Anton Sosnin (Russia U-21, Zenit) and Alan Dzagoev (CSKA, Russia) about FM09

Anton Sosnin, a midfielder from Zenit St.Petersburg and Russia U21, doesn’t have much free time. He is in training for Zenit Reserves team and now there are also call-ups from Russia U21. There is also some private life. But sometimes he can find some time to relax. He turns on his home notebook and loads FM… 19-years old Anton shared his achievements in this game especially for FMFan.ru.

One of the main cheaters of FM08 agreed to give an interview for the FMFan.ru without hesitation and it happened during a game of his Russia U21 team. Being on substitution he was stretching his legs far from the bench while his manager Igor Kolyvanov was shouting at his partners.

-- Football Manager? Of course I know! – Anton smiled. – My friends have told me that I’m good there, even foreign clubs buy me.

-- Yeah, it’s true! Can wetalk?

-- No problem, come to my hotel, we can talk there.

That was my acquaintance with one of my favorite players from FM08. This guy is absolutely adequate; he loves to joke and has a lot of confidence. He doesn’t know what fame is. A call-up to U21 team is maybe his first serious achievement in contrast to FM where he has won the Champions League and the World Cup several times.

-- Do you remember your first club?

-- I’m not sure but I guess it was Man Utd. I decided to learn at the good team with a large amount of money. I had won something but it was boring to win all the time. It wasn’t possible for me to play for more than 5 seasons. I could play one season for 3 weeks or even a month. It’s strange but I was a studious pupil.

-- Who was your favorite player at that time in the game?

-- Hargreaves! He was awesome! I remember it was easy to sign him for many clubs. And he didn’t ask for a big salary.

-- Have you played in Russia?

-- Of course I picked Zenit. It wasn’t so good at that time. But I achieved a lot. I even won the Champions League.

-- Roncatto, Todorov were the best goalscorers..

-- Yeah! None of the big teams could play without them, -- Anton laughs. – But sometimes I tried not to buy cheaters. But it was so hard to resist when my friends told me about them.

-- That’s ok with the past... Let’s talk about nowadays. FM09 was released recently. Did you hear?

-- Yep, acquaintances have told me a lot. “Anton, you’re the best there”, – they say. “I bought you to Milan”. “You’re a star in Juventus…”. They always make fun of me. I haven’t played in FM09 yet. By the way can I buy it in St.Petersburg? (At this place I had to tell him all the history about licenses and so on – author’s note). It’s bad… Now many guys at Zenit play PES. I play for Atletico Madrid, like Aguero there. But I’m sure this will end soon. Zenit is not in this game, I can’t buy myself in the team. It would be interesting to control myself, to fine myself for absence from the training

But I played FM08 for some time. I promoted Dinamo St.Petesburg to the Premier League in 2 seasons. I don’t remember who was playing for the team but I lost first 3 games at Premier League and understood that I had nothing to do at this level. This save was killed and the disk was laid down on a shelf. At that point my manager’s career was terminated. I hope it won’t be forever.

-- Do you have favorite tactics?

-- Yes, I make tactics by myself… As a rule I like attacking football. 4-3-3 forever! I like to see a lot of players attacking. I’d prefer to win 6:5 than 1:0.

-- And now a couple of questions about real life. You’re AMC in FM. Isit that way in real life?

-- Actually yes. Though last season I played DMC for Zenit Reserves but my favorite position is AMC.

-- The main strengthens in your profile are creativity, passing, decisions, finishing. And how about it IRL?

-- They’re the same, -- Anton laughs again. – Of course I don’t score 20 goals per season but my friends told me that my profile seems to be verisimilar. By the way I’m good at heading. I scored 3 goals with the head last season though I’m just 178 cm height.

-- In the game you’re often bought by different clubs because you don’t cost a lot of money and don’t ask for a large salary. You’re often available for loan. And what top clubs attract you IRL?

-- In England I’d prefer to play for Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool. In Spain I like Barca, I’ve already played for them when I was 14-15… In Italy I’d choose Milan. In Germany I’m shocked with Hoffenheim . By the way it would be very interesting to rule this team in FM. Maybe I’ll pick it after Zenit. Of course I’ll play there in midfield.

-- Do you think it is possible to make a career IRL similar to a career in FM?

-- I want to believe this, but the reality is not so good, it’s very hard to get to the first team in Zenit now. There are Tymoschuk, Zyryanov, Danny, Faizulin, Denisov, Semshov for 3 places in first eleven… Who would pick a young player in this situation? So I think there is a big difference between the game and the reality. But I’ll try to develop myself. I’ve got a call-up from U21 team. It’s just the beginning for me!

Also here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgK7RZq1d2g

you can see how Alan Dzagoev, russian wonderkind, play FM09 (Aston Villa - CSKA)