Ahead of the opening match of the 2025/2026 season, head coach John Carver met with journalists. Here is a full transcript of the press conference ahead of the #GÓRLGD match.
What’s the mood ahead of the first league match:
It’s great to see you all again. Hopefully, it’s only been five minutes since our last meeting! There’s a sense of excitement around us. We need to develop, we need to be a stable team. When I see the team growing, it always makes me happy. Hopefully, progress will be followed by points. On Sunday, we’ll play in Zabrze – we’re going a bit into the unknown. Górnik has 11 new players, so we’re not fully sure what kind of team we’ll face – but that’ll be the case with many other teams too. I’m looking forward to this team’s development, and I want to see a better side than we had last season.
Maksym Diaczuk is a new signing. Will he be ready for Sunday:
He’s been training with us for a few days now. We’re waiting for a decision from the federation regarding his registration. Of course, we’re preparing for the match with two scenarios – with him and without him.
Which player brings the most added value:
As a coach, you always want more players. It’s important to fill the gap left by those who have departed. But we also need to focus on the players we already have and help them grow. I don’t want to say who’s best or who’s not. We all need time to build this team. Of course, I’d still like to see some more signings. We have a lot of young players, too. We’ve added a new coach, Jordan Tait, who will be responsible for supporting new players. We’ll likely need to loan out some of the younger ones to ensure they get playing time. I also hope that all our key players will stay.
What kind of Lechia should we expect this season:
We’re fully aware that our defending last season was poor, and we need to improve it. That’s why we’ve signed new defenders. We need to get better at defending but not focus solely on attacking.
Who will miss the match in Zabrze:
Kacper Sezonienko isn’t ready due to health issues and because he’s still physically behind the rest of the team. Overall, though, we’re in very good physical condition.
Who will be the starting goalkeeper:
New season, same answers (laughs). I’m not going to tell you who’ll be in goal. There’s strong competition for the goalkeeper position, and it’s up to them whether we rotate or stick with a consistent number one.
Górnik Zabrze is entering the season with many changes:
We’ve analyzed Górnik. They have a new coach and we know how they want to play. They’ve made some good signings and added quality. Also, there’ll be a full stadium – they’ve opened a new stand, so the atmosphere will be fantastic. It’s going to be a very tough game. Their style of play has definitely changed. They’ve signed a new goalkeeper, they have excellent wingers and a striker from Norway. Their central midfielders are very well-organized and work well together. These aspects of their game are completely different compared to last season.
What is Lechia’s main goal for this season:
Player development – as I said. We want to be in a better place than we were last season. If I start setting point-based targets, it’ll only create more pressure.
