Pavel Zemskiy: "Youth and experience are the best combination you can have"

Zenit forward Pavel Zemskiy reflected on his offseason, part of which he spent training in Serbia. The Blue-White-Sky Blues player has completed the club's in-depth medical examinations and is now ready to begin preseason preparations with the first team.

— Pavel, it's no secret that you spent part of your summer at a training camp in Serbia. Tell us how that stage of your preparation went.

— It was fantastic. I spent two weeks in Serbia working with an individual skills coach as well as a strength and conditioning coach, so I think the camp went as well as it possibly could have.

— How did the rest of your summer go? Besides your individual workouts, did you manage to properly rest and recover?

— Yes, I definitely had the chance to rest. I also took a short break to sit my university exams, defend my thesis, and enroll in a master's program.

— Zenit has undergone significant changes this summer. What are your thoughts heading into the new season, and what do you expect from yourself?

— First of all, as I've said before, I want to earn more playing time and keep striving for bigger goals, grow together with the team, and compete for the championship. That's our main objective. I think after last season, everyone is determined to win.

— We now have quite a few young players on the roster, including yourself, Artem Antipov, and Egor Evstafiev. At the same time, you're surrounded by experienced teammates you can learn from. This summer, Dmitry Kulagin joined Andrey Vorontsevich and Sergey Karasev. What do you think this mix of youth and experience will bring to Zenit this season?

— It's the best combination you can have: youth and experience. We can learn a lot from the veterans and add those things to our game, while at the same time helping them by bringing energy and enthusiasm. I think that's the best possible combination for any team.