In 19 matches, Arka’s players scored 34 points, which included 10 victories, four draws and five defeats. Gdynia’s team collected the same number of points as GKS Tychy, second in the table, but the team from Upper Silesia has one game in hand.
From January 25 to February 8, the Gdynia team was at a training camp in the Turkish town of Lara – during this time they played six test matches, lost four of them, recorded one draw and defeated the South Korean youth national team 1-0.
“I rate the preparations very well. We had great conditions in Turkey, the weather was good, we were all healthy and we trained very intensively. We start this round full of optimism. And the league is specific and flat. All teams will fight for something, there are few teams that play for nothing. Due to our position, we want to fight for the top league, but teams taking ninth place and above can advance,” noted Łobodziński on Thursday at a press conference in Gdynia.
The 41-year-old coach believed that the only flaw in these preparations might be the results of the sparring sessions.
“Their results are of course important, although secondary. However, we must be aware of the opponents we faced. They gave us a lot of answers, especially the confrontation with the Korean youth national team. But that was the assumption – we wanted to play with strong teams to develop,” he emphasized.
During the winter break, three players joined Arka, all on loan: Georgian winger Tornike Gaprindashwili from KGHM Zagłębia Lubin, 21-year-old central midfielder from Côte d’Ivoire Alassane Sidibe from Atalanta Bergamo and striker Hubert Turski from Pogoń II Szczecin.
“Thanks to this, the competition in the team has significantly increased and I have a problem with ranking the first +11+. We acquired Tornike because we were looking for an offensive player to compete on the wings, necessarily left-footed, because he gives us additional options, also in set pieces. There were only two such players in the squad, and they are defenders. We are also looking for a defender because we only have three defenders,” he explained.
The yellow and blue coach added that Sidibe is a universal central midfielder who trained with Atalanta’s first team until recently.
“The first days in Gdynia showed that he was ready to play, also in terms of motor skills. He’s a young boy, but it’s clear he handled a big ball. In turn, Turski can play in attack together with Karol Czubak, because that’s how we practiced and it looked very good. Thanks to this, we are able to play with a 4-4-2 system, but at a later stage rather than from the beginning of the season. I don’t plan any changes in the goalkeeper – Paweł Lenarcik will remain the first goalkeeper,” he said.
The reserve players left – goalkeeper Kacper Krzepisz (Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała), midfielders Michał Bednarski (KKS 1925 Kalisz) and Luan Capani (Latina Calcio) and striker Jakub Wilczyński (Sandecja Nowy Sącz).
The club’s management also informed regarding the conclusion of a preliminary agreement on the sale of a block of 75 percent of Arka shares by Michał Kołakowski to a former player of the Gdynia team, Marcin Gruchała. At the same time, the first part of this transaction was paid.
In the opening round of the rematch, the Gdynia team will face each other on Saturday at 17.30 in Warsaw with newcomer Polonia, with whom they lost at home 2-3 at the beginning of August
Live coverage and live score from the Polonia Warszawa – Arka Gdynia match on Polsatsport.pl on Saturday from 5:30 p.m.
PAP
Go to Polsatsport.pl
