I think at this point it's only best a deal is reached between Vrba and FC Anzhi. We're officially in a transition phase with the national team, and to have a coach that is not prepared to invest their time and effort to such a cause makes the entire process utterly pointless. I also get the sense this move is financially driven considering there was interest from Zenit, a team that currently surpasses FC Anzhi in market value by quite a margin. I can't imagine why such a club would be attractive for any other reason, or even the league itself for that matter. Personally, I'd like a new start. I'm willing to burn a campaign (a tournament in Russia of all places...) if it means increasing the stock of our younger players and building a team for the next 5-10 years. Also, most importantly, I think we'd all like a fresh defensive record.
So Vrba is officially gone. As disastrous of a Euros we had, he at least got us there by winning our group no less. Unfortunately we got stuck with arguably the group of death and crashed out of the Euros with no wins. I really hope he goes on and does well in Russia. He is a decent manager, but needs to learn how to organize a defense. Hopefully he gets a good defensive manager with him. Now, who the hell is going to take over??
Karel Jarolim Vitezslav Lavicka Zdenek Zeman Jaroslav Hrebik Ivan Hasek or Foreign Manager These would appear to be the candidates, some more likely than others, but it's hard to draw a clear favourite at the moment. My pick from this list would be Lavicka. I think it's the most sensible move considering he currently manages our U21 team and is familiar with the players at Sparta. Also, out of all those managers, he seems to be the least likely to make a mess of things. While Zeman has plenty of experience abroad, specifically in Italian football, he implements an often bold and ultimately stupid attacking philosophy. Our defence would be even worse with him. That's probably why his tenures usually last a year or two at most. I think Czech fans come to a conclusion when they see the list of teams he's managed (impressive I'll admit), but I don't see him being the answer for us.
The personnel we have actually works best for Zeman. He likes his full backs to attack which is basically all Kaderabek does. Plus Pudil used to be a winger as well so that would work. Midfield is strong with Darida fitting perfectly as the complete midfielder, then maybe someone like Maracek, Vacek, or Pavelka as the defensive mid. Third CM I really don't know. Wingers as Krejci and Dockal and then obviously striker. I'd be fine giving him a go. If not Zeman, then I'd want Lavicka to take over. If I am remembering right, Lavicka has done very well with the U-21s.
Zeman would certainly be an interesting experiment, and from an attacking standpoint would make best use of our players. Though I do worry we don't have enough athleticism in the center of the field (both midfield and defense) to play his style of football without getting carved up defensively. Lavicka is still probably my favored domestic candidate, his U-21 team is pretty well clear of their qualifying group with a +14 goal differential. Very different level, but he has also won championships in two (very different) leagues with 3 different clubs. Hrebik coached a lot of our current players at the U-19 level (a team that lost to Spain in the finals in added time) and has a decent resume, but he isn't actually managing at the moment, he is some sort of sports director for Sparta I think.
Interview with Zeman: http://isport.blesk.cz/clanek/fotba...-musel-bych-vedet-do-ceho-jdu-rika-zeman.html
Ideally, I'd want Lavicka to be appointed and then perhaps he could bring Hrebik along as an assistant, consultant, manager, or any kind of role really. Not sure if that arrangement would work, but I'm assuming the two are on good terms (?), or at least share the same view of incorporating younger players into the mix. Considering we only have two months, familiarity will be crucial if we are to have any immediate success, which wouldn't be an issue with Lavicka and Hrebik. That was the prime reason why we won our first four qualifiers under Vrba. I found a few red flags in that interview with Zeman. The lack of involvement with Czech football over the years is one thing, but the fact that he basically admitted to having difficulties with management in years past doesn't inspire much confidence at all. At his age, there's no reason to believe why he would change his approach, or better yet, take orders from others such as Pelta.
Nobody has been offered yet it seems, but the main candidates are interested at least. I would suspect a new manager in place very soon.
Well, whoever the new manager is, he could be in for a memorable, or perhaps forgettable debut, as there's talk of us playing England in a friendly at Wembley before our first qualifier. I'm all for it. I thought I read somewhere that the new coach would be decided by July 8th. Not sure when the actual presentation will be though.
Karel Jarolim is our new manager. Not sure if I should get this thread going or move to the Czech National team thread. Either way, we have a new manager now and I am not too impressed with this appointment...
Limbersky retires from the national team. This is a blessing. He was past it and now we can give new players a try.
Now it's down to Rosicky and Sivok to determine their futures, although I read that Gebre Selassie may quit international football as well. I don't think he's seriously considering doing that, but he was clearly upset at his lack of playing time during the Euros, and rightfully so. I'd say him and Suchy were the two that undeservedly suffered the most under Vrba. Both should have been starters well before the tournament even started. A friendly against Armenia is scheduled for August 31 in Mlada Boleslav. It'll probably be the first and last time we play a game there, but I guess that was part of the deal in releasing Jarolim. Terrible venue at the international level.
Rosicky is currently in London actually with Arsenal recovering from his injury so I'd assume once he gets fit again, he will decide if he is done with the national team or not. But Rosicky is 35 and turning 36 in a few months. Plus with his injury history, I could easily see him hanging up his international boots if he wants to keep playing at least club level football. Sivok is only 32 and definitely can play a role for us in qualifying for the World cup. I don't like our center back options without Sivok to be honest. Selassie has a right to be mad. Selassie had a good year in the bundesliga and should have started either at right back or left back. It's just a shame Kaderabek also play his spot and both are doing well in Germany. I don't like how our future looks to be honest. I think it's going to take a while for our midfield to take shape. Darida is really the only one I can say for sure will be playing, but the other 1-2 CM spots are completely open for taking.
Hubnik has also retired from the national team. A bizarre international career for him, but I'd still like to thank him after returning from a near four year absence to help secure our first and only clean sheet under Vrba, against Malta. It does appear that Sivok and Kadlec plan to continue, although I think it's best we move on from the latter. I think he's totally past it and would realistically be our fourth choice CB if called up. Time to explore other options. I guess we can discuss any further retirements on this thread for now and officially close the books on Euro 2016 (if many Czechs haven't already) and then move to the national team thread when Jarolim announces his first squad.