So we were drawn into Group D: England Croatia Czech Winner of Scotland, Israel, Norway, Serbia Tough group. Croatia is really good, but we can get a result there. What is so awful is our matches will be played in Scotland, and England. We will have to play England in Wembley for the final match. We also can potentially play Scotland in Glasgow... This seems silly. Two home games potentially for 2 nations in our group.
That is my hope. I think by next year, this might be a much different croatia team than the 2018 world cup. Their keeper and defense situation is in a really bad spot. Plus their star players are on the wrong side of 30 so a long season might make them less effective. Serbia or Scotland can be tricky.
Tough group with familiar opponents in recent years now. I found it difficult to really look forward to the live draw. I just find this new edition of the tournament to be so flawed. For the fourth spot in our group, obviously Serbia would be the toughest and probably would be favoured against us to be honest. Although I'd rather play them than Scotland with home advantage (imagine playing two teams with home advantage in a major tournament group stage... ) Again, just one of the many questionable elements to this tournament. At least we know we can beat England, but I wouldn't bet on that happening twice in the span of a year, especially at Wembley. I do think we can challenge Croatia though. I don't think they'll be nearly as strong at this tournament as they've been in the past. In other news, we have arranged two very appealing friendlies in the lead up to the tournament: • June 4 @ Italy • June 7 v Austria No confirmation yet of our March 2020 schedule, but some possible opponents were said to include the US, Albania, and Costa Rica among others.
I'd probably prefer we only play UEFA teams in the lead up to the tournament, the US and Costa Rica are mediocre and wouldn't really prepare us for the style teams we will be playing. I really like the Italy and Austria friendlies, considering how similar they are in size and their proximity it's always a surprise that we don't schedule more with Austria. So much of our tournament preparation depends on players getting healthy and on form. There are some promising signs for Schick at RB Leipzig and Barak seems to be slowly coming back. It would also be nice if between now the next summer one of our youth strikers force their way into the roster.
Italy, Austria, and Ireland would be ideal friendlies to prepare for that group. I am torn on who I want that 4th spot to be. My wife's side is scottish so I actually have an opportunity to go to the match. Her uncle lives 40 minutes from hampden so a Czech v Scotland match would be fun to watch live, but a home match for scotland is so tough on us.
I'm actually really starting to believe that Hlozek will at least be given a chance leading up to the tournament (I'd have him in my squad anyways) since the U21s also have no qualifiers in June 2020. I realize with Silhavy it may seem unlikely, but by next spring I'd imagine his value will be double what is now at the rate he is progressing. This is potentially a once-in-a-generation player for us, so I don't mind creating a bit of extra hype in bringing him to a major tournament at just 17. Plenty of other nations are quick to call up their highly rated U19 talents and it would be nice for a change if we started doing the same.
I hope so, but will believe it when I see it, while Hlozek is definitely a potential generational talent I still doubt he breaks in to the lineup until next cycle. That said Hlozek can fill in for two positions we need depth (wing and forward) so maybe. Czech football is very conservative and hierarchical, when 20 - 22 year olds break through (Schick and Darida for example) its a big deal.
Haven't seen a Czech confirmation, but if this is to be believed : It looks like the @ceskarepre_cz 🇨🇿 will be going to the USA 🇺🇸 in March!Mexico 🇲🇽 in Charlotte NC March 26?https://t.co/LcknBZUImKHonduras 🇭🇳 in Ft Lauderdale FL March 29?https://t.co/42cUWpBoTdAttention: @czechfooty @jakubdvo @jahodap @PintOfRedCards @KHaring75 #ceskarepre— Ben (@rienquivaille) December 29, 2019 We are playing friendlies against Mexico and Honduras in the US this March. None are convenient for me and I in general am not a fan of this. Mexico would be a great warmup for a World Cup, but don't really play similar to our Euros opponents... It's also a long way for our players to travel during season, I suspect some (like Schick who is on loan) may not even be released.
So the pair of friendlies for our US trip this March have been officially confirmed by our FA. March 26 against Mexico in Charlotte and then Honduras in Miami on March 29. I'm not so much bothered by the actual opponents, I am however not a fan of the required travel. I'm honestly expecting two dull, lacklustre performances as a result. Would much rather we remained in Europe and scheduled a home and away fixture instead. The travel plus the high probability that certain players won't be released makes me sceptical that this will be productive for our Euro 2020 preparations.
I think it's safe to assume the upcoming friendlies in the Americas will be called off due to the global health crisis unfolding. Actually, looks like national team twitter just confirmed they've been cancelled.
No football for a while. It's for the best. Apparently the virus can reduce lung capacity permanently so that could ruin people's careers. Looks like the euros are also going to 2021.
So the Euros were indeed postponed until 2021. As far as I've heard, international football could return for the fall (should be confirmed sometime this month) with the next edition of the UEFA Nations League possibly starting in September (fingers crossed). Certainly will be a task trying to sort out a now congested schedule between the Euro 2020 playoffs, the next Nations League as mentioned, and then also World Cup 2022 qualifiers. Our Nations League group is Scotland, Israel, and once again, Slovakia. Let's just go ahead and assume we will beat Slovakia twice more. In all seriousness though, I'd say it's a pretty manageable group. We could meet one of Scotland or Israel at the Euros as well if they make it through the playoffs, so this will be a nice preview if that does happen. As far as the Euros are concerned, I think the delay only benefits us really. Even though quite a bit can change in a year, our core will remain the same (and likely improve), while our player pool in general could be better come 2021 for the following reasons: • Another year for U21 players to develop and play into the senior team picture. This mostly applies to Hlozek and Sadilek, but there could be others too. • Hovorka back and playing at the level he was for Slavia before he got injured would be big boost to a still troubled position of ours. • Plzen's current midfield could potentially make our midfield options even deeper (wish we had the same problem with wingers and central defenders). Admittedly some very optimistic predictions here, but by no means unrealistic at all. I'm also skeptical that Suchy and Dockal (our would-be captains) will even be useful options by next summer (apart from experience that we do lack to be fair). Both will not only have to remain healthy, but really perform well to be deserving of selection in my opinion, especially in Dockal's case where there's plenty of good younger options in our midfield.
The delay is really beneficial to us for the most part. A lot of our starters are young, so more football is good. Although guys like Darida and Suchy are getting older. As for the nation's league group, we should be finishing first. That group is a dream group imo.
Silhavy's contract has been extended and he will lead the national team in the 2022 World Cup cycle. After the postponement of Euro 2020, it only makes sense since the next set of qualifiers begin in March 2021 anyways. Now the draw to determine the qualifying groups will be based on the November 2020 FIFA Rankings. We are currently ranked 45th and would be in Pot 3 which is not ideal. To get into Pot 2 we'd have to basically have a perfect record in the Nations League, which I think is doable, but the FIFA ranking system is so bizarre that I'd expect us to likely remain in Pot 3 for the draw. I do think our team come 2021 will be capable of finishing second in a group (regardless of Pot 2 or 3) and at least securing a playoff spot. It's about time we qualify for a World Cup though.
No complaints with extending Silhavy all things considered. We'll possibly have more attacking talent than we've had in a while during the next cycle if our most promising young players step up, but I still feel like any success will depend on having an organized defense that is collectively better than the sum of its parts.
Lvíčata vyhlíží netradiční tréninkový kemp, který odstartuje v Benicích u Prahy ve čtvrtek 23. července a skončí o dva dny později 🦁🇨🇿 pic.twitter.com/qI5S2kyQxR— Česká fotbalová reprezentace (@ceskarepre_cz) July 22, 2020 Interesting idea from the U-21s to have a training camp since they've not played together since before Coronavirus . A few key players are missing like Hlozek, Sadilek, and Bucha. Very glad to see Adam Karabec (Sparta) and David Zima (Slavia) get there first calls, they both emerged as key players at the end of the season. Karabec is 16 and has potential to be world class (some scouts even rate him higher than Hlozek), and Zima looks to be a rapidly improving young center back... which to say the least is something we need.
I'd say I'm most intrigued by the development of Zima since he plays in the position most troubled in our national team (and realistically closer to the senior team than Karabec based on age). To be honest, I didn't even think he was really anything special, but having seen how quickly he improved on a weekly basis once the league restarted, I do see potential in him. He was playing for Olomouc's B and youth teams in the fall and is now a mainstay for the best team in the country. Makes you wonder how many other hidden gems are scattered throughout the lower ranks waiting for a proper chance. Credit to Slavia's scouting system and yet again Trpisosvky for kickstarting his development.
Also a bit of recent news at the senior team level regarding the schedule for this fall. In addition to six Nations League games, we will play two away friendlies with Cyprus and Germany after UEFA allowed for a third match date in the October and November deadlines. The Cyprus friendly will be played in October before our away fixtures in Israel and then Scotland. In November, we'll face Germany before hosting Israel and Slovakia. A very busy schedule that will definitely pose a challenge from a managerial and possibly travel standpoint, but should give us added opportunities to integrate some new players into the mix and really solidify our best XI.
I still worry about international travel and Covid especially involving national teams. You're taking players from all over the world, bringing them together, then flying to another nation to play some team who did the same. Huge risks there. Also how would it work for nations such as the US where people can't leave due to covid restrictions?
I actually do sort of agree. I'm glad that league football is returning with common sense restrictions in countries that have a good handle of the situation (and some that don't), but even within UEFA it feels risky to resume in September.
We're already nearly two weeks away from the start of the Nations League. Whether or not international football returns in September still remains to be seen. The latest I heard is that UEFA are still making a final decision with its associations. It's already been confirmed that all games will be played without fans and the possibility of certain countries playing in neutral venues (I think this is actually likely and really the only way all matches could even be played in such a condensed schedule). If these September fixtures are to go ahead as planned, I generally wouldn't expect many changes from the teams we saw in 2019 with Silhavy. I wonder if we'll see a larger number of players selected in the event someone tests positive for Covid and is sent home. Also, with the prospect of having three matches in the October and November deadlines, it may be worth having a larger squad. I think the list of defenders will be as expected with hopefully a return for Suchy which would add some needed depth and experience. The midfield spots outside of Soucek, Darida, and Kral are probably the most debatable since our options are pretty extensive with everyone healthy. I would choose Barak, Kalvach, and probably Cermak as back ups, but realistically Silhavy will likely call up Dockal which I don't necessarily mind either. I personally think it's time to move on from Pavelka. He played well for the national team in the 18/19 season and is a player Silhavy favours, but I just think there are too many other better and younger options now available. As far as attacking depth looks, Skoda may be in contention after his good season in Turkey, but I still would prefer to have Ondrasek as a third or fourth option, though I imagine he won't be included due to travel restrictions. In that case, I think Hlozek should absolutely be called up as a winger/forward, especially if Silhavy continues to overlook Vydra for that role.
We lack wingers currently, so I'd be in favor of pushing Kaderabek to the RW spot and this allows Coufal to start at right back. Jankto on the left and yea the midfield basically is the same. Soucek and Kral have only gotten better which is great. Darida is still a good player and it's nice to have him.
Hlozek would really be a must at this point, he's arguably our most dynamic attacking player and already has 2 seasons of first team professional experience despite his age. He can also play on either wing or striker. While I agree we have younger options in midfield than Pavelka, I'm not sure we have anyone that quite provides the same style. Sadilek is probably closest but between injury and postponement of Dutch season he hasn't really played since November I think (he also actually plays left back for PSV despite being a defensive central midfielder at the youth level).
I also do really think this should be postponed, if not for ongoing Covid concerns, because many leagues never resumed so there will just be too many players lacking match fitness.