Mikhail Kobyakov: “We are approaching the Youth League in good condition”

— The 2024 season starts this Sunday. In what physical, emotional and psychological state does the team approach the start of the Youth League?

— We are approaching the first match of the Youth League in quite good condition, probably in all respects. During the pre-season training, a lot of hard work was done, it was planned taking into account the tasks that the head of the women's department of the Academy, Dmitry Borisov, set for us. Dmitry Viktorovich has interesting, and to some extent even innovative, thoughts regarding the preparation of young players. Often this is not easy to implement, but these are progressive ideas and, in my opinion, we are getting closer to their implementation. At this point, both the players and the coaching staff have an understanding of the whole concept.

In this regard, the last month of preparation was key - we began to improve both in terms of organizing the game and in terms of the effectiveness of our actions, based on the assigned tasks. A recent friendly match with the CSKA youth team (3:0) just showed all these points: despite the fact that not everyone entered the game successfully, and the first half was difficult, after the break we had a rather noticeable advantage, which was realized in goals scored . Don’t forget that we were up against a very serious opponent – the champion of the Youth League. The resistance was high, but we implemented a number of our developments, which is a positive sign. After this match the girls were in a good mood. Also, the second half against CSKA shows that we are in good physical shape.

Therefore, we are ready for the start of the championship. Most of the tasks set for pre-season training were completed. It is very difficult to talk about readiness in percentage terms; only official matches will show this.

— The first match is an away game against Strogino, the team you finished last season against. What do you think about your opponent?

— Indeed, we mostly rely on the information received last season, when we played two matches - we won at home with a big score (4:0), and away we lost to zero. In both games we had a fairly noticeable advantage, and both times Strogino acted defensively, trying to counterattack. The composition of the opponent has changed and at this stage it is difficult to predict what this team will be like.

— Zenit and Sochi will also play in the group with Dynamo. Do you already have an idea about these teams?

— “Sochi” is a new team, and there is little information about it, except that they received reinforcements in the person of Sasha Shevchenko, who went on loan from Dynamo. If we talk about Zenit, there are also a lot of changes there - a new coach, a number of players were loaned, some players moved to the first team, so we will see a slightly different team. In any case, we will build on what we have developed and stick to our approach.

— If we look at the preseason matches as a whole, what food for thought did they give?

— In each friendly game we had certain thematic tasks. We analyzed each match separately because we worked on a specific component of the game, focused on it, and therefore something else did not work out. This step-by-step approach allowed us to work more thoroughly on errors and eliminate shortcomings precisely in those elements where difficulties arose.

We played almost all friendly matches against serious opponents, who highlighted our problems very well. It was really noticeable. If we take the defense, where we played a high block, then we had to build a game against the opponent’s counterattacks, which immediately raised a number of questions: how to do this, how insurance occurs, which players are involved in this - we monitored all this. If we talk about the attack, then at first we focused on control and understanding of the game scheme, interaction, but a problem arose with the implementation.

It’s difficult to say how well it was resolved, because only against CSKA we played confidently – we created chances and scored a lot. In other matches, despite the large number of attacking actions, difficulties arose with implementation. Therefore, in the last three weekly microcycles, we paid a lot of attention to actions in the final stages of attacks.

So we went step by step. Each match brought great benefits and gave serious food for thought, to which our coaching staff responded in a timely manner. We carefully watched the video, and then there was an active and productive discussion at the coaching councils - we looked for the best options for our actions. And such work has led to some progress.

— How are things going with team chemistry? Are you happy with how the new players fit into the team?

— I’m pleased with the newcomers, they quickly fit into the team. We had very intensive work and, roughly speaking, in this collective activity they quickly managed to get to know each other and become friends. The atmosphere in the team is good - respectful, friendly, many newcomers have already won a place in the team, and they did this with their dedicated work. It also gave an impetus to those who were already on the team - the girls objectively began to work better.

A certain competitive environment with good mutual respect has been created. We don't have players who are guaranteed a place in the squad, but there is competition for positions. And the newcomers have added intensity to the training process: everyone understands that getting into the squad depends on training, so the girls work with even greater desire.

— What goals and objectives does the team have for the season?

— First of all, we must develop players, which is what the Academy management emphasizes. The main thing is constant progress so that our young football players are targeted by the coaches of the main team. And there are already such examples. Last year Dana Petrova performed very well, and progressed right along the season. At the moment, she has been transferred to the first team on a permanent basis. Kristina Yakovenko, Nicole Greuli and Taisiya Razvorotneva are also periodically called up to the main team - this suggests that the coaching staff of the main team is watching us and watching the development of the girls.

Of course, we would like not only to have a good and high-quality game, both individually and as a team, but it would be great to achieve maximum results with this game. In any case, we definitely expect to perform better than last year. At the same time, we will have the most serious attitude for each match; we intend to give battle to all opponents.