He really got going when he was asked if Sparta was deliberately delaying the game at the end. “I’d rather talk about other things,” commented coach Brian Priske after Saturday’s 2-1 league victory over Mladá Boleslav in the 16th round of the Chance League. “I see a lot of positives, for example that we won away from home for the first time since Baník.”
But were you worried about the three-point gain in the end?
“I don’t know if we were afraid. But we were definitely under pressure, and that was almost the entire second half, in which Boleslav played better than in the first.”
Coach Aleš Majer mentioned that you delayed the game at the end.
“Trust us that we 100 percent did not come to Boleslav to delay. We are a team that wants to play smoothly, we never want to defend the result. But when you are under pressure and there are fifteen minutes to the end of the match, it is logical that the players on the field feel responsible for the team to keep the win. That is why they will not throw in cars quickly and play standard situations.”
There was an exchange of views between the two benches. Did you discuss it with the other coach?
“Yes, we discussed it. I told him that I feel this way every game from the first to the ninetieth minute. I don’t like it, but this is part of football, I have to accept it. I could complain about every press release at Letná or away, but I don’t do that. I didn’t say a word after the match with Teplice (2:2), even though the doctors went to the field several times only at the set time. I repeat: We never delay. Never. We want to play football.”
Did you make it a point to make it through the first game after the international break? You couldn’t do that before.
“We didn’t talk so much about the matches after the international break. We talked more about the whole period in which we didn’t have as many wins and performed poorly like against Teplice. We knew we needed to improve, have more quality and mental attitude. But on the other hand, we were missing ten internationals until Thursday.”
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So what can be built on? What would you poke?
“Two things. I liked the way we played the first half from a footballing point of view. We had quality, good positioning, good structure and created chances. We did exactly what we talked about before the game, we stuck to the game plan.”
And the other one?
“That we had a good mentality in the second half. When you don’t play perfect football, you have to fight. We knew we weren’t going to dominate the whole match, because Boleslav is a quality team. Even if they score a lot of goals, they are one of the best teams in the league offensively. They play nice football, the coach does a great offensive job. Boleslav got into the match gradually, believed in themselves and had nothing to lose. It wasn’t an easy match for us.”
Why did Garang Kuol make his first start in the league match?
“For various reasons. Angelo Preciado was on a card suspension and John Mercado arrived in Prague after the national team meeting only on Friday evening. Veljko Birmančević was in Serbia for the last ten eleven days and completed only individual trainings, he had a load practically from Thursday. We have to admit that he was overloaded from the previous part of the season.”
Therefore it was Kuola’s turn.
“He trains very well and we know that he is a player who poses a great danger to the opposition in the offensive direction.”
In the second half, he was replaced by Ondřej Penxa, who looks very mature. What is its potential?
“Hopefully he has a big future ahead of him. The expectations are high, you’ve seen him play at a high intensity. And he’s got the right mindset. I think he’s going to make us more competitive offensively.”
And what is the plan for him in the next few weeks towards A?
“He will be part of the first team until Christmas and we will see how far we can get him nominated for the match.”
- Group for the title
- Placement play-off
- Rescue group
Football was fun, Kuol for the first time in the base and King Macek. What did Sparta show in Boleslav?
Voice from Boleslav: Even Sparta is delaying. Welcome to my world, Priske responded sharply
