On Sunday, 15 February, Lechia face another challenge – an away match against Motor Lublin. Ahead of the trip to the capital of the Lublin region, head coach John Carver met with the media.
What conclusions did the staff draw after the match against Cracovia?
We should have won that match. Teams that play with a man down always rely on set pieces, and it was the same in this case. The opponents were awarded a penalty after a foul following a long throw-in. Of course, we drew the game, but I also want to recall the match against Raków, which we lost. We are disappointed we didn’t win, but every point is important. This is an area we need to improve and work on, but due to the weather conditions in Gdańsk it’s difficult to practise certain things.
What are the chances the team will play in Lublin like they did in Poznań?
Of course, I can’t predict whether we will win. As you know, Tomas Bobček will be unavailable. I also have to say that we have a virus in the squad – because of that, one or two players couldn’t train all week. They are doing everything they can to recover and be ready for the next match. If I remember correctly, since I’ve been here we’ve played Motor twice and both matches ended in draws. It’s a very good team with a talented coach. I’ve spoken about coach Stolarski several times already. We are similar in that we both love football. We also both look for weaknesses in our opponents and try to exploit them. It will probably be the same this time. In general, it’s very hard to win matches in this league. If you look at the table, the differences are minimal – sometimes just one place or one goal. There are only seven points separating the top teams and just four at the bottom. That shows how competitive this league is. Every match is very difficult.
What are Motor’s strengths?
I watched their last match against Jagiellonia. The first half was very good and the game was balanced until the end. Motor are very well organised and play with high intensity. I know it will be a very tough match. We also know what the pitch in Lublin looks like. Because of the weather and the early kick-off, we will have to adapt to the conditions there. I hope neither the weather nor the pitch will affect how both teams want to play.
Motor and Lechia are teams with a similar style of play:
Yes, that’s also why I said coach Stolarski reminds me a bit of myself. He likes high pressing, direct football and using through balls behind the defensive line. Offensively there are many similarities, while defensively there are some differences. When defending deep, they switch from four defenders to five – that’s something we don’t do.
Karol Czubak is close to Tomáš Bobček in terms of goals scored. What needs to be done to stop him?
It will mainly be a challenge for our full-backs to stop crosses from wide areas. For our centre-backs it will be crucial not to lose him even for a moment in the penalty box. Defending depends on the collective. We are aware that he is a striker in very good form.
Who will start in attack?
We have a few options at number nine – Bohdan Viunnyk, Dawid Kurminowski, Michał Głogowski or Kacper Sezonienko. There are several solutions, but as usual I won’t reveal which one will play.
The weather in Gdańsk has not been kind to Lechia:
We have to admit it’s far from ideal, but most teams in the Ekstraklasa probably have the same problem, so it won’t be an excuse for us. We planned to train on a grass pitch every day this week, but unfortunately the weather disrupted those plans. We are training on artificial turf, which some players don’t tolerate well in terms of workload, so we had to manage them carefully. My role as a coach is to adapt the players to what happens during the week so that they are in the best possible shape for the match.