Danil Aimurzin: Settling In at SKA St. Petersburg
After a trade from Severstal, Aimurzin has one goal in four games for SKA, who beat Lada twice, Dynamo once, but lost to Spartak.
Danil Aimurzin has scored once in his first four matches for SKA St. Petersburg after arriving in a trade from Severstal, where he had spent three seasons and, in the first two, been one of the club's leading forwards.
SKA have won three of those four matches: two overtime victories at home against Lada Togliatti (4:3 and 2:1) and a regulation win over Dynamo Moscow (5:3). The only defeat came on the road, 1:3 to Spartak Moscow. In an interview with Izvestia, Aimurzin assessed the start of the campaign and his adaptation to Igor Larionov's SKA side.
"We had good wins in the first three matches, but in the last game against Spartak we lacked a bit of luck and failed to stick to our system. In several passages of play the wrong decisions were made. That’s why we lost," Aimurzin said.
Asked whether it is difficult to settle at a club with a budget and ambitions as large as SKA's — a side fighting for the Gagarin Cup, unlike Severstal — he played down the contrast.
"I would not say it is difficult. My task is simply for the team to win. For that I have to score goals and set them up. I will do everything in my power for that. If needed, I will put in the work in defence too," he said.
He put the uneven start, including the laboured wins over Lada, down to a squad still finding its feet.
"I think we are still fitting in with each other. We have a lot of newcomers this season, which causes mistakes. When we execute what we're told properly, then—" he said.
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