Jop: I hope we will see the team like in the last two matches

Sunday, March 9th, is the day of the match against Górnik Łęczna. After two away games, the Kraków team returns to their home stadium, where they will be aiming for three points.

Due to health reasons, the following players are unable to perform: Bartosz Talar, Joseph Colley, Igor Łasicki, Marc Carbó, Patryk Gogół, Piotr Starzyński and Enis Fazlagić.

Marko Poletanović was not included in the medical report. What is his recovery like? "The most important thing is that the injury isn't very serious. Marko is recovering quickly, and tomorrow we'll make a decision regarding his participation in the match," the coach said. "Igor Łasicki is the closest to returning to the pitch for full training with the team," he revealed.

Mariusz Kutwa didn't play in Gdynia due to health issues. Is he ready to play yet? "We're considering him because, as you know, this wasn't some break meant to give him rest; quite the opposite, it was a time when his body had to fight off an infection. He trained with us for a few days, but as for the decision, that will also be made tomorrow," he noted.

The finalization of the action was an aspect in which Wisła struggled against Arka, despite generating more scoring opportunities than their opponents: "In practically every micro-cycle – if I had to break it down by percentage – I think eighty percent of it is offensive. Often, the scenario is that we're in a positional attack, and that's something that needs to be constantly practiced and repeated, plus, of course, the use of transition phases, because that's when the spaces are larger," he analyzed.

Łukasz Zwoliński has been scoring slightly fewer goals lately. Should we worry about this? "I think the path to scoring goals is consistency and gaining that confidence in training, too. The second thing is showing the player that he has those opportunities, that he can find his way in them, that he can create space to receive the ball. And sometimes it's the nuances, the details, whether the ball will bounce off the post and go in or not. These are things that are difficult to train. This is also the element of footballing luck. However, I believe that 'Zwolak' will score goals because he's a guy who works hard for himself, but also for the team, and I know he'll simply pay it off in one of the matches," he said.

It was clear last week that the Krakow team also has a problem defending from set pieces. "Of course, this is something we're working on, and not just when we concede goals, but we work on it every week. During the camp, there were also a lot of sessions dedicated to marking from set pieces. Of course, with our defending style, these mistakes are sometimes very costly, because all it takes is a split second of lapse in concentration, a lack of attention, and then a situation arises where the opponent has a chance to score. In the last match, this was somewhat evident, as there were only two corner kicks and we conceded two goals. Of course, I think this fact alone will be motivating for the players. We, from the coaching side, have given them a thorough reminder of the rules and what they need to pay attention to, and we did so in training. However, it's a very important element of the game, and as a team, we want to be dangerous in attack, but we also need to be more effective and efficient in defense," he continued.

Frederico Duarte has been added to the starting lineup and has also taken up scoring goals. What accounts for the midfielder's improved performance? "I think there are several factors contributing to this. Usually, when a player comes to us, firstly, he has to get to know the group, secondly, he has to learn how to play, he has to learn the league and see what the expectations are, what he has to pay attention to and what the coach requires of him. These are several things. Some players need more time for this, others less. I'm glad that "Dua" showed great potential at the end of that season. But we knew beforehand – when we brought him to the club. Now, however, he's earned a place in the starting lineup and is holding it firmly. He's playing well, he's an added value to the team, and I'm glad he's in good form," he noted.

Sunday's opponent scored only one point at the beginning of the spring round, but this cannot be considered a determinant for Wisła Kraków, something the coach also warned his players against: "I think a similar scenario could arise as in the away match in the previous round, where the opponent changed their defense before our match, switching to a five-man lineup. There were moments when they defended very low, there were moments when they tried to be aggressive. This is definitely a very uncomfortable opponent. I would absolutely not pay attention to the fact that they have scored one point in three matches, because against Wisła everyone is working hard, and even if they looked weak in the previous match, coming here - those reserves of commitment are drained to the maximum, and I think we can also expect that, that this will be a team that will fight very hard. They have advantages, because they have two players in their team who decide on goals, they are very effective, they are high on the scoresheet. They are dangerous in old passages of play, they have a tall team, they have several quick players for quick attacks, so that is A team that certainly has its strengths. However, it also has a lot of problems that we will try to exploit," he analyzed.

Wisła has won four of its eleven home matches. So what can we do to improve this statistic? "We try to do this by working hard every day, because that's the path for us. Of course, as I say, sometimes the match scenarios vary, especially in our case, where the opponent usually plays very low. It's not easy in positional attack, but as I said, we work every day to improve certain elements of our game. I think this was evident in the last two matches, although those matches were a bit different in terms of the opponent's behavior. Against Arka, there were also moments when they defended low, and we were also able to be dangerous and create chances against such a determined opponent who defended low. Of course, it's quite natural that if a team plays well, more people want to see them, and I'm very happy about that; there will be a large group of fans who always give us strong support, are with us, and help us. This is definitely something that allows us to reach even higher levels," he added.

When asked if the coach treats matches between neighbors in the table as a "six-point" contest, he replied: "There are three points for every match, and you can't change that. Of course, this rivalry with a direct rival means that if we win, we get them, while the opponent doesn't... Maybe that's why it's sometimes called a six-point match. However, I don't think we need any additional motivation to play against a neighbor in the table, because you could say we have eleven other neighbors like that. Let's say there are six teams with a larger point difference between them. And the top twelve are the teams that will be fighting for the play-offs, for the top six, so from my perspective, the preparation for this match is the same as for the match against Arka, the match against Ruch, and the match against Znicz." "I'm hoping to see a team like we did in the last two matches—a team that scores goals, plays much faster, is dangerous, creates chances, and is also effective," he announced.

"These matches were different, and it's hard to lump them all together. We're certainly not satisfied with the points we've collected. However, in terms of our speed with and without the ball, I think the last two matches showed us the direction and what we want to continue," concluded coach Mariusz Jop.