“The first game is actually the final for us. But every game is important for us. But the first one especially. We can get three points, from that point of view we have to win it and we can’t look at whether we are playing at home or away,” emphasized MFK coach Tomáš Hejdušek.
Karviná’s goal is first place and direct promotion back to the top competition. “If we want to achieve that, we need to win at home and away. But we need to focus on defense, in the fall we conceded a lot of goals for my taste. That, I believe, will change in the spring,” said Hejdušek.
However, the general against the divisional Bohumín did not exactly work out for Slezan. Even the coach expected more than just a hard-fought 2:1 victory. “I expected us to create more chances. We didn’t push ourselves a bit at the end, we weren’t precise. We played lightly. We have to learn from that match. We talk about the fact that we don’t want to get a goal and we lose quickly. I saw an underestimation there and more negatives than positives,” Hejduška said.
Offensive foreign reinforcements Kelvin Boateng and Adeleke Akinyemi took care of the goals in the warm-up, but they also earned criticism. “They scored a goal, but their footwork, carelessness and the fact that they don’t sprint after losing the ball is a warning,” pointed out Hejdušek.
Nevertheless, they claim that the Karvins are well prepared for the second part of the competition. During the long winter break, Slezana played seven games and lost only in Žilina (0:3). Three times they parted amicably with the opponent (Žilina 1:1, Prostějov 1:1 and Hlučín 2:2) and won the last three matches of the preparation (Košice 3:1, Dubnica 2:0 and Bohumín 2:1).
“We are doing very well in terms of fitness and technical and tactical aspects. We just have to do better in the pre-final and final stages. And we have to be able to deal with the absence of some players,” Hejdušek pointed out that against Bohumín, Jiří Bederka, Jaroslav Málek and Daniel Bartl came together. “Suddenly there is a problem and we are not precise in the combination. It will be important that we are together in the spring so that no one gets injured .”
Midfielder Jiří Bederka from Táborsk, Macedonian full-back Filip Antovski from Austria Vienna and Nigerian striker Adeleke Akinyemi from KF Laci came to Karviná (all transfers). From Pilsen goalkeeper Ondřej Mrózek and forward Adam Vrba and from Trnava Ghanaian forward Kelvin Boateng (on loan).
On the other hand, Kacper Zych (Jastrzebie), Rafia Durosinmi (Plzeň), Adam Krčík (Skalice), who left for new teams on loan, and Martin Rolinek (Prostějov, end of loan) will fight for new opportunities in another team with Martin Šindelář, who after the end of the storm transferred to FC Košice.
Opava has changed a lot in winter
Big changes took place during the long winter break for Opava football players. The eleventh team of the second league was taken over by Slovak coach Peter Hlinka after Roman West, and the squad was strengthened by five new players. “I would like us to get out of those psychologically difficult positions as quickly as possible. But the reality is that we are playing for salvation,” said Hlinka, whose new team is only two points away from the relegation positions.
Offensive midfielder Bartosz Pikul, who transferred to Pardubice, midfielder Denis Kramář, who headed to Olomouc, and forward Daniil Doleček will no longer play in Opava in the spring. Slovak goalkeeper Alex Fojtíček from Bardějov, defenders Tomáš Vincour from Slovácko, Ukrainian Jehor Cykalo, who came from Teplice, Australian midfielder Thomas Whiffen and striker Petr Rybička from Hradec Králové are to be reinforcements.
Opava scored 14 goals in the fall, the fewest of all teams in the league. “But we scored a lot of goals in the preparation and that obliges us a bit. Hopefully, what we showed in the attack in preparation, we will be able to transfer to the championship matches as well. I would like that,” said the 44-year-old native of Prešov Hlinka. Opava will start the spring season of the second league at home this Saturday against Olomouc’s Sigma reserve team (from 3 p.m.).
Třinec is waiting for hard work in the spring
Třinec football players are just one point away from the relegation positions before the start of the spring part of the second league. “We have nothing but a fight for survival,” said coach Martin Zbončák. However, the general in Prostějov (0:3) does not encourage optimism. “It didn’t work for us at the back. The way we presented ourselves in the opening 30 minutes is for unacceptable to me, it was professorial football. Without responsibility towards the back, you cannot succeed with anyone,” he warned.
Třinec has two away matches at the beginning of the second half of the competition. This Saturday they play at Dukla and on March 11 at the Slavie Prague B stadium. Varnsdorf hosts Varnsdorf until March 18 (from 10:15 a.m.). “The general was a warning. I believe that the players will take a lesson from it and approach the match at Dukla in a completely different way. We want to start from a solid defense,” said Zbončák, who was looking forward to the return of René Dedič after the fall, who did not make his mark in Pilsen. The Slovak striker, however, immediately headed to Liptovský Mikuláš.
“We did our best, but he wanted to play in the first league,” said Zbončák. He will also miss Jiří Kateřiňák, who is visiting Táborsk. “He wanted to be closer to home,” noted the coach. On the other hand, defender Martin Slaninka from Banská Bystrica, midfielders Lukáš Hrdlička from Zlín and Bernardinho Osaha from Ghana and striker Daniel Turyna from Sparta Prague will wear the Třinec jersey.
