Ahead of the 10th round of the PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa, head coach John Carver answered journalists’ questions. Here’s the transcript of the pre-match briefing before #KORLGD.
What is the health situation of Ivan Zhelizko:
He’s having an issue with his ankle; he twisted it a minute before halftime in the Polish Cup match. It’s crazy because we were going to substitute him at halftime anyway. We’ll give him everything he needs so that he can play tomorrow. He will play if he is 100% ready. When you play three games in six days, such things happen. We also have one or two other fitness concerns, but I won’t go into details.
What about Tomas Bobcek:
The problem with Tomas is that he returned from the national team with a slight injury. We didn’t want to take any risks and I think it’s not that he has lost form, but we simply had to ease him back in gradually. The cup match was perfect to test him again from the first minute. The silver lining is that it was a different injury from the ones he had in the past, but when making decisions we keep in mind how much time he missed last season.
Bohdan Viunnyk was moved to the wing. How does the coach rate him:
It was our decision to play him on the wing. It was dictated by how we wanted to play against specific opponents. I won’t tell you today that he will always play on the left, but the last three matches have shown that he’s been effective in that position. We also have several players who played well in the Polish Cup and have earned more minutes. This definitely puts good pressure on the regular starters and increases competition.
Korona’s coach said both teams are like a “diesel engine” and take time to get going:
Korona have been in very good form since I came here. They keep improving. Coach Zieliński is doing an excellent job. He also had to rebuild the team slightly, just as we did over the past few months.
What is Korona’s biggest strength:
They are good in their system and in the way they play. They are very strong on counterattacks and direct in their attacking play. They have quick attacking players. They are also solid in defense and do not concede many goals. It will certainly be an exciting, entertaining match. Korona will be playing at home and will want to win. But I don’t have a crystal ball and I can’t predict how the game will unfold. Time will tell.
The coach was asked if Lechia should play less entertaining football to get more points:
I would focus on not conceding so many goals. We have players who can give us exciting football. That’s the style of this team and we’re not going to change it. We are still in a crisis because we’re in the relegation zone. Working at such a big club always comes with huge pressure.
Two young players, Bartosz Szczepankiewicz and Bartosz Brzęk, played in the Polish Cup:
Above all, it’s a reward for our entire Academy – for director Wolański and coach Gajowniczek. If we can pave the way for more young players, we will do so. Both have been working hard since I came here. Sometimes you wait for an opportunity and you get it at the least expected moment. Bartek Szczepankiewicz made his debut – it’s a great reward and recognition for him. He was grateful for it and he deserved it.
