When he loses, video analysis is a pain. I didn’t understand a word in Italy, says Folprecht

Zdenek, did you also reach for the remote control on the TV before to look at the teletext?

When I was fourteen or fifteen years old, my friend and I got on our bikes and rode to the neighboring village of Stochov, where Tipsport was located. We always talked someone in the pub to sit for us. I just watched the result on teletext.

How important is it to the coaches to keep the line-up for the current match as secret as possible?

I think they care too much about it. For a league match, you already assume eighty percent of the opponent’s line-up anyway, twenty percent can surprise you, where a decision is made on, for example, two names. On the other hand, for example, Jablonec’s move in Ostrava was really successful, when defender Jakub Martinec went to the point. From a player’s position, and for practical reasons, I always preferred when the line-up was clear. Because of the friends and parents I could invite to the match.

Folpi, what position on the pitch could you not play?

You always play it somehow. I would probably have the biggest problem as a center forward. You can play it in a certain style, but if someone asked me to keep the ball with two-meter stoppers on my back, I might not be able to do it.

Do coaches ever intentionally set a different line-up before a game than what actually applies on the field?

I think sometimes yes. When we played in the European Cups, in addition to the line-up, the line-up must also be stated there. I know we messed around with it a bit. When we saw the line-up an hour and fifteen minutes before the match, we thought to ourselves: “well, wait, I don’t play on the left at all.”

I remember our famous match against Liberec in Marseille, where I was coming back from injury and it was agreed that I would not play. Coach Trpišovský took me to the bench. In the pre-match training, I was normally in the center of the midfield, as well as in the nine-on-nine game, where roughly ninety percent of the lineup is already ready for the match. So I thought to myself: “I can’t play, you vo.e.” After training, I went to the coach and he assured me that it was just a provocation. In the French press, I was additionally written in assumed lineups. (laughter)

Lionel Messi won the Ballon d’Or. Is it good that he won?

I would accept if Messi wins, but if Haaland wins, I’ll also say he deserves it. I understand the arguments for Messi, but also the arguments for Haaland. When the Ballon d’Or is announced for a year in which the World Cup was held, that championship carries a lot of weight. Previously, Modrič, Zidane, Cannavaro or the Brazilian Ronaldo won thanks to this.

Do you like the Ballon d’Or winner’s trophy?

She is so iconic.

Video in football

When do various video analyzes most often take place in the cabin?

The videos are divided into post-match and pre-match videos, so it goes twice a week. It’s stupid when cups are played, then you have them almost every day. (laughs) When you win, you look forward to the post-match videos, but if you lose, you try to hide in a corner and pretend you’re not there.

What does the coach most often show the players on video?

In case you scored a goal, it shows, for example, thirty seconds with a conceded goal. He looks for the mistake and says that you picked up the player wrong, lost three meters to him and already four in the goal..

Is it true that video research isn’t exactly the most popular activity among soccer players?

Probably yes. I don’t know anyone who would really look forward to a situation where a video analysis can be solved.

Does it ever happen that one of the players is not paying attention during video analysis and the coach yells at him to concentrate?

I do not think so. It’s not popular, but everyone knows it’s part of it. The players are professionals and that’s part of it. It’s not like someone is staring at the wall or at Instagram all the time.

Are the most important information from video conferences translated to foreigners?

For example, in Azerbaijan, one person translated for the boys into Spanish and the other into English. I didn’t have a problem with that, but I had a problem in Italy, for example. I wasn’t looking forward to the video there because it was an old trainer, he had long videos and he spoke very fast. I came across as a total idiot because you watch a video for fifty minutes and you don’t know anything. In the end, the coach laughed and always told me that I have a good physique and run like Zápotek (laughs). I had neither the strength nor the language skills to tell him that it was Zátopek. I left him in it, but I got really stupid.

Listener Jirka from Prague: Which team do you remember best and which coach did you fight the most with?

To Slovan Liberec, because the run in the European Cups was great. Even third place in the league was nice. I got along the least with coach Martin Pulpit.

Which of the coaches paid a lot of attention to the video analysis and who, on the contrary, did not deal with it much?

Mr. Trpišovský took care of that, Lukáš Váňa prepared videos for him there, whom he then took with him to Slavia. Otherwise, older coaches don’t deal with it.

What is a drone used for by trainers?

That he sees it as it is on that blackboard. When he shows it to the players on the board with magnets, it’s like a bird’s eye view. You just never see it as well from the stands as you can from that drone.

What would Zdeněk Folprecht do for a living if he hadn’t once embarked on the path of a professional footballer? What do you think about the original goal celebration of Jablonec attacker Jan Chramosta in the match against Ostrava? How did the fight on the ice between hockey reporter František Kuna and former league soccer player Zdenek Folprecht turn out? The first touch will playfully answer all questions not only about football.