Coaching duet #WISPOL

The #WISPOL match, played on Sunday at R22, ended in a draw. Coaches Rafał Smalec and Kazimierz Moskal summarized the second round of matches.

Rafał Smalec - Polonia Warsaw

"I'll sum up this match in two ways: we're happy to add our first point to our tally, but we regret that, after playing 30 minutes with a one-man advantage, we weren't able to make it three. From the very beginning, we knew that regardless of whether Wisła were playing in the cups or would soon be playing another match, it would be a very difficult match for us, as the hosts have a lot of quality. We were too, so we expected a football match. We were a bit challenged by being forced into a low defense, but we performed very well in it, and although Wisła had the ball, they were forced to deliver it from the wide areas into our penalty area, and we did very well there, so that's a big plus for us. After the red card, we knew and hoped that the game would turn around at the start of the second half, and we started creating chances. Quite dangerous, but we would certainly demand of ourselves, and we do demand that we convert at least one of them into a goal. They were clear-cut, and as a result, we allowed two dangerous chances for the hosts in the closing stages, and "Kuchcik" held us back and we earned a point. That's how I'll stick with that rhetoric. Even though we played with ten men, we'd like to have more, but we'll take it step by step. Big compliments to my players. As I say, this team is building; it's a continuous process, but we'll keep fighting. If we keep performing as we have been, I'm convinced something good will come of it. Thanks also to our fans, who came to Krakow in large numbers and cheered us on," began the visiting coach. "The match has its own rules, and here the players can feel their current form from the pitch – whether they can constantly attack high up, press, or win the ball back in the opponent's half. If they felt they needed to drop lower for a moment, they dropped lower. We have it all planned out so that we won't force them to go up at all costs if they don't feel it, because then it's easiest to get disorganized on the pitch and make those spaces very exposed. The fact that we even dropped lower didn't mean Wisła had any chances. The ones they created were in transition, when Michał Kołodziejski made a bad decision regarding a tackle, and the second was a stationary ball and a cross, after which they created a chance with a header. So we definitely want to play very high for 90 minutes, very Be brave and create chances, but the match has its moments, the match has its phases and we have to accept that," he added.

Kazimierz Moskal - Wisla Krakow

"Well... We all expected a better start to this season. Regarding the first half, we lacked quality up front, because in my opinion we had the majority of possession and controlled the game, but up front we lacked a bit of that quality with Polonia defending solidly. Honestly, before the second half, I was worried and worried that we might run out of patience. It turned out we lacked effectiveness, because the second half started rather poorly for us, with a pass from Joseph to Anton. Then an unfortunate turn of events, a red card, and we were down to ten players, but it turned out that with ten players we had three excellent scoring opportunities that we couldn't capitalize on. So, playing with ten players, the draw might not be so bad, but considering those opportunities, I think we should have capitalized on at least one of them. That's not to say that Polonia didn't have their chances either, but I think we had the clearest ones," the White Star coach concluded.

Wisła's lack of effectiveness needs to be addressed, as it also accompanied the Kraków team in the match against Polonia. "I think there's really not much time between these matches to really work on anything. We'll certainly try to do that, but we also have to consider who we have, what players, when they arrived, and so on. This is our fourth match, if I'm accurate, and I think we shouldn't be too hasty in concluding that this ineffectiveness is our only weakness," he said.

The R22 coach was asked to evaluate Mateusz Młyński's performance: "I wouldn't want to go into detail and make individual assessments. The change was purely tactical. I expected more duels to be won on the wing, hence the decision to move Sukiennicki into that position, with Łukasz Zwoliński in the middle."

Journalists inquired about the weaker performances against Polonia compared to the match against Rapid. "I don't know if it was a slower pace. Sometimes matches go like that. If Polonia defended stronger in the first half, it's hard to call it an intense match, but looking at how we pressed, I don't think there was any reason we played a match three days ago," he replied. Wisła's players warmed up wearing shirts supporting Kacper Duda, who is struggling with an injury. "We tried to do this earlier, but organizational issues halted the action. We wanted to support Kacper because we know he's really struggling with not being able to train and play. He's eager to train and play, so we had this idea for support here," he noted. When can we expect "Dudi" to return? "I don't know, it's hard for me to answer. I think the doctors do too, because opinions vary. They can't tell us exactly when he might return to training. However, I agree that it's a problem, because two key players were out for these first league matches, and that's probably where the problems are. Igor Sapała and Mariusz Kutwa gave what they could to the team, but we know they weren't key players, so they're also looking for some rhythm and some kind of teamwork," concluded Kazimierz Moskal.