When he worked in Spartak – either as a coach or as an official – successes came. He mastered the demanding Trnava environment. Today, Pavel Hoftych says with a smile that he graduated in Slovakia. The last time he led Mladá Boleslav from the position of head coach, he remained at the club after the season, but moved to the post of sports manager.
PAVEL HOFTYCH is unique in that he worked as a coach and also an official in the Czech Republic and Slovakia
How do you remember the moments in 2018 when Spartak won the title?
“It was a complete bomb. We talked about it with the ex-owner of the club, Vladimír Poór, and we agreed that at that time, absolutely everything that should have been done had been done. And we also had the necessary luck. We made an excellent step with the arrival of Nestor El Maestro. He made his debut as a head coach in Spartak, he had excellent analyses. He also came with his brother Nikon, we put together the right implementation team. We chose a few players, we managed to put together a team that somehow got going. The fact that we brought the title to Trnava after 45 long years says it all.”
What would you say to Trnava fans and Spartak?
“I wish them to live more beautiful moments and that the club prospers. And Trnava? As my daughter used to say, a nice city she liked to go to.’
Before the championship season, what convinced you that Nestor El Maestro was the right choice?
“We knew that we wanted to do it a little differently, that the work with the team had to be more professional in order to move more towards Europe. Nestor spent several years in the Bundesliga and had a completely different view of football. Favorable references to him also came from Austria, where he worked as an assistant and built an excellent position. For me, the question was not whether El Maestro will be successful in Trnava, but rather, why should he take the offer from us? After all, this was a guy who grew up in Western Europe. I had the advantage of being able to communicate solidly in German and I could argue well with him in the debate. There were two fundamental points: that he will become the head coach and that he will have a nice coat in the form of a modern stadium, which was built in Trnava thanks to Vladimír Poor and Pavlo Adamac and with the support of the union. Nestor was looking forward to Spartak, coming under completely standard conditions like the coaches before him. The only superlative was the bonus for the title.”
In Trnava, Pavel Hoftych also worked with the current team captain Martin Mikovič (right). Source: Lukáš Grinaj
You worked at Spartak for a year and a half as a head coach, and for the next two years as a general manager. Trnava is referred to as a specific environment. Have you experienced it yourself?
“I would compare it with Mlada Boleslava. While in this Czech city there is not much talk about football outside the stadium and few spectators go to the matches, it is different in Trnava. The people of Trnava have football as their daily bread, it is the heart of the city. I experienced positive things in little Rome, such as my coaching, the European Cup and fantastic spectators. Added to that came the title and the European cup until the group stage of the European League with coach Radoslav Látal. It was all a school of life. I’ve often heard that whoever doesn’t go through Spartak doesn’t graduate. I passed the high school diploma in Trnava, which I cannot afford, quite successfully.”
You and Vladimír Poor are good friends, will you work together in Mladá Boleslav?
“We have a friendly and fair relationship, which I appreciate. It must be said that he is interested in Czech football. He was already a sponsor in Liberec, where I worked. I firmly believe that we will build on that now in Mladá Boleslav, and we can only look forward to mutual cooperation in the club.”
How do you evaluate the last season in Mladá Boleslav, which you led as a coach?
“I would call her contradictory. We continued the favorable cooperation with Slavia, where we sold Ewerton, Pecha and Douděra. Of course, it was a noticeable weakening for us, but we had to cope with it. We managed the autumn quite well, we were in sixth place, although we did not have an ideal start. During the winter, we mostly trained on artificial lawns, we were practically not on classic pitches, and neither were we at training sessions. The start to the second part of the season did not go well for us, we lost to Pardubice, drew with České Budějovice and Brno. From that time it was like on a swing. There were great matches and some that threw us back. The spring was not ideal, we finished in ninth place and defended at least the middle group. Fortunately, we did not fall into the fight for rescue like Baník or Jablonec. There was no satisfaction with the spring, which is why there were some changes. Also in the coaching position. The team was taken over by Marek Kulič, a long-time Mladá Boleslav player. As a coach, he is more offensive and we believe that he will be successful.”
You are moving to the position of sports manager. What does it bring?
“Above me in the structures is the CEO David Trunda. He has experience from the domestic and foreign sports environment. He organized prestigious golf events, was the director of football club Slavia, worked in the management of hockey team Kometa Brno, or held the position of director of tennis club Sparta Prague. Cooperation with him is excellent. In Mladá Boleslav, the board of directors and the owner are correct, a great academy is starting up, and the club has potential for work and advancement.”
Sparta won the last title in the Czech league after nine years. Was it a surprise for you?
“When Sparta defeated us in the fourth round, I said that it was the strongest Sparta in recent years. I was an excellent prognosticator, but I wrote to the sports director Tomáš Rosická that the team did not confirm it for a long time. They hit a coach in the club, Brian Priske brought something different, similar to El Maestro in his time in Trnava. When Sparta was not doing well, it had excellent spectators behind it. After the fall, few believed that he would win the title. But a friend of mine made an exception in December and bet 3 thousand crowns. They celebrated the title at Letná, and he too, at odds of 50, he took 150,000 crowns. However, there were not many such fools. Sparta had a fantastic spring, they took advantage of the hesitation of rival Slavia, who were losing especially away from home. Plzeň failed miserably, they didn’t pull it off. The Bohemians team was a very pleasant surprise. As for the players, I would appreciate two from the championship team – captain Ladislav Krejčí Jr. and Jan Kuchta. Otherwise, it was an interesting year. I feel that the credit of Czech football has moved a little higher.”
How are the Slovaks in the Czech league?
“The Czech competition is dueling, combative and demanding. I claim that Slovaks need some adaptation after arriving there, but they have a lot to offer here. They are smart, but it takes them about half a year to get up to speed and combativeness. Whoever survives and adds a superstructure is interesting for the Czech league. Lukáš Haraslín from Sparta is highly above standard. In my opinion, currently the best Slovak in the Czech league. On the other hand, Pilsen’s Erik Jirka, after a solid autumn, did not get such space in the lineup this year.”
How did you perceive the experienced and former national team coach Pavel Vrba, who saved Zlín in the first league?
“I asked him why he took the offer from Zlín. He said that it was close to home, he wanted to stay in the coaching circle and help the club. From the beginning, he got used to the role, because he had never played for the rescue before as a coach. Several times his team was below the waterline, an unpleasant situation that they managed with all their might in Zlín. Pavel Vrba was always on top of things, we didn’t even argue in the match… He fulfilled the goal in the form of a save and in the end he became a “sea lion”, which he will perform on the field from time to time.”
ONE OF THE OLDEST PLAYERS, MAREK MATEJOVSKÝ HAS EXTENDED HIS CONTRACT
The last time Mladá Boleslav was ninth, with the new coach Marek Kulič, the club is setting higher goals. “Addition to the team and the functioning of the club are aimed at reaching the European Cup. I invite all fans to come and support us in our efforts, they are important to us.” declared before the start of the season, the general director of the club, David Trunda. The team scored only 39 goals in the past season, and only Pardubice and České Budějovice were worse in this regard. The team’s best scorer was midfielder Tomáš Ladra with seven goals, five were scored by Daniel Mareček.
In the new season, the team will also need a bigger contribution from its top players. Milan Škoda finished and Vasil Kušej and Lamin Jawo should become the leaders of the offensive. “In the summer training, we changed our playing style a little bit. We want to play more attacking, so that the spectators like it and come in as many as possible. I am satisfied that we managed the preparation without injuries,” the new coach of the team, Marek Kulič, who until now worked in Mladá Boleslav as an assistant to Pavel Hoftych, was heard.
During the summer, there was a lot of movement in the player team. Milan Škoda, Jiří Skalák, Denis Donát, Vojtěch Stránský, Denis Darmovzal, Ladislav Krobot, Radek Látal, Antonín Vaníček, Ubong Ekpai and the Slovakian duo Michal Tomič – Samuel Dancák will no longer wear the Mladoboleslav jersey. Newcomers in the cabin are goalkeeper Matúš Trmal, defenders Slovak Andrej Kadlec, Dominik Kostka, Florent Poulolo, Benson Sakal, Mykola Yarosh, Tomáš Kráľ, midfielder Ladislav Kodad and forwards Abdallah Júsuf Hilál and Matej Pulkrab.
Support from the audience will also be important for Mladá Boleslav. Last season, it recorded an average of 2,213 spectators in the Lokotrans Arena. Only Hradec Králové was worse off, paradoxically, it played home matches in exile in Mladá Boleslav. “There is healthy nervousness in the cabin before the start of the league, and that’s how it should be. We managed the preparation and I believe that we will be successful. The reinforcements fit in well with the team and the cabin is healthy in my opinion. I believe we are well prepared.
We all want to play at the top of the league table,” says 41-year-old Marek Matějovský before the new season. The third oldest player of the past league season and the captain of Mladá Boleslav extended his contract for another year. The club’s protégé will enter his 21st year in the highest competition in the Czech Republic, in which he played exactly 400 matches, scored 19 goals and added 64 assists. In addition, he has already seen 101 yellow cards and has been sent off three times.
2023-07-21 21:30:22
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