Jop: We have a simple goal: to beat ŁKS

Ahead of the 18th round of the Betclic 1 League, coach Mariusz Jop met with journalists at a press conference. On Saturday, the White Star will host ŁKS Łódź.

Due to health reasons, Joseph Colley, Bartosz Talar and Enis Fazlagić are unavailable.

The R22 team had a weaker performance against Stal Rzeszów. In that match, Mariusz Jop's men created fewer scoring opportunities. Is this something the players from Wawel have been working on recently? "The only way to improve technical and tactical elements is through work. We do it every week. Not just when things aren't quite working as we'd like during the match. This work is continuous – in individual positions and by individual players. It's done practically every training session. I think our number 10s didn't create much in this last match either, so it's not just the wingers, not just them, who are responsible for that, but the whole team, because building starts with the goalkeeper. How quickly we switch sides, how quickly we get the ball to the number 6s, the number 10s, or behind the defense determines whether we create chances. I think placing such a burden of responsibility solely on the wingers is inappropriate. We all defend, and we all attack in the same way." We are all responsible for this phase of the game," he began.

Filip Baniowski recently received a chance to train with the first team. What's his status? "Filip—like 'Kuzi'—is training with us. We'll see what happens in the upcoming matches. I don't want to say here whether Filip will make his debut this year or not. He is, however, with us in training. He will also travel with us to Warsaw. He's a player we're definitely integrating into the first team." This process takes time, though, so patience is needed," he noted. Does the coach see the reserves as a potential candidate to join the first team? "Potentially, yes, but it's not an easy process to transition from playing in the third league to the first league squad. We'll definitely be considering who from this group could participate in training with the first team from the second round onwards, and who could potentially go to the training camp in Turkey. I don't want to mention any names here, but this team is obviously constantly being monitored. There's usually someone from the coaching staff at the reserves' matches. The sporting director is practically always there, so we have an overview of what's happening there. Besides, we know these players well, as I managed the reserve team last season. Bartek Bąk, who is my assistant, is also up to date; he's close to the team and knows them well. Of course, each of them potentially has a chance to move up a level and train with the first team," he noted.

Wisła's next opponent, ŁKS, has had a weaker season in the league. How does the coach assess this opponent? "They drew their last two matches, lost the third one at home to Ruch, a team on the rise. They won the Polish Cup during that time, so it's not like they've been winless for a month. I don't think they're a team in crisis. They're a team that scores a lot of goals, though. I think they have 26, so it's a pretty decent result. We can definitely expect a team that, even if they haven't won in recent matches, everyone coming here or playing against Wisła expects to unleash additional layers of emotion, additional layers of motivation, and to see some kind of breakthrough. Everyone has their own goals. I think every team coming here or playing against us at home has a goal to beat Wisła. Just like we have a simple goal to beat ŁKS. That's natural," he analyzed, returning to the first match against the club from Łódź: "Back then, ŁKS scored three goals from set pieces out of the six they scored from set pieces. In Wisła, especially when it comes to defense, was lacking in this area back then. Of course, this is an additional motivational factor for us, as we want to retaliate and show that we're the better team. And tomorrow we'll definitely have the opportunity to prove it on the pitch."

Mariusz Jop took over after the match in Łódź. How has Wisła changed since then? "That's a broad question, but I'll try to answer it briefly. I think I can be satisfied with practically every phase of the game. The team is showing signs of improvement and is improving in every element. I'm referring to positional attacking, transition, pressing, and building attacks. I think this team is taking shape the way we want it to. I think that when it comes to set pieces, we've improved our attacking and defending effectiveness. These are also elements we're working on and doing better than before," he continued.

Recently, President Jarosław Królewski declared that Mariusz Jop would be managing Wisła. "I'm working calmly, just as the president and I originally agreed. Of course, there was a brief question about whether I would like to take on this challenge. Of course, I would, but we still have some details to work out. For now, I feel like the coach of this team for the next match and until the end of the year," he said.

When asked what the staff could do to help the team perform better at 22, the coach replied: "Patiently do what we practice. Patiently follow our model, our way of playing. Don't do things we don't practice emotionally, just stay calm and patient. Then we'll definitely create chances and score goals."

There were questions about the team's preparations for the new round. What will they look like? "The training start date is known, January 7th, and the trip to Turkey is also known, January 18th, and will last two weeks. We have four friendlies planned there; two are already confirmed, and two are being finalized. We'll probably play a friendly against Podbeskidzie before we leave for Turkey. Alternatively, we have a friendly match scheduled after our arrival, but that depends on whether we play the Super Cup against Jagiellonia, and that date, in turn, depends on their performance in the Conference League. Will they finish in the top eight or not? If they do, they'll skip a round, so a date will appear before the start of the second round, meaning before February 15th or in the February 15th-22nd window. These dates would be realistic for us to play this outstanding match," concluded coach Mariusz Jop.