But it was clear to the man who is behind the rise of Bohemians in recent months that his charge will not have an easy time against Pardubice despite their unflattering position in the table. “We knew that a very unpleasant opponent would come, who lost only once against Slavia in the spring, and that too unluckily. We had respect,” admitted the 45-year-old coach.
The victory of the Bohemians was ensured mainly by aggressiveness and better fighting behavior, precisely with these aspects the physically weaker East Bohemians could not fully match on the difficult terrain. “But I wasn’t happy with that even in the first half hour. We were not able to attack because the defenders did not help us. So I sent messages through the players to move to a higher press box,” indicated Veselý, as he communicated with his charges in the stormy atmosphere that the green-and-white stands in Ďolíček created as usual.
Photo: Michal Kamaryt, CTK
From the left, Michal Hlavatý from Pardubice and Václav Drchal from Bohemians.Photo: Michal Kamaryt, CTK
The Kangaroos were not troubled by numerous absences, they could not rely on, among others, Aleš Čermák or Jan Matoušek, the two-goal scorer from the last match in Liberec, who was serving a suspension for four collected yellow cards. “Even from this point of view, the victory is very valuable for us. I really respect him,” said the head of the Bohemians bench, who managed to replace Matoušek with great success. After all, Martin Hála and Erik Prekop took care of Pardubice’s goals, i.e. the players who started in “his” position.
Veselý, without exaggeration, resembles a chess grandmaster with his casts in the lineup. For example, Daniel Köstl in his new position of right halfback is experiencing quite possibly the best period of his career, some viewers even rechristened him “Robert Carlos from Ďolíček.” Köstl’s new nickname as a reminder of his expulsion from Mladá Boleslav. “Dan is obviously an important player for us, in terms of energy, commitment, emotions. He is also valuable for us in defensive standards. In the matches when he didn’t play, we conceded from them five times,” he added on a more serious note.
The next league weekend will take the Kangaroos to Pilsen, so it will be a battle between the third and fourth teams in the table. At the same time, Bohemians already tried this role once in the spring, and not very successfully. They went into the home duel with the then third Sparta from the position of the fourth team in the league and suffered a heavy defeat 2:6. “It’s definitely a warning sign for us. We know that in two games against teams from the top three, we got the ball game. We must therefore go to Pilsen with humility and certainly not with the idea that she would be giving away points. The loss against Sparta was unpleasant for us, but we can learn from it,” concluded Veselý.
