We invite you to listen to the post-match press conference featuring coach Szymon Grabowski.
– Our result speaks for itself. The defeat hurts; it’s very painful for us. This was not the plan, and in the first half, we functioned in a completely different way than planned, said coach Grabowski. – Nevertheless, in the locker room before the second half, we addressed certain things. What I saw at the beginning of the second half gave me optimism, but unfortunately, it ended quickly. There were moments we created where we looked better in pressing, recovered the ball in the opponent’s half, and were braver. However, our effectiveness was completely lacking, and the opponent deservedly won. Thank you.
On Tactical Changes:
– We didn’t play with three defenders. We stuck to our usual defensive formation of 4-2-3-1, transitioning to 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 in offensive play when Iwan dropped deeper. The schemes remained intact. We did adjust Conrado’s position initially because the last two weeks showed that this could be a good plan. How it turned out, we saw in the first half.
On Miłosz Kałahur in the Main Squad:
– Based on what we observed last week, we wanted our left side to be strong in terms of attacking space, delivering crosses, and making dynamic runs, which Kondziu can provide. Conrado looked very good throughout the two weeks, and his cooperation with Miłosz was at a satisfactory level for me. Hence the idea to attack the penalty area more forcefully together. This had been an issue in the match against Korona Kielce. There, Tomek Wójtowicz performed well in defensive or cautious play, so I hoped the dynamism of Maks and Kondziu would bring measurable effects. Things turned out differently, and the substitution of Tomek in the second half opened up the right side. However, we still lacked the concreteness that we consistently aim for—not just in this match. Analyzing our recent games, or even the entire round, delivering the ball effectively into the penalty area from crosses is practically nonexistent for us.
Statistics and video confirm this, and the players are aware of it. Today, improving this aspect was one of our goals, but the match showed we still have a lot of work to do in this area.
On Substituting Kacper Sezonienko With Karl Wendt:
– I’m looking for solutions that could help us. In my opinion, Kacper wasn’t delivering what I expected of him. Given that we have little to no alternatives for this position, I had to experiment. There was even an idea to play without a nominal striker, but who knows if that would have been better. I also considered the players’ physical condition, and I counted on Karol being more active, making runs into space behind the opponent’s defensive line more frequently.
Sezon was supposed to exploit space behind the defense. He did it maybe twice, with one successful attempt. We are still searching for solutions. Today’s match clearly showed that there are some limitations we just can’t overcome.
On Declining Results in the Ekstraklasa Compared to the First League:
– I think the change is mainly due to our choices. The second half today showed that we focus more on possession play, building attacks for the sake of building, without delivering concrete results. The Ekstraklasa shows us that concreteness is necessary.
We need two, three, four passes in the opponent’s half after recovering the ball, followed by a shot, cross, or filling the penalty area. Meanwhile, we remain naive, even when in possession. We feel comfortable with the ball and create chances, but it’s creation for the sake of creation.
We wanted to fix what didn’t work in Kielce, and this is my personal failure—that I didn’t see those changes today. Especially in the first half. Although in the second half, we were building and building, nothing tangible came from it. That’s the main difference between Lechia in the First League and Lechia in the Ekstraklasa.
On the Better Second Half:
– It’s clear what situation we’re in as a club and a team—I mean the league table. The players who started from the first minute undoubtedly wanted to win. However, mentally, they also know the potential consequences of their individual mistakes. At some point, those mistakes happen, we start losing, and then we play more freely, as if we have nothing to lose. That’s when we show our true face. In the First League, these young players faced the pressure of results and promotion. Now, they face the pressure of negative results, where we must bounce back and handle tough moments.
I’m not saying the second half was good. For me, the second half would have been good if we had scored a goal by the 60th minute. In my opinion, we had chances to score four goals within the first fifteen minutes of the second half. But I don’t want three or two—I want one goal that would have shown this team even more clearly that they can turn 2-0 into 2-1, that by the 60th minute, they can put pressure on the opponent, as we did against Cracovia. That’s what we lack. If such a situation arises again, and we manage to turn it around, that will be the most important victory for me. I’ll be proud of these guys for finally passing the maturity test at the Ekstraklasa level.
