The Lineup against Finland: Laštůvka - Rajtoral, Sivok, Suchý, M. Kadlec - Hübschman, Darida - Plašil, V. Kadlec, Jiráček - Pekhart
I tuned in at the 30 minute mark, and from what I've seen this formation is every bit the cluster******** it looks on paper. 4 Central midfielders and 2 strikers playing in this stupid 4-2-3-1.. nobody seems to know where they are supposed to be.
HT, Finland grabbed a goal just before, and whistles from the crowd in Teplice. I'm turning the match off.
Well it apparently finished 0-1. Sure the 2nd half was every bit as great as the rest. I've never been this ready for club football after an international break.
This is very discouraging. We looked very good at the Euros but now honestly we look like crap especially going forward. We can't expect to hopefully only get one goal a game and think we will qualify.
Unfortunately, that has been exactly the tactic. I was hoping this poor showing might force a change, we may have Rosicky back in October which will help a lot even in a poor overall system, but I don't know if it will be enough. A 4-5-1 can be effective, but the team just looks so unprepared and not on the same page the last few matches. That makes me question the effectiveness of our national team training and man-management. At Euro 2012 we were really carried by a solid defense and some moments of individual brilliance mainly from Pilar, Jiracek, and Theo. The last time we really looked on the same page as a team for the majority of the game was the Hungary friendly (even though we lost) we dominated possession and looked fluid except for the final third.
I know you're not too fond of Bilek and I dont think he is answer right now, so I hope we can get a new coach. Bilek makes too many poor judgment calls. Plus we havent even looked like a good team recently. We have good players and really good youth. Bilek needs to learn how to get the best out of these players or leave. I just hope something happens soon. I don't want to watch another World Cup with Czech in it.
I haven't been able to watch any of Czechs recent games because of class or me having soccer practice. I saw we beat Malta but today we tied 0-0. I have no faith in Bilek to get us to the World Cup.
Slovakia friendly in progress. We lead 2-0 15 minutes in. Bilek finally calls up some of our younger creative players on the wings (Dockal and Krejci) and we have 2 goals in the first 5 minutes. Krejci in particular looks great so far.
Theo has really improved his crossing since moving to Germany, he is terrorizing the Slovak defense right now.
This is the best we've played in a long time. Krejci has certainly made the most of his debut. Kozak now coming on for his debut, Lafata gets a deserved applause for his 2 goal performance.
Dockal with a brilliant finish! A scoring debut for the player finally getting a shot. Great build up by Darida and Vydra.
Indeed, and we could easily of had more. Refreshing change of pace from our recent performances, and to me the big difference was the quality on the wings. Having true wingers like Krejci and Dockal opened up space in the middle for Darida to tie everything together (and allowed Lafata to do what he's good at, be in the right place at the right time). I was losing faith in Darida, as he's been giving the ball away too cheaply in recent matches, but he had his best national team match today. Hard to choose a MOTM between Theo and Darida, they were both outstanding throughout. Krejci wasn't far behind either. Goal 1 Goal 2 Goal 3
Squad for the Turkey friendly has been announced. The key promising performers from the Slovakia match are back, in addition Tecl will get his first call up. The big news though is the return of this man: GK Petr Čech (FC Chelsea), Jan Laštůvka (Dněpr Dněpropetrovsk) D Theo Gebre Selassie (Werder Brémy), Michal Kadlec (Bayer Leverkusen), Tomáš Kalas (SBC Vitesse Arnhem), David Limberský (FC Viktoria Plzeň), Tomáš Sivok (Besiktas Istanbul), Marek Suchý (Spartak Moskva) MF Vladimír Darida (FC Viktoria Plzeň), Bořek Dočkal (Rosenborg), Tomáš Hořava (SK Sigma Olomouc), Petr Jiráček (Hamburger SV), Ladislav Krejčí (AC Sparta Praha), Jaroslav Plašil (Girondins Bordeaux), Tomáš Rosický (Arsenal FC) F David Lafata (AC Sparta Praha), Michal Ordoš (SK Sigma Olomouc), Stanislav Tecl (FC Viktoria Plzeň), Matěj Vydra (FC Watford)
Looks like a strong squad. Vydra needs to start up top. It really shouldn't even be an argument to start him. He has been destroying the championship. Yeah it may be the English 2nd division, but he has been doing far too well to be ignored.
Vydra scored a goal today taking his goal tally up to 19 which is tied for 2nd for the most goals in the Championship. It is only February and he has 19 goals. That is quite impressive.
Starting 11: Laštůvka-Gebre Selassie, Sivok, Kadlec, Limberský - Darida, Plašil - Vydra, Rosický, Krejčí - Lafata
And this time Darida puts it in! 2-0, off of Krejci's corner. The future is incredibly bright. Well actually it's Lafata's goal as he put a crucial redirection, but great technique to keep it low with power by Darida, and Lafata does what he does.