#WISWID: Coaching two-parter

It was a successful Wednesday for Wisła Kraków and its fans. The White Star reached the Polish Cup semifinals with a 2-1 victory over Widzew. We invite you to read the match summary provided by coaches Daniel Myśliwiec and Albert Rudé.

Daniel Myśliwiec - Widzew Łódź

"I'm wondering what I can tell you? I'm more inclined to ask if you've ever seen such a scenario? The answer will probably be no. I'll ask a more difficult question. Could anyone have imagined such a scenario? And I assume that even people with great imaginations can't imagine something like that, but I guess that's why we all love football. I think Kraków today is more than Łódź. And actually, I don't know if there's any point in me dwelling on the match or the key moments, of which there were about 48. One thing I have in mind is what else I can do better so that my team doesn't feel the way we do at the very end, and I have to do everything to be a better coach for them and a person who, in such moments, will be able to help them enjoy and write a beautiful story, not a dramatic one. I certainly respect them a lot for how they played with such a short recovery time and facing a team that doesn't fit the first league at all, that has its own quality, its own footballing intensity, which "They showed great spirit today – especially in the closing stages... I'll be brief. I simply extend my heartfelt congratulations to the hosts. Write a beautiful ending to this beautiful story for you, and I think I'll end here, because whatever I say, it probably won't alleviate the negative feelings my players have. There's definitely one very, very important thing I want to reiterate – I respect them so much for their faith. For coming so close despite being so exhausted and facing such significant challenges in preparing for such an important match. And I also thank our fans, because I think they deserved a reward, and we didn't give it to them," he concluded.

When asked what Wisła did to surprise their opponent and what were the reasons for Widzew allowing the hosts too much in the penalty area, he replied: "I wouldn't entirely agree with the second thesis, because I think that in many moments we were in the right position defending the penalty area. Maybe we didn't react quickly enough to prevent Wisła from taking a shot on goal, but looking at the context, I'll go back to our preparations and the two days when we faced two different philosophies: Górnik is offensive, but focused on counterattacks. We wanted to use a different space against Górnik, namely the space between the lines. Against Wisła, to play effectively and create many chances, we had to use the space behind the defense line. Due to this, we had little time to change the players' thinking, and not in a verbal sense, because this was obviously expressed during our briefings, but if a player is not able to practice this due to fatigue, we could say it 40 times, and the reflex will still be to play between the lines. To answer the first question: Wisła didn't surprise us, but I wasn't able to implement the reflexes at full intensity that could have helped us Help, not hinder. Very good pressing, where we changed the structure again to make it easier for us to win the ball. Wisła also resorted to direct play. After winning the ball, we immediately played the ball to places where Wisła reacts quickly, because you can see a big positive change after the coaching change at Wisła, that they react very quickly to losses. And they have a large number of players in midfield. We played the ball instinctively there, where we wanted to play the ball instinctively in the match against Górnik Zabrze. This is one example. I don't know if there's any point in me giving more. In general, Wisła's style, Wisła's quality, didn't surprise us. The finalization phase, meaning playing the ball when there's no space to play a through ball, to the side, the central midfielders cutting in, the central midfielders rotating. Overloading the right wing, which we also wanted to react to with our formation, are all things that are very visible, repeatable, and not accidental. The result of the home team's work. I can only regret that we didn't have a day or two, "To prepare even better for this. Not in a theoretical sense, but in a practical sense. Then I think the game would have looked different. It wasn't difficult to predict such a scenario in the first half. The most important thing for us was to survive these moments. So, returning to my answer, the fact that I allowed myself to disagree with this thesis, given our team's form and Wisła's performance, I was still able to accept this final result at that time."

Albert Rudé - Wisla Kraków

"I'll be very brief: I think we played a good match against a good team. In my opinion, it was a beautiful match. We finally achieved something very important for our fans and for our locker room. I'm very happy about that," he began.

According to public opinion, Wisła should have fared better than the Ekstraklasa team, and ultimately, it can be said that this was the case. What does the R22 coach think about this? "After this experience, and comparing matches against first-division opponents with the match against Widzew, an opponent from the Ekstraklasa, I have to say that the pressure from the opponent was greater this time, because they had a lot of quality. However, the way we want to play is similar to what the opponent showed. It was a match I really enjoyed. We need to continue working on our principles to show a similar level of performance in the league. That's where our main goal for this season is," he said.

This Saturday, Wisła Kraków faces a match against Odra in Opole. What will the preparations for this clash look like? "First, I'll talk about the physical aspect. We prepared this team to play with high pressing, even for 120 minutes. We showed that we are ready for it. Now we have a short recovery period. We didn't expect extra time, so we have to deal with it in the best possible way, because we have a really important match ahead of us. As for our mental side, I have this observation. What changed between our last home match and today's? There was very little time, and in such a short time you can't change practically anything. This shows that this match is not only about tactics or work, but also about mentality. In the league, we have a lot of pressure on us, we have a clear primary goal in front of us, we are a great club. In the future, we have to learn to deal with this pressure. Today was a slightly different scenario. It was our dream to reach the semi-finals of the Polish Cup, we wanted to have fun. We played our game, we had fun, we played a fantastic match. It will now be a challenge to cope with the pressure. For this, we will need the right attitude and mentality to maintain this level of performance." also in the league. Thanks to this, we have to achieve the goal that lies ahead of us," he explained.

Journalists were curious about what words the coach addressed to his players before extra time: "I told my team to approach it with the right mindset. Extra time isn't always about tactics; sometimes mentality is more important. We have certain principles that I want us to stick to when it comes to the team's mentality. In every match, in every training session, in every situation, we work on them to make it a habit. It's a process, but I think we're on the right track," he noted.

The atmosphere in the stands was incredible, which the coach also emphasized in his statement: "It was just incredible, just incredible. I'm proud of it. Like I said last time, the fans were pushing us to score that goal. Last time we didn't manage it, and now we did it. The fans were with us, they supported us. Experiencing something like that made me really happy to see it," he continued.

Alvaro Raton's mistimed pass resulted in a goal for Widzew, which the referee ultimately disallowed. How did the coach react to the situation? "As you know, we want to play our moves from the goalkeeper and take risks in passing the ball, so that we can later have an advantage in the final third, but we also have to remember that sometimes the risk is too great. Alvaro knows perfectly well that he made a mistake in this situation. He's a professional, he has a lot of experience. I don't need to tell him he made a mistake; he knows it. He's very strong mentally, and he'll continue to work on playing from the back, so that similar mistakes don't happen again," he concluded.