The technical commissioner of the Russian national team, Valerij Karpen, made statements at the end of the friendly against Burkina Faso, won 3-0. "I liked the first half, everything worked in the defensive phase. We missed some tackles and didn't allow the opponents to get out, mainly by passing the ball onto Konaté. Overall, everything was fine, except for what we talked about before the match. There were few, if any, movements behind the defense. We didn't create the sharpness we would have liked.
"Did Gluschenkov justify his position as a centre-forward? Of course. The score was 2-0 and there was a red card, but he didn't score, although he had chances. It's better to be in the front line. His main qualities are speed and movement behind. On the right this works. Circolov prefers to receive the ball on the wing, Beveev can move towards the centre. On the left we worked a little differently, it depends on the players.
"The second half was disastrous. What went wrong? Everything. Nothing went, absolutely nothing. We should have made not six substitutions, but eleven. We had to behave like in the first half. Suddenly, the Burkina Faso national team became that team that managed to break away from the pressing, arriving at our doors, even with one man less. Why? I hope it's clear now. If you give 99% effort instead of 120%, that's how it will be.
"Were there more positive emotions than negative? As far as I'm concerned, no. If in the first half they show what they can do and in the second they don't, not because the opponent has changed, nor because Spain, France or Brazil have entered the field, you have to work with your head or with their fame. The sending off? Maybe they thought about it, obviously it's my fault, even if we talked about it during the break, but they still entered the field relaxed. In the next match I would like to see a performance like the one in the first half today," said Karpen live on "Match TV".