Veselý: The first rounds will be a war. The “kangaroos” coach is preparing a teenage surprise
He composes and adjusts a new offensive, solves a gradual defense at the end of autumn and figures out how to use the talent of Jan Morávek in the reserve. Bohemians coach Jaroslav Veselý wants to continue the phase of the autumn when the Kangaroos were the hit of the league. Why did he rush Petr Hronek’s departure? And what new name is he going to pull out during the spring?
You are already playing on Saturday, how many places in the lineup do you have question marks?
“On three. Now the state of health is also at play, some minor viruses, so we’ll see and decide based on tomorrow’s training. I don’t think even the players know 100% how we will start. The team is stepping up, the players are getting along, the fight for places has started and those who are in the best form will play.”
What will Bohemians be like in autumn? Can we expect it to be a bit faster?
“It is typologically different and we will have to react. Hronek and Květ left, who were great in certain disciplines, for example in the press. The way we play will need to be adapted to suit the players we have and bring out their qualities. At the beginning it can be raw, we can look for the optimal form of setup and the way of playing. Let’s leave three or four rounds and then we’ll hit. Some pairings can be changed to create automatisms.”
How did the new players fit into the team?
“Very well, it is not a cliché and a phrase. Even when I select players, I look at who played with whom. For example, Čermák played with Jánoš, others know Honza Matoušek. It’s not just about the money, sometimes you can choose a different service and treatment. For example, I experienced Aleš Čermák in Hradec, he is not Hronek or Květ, but he is a player who can have numbers for a midfielder. I believe we can refresh the newcomers. It might be a little raw, but we’ll be stronger in the long run.”
And what about Tomáš Necid, who played for a while against Dukla, but didn’t have a minute at training?
“Tomas Necid’s recovery is going according to plan. He was supposed to start in the Tipsport league, but he got pneumonia. And now, when he jumped with Dukla, he slightly strained his knee ligament during training. Today he trained again in full. He will have to follow the same path as Honza Morávek. I think he will start behind the B, then we will see how the knee holds up. He has a tremendous will to return, the desire to get to the Gunners club, he lacks 11 goals. He doesn’t solve the conditions, he just wants to achieve it. He must be healthy and he must also listen to us a little.”
The team stood out in the fall with standard situations and long drives. He has largely lost that now. Has anyone from the team practiced throwing?
“We have two players here who can do it. Although it’s a slightly different type of throw than Petr has. But that’s also why I wanted Aleš Čermák, who can play a standard situation perfectly, that’s a replacement for Roman Květ. And there is also Martin Hála, who played them in Olomouc, we have enough executors.”
Martin Hála and Jan Morávek came last summer and autumn. What is their position and its use in your three-back system?
“Honza can play anything on Wednesday. We also tried it on the six and we tried it on the ten. Hala can also play wingback, that’s an advantage for us, that we have replaceability. I take Mori as the fifth reinforcement. That path paid off, it’s usable and we’ll see how it turns out basically. It’s about him finding some game form and comfort.”
Adam Jánoš, stopper Adam Kadlec, Martin Hála and Václav Drchal scored the goals at the training session. Are there any productivity issues?
“There is no danger, because there were 10 goals, the score is 10:4 (Jaroslav Veselý also counted the match with B-team Dukla 5:0). However, the problem is which players score goals. The productivity of the team does not look bad, but we would expect more from the attacking players and hear it from me. They all have the ability to score goals, but there were too many wasted chances.
As a result, wasn’t the preparation too short when a completely new offensive had to be played?
“That’s why it might be raw for us at first, but it’s the same for everyone. Four weeks can be a short time for so many changes. That’s why we are prepared that it may not be the same at the beginning, that we have to evaluate what football will look like.”
How do you think the first rounds of football will look like?
“I think it’s going to be a lot of war. Matches will be decided by standard situation or who messes up rather than who makes something. I’d like to be wrong, it will depend on the weather too. We and the other 12 teams decide where we will train. It is not easy to train as an artist and then switch to grass. We are fighting it. We have to deal with it, but each club chose a different strategy. Today we trained in Ďolíček and even if it doesn’t look nice, it is in better condition than in the past. It is hard, has a good foundation. I could play good football on it.’
After the end of autumn, you asked about a stopper, are you satisfied? “Only” Jan Vondra came.
“We were interested in one more, but now Adam Kadlec is crystallizing well for us. He went through the youth system and played in the B-level. Not only did he score, but he looked really good and is attacking the starting line-up with his performances. I may appear soon. We decided that rather than investing in a player who will not be ours, we will give him a better chance. If you keep up that level of performance, it can come as a surprise.”
Enough has already been written about the transfers of Petr Hronek and Roman Květ, but what was the action like from the position of a subject who was faced with a fait accompli?
“It was a complicated negotiation, we didn’t have a single transfer in our hands. I just wanted us to get something from the transfer of Hronka. I was against the option that it would be here in the spring and it would be free in the summer. Maybe it would be nice, but we would be left with bare hands. When you get a financial settlement and Matoušek on a transfer, it seems like a very decent deal to me. They are not typologically the same footballers, but Maty may have the potential to be well traded.”
And finally, on a non-football note: polling stations close one hour before the match with Teplice. Is the topic of the presidential election in the team?
“Yeah, I’m dealing with it. A lot of people, mainly from the implementation team, showed interest in voting before the training camp, but we would have to go to Istanbul, which would be difficult. So we are happy that the possibility will now be available, I believe that we will all use it and vote.”
According to social networks, some players have their own opinion. Will they be interested, for example, during the match?
“Not during the match, but when we were on the bus from the match to the training camp and there was a count, it was discussed a lot on mobile phones and the bus resonated a lot.”