Dmitriy Tarasov: “Everyone’s Into Work Already”

Lokomotiv midfielder Dmitriy Tarasov is in Portugal with the team. On the day before the first friendly against the local FC Esperanca the Russian international answers our questions.

- You’ve been at the camp for five days already. What’s your impression?
- No bright emotions, really.  A training camp always means practices two times a day. Actually, everybody’s into work already, getting used to the workload. Just a usual routine going on.

- Judging from your Instagram account you tried to keep fit while on vacation. Is it paying off now?
- Oh, sure. We’ve been away for a month, and lying on a beach idling is not easy. So I combined sunbathing on the beach and going to a gym. Now it’s paying off well.

- How do you find the training conditions in Lagos?
- Well, it’s my second training camp here, so I know the place. The conditions are good and we have everything necessary for work. All we have to think about is training and getting ready for the second part of the season.

- Any new tips or exercises from the coaches?
- Not really, no. Probably it’s still ahead. All the exercises are well-known, so we have no difficulties with that. But a training camp is always a psychological test, it’s not that easy to be away from home.  Well, anyway we are enjoying our practices, you can see people have been missing their job.

- Lokomotiv are one of the first to come back from vacation this season. Do you agree this can be to our advantage by the season start?
- It’s too early to make such predictions. We’ve had a long break and we still have three more training camps ahead of us. We have to prepare really carefully, the main thing is to have all people up and running by the season start. There’s a load of time until March and how useful our early return is, will be clear only by end of the season.

- Tomorrow you’re playing your first friendly after vacation. Do you think this game should be taken just as a serious practice or as a real game where result matters?
- I think a professional wants to win in every single game. Of course friendlies are there to try out new tactical schemes and ties. Any game must be taken seriously regardless of its status.

- Do you want to score in this game? Does it matter to you now?
- To be honest, I just want to come out and play. I’d prefer to play friendlies four times a week rather than practice a lot. So I’m just eager to start playing, finally!