In Zlín, Červenka replaced coach Pavel Vrba at the end of October after the historic 5:9 debacle, since then he has worked defensively with his team and in the last four matches Zlín has conceded only three goals, two of which were against Sparta. But in Liberec Zlín he took a step back again. The opponent put five goals on him.
“We didn’t start the match very well. After a simple situation and a centered ball into the box, we did not cover the running player, probably the smallest player on the pitch. This was punishable from us and determined the nature of the match,” Červenka was annoyed by Žambůrk’s header already in the seventh minute of the match.
“There, the stopper ran away from the area from which the goal was scored. And the central midfielder did not pick up the player with whom he ran practically from half time. And if perhaps the smallest player on the field scores a goal with his head and scores it completely calmly without any fight, it is a mistake that cannot happen! Especially in a match when we want to play responsibly away from the back for quick counter-attacks,” the former league defender faced because of the leaky defense.
Photo: Radek Petrášek, CTK
Match of the 18th round of the first football league: Slovan Liberec – FC Zlín, December 9, 2023 in Liberec
“It’s only in the head. The boys have to fixate and automate what we want them to do in the 16. And now it wasn’t there. I don’t want to criticize and shoot at our own ranks, but when they were doing it, we didn’t get goals,” he was also angry because he took two of his players aside before the match and spoke to them.
“We told ourselves to look around and not just look at the ball – and then we actually get the first goal after a very simple situation, and in the end it’s three goals… This is a big disappointment for me. If anyone thinks that when we lose a few points, that’s the end of it, well, that’s just the beginning. And if we don’t behave more responsibly and aggressively in the offensive and defensive phases, we will lose games like that,” he predicted a bleak possible future. If České Budějovice succeeds in Pilsen on Saturday, the Wallachians will fall to the bottom of the league again.
