3/1 To Win
One of the first things Matej Vydra said when he became Derby County’s club record signing in August 2016 was that he wanted to find a home.
After a difficult first year, it appears he may have just found it.
On the pitch, he is flying having scored five goals in seven matches in all competitions. He is flourishing under Gary Rowett and is determined to take his second year at Pride Park Stadium by the scruff of the neck.
In this exclusive interview, The Ram sat down with the Czech Republic international about his career so far, his move to Udinese, creating a name for himself in England, the importance of confidence and how he got himself ready for a ‘big’ 2017/18 season.
TR: Looking at your career in-depth, I’m intrigued as to how it began for you as a boy in Czech Republic. How did you get into football?
MV: When I was five-year-old, I just started playing on the streets with a couple of friends. One of the dads came up to me and asked me if I played properly. I didn’t at the time and he asked me to join his club and I ended up going there and playing every single day. My family was there with me every step of the way too. My father had also played football for a small team in Czech Republic so they were very good with me.
TR: How quickly did you realise that you was actually pretty good at football?
MV: Now, this I don’t actually remember! It would have been pretty early because I was always playing and I found myself playing against players older than me. When I was eight, I was coming up against 11-year-olds and by the age of 11 I joined the biggest club in Czech Republic, Baník Ostrava. It was at that point that I thought I could play football as my job. I started playing more and more and I find myself sitting here right now.
TR: Was your dream always to play in England?
MV: Yes. I think, though, that is the dream for all children in similar situations. The stadiums and the fans are something else. The people are very nice over here too, the football is great – the best in the world in fact. Take me for example, I watched a lot of Premier League football and was a big Chelsea fan. I loved Didier Drogba and whilst we are very different players, I thought he was quality.
TR: Your first venture out of Czech Republic took you to Italy and to Udinese. How did that move come about?
MV: It was really random wasn’t it! I don’t know how they knew of me – a kid in Czech Republic – but my agent said that scouts from Udinese had watched me a couple of times and said they liked me as a player. After the season, we sat down – me, my parents and my agent – and it was the big chance that every young player wanted; an opportunity to get out of Czech Republic and play football. I was so happy because to get out and play in a country like Italy is a dream. My parents, however, questioned whether it was the right time, but I insisted it was. It was one of them moves where I would have to sacrifice playing regularly at the beginning to take a forward step.
TR: So how was it out there?
MV: It was very tough. I was 18, I didn’t speak Italian and I didn’t have my family around me. Maybe it came too early for me. I found it tougher than I thought I would. From a football perspective, I went there when Udinese had a very, very, strong team. There was Antonio Di Natale, who always scored more than 30 goals a season, Alexis Sanchez, Vincenzo Iaquinta and David Pizarro. There were so many great players and I was a young kid from Czech Republic! If I was making that move now, it would be different because they aren’t the team they used to be, but it was a good experience and was still important because if I was still in Czech Republic, who knows what would have happened.
TR: Your move to Watford came soon after, again like the Udinese question, how did the move come about?
MV: I have to be honest, I had never heard of Watford before the move came about. It was also lucky really because the Chairman from Udinese bought Watford. I was in the middle of a long summer because I had injured my knee. I did my ACL whilst I was on loan at Club Brugge and in my second game I stretched to try and catch a long ball. My foot was over my head, I missed the ball and landed awkwardly. I felt strange, weird even, I felt pain, but I played on for another 60 minutes and finished the game. I went to sleep that night and my knee was all swollen. The scan showed it was an ACL injury and I was crying and absolutely devastated. Back to the original point, though, I was at a family party and my agent asked me if I wanted to go. Initially, I said no. I wanted to fight for my place at Udinese and he spoke to me for another three hours to try and convince me. A couple of weeks later, the Chairman who had bought Watford had made it clear that he wanted me there so I agreed to it. It was made a little bit easier because Daniel Pudil, another Czech player, went too. It couldn’t have gone any better on a personal level. I scored 22 goals, we reached the Play -Off Final and I was named as the Championship’s Player of the Year. It was a great year, especially after the big injury I spoke about earlier. It was big step for me and took me on to another level in my career.
TR: Why did it work out so well for you on both occasions?
MV: With the injury I had, I was desperate to get back playing again. So, there was that and I had also had a good start. I scored a last-minute winner against Crystal Palace and after that things just snow-balled. I just felt free there. I had nothing to lose. Nobody knew about Matej Vydra and I think that helped me. I was an unknown quantity, nobody had heard of me and probably no-one expected anything from me because of the bad injury. That’s why it was special year.
TR: You got your move to the Premier League after that first year with West Bromwich Albion. Naturally that was your dream so how did you find your first taste of it?
MV: Again, it was very good. The big thing I had was that I missed two months through injury and it came at a time that Saido Berahino was just coming through. He started scoring goals and everyone was pushing for him to play. I was behind him and then they sacked the manager at the time, Steve Clarke, who had brought me in. I only scored three goals, but looking back, again, maybe it was too early for me to play in the Premier League. It’s tougher than anyone expects it to be. Every week, you find yourself playing against the best players in the world and in terms of defenders, they are a very different animal to the Championship. It’s something that I have learned from for sure.
TR: Let’s talk about Watford 2.0. You went back to Vicarage Road after that and again, it worked out for you. Why? Especially when you consider that the club had four managers over the course of the year!
MV: At the beginning of that year, I spoke with the Chairman in Italy and he told that he wanted me to go back, because he was determined to get the club promoted. After narrowly missing out the first time, I wanted to go back. I did very well there, everyone knew me, I liked the people over there, it was like a family club and I went back relaxed. The situation was crazy. We had had four managers before November and in December, we looked like we were going to have another. We had lost four games in a row and they wanted to sack Slaviša Jokanović. He had to win his next game and we went on and beat Fulham 5-0! Things changed after that. I don’t know what, but we just started winning and winning and winning. We went to Brighton in the penultimate game and won 2-0. We were the early kick-off and we travelled back knowing that if results went our way, we would be promoted. We arrived back at the training ground and at that time, the team we were waiting on weren’t winning and when the full-time result came in, everything was crazy. Everyone was jumping around celebrating and I called my dad and was crying. Alongside making my Czech Republic debut, it was the best moment of my career.
TR: Let’s focus on you and Derby now. A lot has been made of confidence, how big a factor is that for strikers like yourself?
MV: In terms of me, it is important to have a manager that believes in me and I have to feel good on the pitch. With that, I can feel confident and I can play my best football. I have found that this season, but it is just seven games, there are still 39 left.
TR: What was the turning point for yourself?
MV: After last season really. It was quite a tough year for me. I came in under one manager and a month later, I was playing for a new one who wanted to play a different style. When Steve McClaren came back, he switched to a 4-3-3 and I struggled to adapt and I didn’t play all that much. Then Gary came in and I started to play more in the number 10 position. I felt this could be different for me under him and it almost felt like I was waiting for this year to come around. After the season ended, I went on holiday and I did a lot of training with my fitness coach in America. I spent most of the summer waiting for this season. I tried to make sure that I was as relaxed as possible mentally so that I could focus on my quality. I’m 25-years-old. That’s not too young and it’s not too old – I have to make the most of this opportunity if I want to progress in my career.
TR: You mentioned when you signed that you wanted to find a home? Is Derby starting to feel like that now?
MV: Yes, it is. I recently found a new home and moved in a couple of weeks ago. I’m very happy there. Here, I am happy too. It’s the simple things that make the difference, like, for example, turning up for training and everyone knows me. On the pitch, I am scoring goals too, everyone is helping me and I am getting the same feelings that I used to get in Watford. I hope that continues.
