Discipline and tactical adaptation dominated the post-match discussion after Riga FC’s 4-1 win over FK Auda, with Auda head coach Didier Zanetti refusing to frame his side’s two red cards as a discipline problem and Riga FC head coach Adrian Gula saying his team had been warned before the match that maintaining composure is non-negotiable.
Auda were reduced to ten men early and later finished with nine, but Zanetti said the opening phase, before the first sending-off of goalkeeper Nils Toms Puriņš 10 minutes into the match, showed the direction of his team.
“I’m very proud because the first minutes before the red card were wonderful and we had the possession we created danger,” Zanetti said. “And I think, for the young team is very good because, in my opinion, we lost control because we are young. Both in the good moments and in the bad moments we don’t have smart attitude. You need more experience.”
Zanetti said the match changed completely after the first red card, but insisted Auda continued to follow their footballing idea.
“I think the game was finished after the first red card but the team didn’t give up,” he said. “We scored with 10 men against the champion and also we had chances with 10 and also with 9, and we continue with the same philosophy until the finish and I accept the last goal because I asked my players to continue to play.”
Asked directly whether Auda have a discipline problem, Zanetti rejected the suggestion and linked the red cards to the team’s aggressive playing identity.
“But if for you this is a discipline problem, this is not my point of view,” he said. “Because I put more intensity and it’s not possible in the last game, as the journalist say – I like your intensity on the pitch – but today, maybe, we have the problem in discipline. For this is the intensity.”
He admitted, however, that his young players still have to learn how to manage that intensity.
“Maybe the young men need to learn to put intensity in the right time,” Zanetti said. “For me, this is the project. If I put intensity, I accept the decision of the ref.”
The early red card also forced Auda into a tactical reshuffle. Asked what the plan was after the sending-off, Zanetti answered simply: “4-3-2.”
“Yes, of course. This is my plan,” he added when asked whether the players followed the instructions. “If the ref decides the red card three times in this season, four time in this season. Yes, of course. Fourth time. In my opinion, it is too much, but we have the points. We have the good ranking.”
Zanetti avoided direct criticism of the referee but explained that his own yellow card came from a disagreement over player safety.
“Because I think it is a job of the ref to protect the player if the player is on the ground,” he said.
Gula, meanwhile, said Riga had to adjust after Auda reorganised and continued to press with ten men.
“They changed also during the halftime. Okay, this was good how they reacted because they still were active, they tried to press and this is compliment for them. Without one man they try to press and try to stay a little bit higher with the two guys,” Gula said.
Riga responded by stretching the pitch and using the wide areas more.
“Then we changed the structure and we open more a little bit left and right back but we know Paulo is not typical left back but we put Jurkovskis higher,” Gula said. “And the third goal was amazing action in the combination with Diop with finishing of Badamosi. This is way how we need to play more of the time.”
Despite the scoreline, Gula felt Riga could have controlled the match better after gaining the numerical advantage.
“Especially if they also lose a second player, we need to control the game better,” he said. “We were very motivated to score more goals. We need a little bit – one, two, three passes more and then the space will be more open.”
For Gula, discipline had been a central pre-match message.
“Before the match I spoke with the team; for us it’s important to keep the discipline,” he said. “Especially yesterday, we had good example in our reserve team and immediately I jump for the the meeting with the guys – if we will have discipline like always we will be wrong and this happened.”
The Riga coach was much more direct than Zanetti in his assessment of Auda’s dismissals.
“This is their mistake, not my mistake ,you know, because totally clear two red cards and totally could be third after 85 minutes; they kick the guys – our guys – without the ball,” Gula said. “It’s not my problem. This is their problem. We need to have our discipline.”
Zanetti said Auda would not abandon their approach, even with suspensions and a difficult match against RFS ahead.
“No, it’s not the problem. It is natural selection and it’s time for another guy to defend the colours,” he said. “I accept all the rules like in the game today. I don’t agree with the different decision, different rules but I accept the rules. I come in this championship and I accept the rules, I accept the pitch, I accept the decision, I accept all and I do my best to exist and create maybe the surprise.”
