Coaching duo: #WPŁWIS

Wisła Kraków returned to winning ways. The R22 team defeated their namesake team 3-1 in Płock, and after the match, the coaches of both teams, Mariusz Jop and Mariusz Misiura, shared their observations.

Mariusz Jop - Wisla Kraków

"We're very happy with this victory, which we achieved after our last defeat in Łęczna. The team responded very well, although we had some changes in the lineup. It also confirmed that the players who are waiting for their chance are ready to take responsibility for their position and for the team," began coach Mariusz Jop. "I think the most important thing for me is that even though we're leading and – as sometimes happens – we're playing with one less player, we're able to continue our mindset, our way of playing, and always focus on attacking play," he added.

According to journalists, the hosts of Sunday's match performed below expectations. "Wisła Płock is not a weak team – I said this at the pre-match press conference and told the players in the locker room. However, a lot depends on how we play. If we play the way we want, then the opponent has problems. You don't accidentally score as many points as Wisła Płock did, so they're definitely not a weak team. This is a top team in the first division," he noted. "Like I said – I think every team in this league, if you're aggressive, good at pressing, good at dueling, has trouble building plays. That's our mindset, our way of playing – we want to do that, we want to press high, we want to be good at dueling, and the Płock team didn't show much in attack today because we were effective in those activities," he continued.

Media representatives believed the Kraków team was two leagues ahead of their opponents, a point to which coach Mariusz Jop commented: "I wouldn't want to judge the opposing team too harshly. I always try to focus on what we're doing and how we function as a team. It would be inelegant of me to delve into such detailed analyses and evaluate the team's performance or the coach's work. I absolutely don't want to do that, so I'm happy that we fulfilled our tasks and that we were aggressive. Even with ten men, we were able to win the ball high. We weren't passive, we didn't wait for the opponent, we were proactive, and that's something we want to continue doing, regardless of whether we're playing at home or away."

Defensive personnel issues didn't spare the Kraków team before Sunday's match, but the White Star's defense rose to the occasion. "I think it's also a reaction from the team, which then becomes even more motivated because it knows there are some changes. However, as I said and say very often, we have quite a large squad. There are players – often young – but also experienced, and they have to accept that they won't be playing from the start. They train very hard and wait for their moment, and that was the case today, with both Mariusz Kutwa and Wiktor Biedrzycki stepping up. Both played a very good match," he assessed his players.

The team from the capital of Lesser Poland once again had to manage with ten men after James Igbekeme received his second yellow card. Despite this, Wisła Kraków managed to pull it off, adding a goal while playing shorthanded. "It depends on how the match unfolds, what the result is; there are different situations. These matches – from last season, where the cards were early in the match – are different from today. However, we are also, of course, prepared to play one less player, because such situations happen in matches. And that match in Tarnobrzeg, which you mentioned, was a breakthrough, showing that you can score goals and be effective with ten men. So I think that mentally, we've had a breakthrough here, showing that even with one less player, you can score goals and win matches," he noted.

Wisła are increasingly utilizing the power of set pieces, as they confirmed in Płock: "We also scored a goal from a set piece in Tarnobrzeg. But that's the result of consistency, work, and patience. We didn't do anything different when it came to set pieces, analysis, or training. We prepared the same way. Simply put, for a set piece to be effective, it needs a good quality cross, good timing, and everything has to come together, and sometimes that wasn't the case. There was a positive momentum, we were getting into situations, so it was only a matter of time before we scored those goals."

Marc Carbó left the field with an injury. Is the initial diagnosis known? "As for Marc, we have to wait for more detailed tests, but it's a shoulder problem. The question is how badly it's damaged and how long he'll be sidelined? We don't know yet," he replied, also referring to the absence of Igor Łasicki: "As for Igor Łasicki, he couldn't be considered due to an injury after two full-time matches. He had a slight knee problem, and then that knee problem caused him to suffer a minor quadriceps injury. Igor came here to be with the team, but he wasn't even considered for the field, hence the choice."

Mariusz Misiura - Wisla Płock

"I'm facing you after my first defeat as Wisła Płock coach in a home league match, so I hope I can handle it. As for the match itself, obviously, when it comes to the result, we can make some great stories about it in a moment. In my opinion – from such a clean match – up to the red card, considering what happened on the pitch from the field, neither team created a perfect chance. Wisła Kraków executed their set pieces very well today. They scored two goals from them and could have scored a third, so I think they were much better than us in that aspect, and that's what won them the match," he began.

"I wanted to thank my players for giving it their all - as much as they had today. I also thank my medical staff, who did everything they could yesterday until late at night to make sure we had as many players available as possible, because Iban played a few minutes with a suspension, the same with Piotr Krawczyk. Yesterday, Bojan Nastić came off training and was not fit to play. Here, when we were talking about the squad before the press conference, I asked you somewhere not to dwell on it, because we had our own problems, so I am very happy and congratulate you that all the players who wanted to play today at their own risk did it for the team, because it often happens that a player does not want to take risks. Here, in the case of Iban Salvador - he took a risk, and respect for him. The third goal is a very good lesson for all of us, because we often demand that more young players play. Or, in other words - we ask why Tomczyk or Brzozowski play so many minutes. I will answer honestly that they are ready today under "We need to keep possession under pressure from the opponent and make a decision. At the point where the red card was given, we were losing 2-0, and we decided it was a good time to give minutes to Boro, who works really well and hard. I'm incredibly sorry that he lost the ball somewhere, that counterattack that cost us dearly. On the other hand, there needs to be a lesson that in the Third Division, if you lose the ball like that, nothing happens, there are no consequences, and no one understands that the First Division no longer forgives. We need to support Boro now, we need to continue working with him, and I'll try to give him minutes as soon as possible so he doesn't feel like this mistake ruined his chance to play in the Wisła first team. On the contrary, I accept that it wasn't the best time to bring him on, and as I said, I'll try to give him minutes. I congratulate the opponent on the victory. We'll move on," he added.