Jop: Rivals are still in first place

On Friday evening, R22 will host Wisła Kraków and Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza. The day before kick-off, coach Mariusz Jop met with the media at a press conference.

Unavailable due to health reasons are: Bartosz Talar, Kacper Duda, Jakub Stępak, Joseph Colley, Enis Fazlagić and Igor Sapała.

Rafał Mikulec, who suffered an injury in the match against Siarka Tarnobrzeg, is not on the injured list. "Rafał is a tough player and participated in training despite the pain, but we will make a decision on his condition before the match whether he will be able to participate," the coach said. Will Giannis Kiakos be available? "Kiakos is looking good in training. He recently played for the reserve team, so he is also considered for the starting eleven," he added.

What are the health issues for Duda and Starzyński? "Kacper's is taking a bit longer. We also don't want to risk him entering full training early, as he has a slight ankle issue, which he's had significant problems with before. Planning for him to start full training with the team has been postponed for a few more days. Piotrek, on the other hand, has a problem with jumper's knee. It's a common injury that often occurs in teenagers. It's affecting him now, too. He's an adult, but this problem has surfaced," he explained.

The Rodado-Zwoliński duo is fulfilling their role, adding numbers to the game. When asked if this is the optimal solution, the coach said: "This is confirmed by the results, the points scored, the matches won, so there's no reason to look for any changes here."

There was also a question about the team's mental attitude. Has the coach noticed that the team is stronger in this regard? "I don't know if I would have drawn the conclusion that it would have been different a few weeks ago, because we don't know that. However, we are constantly working on ensuring that the team, regardless of the match scenario, how the match unfolds, whether we lead early or not, or whether we get a yellow card, sticks to our way of playing until the end. Be patient, don't look for emotional solutions that we haven't practiced, and always play for victory. As I said at the very beginning, at the first press conference, the most important thing is that the players have one thing in mind – to win the match, regardless of the circumstances or how things are going. That this thought is always guiding them, and that we stick to our patterns, not looking for solutions that we haven't worked on," he said. "Every victory definitely builds confidence and the players gain confidence. This confidence returns after a low scoring start to the season, and it's evident in training and matches. Even when there are moments of a bit of turmoil, a slight wobble, like in the previous league match in Siedlce, where we lost after a penalty, the team only had a moment of hesitation, a few inaccurate passes, but they quickly recovered and were able to impose their style of play. As for the pressure, I think the pressure is still there. The best defense against pressure, or accepting that pressure, is hard work in training, because I believe that if we work hard, sooner or later fate will reward us in the league matches," he noted.

What kind of mindset does the coaching staff expect Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza to have? Will they be attacking, or will they be clinging to their own goal? "I think both scenarios are possible. This is a team with a basic 5-3-2 formation and, with some varying details, revolves around that system. They can sit lower and play on the counter-attack because they have fast players up front who are prepared for it. They can also defend patiently. We're trying to prepare the team for both scenarios in training, and I think we're ready for a positional attack, for a cover attack, and for coming out of low defense to look for a quick attack, so we've practiced a lot of these variants this week," he continued. "I think this is a team with very good numbers overall. They've had a great start, but they only suffered their first defeat in round 12. I was at one of their matches live, and they lost to Znicz. But this is the kind of team that will come to Kraków as favorites. They have fantastic numbers, the coaching is doing a great job, and the team is, above all, effective and consistent. These are the kind of parameters that make them a candidate for a very high position, and they're currently in first place. Of course, the league is still long, and we'll want to put up a strong fight against Termalica," he added.

The Nieciecza team has been stagnating a bit lately. Does the coach think they'll play differently than they have so far because of this? "I don't think much has changed at Bruk-Bet. Their opponents are still in first place, they're still effective. Of course, football often has a sinusoidal pattern, and there are moments when you're very effective, but there are also moments when you're less effective. Termalica is similar right now. I don't really care about that, though, because no matter where our opponent is, they're always twice as motivated against Wisła as they are for other matches. It'll probably be the same on Friday. We encounter this situation in every match, and I don't think this time will be any different," he suggested.

"It remains to be seen whether they will defend deep, because as I said at the previous press conference, we analyze the opponent, and very often, the opponent changes their game against Wisła. And very often, they simplify their actions, defend low, and play more directly. We'll see how the teams we'll soon be playing will behave in practice. We, on the other hand, will definitely want to impose our own style of play and try to prepare matches so that we focus primarily on ourselves. Of course, we take into account the specifics of the opponent's game, but for us, the most important thing is to be consistent in our way of playing," he analyzed.

Wisła Kraków's reserves will also play a league match on Saturday. Who from the first team will we see in the lineup? "I can already reveal that Kamil Broda will be in the team on Saturday, but as for the number of first-team players, that will be a final decision after the match. It depends on the situation, whether there are any injuries or suspensions, because we have a match in Łęczna soon, so there isn't much time. However, I would like as many players as possible to play, even for 45 minutes. So that they also treat it as a training session with an opponent. Such a match cannot be replaced in training. Dawid Szot will also play for the reserves. He is expected to play at least 45 minutes," he revealed.

Is coach Jop still counting on the "return" of Mateusz Młyński and Igor Sapała?
"Of course I'm counting on them; they're in the first-team squad. They're injured at the moment, though, and secondly, there's a lot of competition in those positions. We have five or six players at winger, or the winger who cuts in, or the one who fills the gap, including "Młynek," so it's impossible to have them all in the 20 for a match. Especially not in the 11, so there will probably be some rotation there, but "Młynek" has to wait for his chance for now. He's still panting, but he needs to recover first," he said.

On Friday, Wisła Kraków will be cheered on by – according to estimates – over 20,000 fans. "Of course, I'm happy about that. The fans' support is irreplaceable. This crowd is fantastic! We, the team and the staff, will definitely want to encourage this crowd to be with us. They were cheering us on because we absolutely need that support. However, it's also natural that when we win, more and more people show up in the stands," commented coach Jop. "We know our fans are unpredictable and have interesting ideas. And it was certainly surprising, but it was also very nice. I have a lot of respect for these people for coming to cheer us on from behind the net. It was amazing, and they definitely deserve thanks for that." I will repeat once again that I hope that this practice will be closed as soon as possible, because it is no longer even irritating, but I no longer know how to perceive it... It is absurd that practically everyone is citing the same resolution and not letting our fans into away matches," he added.

Matches under coach Jop's leadership are yielding the expected results in the form of victories. What is the coach most pleased with? "I think the first, simplest conclusion is that we score at least three goals in every match. That's certainly important. We create a lot of scoring opportunities, but in my opinion, the most important thing is our defense, and here I think we're effective in high pressing. We've been effective so far, and I hope we'll continue to be effective in the transition phase after losing the ball. These are parameters that are also visible in the numbers; they are very good, and if we're good there, in high pressing and in the transition phase, then the opponent is also very few in our penalty area," he continued.

What conclusions did the coaching staff draw from the match against Siarka Tarnobrzeg? "I think this should be seen as a lesson for the players, because this relaxation came too quickly. At 2-0, some people probably thought the match was over. We relaxed a bit too much, and the opponent punished us for it, and it was harder afterward. Definitely harder. As I said, we're treating it as a lesson. As something we still need to work on. Here, too, we have to distinguish between two things. One is external stimulation and motivation, and the other is the preparation of each player for the match. I also know from a player's perspective that it's very difficult to mobilize against a potentially weaker opponent from a lower league. We worked very hard on this element, but it turned out that we didn't quite succeed," he noted.

Wiktor Biedrzycki, who has been receiving a lot of criticism recently, received a red card in the cup match. "Some players need time to adapt. We need to remind the fans that Wiktor fought very hard to be at Wisła. He was quite firm in his stance at Nieciecza. As a result, he was moved to the reserve team. He came to us not fully prepared. He had to jump into the team quickly, and indeed, it must be admitted that his start was not successful. However, he is a player who, in my opinion, can be a strong point of this team. However, he needs some time. Firstly, for adaptation, secondly, he needs to work on his shortcomings. They are characterized and presented to Wiktor. He has started to do this, and it simply takes some time for it to be visible on the pitch," he defended his player, adding: "Collecting yellow cards is often based on fatigue. Not only in his case. It is also related to physical problems, mental problems, when someone wants something too much, and sometimes is late and picks up yellow cards. This is also an element that was repeated. Overall, however, I think that we, as a team, will support everyone." player. In this case, Wiktor, who actually received his second yellow card in Tarnobrzeg somewhat at his own request. That's what being together is all about: in moments like these, we don't kick someone who's down, but help them get back on track and help the team, because that's what they're capable of."

Wiktor Biedrzycki was still playing for Bruk-Beta three months ago. Did the coaching staff utilize the player's players? "Of course, we talked for a while. Whether it was about set-pieces or what the coach pays attention to. These are conversations that don't necessarily mean much, because they overlap in analysis, but it's also natural to talk to players who were at the clubs we're playing next," concluded coach Mariusz Jop.