Mariusz Jop after #ODRWIS: We were dangerous when we built actions from the back

Wisła Kraków's second -place victory is now a fact! Wisła Kraków defeated Odra Opole away in the 28th round of the Betclic 1 League, with Rafał Mikulec and Angel Rodado scoring the goals. The White Star coach assessed Sunday's match as #ODRWIS.

"The match was played in a great stadium; it must be said that the pitch was fantastic. Only the home team forgot to water it, or maybe they didn't forget, but did it deliberately? It was a clear message of what the home team will be looking for in today's match. Our analyses confirmed that there would be a lot of direct play, no playing from the back. And in the first half, we didn't adopt that style, we didn't adopt that style of play. We were dangerous when we built up attacks from the back, when we were patient, we were calm. However, in the second half – a bit too much of that direct play on our part. It's not the style we wanted. There was a lot of nervousness after conceding the goal to make it 1-2, and that was probably the result. However, we also had some good moments in the fast attack, in the transition phase, to end the match early. I would like to congratulate my players on their determination; that's how you achieve success, that's how you score points in difficult matches, because today was undoubtedly a difficult match. So congratulations to them on their fourth victory." in a row in the league competitions," began the White Star coach.

Wisła created several opportunities that could have been converted into goals, but ultimately only two actions ended in goals. "I think there were more chances than just the ones we scored from set pieces. Of course, the most important thing is to win, but I definitely wish the game was more attractive, that there were fewer nerves and that we could decide matches earlier, because we have that opportunity in almost every match. But yes, the most important thing is winning. It's clear that with each match, the pressure and nervousness increase, because we know how important points are to everyone, and I'm glad we're able to tip the scales in our favor in matches like these." - he said.

We didn't see Marko Poletanović on the pitch. Was that due to injury or a tactical issue? "No, it wasn't a tactical issue. This was our fifth match in two weeks. As I said in the pre-match press conference, we were monitoring the players' fatigue parameters. We were observing them in training, seeing who was looking at what. This match was very physical; there was a lot of work involved, and we decided not to take any risks with Marko today. There are also some minor micro-injuries on some players, so all of that influenced the decision." - he replied.

Thanks to Kacper Duda and his ball play, Wisła showed that they can finally take corner kicks effectively. "Yes, Kacper hit the ball in the right places today, where we wanted. We always have options for attacking set pieces. It's not always effective, but we have chances in almost every match. It's a matter of executing them, because Igor Łasicki also had an opportunity earlier, for a header. I think it was the first corner, and it was also very close, so we're dangerous. We have the most of them, but we also have the highest xG from set pieces. Not everyone knows this, because you could say that, relatively speaking, we're not scoring as many goals as we'd like. So we're definitely working on it. It's a very important element, especially in the first league, both defensively, when it comes to set pieces, and offensively, so it's something that requires training, and we're doing it." - he analyzed.

Wisła striker Łukasz Zwoliński started the match in Opole on the bench. Why was this? "As I said earlier, Łukasz played four full matches, so he had every right to feel tired. And as I said, physical preparation was important in this match, and that's why he came off the bench," he said.

Don't you think that Łukasz Zwoliński could have given the goal to Angel Rodado and thanks to that Wisła would have won the match by three goals? "True, Łukasz could have left the ball, but it's clear he wants to score goals. I think he misjudged the situation here. It's tough – as I said, they could have saved themselves some of the nerves at the end, because if it were 3-1, that would definitely have happened." - he assessed.

This is yet another victory for Wisła against a team at the bottom of the table. Does this mean the Kraków team has begun to mentally approach such matches? "I think this round shows that the mental preparation is at a very good level, at a very high level, and that's also paying off. Of course, we've learned our lesson. I think the players have also learned their lesson individually and realized that all these matches are very difficult and very demanding. I don't want it to sound like they were taking it easy before, because that wasn't the case either. However, matches unfold differently, and sometimes a lot of the chances created simply don't translate into goals." - concluded Mariusz Jop.