Final touch by Celustka, considering how important he has been for our defense good for him if credited. Still 10 minutes left, but lets not Czech this up.
Gotta love Ondrasek's energy and attitude. You can tell it means the world to him to represent his country.
Hope Celustka is okay looked a bit fuzzy after thee header collision. FT 2-1 We qualify for our 7th consecutive European Championship and stay perfect in qualifying as an independent country.
Now that its over and relaxed that was such a bizarre match, we out shot them something like 25-4 with an even more lopsided margin of on target shots, but we only really played in spurts. We battered them for about the first 15 minutes, then picked up again after Jankto's shot around 60 minutes until a few minutes after our 2nd goal. We also of course had a goal called out that shouldn't have been and a penalty not called.
Also hopefully we continue to build momentum ahead of the tournament. In 2016 we started qualifiers strong with 4 straight victories but by the time of our friendlies in the run up to the tournament we were not on form and it was sort of an open secret that Vrba was looking to go back to club management.
I'm still skeptical of his actual technical abilities, but he plays within Silhavy's system better than Krmencik, who I think is overall stronger, faster and a more proven goal scorer... but in the last two matches has looked very poor in most mental/tactical attributes since returning from injury... and somewhat before. Ondrasek is willing to drop back and provide more hold up play and midfield support instead of running around waiting for crosses and through balls. Still we need Schick healthy and in form to beat good teams.
Ondrasek came on and just ran/moved a lot. That is what made the difference. Krmencik stayed more central and held his position. Not saying that is bad, but it was clear that when Ondrasek came on, his willingness to move caused a lot of problems. We really lack a pacey striker. Vydra is that player, but isn't playing. I hope he can leave Burnley in January. We need him to get minutes again because he is a striker that is completely different from our other guys.
While I think he should have been given a chance, I've usually found Vydra to be a bit one dimensional similar to (current form) Kremencik when he plays for us, so I think he may also be a bad tactical fit for Silhavy's core lineup. That said I do hope he moves to a club where he can get minutes, and there is absolutely no reason for Dolezal to get called up instead of him. In terms of adding pace, that is actually why I've wanted Matousek from U-21 to get a chance with the senior team despite his very inconsistent form. He is much faster with and without the ball than any player in our senior team, and that is something that we are missing at times. I suspect though after seeing our past few matches that he too would be reduced to just running in straight lines in this lineup. Compared to Krmencik or Vydra he at least takes people on with the ball at his feet instead of depending entirely on service or having someone to run off of. We have a very active and talented midfield, but they aren't a particularly creative group in open play, so we need someone like Schick that can find spaces and take on more playmaking role. For the time being, Ondrasek at least is showing that he knows how to find spaces and provide some linkup even if he isn't particularly athletic or technically talented. I actually increasingly think that Adam Hlozek, even having only recently turned 17, would probably be the best fit in terms of ability and style of play since he is more of a hybrid attacking midfielder/striker, but I don't see anyway he gets called up with our conservative approach to player selection and development (it's sort of amazing that he is on the U-21s at his age).
First off, congratulations to Silhavy and the team for qualification. A memorable game for sure, though I wouldn't call it a memorable performance by any stretch, but in the end we got the job done. That second half was entertaining as hell, despite all the mini heart attacks it induced, but a great way to book our ticket to Euro 2020 nonetheless. MOTM Kral. He is going to be a great player for us and is definitely best suited in that deep lying playmaking role in the midfield. He literally doesn't have any weaknesses to his game. He can dribble, pass, run, and apparently now shoot. Not to mention the little defensive contributions he makes that tend to go unnoticed like tracking runs and being strong in tackles. Our approach and play in midfield should be centred around him going forward. After Kral, I'd say Jankto was second best. I thought he was fantastic. Very active from the start, growing better as the game went on and seemed to be involved in basically all of our chances. He was so prominent that I totally didn't even notice how bad Masopust actually was. Apart from hopelessly fumbling the ball around to somewhat assist Kral's goal, he did nothing of significance. There are still a few concerns for me however that can't be lost in all the excitement. First and foremost, we are still conceding goals out of nowhere when our opponents have literally no momentum or any sustained pressure leading up to it. Our defensive shape and organization in general is better under Silhavy, but obviously with our personnel all it takes is the slightest lapse in concentration to concede at any given moment. I also feel we need to be sharper with possession. I find we are either extremely slow in moving the ball or just flat out overambitious in a way. By that I mean our quality doesn't quite match our intent to play positively and direct. We're more than capable of creating good pressure and sustaining it for lengthened periods, but that final pass and idea is really lacking in this current squad. We shouldn't have to rely on a Soucek or Masopust for creativity, but we are when we omit certain players (injuries obviously play a role here too). This leads into probably my biggest problem with Silhavy (it partially comes from his conservative methods), but his player selections are still pretty questionable and they make our depth seem way worse than it actually is. Let's just hope the ONE time Schick, Vydra, Barak, Hlozek/Matousek, and maybe Dockal are all in the same Silhavy squad is for Euro 2020. Our squad needs to consist of the best and most talented 23 players available if we want to be competitive.
My top 3 Kral, Jankto, and Darida Bottom 3: Krmencik, Masopust, Brabec That said with the exception of giving Kral about 9 most of the team was somewhere 5-7 with the worst performers mainly being frequently invisible/insignificant. I am not sure if we can guarantee pot 2 by beating Bulgaria, but it would definitely improve our chances since we are listed among qualified teams as potentially falling anywhere between 2-4. They are probably on the worst form of any national team in UEFA, so it would be best to go for victory rather than treat this as unnecessary.
We should be beating Bulgaria comfortably to be honest. A 2-0 or 3-0 win is what I'd be expecting. No reason to take this game easy, though I'd like to see a few lineup changes now that we are qualified. I'd replace Vaclik, Coufal, Brabec, Boril, and Krmencik with Kolar, Kaderabek, Kalas, Novak, and Ondrasek. I'd like to see how our other defenders who've fallen out of favour are doing and may as well start Ondrasek because what the hell. Our back ups in midfield are not even worth trying in my opinion, plus I wouldn't want to make too many changes and repeat that first half with Northern Ireland. We will also be debuting our new away jersey for this match. It is green and I will leave it at that.
I'd actually be even tempted to try Kaderabek in place of Masopust. I think Masopust is hardworking enough to have a role for the rest of this cycle, but he is probably the most inconsistent and limited starter. Play a first half - 60 minutes like that and then if all is well swap out Coufal for Masopust so you can assess all right side options.
I am all for Kaderabek at right mid. Silhavy tried it against England in our 5-0 loss I believe, but that is not the best of tests since we were hemmed in our own half all game. Kaderabek has played there for his club, and can cross. All for that change especially since Coufal has been good at right back. With the current team, it's hard to pick a midfield. Darida, Kral, Soucek are all more defensive minded center mids. None are really the #10 that we have needed in numerous matches, so do we continue with Darida in that #10 role, or do we give some else a shot there? I think we have to keep that midfield together and just hope we can produce some attacks even against the better nations.
Of the current starting midfield, Darida is still the best to play in that #10 role in my opinion. Obviously Dockal is the most ideal in that position and I'd even say Barak is more creative and better in the final third than Darida. With Dockal or Barak, I think it'd also let Soucek do less in the offensive phase where I find he struggles at the international level. Another variable that would be interesting, but unrealistic with Silhavy, would be to play Vydra or Hlozek either behind Schick as a secondary striker/attacking midfielder or next to him in a 4-4-2. I know we've talked about the use of diamond in the past given our influx of quality midfielders and lack of dynamic wingers, so maybe something to consider for the future: ----------Hlozek-----------Schick----------- --------------------Jankto-------------------- ---------Barak---------------Kral------------ -------------------Soucek-------------------- This looks quite promising on paper I must say.
I think our team works with the narrow 4-4-2 especially since Kaderabek is an attacking full back, but it takes a lot of discipline to play that formation. Is Barak even playing in Italy? Jankto can play the CM spot too.
Occasional substitute this last few months after returning from injury, was arguably Udinese's best player before so a little disappointing he hasn't reclaimed a starting spot back. That said we continued calling up Schick and Jankto while they were getting little playing time, I think its just that our CM options keep him from being treated as indispensable relatively speaking.
UEFA has this lineup Kolar Kaderabek Celustka Kudela Boril Sevcik Kral Soucek Jankto Darida Ondrasek Not exactly who I would choose, but overall a more balanced mix of starters and audtions - Silhavy learned from the complete shift change against Northern Ireland. and confirmation: 🇧🇬🇨🇿 Do posledního kvalifikačního utkání vyběhnou čeští hráči v této sestavě 👇 pic.twitter.com/ubMQnJrDdM— Česká fotbalová reprezentace (@ceskarepre_cz) November 17, 2019
Whatever really. Sevcik probably won't be any worse than Masopust and we'll see how Ondrasek looks from the start, but have no real expectations for him anyways. Kudela has no business starting ahead of Kalas though. I'd also may have actually given Kalvach a try in place of Soucek. Otherwise, looking forward to seeing more from Kral.
More talented but less consistent. Masopust you know what you will get, hard work but not who you want making the final pass or definitely taking the shot (unless its a half volley on corners). Sevcik is more someone that can look totally unplayable against Chelsea then be totally invisible against a team like Karvina. This will probably be a narrower midfield as I think Sevcik and Jankto both are more naturally central players.
We have a possession advantage, but have completed about 70 less passes, which is about how the match looks. We are moving in slow motion in attack while they are looking to play quick.