Viktoria Plzeň defeated Olomouc 2:1 in the last away match of the season. Miroslav Koubek, the head coach, answered the journalists´ questions at the post-match press conference.

Sigma was expected to have a changed line-up before the match. But didn´t they surprise you in the first half?

Not at all. We knew it would be a tough game. We knew that we would have players who normally play less, but they are still league footballers. They have quality, experience and, most importantly, they were very composed. It was a very motivating game for them. They really made it very difficult for us in the first half. We said before the game that there would be a lot of long balls, a lot of emphasis in personal battles, and that they would want to build on that. Olomouc were better in the first half, they outplayed us in that hardness and emphasis. We had a hard time getting into the game. The opponent defended well, we didn´t play good football and we had big problems with that. We had to adapt. I raised my voice to the players at the break. I haven´t shouted like that in the cabin since I was in Plzeň. I told them that we have to ditch the prettiness and start literally fighting our way into every situation. And that´s what we did in the second half. I have nothing to criticize the team for the second half.

Looks like your speech really worked. The start to the second half was great.

Sometimes you just have to. I´m not happy about it myself. I don´t enjoy yelling at the team, and I´m not proud of it. But tonight I had to. There was a bit of a storm out there and the players responded well.

Jan Sýkora retired today. You coached him, what kind of player is he for you?

We talked after the game. I thanked him for his cooperation. Unfortunately, injuries limited him a lot. He had a torn ACL, one of the worst injuries in football. He didn´t play for a long time, and then he headed to Olomouc. I told him that I was sorry for the situation he was in and that I wished him the best of luck in life.

Apart from the speech in the cabin, did you make any tactical changes at half-time?

We changed players. Jan Paluska got a concussion that got worse as the game went on. He wanted to try, but he couldn´t. He got dizzy and had to make a substitution. Matej Valenta and Merchas Doski came on at halftime. I think it revived our game. So if we changed anything, it was more in terms of personnel. But the main change was in the approach. It wasn´t 100% in the first half. Not that it was bad, but Olomouc went into it with maximum commitment.

Did you know what was happening in Ostrava? At one point you were in third place. Was it solved in the cabin?

No, not at all. We´re only focused on ourselves. I didn´t even know the results, and nobody addressed them during the game.