[情報] 週四訪談 - 日爾科夫
http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~1905490,00.html
THE THURSDAY INTERVIEW: YURY ZHIRKOV
Posted on: Thu 17 Dec 2009
Yury Zhirkov's summer arrival from CSKA Moscow became the latest in a long
list of associations between Chelsea and Russia.
It is a curious alliance we share with the world's largest country, not
just owner Roman Abramovich, who bought the club in 2003, but also a
number of players from Dmitri Kharine to Alexey Smertin, as well as the
visit of Dinamo Moscow to post-war London in late 1945, where they drew
3-3 against a Chelsea XI.
The addition of Zhirkov in July, announced by Carlo Ancelotti in his first
press conference as Chelsea manager, further reinforced the link after
Guus Hiddink returned to coach the Russian national side.
For the 26-year-old, familiarity with the Chelsea name and parts of our
history were a good start, but he still had the upheaval of his young
family and transition to an alien culture, where he did not speak the
language to contend with.
Thankfully, he is now beginning to feel at home in England, and has a
basic understanding of the tongue, though he still relies on his native
Russian to communicate more freely. He is of course a quiet guy anyway, as
his team-mates will testify.
Even Branislav Ivanovic, who has taken Zhirkov under his wing and has
previously acted as a makeshift interpreter will tell you about the shy
player that tails him around Cobham.
On the field, the former CSKA Moscow man has enjoyed a growing involvement
in recent weeks, shaking off the knee problem that held him back after his
July transfer and displaying glimpses of his ability as an energetic and
skilful wide player, equally comfortable on the front or back foot.
'I am extremely happy. After the transfer there was an injury so I am very
happy now to be able to play. For about one month I was out of training
and it was hard psychologically. It wasn't fun,' he admits.
A debut against AC Milan in a Baltimore friendly saw him score the winner
in a 2-1 win, but that was the last Chelsea fans saw of him until
September and a competitive debut against QPR in the Carling Cup. It was a
frustrating time.
http://www.chelseafc.com/javaImages/c4/94/0,,10268~7902404,00.jpg
Zhirkov
'This is always the case when you try to get back into the game as soon as
possible. You think you are recovered fully but then you go on the pitch
and still feel the pain, so you have to go off,' he explains.
'That's what happened in this case, the intention was to get back into the
game as soon as possible. The head is there to play but the legs do not
always follow!'
After a prolonged absence from competitive football, a little rustiness is
to be expected, and Zhirkov happily admits Chelsea fans are still to see
his best form, either at the back or further forward.
'I haven't done anything special so far in the games so I cannot say I am
very happy with that yet. When I was playing in CSKA I was playing left-
back, but probably going forward a lot more than here, it is very
different here.
'It doesn't really matter to me, I am happy to play, and can comfortably
play in either defence or midfield.'
From speaking with him, it is obvious Zhirkov is delighted to have been
given his chance at Chelsea, in arguably the world's top league. It is, he
explains, a sharp contrast to what he was used to at CSKA.
'Training is different from what it was in Russia. It is more hard work
here but I am getting used to it in England,' he smiled.
'Matches too are very different, both in the way the game is played and
the way it is followed. The level of football in England is absolutely
fantastic, and that is the real difference. There are players from all
over the world that can end up in England.
'It is not every day that you receive an offer from a club like Chelsea.
Even to train with Chelsea is better and more rewarding than to play
against some other teams in Russia.
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Zhirkov
'It is every player's ambition to win the most difficult championships. In
Russia we won the championship twice and all the available cups, so
everything that could be won was won. Moving to a more difficult
championship and establishing yourself there is the next step.'
High praise indeed for his new employers, but how are we perceived in the
east? With our history, the owner and our appearance in Moscow's 2008
Champions League Final, it is little surprise the Blues are a well-
followed club there.
'The fact the owner is from Russia helps, but even before that quite a few
of my friends were supporting Chelsea,' he reveals. 'Now with the
attention on the club, large numbers are supporting it in Russia. I was at
the 2008 Champions League Final, Guus Hiddink took the whole national team
squad. Chelsea could have won the way the game was developing, but when it
comes to penalties luck is a big, big factor.'
Despite the disparity in quality between Russia and England, Zhirkov left
behind a league that has progressed in recent seasons, aided by cash
investment. Russian teams can now compete with the establishment on the
European stage, highlighted by various Uefa Cup wins and Champions League
appearances.
'If you think about it the whole thing started about five years ago when
the Russian teams started winning Uefa Cups, CSKA, Zenit, and Shakhtar
from Ukraine,' he says. 'The clubs started receiving more money and trying
to improve the level of the game.
'The difficulty is that there are very few good stadiums and the quality
of the pitches is not very good, which is why certain aspects are not as
good yet.'
Such is the difficulty some sides face when they travel to Russia, Zhirkov
was confident enough to bet his friend Ivanovic that Rubin Kazan would
take points off the mighty Barcelona in this season's group stages, though
their victory at the Camp Nou even raised Russian eyebrows.
'Rubin is a difficult team to play against, they are very tight with a
closed defence anyway, and the bet was that Rubin would take some points
away from Barcelona, not to imply they would definitely win. It was
fantastic what they did, to win 2-1 away, and back in Kazan I was
confident they would have a draw, which they did,' he smiles.
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Zhirkov and Ivanovic
The friendship with Ivanovic has undoubtedly helped Zhirkov acclimatise,
yet back in Russia, they were familiar opponents, with the Serbian turning
out for Lokomotiv Moscow before his switch to Chelsea in January 2008.
'He was there for two seasons and I played against him a few times,
directly against him as he was right-back and I was on the left,' he
recalls. 'He is a hard opponent, very difficult to play against, but CSKA
always won! He tackled me hard a few times, it can hurt, it is always
difficult to play against guys of his level.
'Since I've been at Chelsea I have spent time with Ivanovic, and Nemanja
Matic came later. I am also friendly with all the Russian players,
Arshavin, Pavlyuchenko, and Bilyaletdinov that are in England. We do not
meet up very regularly but we have done a few times.
'Not speaking English wasn't an obstacle to get to know other players.
When I arrived I had help from Ivanovic and Andriy Shevchenko to help me
settle.'
Despite Shevchenko's departure, there remains a plethora of international
stars at the club, most of which will be at next summer's World Cup, a
tournament Zhirkov will be forced to sit out after his country's failure
in last month's play-offs. It remains a sore point for the Tambov-born
player, and even the consolation of a rare holiday (he has had no
prolonged break in the last year) is unlikely to adequately compensate for
missing out.
'I am still not over it, the impression is still haunting,' he concedes.
'I had a couple of days' holiday before transferring to Chelsea but that
was it. Let's wait until I am 60 or 70 and I will take some holidays
then,' he laughs.
Zhirkov is clearly a man that loves his work. Between now and May, there
will be plenty to do.
--
"We believe the same thing."
"Maybe there is hope."
- 9x20 The Truth
--
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