“Surely the CSKA leadership had doubts whether to invite Fedotov, but their risk was justified” – Radchenko

The former striker of Zenit, now the coach of the St. Petersburg club academy, Dmitry Radchenko, told RB Sport that the FONBET Russian Cup Superfinal turned out to be expected for him.

On Sunday, CSKA won the Russian Cup by beating Krasnodar. The main time of the meeting, held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, ended with a score of 1:1, in the penalty shootout the army team turned out to be more accurate – 6:5.

– As I expected, this is how the final turned out. In my opinion, there are no favorites in such fights, but CSKA still had some advantage, because they played in Moscow. And, of course, in such matches, nuances decide. And these nuances were once again decided by Igor Akinfeev. That’s all.

– Now, in a month, CSKA will play the Super Cup with Zenit. Is it possible now to guess how the match will turn out, or a lot can change in such a period?

– We have been talking a lot for a month or two, which of the foreigners will leave Zenit, who will stay … But at the moment, it seems to me, these are just talks. And if the St. Petersburgers keep the squad, it will be a very interesting match. And CSKA can fight.

– Are the army team in Russia now really the second strongest after Zenit?

— CSKA had an ambiguous season. First, a new coach. Secondly, a lot of players left, the line-up was not very even at first. There were very good games, there were recessions. But this was understandable, because Fedotov was building his own new team. And slowly, by the end of the season, they found the game, confidence, teamwork that he wanted. This gave the result. Winning the cup in the first season is a great success for the CSKA coaching staff. Surely the club’s management had some doubts about whether to take Fedotov or not, maybe invite another foreigner, because CSKA is a club that sets the highest goals for itself. But, as we see, their risk, let’s say, was justified. Fedotov has been demonstrating efficiency with his work for several years. And I think that now the leadership will listen even more to the coaching staff in order to make the team even stronger.

– The season is officially over – all participants in the future draw have been determined, the cup final has been played. What are your impressions of everything you have seen during these months?

I don’t think there was anything particularly negative. Who would win was predictable and clear after the first two rounds, it was clear that hardly anyone could compete with Zenit. But some other teams disappointed very much. For example, Dynamo, about which there was so much talk after last season…. But until such big clubs sort out their internal problems that constantly interfere with achieving results, it will be so. We need stability in all structures of the club,” Radchenko said.