Trpišovský on Slavia’s 2-2 with Fenerbahçe and life without Horký

Slavia Prague coach Jindřich Trpišovský explained after the 2-2 draw with Fenerbahçe in the Champions League how his team came back from 0-2 down early on and how badly it will miss striker Tomáš Chorý. He also described what he said to Fenerbahçe striker Romelu Lukaku, whom he hugged after the game: it was already the fifth time they had met in a personal duel. “He praised the mentality of our team a lot,” Trpišovský revealed.

On Kačor’s goal and the 0-2 start

The coach admitted he was genuinely delighted by Pavel Kačor’s goal: “We need positive moments like this on the European stage.” He also recalled the previous matches: against Lens, Slavia played a great game but conceded two goals in stoppage time and lost, and in Sabah it lost after a poor performance. He did not even see Kačor’s goal: “I didn’t care who scored. He managed to do it even with one shoulder” — Kačor was playing through an injury.

Asked how he felt at 0-2 after 11 minutes, Trpišovský said: “It wasn’t good for us. We had imagined a different start. We saw the quality of the opponent’s shots — they were rockets, cannons. But you have to live every minute. The end was far away, and you can’t help thinking about what will happen. But in the stands or in front of the TV I’d have felt worse than down here.”

Around the 20th minute, during a stoppage for Nathan Ake’s injury, he spoke with Lukáš Provod and David Zima. “It was a cold shower for us,” the coach said. The team decided to play the same way but change some details, such as the pressing. In addition, on Ederson’s long throws towards Muriqi, Zima and Ange Ngessan swapped places: Zima went into the first duels and Ngessan covered him.

Communicating on the pitch was almost impossible: “For the first twenty minutes we couldn’t hear each other from ten metres away.” In the second half there were moments when the stands fell quiet. Players communicated through teammates, gestures and familiar signals. “The atmosphere was incredible. But we knew that and prepared for it,” Trpišovský added.

Playing without Chorý and the prospects of the young players

The change, the coach said, is huge, even though the team also played without him last season, for example against Pafos. One of the big problems in the first twenty minutes was that Slavia lost every duel: that is partly how the second goal came about, after three lost battles in a row. In the second half the forward dropped deeper more often and the team played more actively down the flanks. But they miss Chorý’s height, for example on set pieces. “If you rate it on a scale of one to ten, it’s a ten,” Trpišovský said of the scale of the change.

He hopes the late equaliser will be an incentive for the team: many players are only starting big football at Slavia. The coach gave the example of Kubiak, who a year ago played in the Polish third division and now, after a few matches, is playing in the Champions League. The same goes for Ngessan, Kačor, Ayosi, Novák and others. “You need points, because without them it’s hard. When you come back into a game like that, you can keep telling the players that they are capable of it.”

The coach singled out defender Ngessan: “He showed potential. He is getting used to the game here, which is crucial for a centre-back, because the step up is big. I see huge potential in him, both footballing and mental. He is calm under pressure, can hold the ball and make a good decision, and went into duels at the right time. It’s his best match for Slavia.” According to Trpišovský, the player is now healthy and in better shape, but can play even better.

As for what exactly he and Lukaku said to each other, the coach only shared the praise: according to Trpišovský, the striker noted that his team has a “huge heart”. The rest is personal, and he doesn’t want to repeat it.

Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz