World Cup experts

The two employees of Lech Poznan Academy had previously appeared on TV. Rzasa, who has 36 caps on his account and played in the World Cup in South Korea and Japan, has already worked for TV as an expert before – during the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, and during the recent European Championship in France. Also, having previously worked as Communications Director for the Polish national team, Rzasa has great relations with media representatives. Meanwhile, Ulatowski gathered experience as a commentator and during post-match studio broadcasts. As a coach, Ulatowski managed a couple of top-division sides and was a part of Leo Benhakker’s training staff in 2008-2009.

For the two academy directors, working during a World Cup was a big happening but they handled it very well. “32 teams competed during the tournament in Russia so general knowledge gathered on the pitch isn’t enough when analyzing the games,” explained Rzasa. “As you prepare for an appearance on the TV, you need to know the current disposition of both teams, their squads, formations, and you ought to familiarize yourself with their previous matches. You can’t simply talk about your experiences only,” added the former player.

During the studio broadcasts, Ulatowski focused on the analysis of chosen tactical issues. One of the biggest challenges was to describe complicated matters in an easy way, understandable to everyone watching. “I tried digging deeper into the tactical art, asking myself, ‘what did the first coach do to beat the second one?’ The aim was to show the viewers a different perspective on football than one might have after seeing a game,” explained Ulatowski.

According to a large number of viewers, Polish public TV dealt very well with the challenge of broadcasting such an important sporting event. Ulatowski believes that the success was a result of the commitment of all people working on this project. “A vast group of people worked on the World Cup and they all shared the same passion and love for football, whether they were journalists, commentators, experts, or technical crew. In addition, the atmosphere was very positive. You could watch the tournament on your smartphone, tablet, or laptop thanks to the decoding of TVP Sport channel. That made the World Cup more accessible and easier to watch,” emphasized the former coach of Zaglebie Lubin, Lechia Gdansk, and Cracovia.

Rzasa had the opportunity to travel to Kazan where Poland faced Colombia and spend time with the Polish national team. Did this experience improve his knowledge about the Polish players? “The flow of information is a bit different when you’re in such a situation. You can talk to the players, the coaches, and they all have a different perspective. You might agree with them, or not, but it’s always good to know the point of view of those working at the very center of the events,” explained Rzasa.

The two academy directors agreed that working on TV is a very distinctive job. “You work live, in front of cameras, and you need to have good divisibility of attention whilst preparing an analysis. You edit video materials, watch the match, and at the end, you need to sound interesting to the viewers whose lives do not necessarily revolve around football,” said Ulatowski. “You might sound reliable to a fan because you sound knowledgeable and you know how to read and analyze the game. However, the most important part is how you talk during the short period of time when you’re being recorded live. It’s not as simple as it looks,” summarised Rzasa who's been working for Lech Poznan Academy for the past year.