Review of the season for the youth categories

Branislav Sokoli – U19 review

We can regard the past season as a success for two reasons. For me, as a coach, the most important factor is that we managed to prepare several players for senior football. The second reason is our position in the table, where we were challenging for the top two or three places for three-quarters of the season. The end of the season wasn’t quite as successful for us, but there are many reasons why that was the case...So, for much of the season, we were satisfied, but if anyone wants to play at the highest level, they have to sacrifice more for football – not just time spent in training. Unfortunately, there are many players who aren’t willing to do that.

Pavel Zuna – U18 review

Staying up without compromising on attacking football – following a successful pre-season both in terms of performance and results, we were confident of a more relaxed spring. Unfortunately, however, our start to the league didn’t go to plan. This setback immediately put us under pressure. Practically from the very first rounds, every match was a six-point game for us. But the team rose to the challenge in this difficult situation. Over the course of the spring, we managed to put together two five-match unbeaten runs. In any other season, such a run would have seen us leap into the safe mid-table. This year, however, due to the competitiveness of the league, it was barely enough to keep our hopes alive. We fought right up until the very last rounds.

The link with the U19s and our playing system – despite the constant threat of relegation, we didn’t abandon our approach. We put in a huge amount of work on the playing system that our U19s had successfully implemented in the second division. We want the club to operate on a unified set of principles, and the lads managed to put this into practice on the pitch. Even in the most tense moments, we didn’t ‘park the bus’ in front of our own goal or resort to any ‘defensive’ tactics. Our aim has always been to play demanding, all-out, attacking football. It is precisely this philosophy that we intend to build on going forward. Our aim is to develop courageous and self-assured players who are honest in their approach, 100 per cent prepared both physically and tactically, and capable of bringing the right emotions to the game.

A final word of thanks – and to round things off, I’d like to thank all the players for how hard they worked throughout this demanding season under pressure. A big thank you goes to the coaching staff for their day-to-day work. The parents also deserve enormous credit for helping us get through this season – your support, not just at home matches, was crucial for us.

Lukáš Přerost – U17 review

I wouldn’t rate the season very positively. Our form was like a rollercoaster. A poor start to the competition, followed by improved performances which brought better results, and a brilliant finish. Unfortunately, in the spring half of the season, we failed to build on the end of the autumn half, and once again our performances were inconsistent. We had expected better performances and results.

During the spring half of the season, we were severely hampered by player absences and injuries. We never fielded our strongest possible line-up throughout the entire period, and we had to put together a new defensive line-up for every match. We made a large number of individual errors, for which our opponents punished us. I have never before seen so many own goals in a single season. Another of our weaknesses was our attacking output. We scored the fewest goals in the league. We played a large number of closely contested matches, or even created more chances than our opponents. We lacked quality in front of goal.

I rate our performances against teams in the top half of the table very highly. The matches against Plzeň, Boleslav, Teplice, Budějovice, Pardubice and Motorlet were very successful for us. The lads demonstrated quality, organisation and discipline.

We need to strengthen the squad in both defence and attack to create greater competition. Some players were too confident in their place in the team and didn’t push themselves to give their all. I believe that the move up to the older youth team will create a more competitive environment, which will help the lads progress further.

Miroslav Krejčík – U16 review

After a fairly successful pre-season, we went into the competition in good spirits. However, the competition revealed a harsher reality. The first five matches yielded three draws and two defeats, one of which was a heavy loss to the bottom-placed team. It wasn’t until the sixth match that we secured a full three points, even though we were the better side in those three draws. In the middle of the spring season, we hit a rough patch, and in particular the matches in Teplice and against Most saw us falter both in terms of results and performance. We responded by changing our formation, and the end of the season turned out to be our best spell, during which we put in very good performances against teams at the top of the table and regularly picked up points. The season showed us that we need to strengthen the squad and create a competitive environment. It was a transition to youth football, where situations can no longer be resolved more or less on an individual basis. We cannot be satisfied with our league position and, in particular, our highly inconsistent performances, and we must take a critical look at the season. We lacked leaders. A new core was being built following the departures and transfers of players. The team was very mentally unstable, and it is our task to change that next season.