Mariusz Jop before #TYCWIS: We are prepared for various scenarios in this match

Mariusz Jop's team's next opponent will be GKS Tychy. The match, part of the third round of the Betclic 1 League, kicks off on Monday, August 4th at 7:00 PM. The White Star coach met with journalists at a press conference.

In Monday's match due to health reasons the following players will not play: Anton Chichkan - ankle injury, Kacper Skrobański, Piotr Starzyński, Bartosz Talar, Alan Uryga Rafał Mikulec, who are recovering from injuries and Bartosz Jaroch, who He has already had surgery that will keep him out of the game for several months.

Wiktor Staszak and Igor Łasicki returned to training.

Injuries have sidelined several of the White Star's defenders. So how should the defense be set up in their absence? "We have a few more unconventional moves like moving Joseph Colley or Dario Grujcic to full-back. Joseph hasn't played there, but there are some similarities in our style of play, and that's an option for us. Dario is a player who used to play at left-back, so he's also an alternative for us in that position," said Mariusz Jop.

"We considered such options during training. Both Joseph and Dario were fielded in some training sessions as full-backs," added the coach.

GKS Tychy hosted Wisła Kraków in May of this year. "The match against Tychy in the spring is a distant memory in football. A lot of time has passed since that meeting. However, of course, we always have some subtle surprises prepared. We're prepared for various scenarios in this match, for different ways of playing, and above all, it's important that it's effective in the end," Jop argued.

Currently, both Wisła and GKS Tychy have two wins each. Monday's match is considered the match of the round, and whoever wins automatically jumps to first place. Do you feel that this is the most difficult of the three matches you've played so far, and that the bar is set higher? "I don't approach this match that way. I think this league has already shown that every match is very difficult. There are no absolutely easy opponents, no easy opponents. Tychy has certainly been in very good form from the very beginning. Coach Skowronek did a great job there, because he also made a lot of changes, but he maintained the team's identity, his vision, and what the team demonstrated last season: attacking play with high intensity. Of course, they also have their weaknesses. We've prepared an analysis and we'll try to capitalize on that. Or, to put it another way, play to our strengths," explained the White Star coach.

If we compare the current Tychy team with the one that played last season, we can conclude that there have been many changes. There are new names, but the club has also parted ways with many players. So how can we assess their opponent based on their current lineup? "Indeed, several players have left GKS, but a few interesting ones have joined. It's hard to say whether this is a stronger team or not. You'd probably have to ask Coach Skowronek for details on how he feels about it. However, their tactical outline is similar in terms of how they play. As I said, they've retained their good elements in positional attack. They're solid in defense, very intense throughout the match. I think they're an interesting and strong team. They showed this in the previous two matches, and they'll definitely be a contender in the final fight for victory in this league," he concluded.

History has come full circle – two years ago, after the match against Tychy, Wisła fans began to be boycotted at most stadiums in Poland. They had significant difficulty entering the away section. Significant pressure from both the club and specific actions by the association, not just feigned, ensured that Wisła fans would attend the match. How did the locker room react, how did you react to this news? "First and foremost, I think it's very good that the association acted quite strongly, because there was always pressure from the club. However, the Polish Football Association (PZPN) didn't always follow suit. It's very good that these actions finally led to our fans being able to come. I'm very happy about this and I hope this will be a turning point, and from the next match on, fans will be able to support us in a normal way at away matches. This is certainly very important to us," emphasized the Wisła coach.

Both teams have played 17 league matches each, and Tychy has 39 points, Wisła 38. Are these really the best teams in the league right now, or rather, can they play in this league? "Statistics show that these are the two most effective teams this year and of course we can say that these are the teams that have learned to score points and function in this league, which is certainly very specific.

Wisła Kraków is in second place, while GKS Tychy leads the table, taking into account matches in 2025. "Well, I hope we'll surpass Tychy in this year's points table. However, we know we have a very difficult match ahead of us, but we're ready for it," concluded Mariusz Jop.