Coaching duo: #CHRWIS

Following the long-overdue #CHRWIS meeting, coaches Mariusz Jop and Piotr Plewnia met with journalists. The coaches, in contrasting moods, answered media questions.

Mariusz Jop - Wisla Kraków

"I wanted to congratulate the team on their victory on a difficult pitch. Playing here in Wisła has never been easy, so we're certainly very pleased with a high victory, without conceding a goal. We started the match very well, scoring two goals quickly, and that was a good start. A little later, we lost what we wanted to do in building up, too many players wanted to give the opening pass, and we lacked a bit of patience. In the second half, we had many moments to close the match out earlier. We probably need to work a bit on our quick attack and on finishing those moments, because either the goalkeeper made excellent saves or there were some inaccuracies, so there's a slight sense of dissatisfaction. However, as I said at the beginning, congratulations to the team, because it's never easy here," began coach Mariusz Jop. "I wouldn't say I was heartbroken after the win in Głogów. This is another opponent on our path to collecting points. As I said – a difficult opponent, an inconvenient one for Wisła. Wisła hasn't won here so far, so it definitely required a lot of concentration and good mental preparation to be aggressive and effective from the very beginning. And we also knew that the team that recently lost 0-5 wouldn't have that confidence, and if we scored a quick goal, there would be opportunities for more. It's natural that when you don't win for a while or lose badly, that confidence disappears," Jop continued.

At halftime, the coach decided to replace Igbekeme with Alfaro. Was this change dictated by fitness issues? "No. But let's remember that James has three yellow cards, so we have to keep an eye on that. We want to have this player available. Besides, he's played in most matches and has a lot of minutes. Jesús Alfaro, on the other hand, looked very good in training, so with that result, I decided to put Jesús in," he explained.

The Krakow team had plenty of opportunities to close the match out faster in Głogów: "Yes, but the important thing is that we're creating chances, we had a lot of good opportunities in the fast attack, some great passes from Rodado. Kuziemka and Duarte were a bit off there. Rodado also had two more chances, as did Zwolak. So it's good that we're creating these chances; we're getting to the moments where the goalkeeper has to perform. However, we definitely need to work harder here when it comes to finishing in the fast attack." The White Star waited over a year to finish the match with a zero behind. "Of course, it's always pleasing when a team doesn't concede a goal. It's pleasing when they win on a field they haven't won before. Statistics are great, but every match is a new hand, every match is a new story. This one won't have any bearing on our next match either. We have to take what's good and what needs improvement. We have to pay attention to this in a micro-cycle before the next match, so we're already thinking about the next home match," he noted.

After the match against Brave, Angel Rodado became the sole top scorer in the Betclic 1st League. "Ángel is a very important player in our team. Of course, he also has matches where not everything goes as well as today, or almost everything. Certainly, on his day, he's a very dangerous player, and we're happy to have him in our ranks. However, it's important that when Ángel has a moment where he's not at his best, there are others who take on the burden, because at the beginning of this season, it was either Ángel who scored or no one else. Now we have many players who can match his efficiency," he analyzed.

Piotr Plewnia - Brave Głogów

"Congratulations to Wisła, three well-deserved points. It's sad to say it again, but these are the facts," the economic manager began, adding: "The first 7-8 minutes were very concerning considering the last match at Ruch Chorzów, and the demons are coming back, but I think that after that, our first and second good counterattacks made us approach the match a little differently. Our approach was good from the start, because we saw the commitment and concentration in the locker room, but well – football is brutal. Wisła had two chances and scored two goals, then we played better. It's a shame we missed the opportunity, because I think the result would have been a bit more even, and we could have at least gone into halftime down by one goal, not two. We tried, but that's all we put on the line today. Unfortunately, that's our current capabilities," he added.