EXCLUSIVE: Katerina Svitkova on Pochettino's Chelsea and working as an analyst
After finishing her studies at university, she started working and developing an app for athletes and plans to get a coaching license.
And if it weren't for an injury, she would have managed to represent the Czech Republic in a Nations League double-header against Bosnia.
FS: This is probably an unusual introduction, but I wonder why a professional footballer, who is a Chelsea player, is working other jobs?
KS: "It's simple. In women's football, unless you are a selected elite player, you don't (earn) for life. The selected girls make their money more through partners and social media marketing. So as soon as you finish your career, you have to start working right away, and I'm the kind of person who always has to have a plan."
What's your plan?
"In my career, I studied computer science and statistics at the University of Economics, but I don't have any work experience. This summer, through a friend, I was referred to a company called Yarmill, which is trying to help athletes with training data collection. In the beginning it was in the form of a diary, now they are developing an app. It's extra interesting in that as a professional athlete I can put my knowledge into it, in addition to the theory from college."
Do such tools not already exist?
"In women's football, it's pretty marginal. If I wanted to look now at how I played a year ago and what my numbers were, I wouldn't find it anywhere. I won't know if I'm improving consistently, how much I've trained in a certain period - there are a lot of things to evaluate."
So you're training for Chelsea and throwing yourself into data analysis?
"It's nice to be able to do it remotely. And now that I'm in the Czech Republic for (injury) rehab, I go to the office and we see each other, which is a great feeling. Plus, I feel like I'm learning a lot more."
Back to football. You said the conditions in women's football are not the same as in men's football. Even at a top club like Chelsea. That may surprise some people...
"Even at the club, the 'imaginary scissors' are big. The English league is one of the best in the world, Chelsea is the leading club here, but I can't really retire here. My dream is to earn my own house, which is quite difficult. I don't have a bad time here, but considering that I have to pay for housing and other living expenses, which aren't exactly cheap in London - at the same time, I'm a person who wants to be appreciated for the way she plays football, not for promoting something on Instagram."
Then you must be interested in how much the club spends on players for the men's team, right?
"Of course, even us female players, the moment we hear how much money the club is putting into reinforcements, how much individual guys cost, which the price of one would be the budget for the whole women's team for the next three years, if not more, we expect to see quality. But that didn't happen much at first. We had thoughts of a title, but ironically the situation got worse."
Has the team found an ideal coach in Mauricio Pochettino?
"The games weren't bad last season. There were games when I thought the boys were playing well, you could see the learned combinations in their display, they knew their stuff, they just weren't getting the goals, which is the 'alpha-omega' of their problems over and over again. There's no goalscoring striker who will sprinkle one hit after another and I miss a creative ten who will push through and create something."
The problems are not so much about the coach, in your opinion, then?
"I don't think so. Pochettino came in, he probably asked for reinforcements, but Christopher Nkunku got injured right away. However, Thomas Tuchel already saw those problems, didn't solve them and paid the price. Pochettino, too, has a lot of work to do. The club is in transition, there are various eight-year contracts running into it, which could also play a big part."
What was going through your mind with so many players flowing into the club?
"It's an incredible migration. Competition is a good and healthy thing, but when there are 30 players in the squad it's not ideal. Everyone is in a state of uncertainty, which is reflected in the performances. As a fan myself, I wonder if this will continue to happen or if it will calm down."
That kind of fits for Mykhailo Mudryk, no?
"I, on the other hand, realise that the pressure on the guys must be enormous. It's absolutely incomparable to our category. I don't know what I would do if people were constantly saying and writing about me that I'm terrible, I can't hit the net and that they shouldn't have bought me. It gets into your head. Maybe that's why, for example, Erling Haaland is not scoring (as many) goals in the Premier League right now. It might have taken a bit of a toll on him. I don't see Mudryk as a goalscorer who will score loads of goals. He's a great dribbler, he's got speed, he can (cross) decently, although last time against Arsenal (2-2) his (cross) didn't go well, but luckily it ended up with a goal..."
Was it a cross in your opinion?
"Absolutely! He wasn't even looking at the goal, he was looking at (Raheem) Sterling the whole time to pass it to him. I've scored goals like that before too. This was definitely a (cross)."
How do your male colleagues at Chelsea perceive you?
"I feel a lot of respect from them. You can tell that women's football has moved on a lot in England, they take it for granted. They don't look down on us. Some of the boys come to our games, we meet at the training centre when we're injured. We'll have a few words. I, for one, love Mason Mount tremendously."
You're said to be close to the men's locker room, though. You played on the boys' team until you were 17...
"I was 17 and the boys were 15, they were still in school."
They say that girls who played football with boys are better players. Is that true?
"It is. I have to say that I enjoyed the boys' (locker room). I have a good relationship with them. Moreover, I don't like to slander others, I don't judge others, even if guys can do it too, but in the men's (clique) it was simply different. Plus, it was a huge challenge for me to try to match the guys who were always a little bit better."
In the final, you went the furthest out of the team...
"You're probably right. There were a couple of guys who played in the Czech league, but I'm probably the furthest away in terms of commitment. But it's women's football, it's a completely different thing. I don't even feel like a star."
But you definitely have that role in the national team. Now your teammates are missing you in the Nations League. How do you feel, as you couldn't play against Bosnia and will miss the rematch?
"I am sorry because we are going through the same problems as the guys in the national team. We have problems conquering our opponents, we lack more creativity. Then, when there is an opponent who crawls and relies on breaks, it's a problem. We lack patience. The ability to create dangerous spaces and goal-scoring situations. It's not just a problem for the guys, but it happens to us girls too. And it's a thing that is spicing up the youth."
Does the Czech setup need better work with young talent?
"There is a lack of more quality coaches in women's football in general. The best ones want to work in men's football - it starts with the youth themselves. However, women's football is stagnating compared to Europe. If five years ago we were playing evenly with the Spanish women, today we would get a huge handout. It doesn't matter if it's a national team or a club. Over the last seven or eight years, Europe has escaped us incredibly."
The rematch with Bosnia will be at the brand new stadium in Hradec Kralove...
"It has been my dream since I was a kid to play in a big stadium full of spectators. Logically, we women have the same dreams as men. I'm also very sorry because the Women's Nations League is a new competition, we are only starting now and I'm annoyed that I can't help the girls. Especially in our case, when there are not so many girls playing abroad and every absence is noticeable. I wish at least that a lot of people would come and that would break the record for the number of spectators in Hradec for the women's national team."
The Czechs lost the first match 1-0. Do you believe that at least the rematch will go well?
"We're in the B group, which means we have it a little easier and even though the games against such opponents are tricky, we should win. My opinion is that we have a much better team than Belarus, Bosnia or Slovenia."
