Jop: Every player has to do the work

The international break brings Wisła Kraków a missed match against Chrobry Głogów in Round 10 of the Betclic 1 League. Coach Mariusz Jop met with journalists before the match.

Bartosz Talar, Jakub Stępak, Joseph Colley and Enis Fazlagić are excluded from Saturday's match.

Tamás Kiss and Olivier Sukiennicki will not play due to yellow cards.

The first question concerned Marc Carbó's fitness: "Marc has been training with us this week in full force. He seems ready to play, so we're considering him when determining the starting eleven. However, we also have other options. Patryk Gogół can play in midfield. Jesus Alfaro can play in midfield. There are certainly more possibilities."

The R22 team hasn't played a zero-scoring away game in a very long time. What can be done to break this streak? "These are statistics, historical things that have absolutely no meaning when you're on the pitch. You have to focus on your tasks, and such numerical, statistical things are good for press conferences," the coach said.

The recent results of Chrobry and Wisła have been starkly different. The Orange-Black lost 0-5, while the White Star defeated Stal Stalowa Wola 5-1. "It's true, these results mean nothing. A new chapter, a new match awaits us. Match scenarios are very different, sometimes unpredictable, so we have to focus on what we want to do, on our tasks. Each player has to put in the work in terms of mental and individual preparation for the match. This is to ensure we are 100% ready and prepared for the actions we want to take," he noted.

The Kraków team has yet to win in Głogów. Does the coach believe that certain venues are simply difficult for certain teams? "For me, it doesn't matter what Wisła's past results in Głogów have been, because I know this question is leading to the fact that Wisła has never won there. We're aware of that, but for me, this is a completely new match. It doesn't matter to me personally, and it shouldn't matter to the players either," he added.

The hosts of Saturday's match are conceding a lot of goals, which could be a signal for the White Star to press their opponents from the outset. "We always try to push hard from the first minute, but we have our analysis prepared. The players watched it today. They saw where Chrobry struggles when it comes to defending. We'll try to exploit the spaces they open up and try to attack our opponents hard," he explained.

So what are Chrobry's strengths? "They're definitely dangerous – like many teams – in a fast attack. They're dangerous from set pieces, so those are the things you need to pay attention to. Sometimes they try to execute set pieces very quickly, so we can't get caught off guard. We have to organize quickly. It's like I often say, the opponent has a certain way of playing, and sometimes they change their tactics a bit for a match against Wisła. As the visiting team, we're prepared for different scenarios. In weekly micro-cycles, we prepare for the opponent's low defense, the opponent's fast attack, and the opponent's high pressing. I think we're ready to fight for all three points," concluded coach Mariusz Jop.