19/09/2026 | Interview | Jan Strýhal

HEIDENREICH: WE ARE HUGELY DISAPPOINTED BY THE DEFEAT

Defender David Heidenreich assessed the match in Pardubice. The "Klokan" defender described the poor start, the team's dominance in play, and the flow of the game in the second half. Finally, he also looked back at the season so far.

We conceded early, but then the game was under our control...

We’re really disappointed. We had prepared for the match, and the tactics we chose were working. We weren't aggressive enough at the start; we didn't close down the player. I haven't seen the goal on video yet, so I can't say exactly what went wrong. It’s a shame; we didn't win the second ball. We drifted out of our defensive zones, were late to close down the opponent, and let the start of the match slip away. After that, we stuck to the game plan we had set. We knew it would work out if we kept at it. We improved as the game went on, which makes it all the more frustrating. The second goal we conceded was a similar story. We were applying pressure; I had a chance myself, but unfortunately, the goalkeeper saved it. David Lischka had an opportunity too, and there were a few goalmouth scrambles. We really should have come away with at least a point from this match.

Aside from the two goals, there weren't many other chances in the first half...

We had watched videos and wanted to learn from their previous matches, where they’d had a lot of breakaways. We maintained a mid-block and waited for the opponent to lose possession, which did happen. It’s a pity that we sometimes panicked in the final third instead of keeping a cool head. We could have turned the match around as early as the first half and played the game we had been preparing for all week. What went wrong with the second goal?

We had players in the box; a long ball came in, and Tomáš Frühwald parried it away. Perhaps I could have been closer to Venca Drchal. It’s a real shame about that situation, because I think we could have turned the result in our favor after that.

The second goal disrupted our plans. Did you change anything after that, given that we were chasing the game again?

We opened up a bit more, knowing the home team would start hitting us on the counter-attack. We were losing possession. Still, we remained dangerous and created chances to equalize. We knew the opposition was running out of steam around the sixty-minute mark. We believed we could secure at least a point.

We’ve played eight matches so far, with one game in hand. How satisfied are we with how things have gone?

We’ve managed to handle some tough matches. We won in Zlín, picked up a point at Slavia, and most recently, finally won at home as well. The match in Olomouc didn't go our way, but it provided valuable feedback and taught us a lot. We need to keep picking up points. I’m really disappointed about this match; it’s a huge shame we didn't come away with any points at all.

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