Tashuyev: Zenit players grown sated with success

Sergei Tashuyev has offered his diagnosis of Zenit's flat form this season, pointing to a squad grown too used to winning rather than to any failing on the part of Sergei Semak.

"Zenit's football has been unremarkable this season. The players have grown complacent from winning. Semak is a strong coach. Credit is due to him. Managing wealthy footballers is not straightforward. The squad has Russian stars and a fairly large group of Brazilian players. Everything becomes predictable, and it can grow stale when you work at a club for a very long time. The squad is complacent. Zenit must change its recruitment policy. The club is shifting to Russian-eligible players as the foreign limit tightens. New footballers are coming into the side: Karpukas has arrived, and the local academy product Kondakov is coming through. New players are gradually appearing around the core of the team. There are always costs. Nothing unusual, just a normal evolutionary process. Zenit will still get what it's due in the RPL," said the Yenisei coach.

Tashuyev pointed to Karpukas and Kondakov, both integrated as the club pivots to Russian-eligible players ahead of tighter foreign registration limits.