Coaching Duo: #WISBBT

Round 13 brought Wisła a perfect score against league leaders Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza. Coaches Marcin Brosz and Mariusz Jop commented on the White Star's 2-0 victory at a press conference.

Marcin Brosz - Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza

"From the start, we couldn't impose our style of play. We couldn't win duels, not only in midfield but also on the flanks, and instead of attacking, we had to defend with greater force. This was one of the reasons we created very few chances in the first half. After the break, the first few minutes gave us some hope. We created one or two chances. The game started to resemble our style of play, but it lasted 15-20 minutes, which was too short, and in the end we went back to what we had started with, giving away the initiative. We definitely fell back unnecessarily. We didn't attack chances, but we created too few to give ourselves any chance," the visiting coach summed up the match.

James Igbekeme took over midfield. Was that the key to Wisła's victory? "Yes, definitely, but not just midfield. Even when we managed to win the duel, I still remember that we were too slow. The passes weren't moving forward much. We were looking for other solutions, but there was a lack of dynamism. It wasn't just midfield, because in the wide areas, when we got there, we weren't able to get into the penalty area and be dangerous there. If we lost most of the duels, we had to defend instead of attacking. And our strength is attacking, and that was evident here. We lost as a team. Not just midfield, but overall, we should definitely win more of these duels here if we want to compete," he analyzed.

Journalists asked what was the reason for Lukas Spendlhofer's absence and what were the reasons for the changes during the break? "Regarding Lukas, he already felt some discomfort in the last match, but through sheer force of character, he played until the end. He's had an MRI scan, which didn't show any significant changes, so we hope he'll resume training on Monday. As for the lineup changes... We wanted to change the tone of the match a bit. We brought in Morgan Fassbender – a strong striker with a slightly different profile than Kacper Karasek. The idea was to change the formation a bit, with two strong, fast strikers. We were hoping that Kamil Zapolnik, by keeping the ball and passing it to the second line, would give us a chance to open up space, because Morgan is very good at that. At the beginning of the second half, this paid off, as not only did we start to tear apart Wisła's defense, but we also lost possession from one side to the other. It was a promising moment when it seemed we'd play better in the second half, but – as I said – it lasted for 15-20 minutes. Then the match stabilized again," he added.

What, according to the media, was the reason for Bruk-Bet's lack of reaction after the goal was 0-1? "It's one thing to want to, but we couldn't break through... We played with three strikers. After the goal, we switched to a three-man attack, bringing on Kuba Wróbel. There were signs that we were starting to build something, but they were quickly interrupted, and instead of taking a step forward, we often had to retreat to our penalty area, where every ball into the wide areas was dangerous. We couldn't stay higher up in the zone we planned to play. Wisła set very high demands on us in this match," he said.

The Nieciecza team is performing less well than at the beginning of the season, a point the coach also addressed: "We also have to give credit to Wisła. They played a very good match. Our strengths were winning duels and creating scoring opportunities with ease. Even in the last match against Znicz, we had almost thirty chances to score. There, our effectiveness was more limited, because we had opportunities. This match was completely different from Friday's. This was a completely different match between two strong teams, and we have to give credit to the opponent, who played a very good match." "We wanted to play differently, we wanted to impose our style of play, but here the opponent opposed us. They disrupted our buildup from the very beginning. They didn't allow us to play through either the defenders or the defensive midfielders. They left us open to the attackers, but here too we couldn't keep the ball. We couldn't get higher up the pitch. I think both were decisive. These are the kinds of matches after which I often emphasize that we have a lot of work ahead of us. We realize this, but matches like these also show that these aren't just words, but that we actually have a lot of work to do to perform much better in these matches," concluded coach Marcin Brosz.

Mariusz Jop - Wisla Kraków

"We're definitely very happy because we won the match against the leaders. That's a given. The match wasn't easy, because in the first half we held onto the ball a bit too long in the middle, and our opponents also tried to exploit this transition phase. We had some problems with that, but overall, looking at our performance, I think it's a well-deserved victory. We created many more chances than our opponents, we were dangerous, and we were also very diverse in our attacks, both from set pieces and from the build-up and from the attack. You could say it was a good evening, a good day for us. I'm glad a lot of fans came; I think we gave them satisfaction and joy," the Wisła coach assessed the match. "Every victory tastes the same. Every victory is three points, so I wouldn't make any distinction here, saying I'm less happy with a win against Odra Opole or Pogoń Siedlce. Every victory is important because every victory brings the same number of points," he added.

Angel Baena, who came off the bench, performed well on Friday. Does this mean he's closer to the starting lineup than before? "I think that's also our strength, that there's a lot of competition in training. The players who come on the pitch bring that quality. Today, 'Baena' provided two assists. I don't remember him having a match like that for Wisła Kraków, where he had two assists in one game, so it was a great start, but there's a big question mark about his health, because he took a serious hit to his quadriceps in that one contact. He was still warmed up, so he played the match, but there might be a problem. We have another match in a few days on Tuesday, and it's possible there will be a few changes to the lineup," he said.

The Krakow team followed suit and desperately tried to add a second goal. "Our philosophy is clear, the players know it, and the message is that regardless of the result, we continue to play our game. Whether we lose or win, we want to keep attacking, we want to stay high in the opponent's half. And that was evident in the goal we scored, including the first one, when we created chances. We were very dangerous, we were constantly pressing, so that's the assumption, and that's our philosophy," he noted, answering the question of whether there was any belief in a positive outcome to the match: "As if there were no grounds for that, because we were creating chances. It was a matter of executing those moments, because there were several very good chances in the first half that should have resulted in those goals. Here, patience, belief in what we're doing, consistency. These are the things we want to see repeated, because we've shown many times in previous matches that we maintain our composure, that we maintain our playing style, and we strive to score goals regardless of the match scenario."


Łukasz Zwoliński scored two goals. When asked how the coach managed to transform this player, he replied: "I've already talked about Łukasz. When he came to us, he had some troubles in Raków; he lacked minutes, he lacked that feeling on the pitch, his teammates. He needed some time to recover physically and also to understand exactly what was expected of him. He has clear guidelines on which phases he should behave, what we expect from him – whether he should move behind the back or move towards the ball, and at what point he should do each of these. It's quite clear, and I think it's a big help for the player to have clear criteria and expectations."

Patryk Letkiewicz started in goal for the White Star, keeping a clean sheet, but journalists found the goalkeeper's on-field behavior to be excessively nonchalant. "It's always a player's assessment of whether he's comfortable receiving, whether he can play inside, or whether he needs to play a longer pass. Patryk is actually good at this element, when it comes to playing with his feet; he's two-footed. He can cross the ball. And yes, there were some minor errors today. Of course, there will be analysis, because there always is, and we'll definitely be making sure he's more cautious in certain situations," he continued.

Rafał Mikulec is also in top form, as the coach was also asked: "Generally, the players' improved form is related to the competition within the team, the quality of training, and the intensity of training. Rafał has slightly different tasks now. I don't want to go into details, but he does have different tasks when it comes to attacking. We're also working a lot on Rafał's defensive actions, because he also had moments when he didn't anticipate situations well enough, because he also has to remember that he's primarily a defender and is held accountable for that. And the fact that he has attacking strengths, that he can play in a positional attack, is an additional advantage," concluded coach Mariusz Jop.