"My "Terek" of that time would have claimed something in the RPL now"

In August of this year, Stanislav Cherchesov returned to the RPL after a break of ten years. After three rounds, he accepted Akhmat, which had zero in the points column. By the winter break, the Grozny team had scored 22 points and was in eighth place. In a conversation with Izvestia and Sport-Express, Cherchesov summed up the results of the year, compared the league level with the championship a decade ago and shared his vacation plans.

"Evaluation of the result is "satisfactory" to begin with"

— You accepted Akhmat, which was in a difficult position. Now the team is in the top eight. In your opinion, what has happened and failed during this time?

— I have a simple philosophy — if there is a specific request and suggestion, you can think about something. Some things worked out, some didn't, but the main thing is that we did what we planned. There is progress in the tournament plan. Another thing is that we missed a couple of points. The team has rebuilt itself, the players feel comfortable, and new positions have been found for some. This is the job of the coaching staff. It's too early to give estimates, but I would say "satisfactory" to begin with. Although I would like more.

— What needs to be done to improve the results?

— No team in the world plays at a consistently high level all the time, and it doesn't always look fresh. It turned out to be a difficult meeting with Orenburg — the last match before the break is always crumpled. But with not the best game, we got the result. And this needs to be learned. There were meetings with Lokomotiv, Rostov, Krasnodar, where we showed high-quality football and deserved more, but we lost points.

No team has gone through the first part of the championship without a setback. Someone started crumpled, someone sagged during the tournament. And we had a certain slump when we couldn't win. It is necessary to add — to achieve results where it is especially difficult to win. Especially when you act well, you need a result. We will work on it.

— Is it worth waiting for a boost in the winter transfer window?

— From the first day, I've been talking about our philosophy — it's reinforced by those who you have available, but with proper work, understanding and tactics. Of course, every football player has his limits, no matter how hard you train. But we are doing the work. You know how it is — sometimes someone gets taken away from you, someone leaves on their own. Football is a continuous movement. I sent everyone on vacation yesterday, and now I'm flying to Moscow myself. We will prepare. Everything goes on as usual.

— How will you spend your vacation?

— You should always learn, notice something from others, meet, exchange opinions.

— Productive.

— What's the other way? And the New Year should be celebrated accordingly.

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"You know that the word 'if' I don't like"

— You said that after leaving Dynamo in 2015, you continued to monitor the RPL...

"How else?" Even when I was working in Hungary and Poland, I always watched our Premier League. How can you not watch your championship? My return to the RPL did not offer me any surprises. I knew almost all the commands. It is clear that there are nuances — when you get to know someone in more detail, someone is disappointed, someone is happy. The main thing was to keep my finger on the pulse, so I joined in organically.

— Have you felt the difference in the league level over the past ten years?

— The intensity is the same, plus or minus. There's as much fighting left. Another thing is that there is no Hulk, Witsel, Arshavin, Shirokov, Zhirkov, Kuranyi. There are no players who have made a big difference in every team. But there is a competitive environment. God forbid, if the external situation improves, top-level foreigners will appear. I recently talked with my football colleagues, they themselves say that my "Terek" of that time would now be applying for something in the RPL.

— Have you watched the World Cup draw?

— I saw the groups in passing. To be honest, I don't have time to broadcast for a couple of hours, it's still not a sports competition. I looked at the groups, but I didn't see us, so there's no point in studying further.

— Do you have any expectations from the World Cup? Maybe favorites?

"Nothing yet." We'll see about the World Cup. Now we need to work on our own plans, they are the same age — training, games, training camps.

— If the modern young and fast-running Russian national team played at the World Cup, could it qualify for something serious?

— You have addressed this question to the wrong address. I can definitely talk about the World Cup, but you can only talk theoretically. This team, as you say, is young and fast, if it plays at this level, we will be able to evaluate something seriously. Theoretically, of course, you can talk about anything, but you know that I don't like the word "if".