Former athletic director Lokomotiv Dmitry Barannik told RB Sport that all his expectations for the second half of the season were justified.
On Monday, Lokomotiv in the home match of the 26th round of the WORLD RPL beat Sochi with the score 3:0. The railwaymen scored 35 points and moved up to ninth place in the standings, overtaking Sochi (34). After the winter break, Lokomotiv have won seven of the RPL’s nine matches and only lost to Zenit, who on Sunday became Russian champions ahead of schedule.
“All my expectations regarding Lokomotiv have come true,” says Barannik. – I predicted that they would take a place in the top eight at the end of the season, now they are close. Components of success? A combination of experienced players with ambition and young players who want to prove themselves. This is probably the most important. A combat-ready team has been formed.
– That is, the breakthrough of the team in the spring did not surprise you?
– When I said Lokomotiv would finish in the top eight, they thought I was crazy. The bottom line is that they completed the task set for them in the spring: they kept their place in the Premier League and played some team action.
– If you don’t talk about Lokomotiv’s points and places, in terms of the game, what place would you put them in this segment of the championship?
– Here you can simply take the results of all teams from the last nine rounds and create a table. It is the most objective indicator. I think Lokomotiv will be somewhere in the top three.
— To what extent has Artem Dzyuba, who has scored eight goals in nine appearances, played a key role in the transformation of Lokomotiv?
“His role is very important. I had the slightest doubt that Artem would add the qualities that Lokomotiv lacked – enthusiasm, ambition and team cohesion. Moreover, after all his adventures, he himself, as an ambitious person, wanted to prove to everyone that football is worth something. All of these factors played a positive role for Lokomotiv.
Live broadcasts of MIR RPL matches can be viewed on the and MATCH PREMIER TV channels, as well as on the matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru websites.
RB Sports
Source : MatchTV
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