"I'll rate the start of the Baltika season at five with a minus"

In the current draw of the Russian Football Championship, Kaliningrad Baltika became the main sensation. Only in the spring, having returned to the RPL from the first league, Andrei Talalaev's team abruptly broke into the group of leaders of the Premier League. It was only at the end of last week that she suffered her first defeat (0:1) in an away match of the 10th round against the currently leading CSKA Moscow. And he is in an unexpectedly high sixth place, only four points behind the Army team. Earlier, Baltika managed to take away points from several top clubs - an away draw with Dynamo Moscow (1:1), home draws with Lokomotiv Moscow (1:1) and Zenit St. Petersburg (0:0), as well as a crushing away victory over Spartak Moscow (3:0).

Three football players from the Kaliningrad club — goalkeeper Maxim Borisko, defenders Vladislav Saus and Mingiyan Beveev — recently joined the expanded list of the Russian national team for October friendly matches against Iran and Bolivia. And on Friday, Beveev entered the final list. In an interview with Izvestia, Ravil Izmailov, CEO of Baltika, commented on the inclusion of players in these lists, told whether there was interest in them from rich clubs, and also appreciated the start of the Kaliningrad team and answered whether the management could adjust the tasks for the championship in order to compete for higher places.

— Three of your players joined the extended national team at the end of September. Are you expecting their price to rise?

— This is also a plus. It's nice that in the last window we had one player on the extended list (Beveev. — Izvestia). Three people have already got there. I hope this progression will continue to go up.

— Is there already a demand from top clubs for these and other Baltika players?

— There is no demand because the transfer window is closed. There will be demand in January when it opens. There is still quite a lot of time before this period. Therefore, it is premature to talk about anything.

— Did this demand flare up in the summer when Baltika defeated Spartak and drew with Dynamo and Loko?

— No, it didn't flare up. I think that any player should perform well from a distance, and not for a short time in individual matches. Then there will be interest in it.

— How would you rate the start of the season for the club in general?

— Five-minus. There are certain rough edges. It is clear that we are all maximalists. And we always want more and better. That's why it's a minus.

— Is there a feeling of decline, given that Baltika in the last two rounds did not easily achieve a draw at home with Rostov (0:0), and then lost to CSKA?

— We had difficult opponents. Moreover, the teams we played with were on the rise at that moment, both Rostov and CSKA. That's why the matches turned out that way.

— So Baltika will continue to steadily gain points and stay at the top?

— I think it will be so.

— Taking into account such a successful start, can Baltika now adjust its tasks towards competing for higher places?

- no. I have already said that we will adjust the tasks with the onset of the winter break in the RPL. We'll get together and hold meetings of the board of directors and the Board of Trustees. And based on the situation that will be at the end of the first part of the season, we will adjust the tasks. Or we won't.

— So a larger-scale reinforcement is possible if the task is adjusted towards higher places?

— Whether it's possible or impossible, it's still wrong to say. The break is still more than two months away, so it's incorrect to say anything in advance.