Jałocha: Each of us appreciates the progress we have made

The U-17 team completed their 2024/2025 Central Junior League fall season in December. The White Star's young players competed with full commitment in league matches against demanding opponents in the first half of the season, and currently sit 9th in the U-17 Central Junior League table. Team coach Patryk Jałocha spoke about his players' performances, the challenges of building the team, their plans, and their goals for the preparation period.

You wrapped up the fall season some time ago, and you're about to return to work and prepare for the second half of the season. Both the coaching staff and the team had plenty of time to rest and draw conclusions after a difficult fall season. So how do you assess your team's performance over the past few months?
I think each of us feels a bit dissatisfied with our performance alone. However, looking back at our individual conversations with the athletes, we all appreciate the progress we've made compared to where we started, both individually and as a team.

We've talked about the players' lack of satisfaction and progress, but working with a team that was still in its infancy certainly had its share of challenges. What situations were the most challenging for you during this time, both on and off the pitch?
The biggest challenge undoubtedly stemmed from the formation of a virtually entirely new team, comprised of U-15 and U-16 players, aside from a few with previous experience from the previous season. Relatively few boys also joined from outside the club. This was the first time this had happened since I started working in this age group. It's important to be clear that this has resulted in a significant difference in the intensity and organization of play, and above all, in the individual skills of the U-17 boys compared to the provincial league or the CLJ U-15. Furthermore, the club imposed some changes to the way they played, which meant that every U-17 player began this season absorbing a significant amount of new information. This meant that the results of the training process took longer than in previous years, but they are visible, and they will be more noticeable week by week.

The team ultimately finished the round in ninth place in the table. Is this a result that fully reflects the team's attitude, or are there some unmet goals? Does the team's position in the table reflect the team's attitude?
I don't think so, because there were at least a few matches that could have easily ended in our victory and we would have scored more points. However, we must honestly admit that there were also matches when we were our own biggest opponents, our performance deviating from what we would like to be. We certainly learned a lot of valuable lessons from this period, which we want to translate into development goals for the players and hold them accountable. You played many very good matches in the fall round, but not all of them ended in victory. Which matches do you consider the most successful and crucial for the team's development? I can definitely say that every match this round was demanding for us, but not always in the same way. For example, the match against Korona Kielce proved to be by far the best in terms of willpower. We demonstrated great determination, tenacity, and dedication, but on the other hand, it was weaker in terms of execution of footballing activities, both technical and tactical, yet it ended with a positive result. Moving on, in the match against Stal Rzeszów, we looked good in terms of execution, but we were ineffective and lost the match. Each match is a different story, and we could certainly take a lot of material from each one for analysis and development.

As mentioned, during the season you had to deal with a large number of young players moving from the U-15 to U-17 level. How did they adapt to the higher level of competition?
Working in the U-17 team is unique because it's the first time two adjacent age groups meet at the Academy, presenting a significant challenge for players arriving from the U-15 category. The most outstanding players compete against players a year older, but above all, they must challenge themselves. They must determine how they will react to the increased competition within the team, and whether they will even accept it. Each transition to a higher age group requires adapting to the increased intensity, and this is a normal process in which each of us must demonstrate patience.

With preparations for the second half of the season just around the corner, what will be the team's main goals for this preparation?
The goal will certainly be to improve our game organization in every phase. We will strive to involve more players in offensive actions, particularly when attacking the penalty area, demonstrating greater determination to score. In the defending phase, we function well under high pressure, but we want to further improve our preparation for losing the ball and defending the opponent's counterattack. The main goal, however, remains unchanged – the individual development of each of these young players, not only in terms of sport but also socially. If we achieve this goal, it will undoubtedly impact the team's development. There were many questions today about the sporting result; of course, it is very important in sport, but I would like it to be a result of our work, not an end in itself, because we are talking about a long-term process, namely player development. I think the greatest success is being able to congratulate a player you have had the opportunity to work with on his debut in senior football at the national level, preferably in the top league of entertainment, and that is truly what matters most.