“Slovácko and 0:0 Draw Against Fourth and Fifth in Nervous Match: Post-Game Interview with Coach”

0:0 in the battle of the fourth with the fifth. Didn’t you expect more?

It was a nervous match. I think he probably wasn’t even particularly interesting to the viewer. The chances were like saffron and it was clear that both teams have played together several times in recent times. They were well prepared for each other from a defensive point of view and did not allow themselves much from an offensive point of view. I admit that Slovácko looked better optically, on the other hand, the efforts of both teams ended at the goal.

Why is it that you only got a point from the match?

The weight of the match fell on us, it was difficult for us to get into it. It can be seen that Slovácko is much more seasoned in these matches, it’s already over. Our players were nervous, even those I wouldn’t have expected. We had a lot of losses, even unforced ones. We survived some chances of Slovácko, including the crossbar, and in the last twenty minutes the substitute players helped us, they brought energy to the game. We managed to push Slovácko, unfortunately without significant chances. We didn’t play for a draw, but that’s how things turned out. No one wanted to make a trivial mistake and offer the lead to the opponent.

Do you regret not scoring for the second time in a row?

I have reservations about how we played after winning the ball. We were losing light balls in transition, which put us under pressure. If we had handled the situations more effectively, there would have been two or three interesting situations. If the interplay between the attackers had been better, Matoušek would have scored twice by himself. The same in the second half, if Erik Prekop made a pass to Pep Jindřišek for the goal. We didn’t choose the right solutions.

Is a point from the duel with Slovácko a gain or a loss?

It’s a well-deserved point. At home you want to win, on the other hand, when the neighbors in the table meet, sometimes the game is tactical. If I turn it around, a year ago we were playing in the play-offs, and if someone had told us that this time a year from now we would be in fourth place with three rounds to go, we would have taken it as a fairy tale. It was not easy to mobilize after the 0:6 defeat at Slavia, start the engines and start playing again. We worked on psychology, but you also saw the quality of the opponent. Slovácko prepared well and it shows that the players have been together for a long time. It’s over and we’re moving on, it will probably be decided only in the last laps. The sixth Olomouc also got into the game.

Is it nerves, or do you enjoy the superstructure?

If a classic long-term competition was played, we are in the cups. For spectators, the superstructure is interesting because the stadiums are full. I still think that football is not hockey, and the long-term competition should be decided. I’d rather go this route with us playing a few more rounds. How many times does the superstructure mess up something you’ve been building all year. It’s not only about us, but also about teams that are playing for the title or for survival.

You also experienced an exciting build-up last year, when you saved yourself only in the play-off.

Come to think of it… In the build-up, it only takes three key players getting injured or a stupid red card and a whole season’s work goes to waste. I am conservative and would rather play a long term contest. Don’t worry, the table will split in half after a while. Maybe in the end we will be the lucky ones, in any case the end of the season with three rounds in two weeks will be challenging.

Goalkeeper Martin Jedlička did not finish the match against Slovácko, who had to substitute after the first half due to an injury. How is he doing?

It was unsparingly finished at the standard and has a classic branch. The guys from the physical team worked on him and it looked like he would be able to catch. But as soon as Martin ran out, he froze. That’s why we preferred alternating. We didn’t want to change the goalkeeper after five minutes, also because we needed to save windows for substitutions. We knew that, for example, Jánoš and Puskáč would not last the whole match, because they did not train much during the week.

Sparta awaits you in the next round, which can get closer to the title again. Does it motivate you that you could complicate her path to the trophy?

Honestly, we can’t make any big statements after the result from Slavia. We have to focus on ourselves. It doesn’t matter who is against us, and we don’t care if we somehow affect the fight for the title. In the same way, our opponents do not decide if they influence the fight for fourth place. We are playing for every point, as we already played for it against Slovakia. We will see how valuable he will be at the end of the season. It would be a huge success if we still had it in our hands in the last round against Olomouc. It would be great.