Spartak head coach Guillermo Abascal explained why he often rotates his squad.

Spartak is in 9th place in the WORLD RPL table, gaining 10 points after 7 rounds.

— Why did Ruslan Litvinov sit on the bench? What are your complaints about him, other than the third goal against Ural?

– I adore Litvinov. It’s not just one mistake, it’s just that the match didn’t work out, remember the episode with the penalty (in the first half, Litvinov played with his hand in the penalty area and earned a penalty, which was saved by Svinov – note “Match TV”).

Such decisions sometimes need to be made; they will ultimately benefit both this player and the entire team. And once again: Litvinov is simply an excellent football player.

— You destroyed Dynamo with Litvinov and Prutsev in the center of the field. Why didn’t they repeat this line-up at Krasnodar?

“They simply wouldn’t have time to recover for the next match.” The games with Dynamo and Krasnodar were separated by several days, do not forget about the long journey to Krasnodar due to problems with the airport. It would be a big risk to stage Litvinov and Prutsev without proper training and recovery; I couldn’t afford that.

— Explain how Moses became an eight. At first glance, the position is not suited to his qualities – he needs to give a huge volume, enter into selection and work back.

“It all depends on how much he has the ball. And in general, the volume depends on how long you have the ball. I think Victor is suitable for playing in this position. Don’t forget that he is still injured, but I hope everything will be fine.

– I do not understand you. Moses and Medina are initially wingers. How can they be eights if they are designed for something else?

– Both can easily do what you described. And give volume, and enter into selection, and work back. Jesus runs 12 kilometers per match. Normal volume? It’s just that he hasn’t trained much with the team yet, there’s not enough mutual understanding, he still needs time.

— When placing a player in a new position, do you find out his desire?

“We talk, discuss tasks, listen to his point of view. Football players are not robots, they have feelings. Of course, sometimes they have to play in unusual positions, but unless there is an emergency, we always discuss such things in detail.

— You didn’t change Selikhov last season, despite the mistakes. Maksimenko started the new season. How did he convince you so much at the training camp and training?

— The decision was made together with the goalkeeper coach based on our training process.

It is important for goalkeepers to feel confident. This is not a position that requires rotation. Selikhov and Maksimenko are great goalkeepers. It is very difficult to make a choice when both are healthy, fit and focused. Now we are on the path to stability, because there were injuries and colds, which is why three goalkeepers have already played this season. Now we are starting from scratch – whoever is better will come out,” Sports.ru quotes Abaskal as saying.

The match of the 8th round of the RPL between Spartak and Sochi will take place on Saturday, September 16. The live broadcast will begin on the MATCH PREMIER channel from 18:55 (Moscow time), as well as on the websites sportbox.ru matchtv.ru.