Stanislav Cherchesov: “We are gathering information about our players and the opponent”

- What would you say about the preparation for the UEFA Nations League matches?

- Soon the training camp and I are working with the director of the KFF national teams department Bolat Adambekov, constantly in touch. He, like me in Almaty, is solving logistics issues, how and where we will train, as well as other organizational issues.

- What is the most important criteria for selecting players?

- There is still almost a month before the training camp and it is not yet clear who will be in what condition. Experience suggests that injuries can happen in such a short period. Another thing is that in different national teams it happens that foreign competitors are stronger and a player does not play, as it happens with goalkeepers. We need players who are in the squad, but there will also be those who are not in the squad yet for the reasons I have already mentioned. We are monitoring everyone. My assistants watched how Kusyapov played the match against Rodina in Moscow, and they are also watching how Skvortsov plays for Shinnik. Samorodov, by the way, was not included in the lineup yesterday. I don’t know what stage his transfer is at, since I haven’t talked to anyone about it. We’ll wait and see what happens, we’re watching everyone. This is my job.

- Has the national team's coaching staff been formed?

- The coaching staff has been formed. At the moment, the youth coach Konstantin Gorovenko is helping me a lot, gathering information. Our coaching staff includes Vladimir Pannikov (assistant to the head coach), Gintaras Stauce (goalkeeper coach), Paulino Granero (physical training coach), and Eduard Tsgoev (doctor), who will help our head doctor with medical issues, it has always been like that for me. 

- You recently attended the match Kairat - Yelimai, what did you highlight? 

- I watched the match and saw a convincing victory of Kairat. We must pay tribute to the quality of the field - it allows you to play good football. In this regard, Kairat looked more "competent" or something. They quickly scored the first two goals and managed to maintain this result.

- What conclusions did you draw after Astana's matches in the ECL and the championship?

- I watched the game against Turan and Milsami too. The weather may not allow maintaining a certain pace and intensity, but due to the level of the players in this match, Astana deservedly won, especially after the sending off. By the way, Milsami is coached by my former protégé Igor Pikushchak, who played for me at Amkar. I was glad to see him. He has assembled a good team with minimal opportunities.

We support Astana and Ordabasy. By the way, the Shymkent players played a tough match, which for the fans, of course, is a kind of holiday with an abundance of goals and penalties. The most important thing is to advance to the group tstage. This is very important for Kazakhstani football.

- Will we see any new names in the national team?

- We'll see. I won't say anything now, so I won't be caught out. We're watching everyone. Some of them are growing, and some of them are on the decline, so let's not guess. I never look at the passport, because I played until the age of 40. Moreover, we do not give contracts and age does not play any role. The main thing is the readiness of players at the moment.

I met with the players of "Astana" after the match, namely with all the candidates who are in the extended list. For about 30-40 minutes we talked, exchanged opinions, joked when we could. I aimed them at the fact that they should win places in the main squad. In the match against Turan many candidates for the national team came out to play in the lineup, which pleased me. Earlier, some had not played for a long time and it was difficult to assess their condition. I congratulated them on the victory.

We are gathering information about our players and the opponent. The opponents are strong teams and we need to try our best.

- What is the importance of players Sadybekov and Valiullin for the national team and how do you plan to compensate for their absence due to injuries?

- Any injury of players is an unpleasant moment. As for Sadybekov, he played the last games of the national team, and Valiullin has been away for a long time for certain reasons. Both are interesting guys. We wish them a speedy recovery, that the surgeries were successful and they recovered quickly. The most important thing is that no one falls out. That's what the team is for, to compensate for any losses.