[Football] Jiri Skalak - a year without football.

[AmexRuislip]

An interesting read


“I spoke to the gaffer [Chris Hughton] at the start of January and asked if I could go on loan but they had just let Jamie Murphy go to Rangers. He said: ‘I need you. You are training better and better – you will get a chance soon’. It was my dream to play in the Premier League.

But after 60 minutes [against Boro] I got injured. I was another six weeks out and the season was finished.

My girlfriend was pregnant and close to her due date. I was on crutches when we were going to the hospital.

Skalak’s desire to make it in England has not waned."

More on Jiri Skalak >>>>>>>>>>>

 

[dazzer6666]

[emoji3590]

 

[Invicta]

Top man Skalak. Wish him well at Millwall

 

[AmexRuislip]

An endearing read from one of my former Albion favourites.

FK Mladá Boleslav

(Apologies to Bozza, I couldn't add link in English)



I always believed that I had it in me
. In recent years, he experienced more sorrows than pleasant moments, went through crises, fought with distrust and his own body. However, in the second part of autumn, football midfielder Jiří Skalák from Mladá Boleslav got going after a long time and became one of the important members of coach Pavel Hoftych's team. "I feel that I am in the best condition in the last two years," says the thirty-year-old Skalák in a big interview for Právo.

Are you enjoying football again?
Yeah, I enjoy it. I'm glad that even children can come and see me. I'm happy about it, but I never lost the joy of football. Rather, I solved in my head why some things didn't work.

Coach Pavel Hoftych said after the Slavia match that at one point your career might have come to an end. Did you have something like this in mind?
No. I never imagined such a scenario. I always believed I had it in me. I try to do my best. When we agreed on a new contract in Boleslav in the summer, my family and I moved here from Prague. I no longer wanted to sit in the car for more than an hour every day, at home my wife and I thought that it could help me. I now have more time for myself before and after training. I hope that I have definitely overcome the crisis that I went through.

When did your crisis start?
I experienced the first difficult period in England. I've had a long layoff, I've played very little in the last two years at Millwall. It might not seem like it, but if you don't start, it's hard to get back up to speed. And even training in England won't help you. If I could do it all back, I probably would have handled my situation differently and sooner.

Where was the problem?
I always had a great summer training in England. For example, after the first season at Millwall, I was written off, but when I returned to training, I heard from all sides that I was completely different. Then I was slowed down by a heel injury, which allowed me only when I didn't have to wear cleats. But I struggled with it for three quarters of a year, I took pills. I was getting back into it again, I played the whole pre-season, but before the last pre-season game with Crystal Palace (September 2020), my knee started to hurt during the warm-up. I didn't go to the game and the coach thought I didn't want to play.

Have you talked to him about it?
I couldn't even pass that day, but the resonances didn't reveal anything and in a few days I was back in training despite the pain. This confirmed the coach in his opinion that I was simulating, but it was not so and I tried to explain everything to him. In vain. At that moment something broke inside me and I no longer wanted to fight for a place at Millwall. I myself came up with the fact that I want to terminate the contract. In addition, the wife was pregnant, there was covid. I called Mr. Dufka to see if I could come back.

The beginning in Boleslav, where you arrived in February 2021, but it wasn't ideal, was it?
I didn't think I'd come back in this condition. When you don't play matches, you train more, but it's still not enough. Maybe I also thought that it would go away on its own, but the opposite was true. Game practice is simply missing. My body wasn't ready for the load, I wasn't good physically or physically, I was struggling. After one or two sprints in the game, my legs got stiff, and then when you get a pass, you look like you can't play football. I gradually went up, I played the last few matches under coach Jarolím. I was starting to feel better and after the preparation it was even better. But then I tore my meniscus for the second time in my career and had to have surgery.

What did you think?
I got hurt just when I thought I was getting back into it. The surgery went well, but I didn't have time to get in shape. When I started training, within a fortnight I was on the bench and going to matches. That was a big mistake, I wouldn't do it again.

At the same time, your contract was ending in the summer and in a way you were fighting for another one, right?
Coach Hoftych was already here, we discussed whether I would continue. The management was interested, the coach was a bit worried about whether I would get back in shape. But no one was throwing me out, and in the final it depended on whether we agreed on the terms, which happened. Then I didn't even have time off. I agreed on an individual plan with the fitness trainer and caught up. It went well, we gradually increased the load, but then during the preparation my muscle started to pull, I had a cramp, it kept coming back. It was just a weird feeling. I thought to myself that my body probably won't let me go anymore. Again, I had to cut back a bit so that my muscle wouldn't get sore. That would be a bummer. I got some time off but fell out of rhythm again for a while. I started playing soon, but I wasn't feeling optimal and I didn't know what to do next.

How did you handle the situation?
I had a conversation with the coach. He offered me if I wanted to go somewhere on a guest house, he didn't know how he could count on me. But I told him that I think my condition will be good now and that I want to be here and fight for a place. Gradually, I felt that I was going up, after all, when we looked at my physical and running data with the fitness coach Tomáš Pupkay, who helped me a lot by the way, they were many percent better than in the previous season.

In the end, you also played on the field. How did you get in shape?
First I had to demonstrate something. I've never been much of a joker type in my career, but I've tried to work with it. I needed to play, I still felt I had the skills. But I never did wrong when I didn't start, I was more like fighting with myself in my head. I was wondering why I am not playing, what can I do more. I am happy that I got the opportunity. It started with Slovácko, when I went on the field at the end and we equalized. The goal was attributed to Krobík (Ladislav Krobot), but he knocked the ball off my leg. In Liberec, I got a penalty and it went on. I played something, although there could have been more goals and assists. But I don't play on that, the most important thing for me is that we moved up in the table. I'm happiest when we win and I can shout in the cabin. Those returns are not easy.

A number of Czech players who returned from abroad could tell about it.
Sure, people have expectations. He thinks that if someone comes back from England, he will score maybe ten goals in a season. The reality is different, I'm not Messi to go around five players and score a goal.

Does your body hold?
I have been pain free for several months. Personally, I feel like I'm in the best shape I've been in the last two years. I believe it will be good. I'm happy the way it is, but it's not enough for me. I want to be even better. I'm thirty, I don't pack anything.

 

[dazzer6666]

 

[amexer]

Will never forget 2 great goals including a wonder goal against QPR. However apart from that I thought he was very poor. So often got the ball out wide and didnt know what to do

 

[GT49er]

Decent player, helped us get promotion. Good to see that he seems to be in a happy place.

 

[papajaff]

Nice fella, met him once. But he was pony

 

[Justice]

Nice fella, met him once. But he was pony

That’s a bit harsh, he played some decent games Norwich at home stands out.

 

[wunt be druv]

I met the the Guy and really liked him, wanted him so much to do well but sadly never quite got the consistency required, always be remembered for THAT goal!