Pavlovich while still a football player. Including played in the USSR national team. What kind of person is he and what kind of coach was he?

– All the teams that Nikita Pavlovich worked with became champions. So it was in Spartak, so it was in Ararat. Where before him, not after him, no one was able to win medals in allied tournaments. He was a super trainer. His human qualities are even higher than coaching. He knows how to bring people together.

– Did Nikita Pavlovich influence your decision to become a coach after the end of your football career?

– When I was just starting to play football, I was already thinking what to do next. Because you won’t play until you’re a hundred years old. He prepared himself for the rest of his life. For all the coaches with whom he worked, he recorded the entire training process. Analyzed what could be done better, what could be improved.

In 1978, I was included in the list of 33 best football players playing for the USSR national team. And Vsevolod Mikhailovich Bobrov called me. He asks – how did you play today, okay? The answer is that it looks good. And he noticed that you need “not bad”, but constantly add something. At Nikita Pavlovich, too, all the players grew. Therefore, Ararat became the champion under him.

– Most of your football career was spent in CSKA. You were even the team captain…

– Yes, four years.

– What was the team at that time? How did you get into it?

– I played in Krasnoyarsk. And so that I would not leave Krasnoyarsk, because I was called to other teams, the local authorities “surrendered” me to the army. In the construction battalion, which was subordinate to Moscow. I stayed there for half a year, went to the training camp with the Krasnoyarsk Avtomobilist. And when I returned, the head of the Khabarovsk SKA, a colonel, handed me a ticket. Through CSKA they found where I serve. and taken to Khabarovsk. I played there for two months. I went with the team to the championship of the Armed Forces. Valentin Borisovich Bubukin arrived there. He looked at how I play and already took me to CSKA.

– And how did “scouting” work in the Soviet Union? We know how it happens today – agents go around looking for players. What was it like when you were young?

– In the Khabarovsk SKA there was a lieutenant colonel, whose name, unfortunately, I forgot. He knew throughout the Soviet Union where which of the players would serve.

– Without a computer?

– Yes. Therefore, we had guys from all regions of Russia, from Belarus. And all the time a good team gathered. They have always been in the lead. He was such a “football agent” then.

The same goes for CSKA. There were guys from Lvov, from Odessa. Who did the coach like? Nikolai Manoshin was responsible for the selection of players. The set went differently. I personally think that this was a minus for CSKA. They took not very strong players, some of whom, moreover, did not really want to play. For example Sergey Olshansky and Vadim Nikonov. Olshansky was sent to Kamchatka in a marine battalion, and Vadim was sent to serve somewhere in Peski. Olshansky came to CSKA through Khabarovsk, where he played for six months. And at first he was not allowed to play in Khabarovsk. And then he agreed to play in CSKA. And eventually rose to the rank of colonel.

I had a good tandem with Nikonov in CSKA, they understood each other well. When he quit, he returned to Torpedo. And there were many such examples. Now in Moscow there is a tournament of football veterans “Non-fading Stars”. I participated in it several times. One day I ask Boris Kopeikin – Boris, where are our veterans? And he answers – how where? In “Torpedo”, in “Spartak”. As I said, it wasn’t the best set back then. Therefore, CSKA performed mediocrely. There was no stability. Not everyone played willingly. Under Sadyrin, this changed, the recruitment of footballers was already different, not only from employees.

– Was there any philosophy of army football? Everyone knows the “Spartak” style…

– Yes, in different ways. During the eight seasons that I played in CSKA, seven coaches have changed. And everyone has their own style. Bobrov professed combinational football. This is a good system. They played well. True, there were conflicts. Not between the players, but in the leadership of the team. Vsevolod Mikhailovich was not loved because he did not know how to obey. If there were questions. Then he immediately went to the top management and decided everything. And the colonels and lieutenant colonels, who were lower in the ranks, did not like it. And the political department of CSKA forced the players to sign a letter against him. We were then in second place in the USSR championship and they wanted to fire him. Only four people did not sign this letter – me, Nazar Petrosyan, Yuri Saukh and Sergey Olshansky. They forced me, they said that I had to sign. But I replied that I would not do it. I respected him so much that I couldn’t just do it. Bobrov later told me that he was one hundred percent sure that I would not sign this letter. They left him, but anyway, at the end of the season, after we took either sixth or seventh place, they removed it.

I also liked working with Oleg Bazilevich, who also had a clear training system. I scored the most goals with him.

– Is it possible to draw parallels between your CSKA and today’s team, what do you have in common and what are the differences?

– There is nothing in common. It used to be the army. Beskov wanted to take me to Spartak. He told me to write a report, promised that the first secretary of the Moscow city committee of the CPSU, Viktor Grishin, would support him, and that I would be fired from the army. But as soon as I wrote a report, I was immediately called to the “very top” and explained where I would serve for several years. I had to refuse. Then the sport was supervised by Marshal Sokolov. I told him about Grishin. Because I wasn’t afraid. He liked to call me to him, because he knew that I would speak without fear. By the way, because of this, CSKA did not like me, because I could tell Sokolov the whole truth without fear. So he answered my remark about Grishin: “Alexander, the army, this is a state within a state. Nobody orders us.” And I stayed at CSKA.

– So organically we move on to the current championship. Played 12 rounds. The standings are always objective. And yet, who surprised you. Both in the positive and negative sense of the word.

– First of all, Krasnodar surprises. Fulfilled the wish of Galitsky, who wanted only graduates of his academy to play in his team. Now many graduates of the club’s academy play in Krasnodar, and they play well. Not always enough stability. But even with Rostov in the 12th round, they played the first half very well.

I also like CSKA. With the advent of Fedotov, a good selection was carried out, they took good legionnaires. Chalov and Kuchaev played differently. There is a little lack of stability, and Fedotov himself talks about it. So it was in the match with Dynamo in the 12th round, which CSKA could have won. If you solve this problem, then you can compete with Zenit, fight for the championship.

Spartak began to play in a completely different way. I was asked before the start of the season about Abaskal. I did not know him, did not know how he worked in previous clubs. But he is Spanish. And in Spain they know how to play combinational football. Even the last-placed team in LaLiga plays this kind of football. And secondly, he is a fan of Barcelona, ​​which is why he loves combination football all the more. Plus, he is still young, and knows how to create a team. It is very important. Last season, it was not clear that Spartak was a single team. And now even the players themselves say that the team is good, it’s nice to be in it. This is also very important.

At one time, together with other specialists, I gave lectures to our future coaches who studied for the PRO category. He performed after Gadzhi Muslimovich Gadzhiev. Having finished the lecture, he asked Leksakov what Gadzhiev was saying at that time? And Leksakov replied that Hajiyev looked at all this and said: “The main thing is to create a good team.” Abaskal succeeded in creating a good team. The guys believed in his work. It is important that the players believe in the coach.

– Do you think it is right for Fedotov to move from Sochi, where he had everything, to CSKA?

– When we were discussing where Fedotov would go, to Spartak or CSKA, I was asked about it. I said that Fedotov better go to CSKA. There is a fairly good group of leaders who understand football. Knowing what to do in all directions. The best team. After the “Zenith”, of course, which simply has more opportunities. CSKA all the time after the arrival of Giner has been working well in the selection. Almost all the foreign players they hired performed well and became leaders. Including Carrascal, Medina, Moises playing now.

Second place with Sochi last season was the maximum. It is not known how things would have gone on. Two players were taken to Zenit after the end of the championship. Perhaps this also influenced the transition of Fedotov to CSKA. Pushed to move to where there is stability. And with all due respect to Sochi, CSKA, after all, is CSKA …