Anatoliy Tymoshchuk: "Moon looks more like Arshavin"

Zenit football club coach Anatoliy Tymoshchuk attended the recent match against Pari Nizhny Novgorod (81:78) and shared his thoughts on how much the team’s game has changed since last season. The multiple Russian champion, and winner of the UEFA Cup and Super Cup, also spoke about which of Zenit’s current players resemble the team’s stars from 2007. About this and much more in our interview.

— Anatoliy, it’s great to see you at a basketball game. How is Zenit’s game this season significantly different from the previous one?

— The team had a very successful start, but lost the previous match at home to Lokomotiv Kuban. The opponent has an unexpected start. It is a big mystery to me how CSKA lost, which, by the way, lost to Nizhny Novgorod. Therefore, today the opponent is quite strong, probably viscous for us. But I like the game. I think the guys need a little bit of time to play. Poythress returned, they took Spellman, Moon is showing himself well. I think we need to wait a little bit, but the guys are trying, of course, they want to win, especially at their home stadium.

— The lineup has changed significantly. If you compare this roster to Zenit’s football squad from 2007, who would Spellman, Bacon, and Moon be?

— It's hard to compare. Moon probably looks more like Arshavin in his physique. I'm probably more like a Poythress because I'm so powerful, I'm in the middle of the field. Spellman is like Pasha Pogrebnyak. Some parallels can be drawn purely in a humorous manner. But I think the guys need to add a little bit of dedication. Because even according to Poythress, if compared with his previous performance for Zenit, he was more aggressive, more focused. He's playing well today, effectively, but still, personally, I expect more from him.

— The game with CSKA is ahead. It's always a special confrontation. What do you expect from this match in Moscow?

— I hope we win today, so we will be tied with CSKA in terms of losses. And this game will be crucial for us at this stage, because CSKA is also a strong enough team. They are the two leaders of the championship. Naturally, we can call it a certain basketball derby, because CSKA has not felt the rivals for many years, but Zenit challenged and managed to do it. For us, this is the main confrontation in the championship. Not forgetting that we need to win today.

— For Xavi Pascual this is the most important confrontation, the main rival, just as it was for your Zenit 17 years ago. Looking back now at how you took the title away from CSKA, tell me after all these years, what was the main and most important factor?

— What we talked about is the desire, dedication, of course, the thirst to win, because many players lack courage. Maybe this is due to the fact that they get involved in the training process. The coach knows better. But I think that sport is still a physical condition. It must be balanced and depends on a lot of factors. I hope the guys understand this. We lost points once in five games. Zenit basketball, like football, taught us only to win. Naturally, after each defeat, we, the fans, get upset, but I will say that it is a tremendous effort, a lot of work to achieve such results, despite the staffing of other rivals. Therefore, it is really necessary to win today after a home defeat, instill self-confidence, give energy to the stands and already prepare for the match with CSKA.

— Basketball club Zenit has CSKA ahead, and we wish you victory in the upcoming match with Akron. Are you looking forward to meeting with our old friend, who played for Zenit, with trepidation, with fear or with joy?

— I can't say that with fear, but with a great desire to show our strength, our superiority. Akron plays well enough at home, Dzyuba joined them, they changed their style of play. Artem did not play for the Cup here in the previous match, but it was a different confrontation. The situation in the championship is completely different. Indeed, we are waiting for an uncompromising struggle and a very strong, let's say, zeal of the opposing team in order to somehow take away points from Zenit. Any opponent who plays against us strives for this.