To be fair, I think he would score four goals against plenty of other teams in the league, but factor in his injury and the fact he was trailing the leader by three goals going into the final round, it’s an amazing accomplishment.
Hlozek is going to be an international superstar, but putting 4 past Brno in 28 minutes isn't that impressive. Missing a big chunk of the season but winning the scoring title despite Sparta being way behind Slavia is definitely the more impressive part.
Kuchta scored late in the first half to now tie Hlozek at 15 goals. As exciting as this all is, one is preparing for the Euros next week and I’d certainly hope he doesn’t get too caught up in this and risk injury.
Kuchta I believe just restored the tie by scoring against CB. In a final match day with no real drama, I guess this is it.
Another potential talent to look out for is Daniel Samek (born in 2004) at Slavia. He’s started again this week and is getting many positive reviews.
Well the season is in the books, Slavia of course won another title and will enter Champions League in the 3rd qualifying round, Sparta will be joining them in CL qualifiers 2nd round. Jablonec for 3rd place will be in Europa League 3rd qualifying round. Slovacko will participate in the Europa Conference League as a reward for an excellent season considering their budget and expectations, and will be joined by Plzen for whom this is a consolation prize on a terrible year. Brno, Pribram, and Opava will make room for Hradec Kralove next season. Some signs this season that Slavia's academy is catching up to their senior team, Denis Visinsky(2003) also made some appearances including a masterclass performance in one cup match (granted against a 3rd tier side).
My favorite random team of the season is Sigma Olomouc, having the most neutral season possible: In an 18 team league they finished 9th with a 0 Goal differential, 11 wins, 12 draws, and 11 losses.
Sparta sign Jakub Pesek from Liberec, he was one of the best players outside of of the Top 2 teams last season.They also made Hancko's move from Fiorentina permanent. I think they are most focused on trying to sign Krmencik even though I feel another defender should probably be priority if they are actually serious about competing in Europe.
Good start to what I imagine will be a busy offseason for Sparta. Not even just from signing transfer targets, but also offloading a number of players that aren’t good enough. Another defender that’s not Brabec hopefully. I wonder how much the recent success and relevance of Sparta’s academy is influencing this potential change in direction from Slavia.
Okay, this on paper looks like a legitimately smart signing for Sparta as that is a big weakness for them. ✒️ POSILA | Dánský obránce Casper Højer je novým hráčem Sparty! V klubu podepsal kontrakt do roku 2024.🤴 Ať se Ti ve Spartě daří! #acsparta➡️ https://t.co/rXXKjY8plt pic.twitter.com/X1lmoWrPyr— AC Sparta Praha (@ACSparta_CZ) June 2, 2021 Not sure what it says about our national team future that both Sparta and Slavia have needed to look to Denmark to solve fullback issues in the last year. @Ceres Are you familiar with this player (Casper Hojer)? Bah turned out to be an excellent signing for Slavia replacing Coufal.
Yeah, after centreback and right wing, our third weakest position is leftback. Boril has been fine, but is nothing really spectacular and is now 30, and going forward I’m not sure who replaces him. Sadilek had a spell at leftback for PSV, but his future appears to be in midfield as always believed. The only sort of leftback prospects I can think of are Ondrej Zmrzly of Olomouc and Matej Polidar who I thought had some decent games for Sparta this spring.
Højer is not the fastest player in the World, but he is absolutely brilliant at set pieces and at finishing and passing the ball Some highlights that also show some of his defensive skills
Thanks for the information. Considering Sparta switched to a 3 CB formation because their last left-sided fullback was so useless it will is his starting spot to lose. Sparta are just a few pieces away from looking like they can compete with Slavia (and in Europe)... although, it looked that way last summer as well.
Perhaps I should add, that AGF Aarhus chose to sell him for only around €700k, because his contract will expire in the winter break, 7 month from now, Sparta obviously could have been signing him for free later, but were afraid that some other club then would pick him up and give him a better offer, so they decided it was more wise to offer a transfer fee and get him straight away.
Believe it or not draws for Champions and Europa leagues are already happening. In Champions League 2nd qualifying roung Sparta get about the best possible draw in Rapid Wien, short travel and a very beatable opponent. In Europa conference league qualifying Slovacko will play Bulgarian side Lokomotiv Plovdiv Plzen get Belorussian Dynamo Brest I feel both Slovacko and Plzen have a fair amount of out going transfers this summer, so who knows how well they'll match up. (Based on the clubs' respective trajectories over the last 2 years I have more faith in Slovacko to make smart moves)
I really hope Sparta qualify for the Champions League this season, as do Slavia of course, but with such young talents, it would be a huge development point for the likes of Hlozek, Krejci, Karabec, and possibly Vitik (I think he’ll likely go on loan however). I had totally forgot about this Conference League and was confused when Slovacko celebrated their qualification for Europe. I suppose it’s better than that Super League proposal.. Also, I believe the superstructure format is returning this year if I’m not mistaken?
Czech league teams have been upping their game on player announcements in recent seasons (part of a broader social-media trend), but this one probably my favorite. Welcome back, Theo. Vítej zpátky, Theo! #TGS23 pic.twitter.com/EO9szz3ulf— FC Slovan Liberec (@FCSlovanLiberec) June 26, 2021
That was a great player announcement. Well done Liberec. Slavia will certainly have to step up their game when Krmencik is potentially announced..
I'm still not sold on post-injuries Krmencik being any real upgrade for Slavia, but would still be a notable signing. He certainly has a bit more success in European Competition than Kuchta who disappeared in big matches.
Slavia have signed Danish midfielder Mads Emil Madsen from Austrian side LASK Linz. Seems like he's cover for Provod, who will miss at least part of the season. Interesting the Prague teams have been scouting players from Scandinavia in recent years, particularly 3 Danish players in the last year.
I’m not exactly sold on Krmencik either. I find he can be quite effective at times, but then just downright awful (he managed to be both against Denmark). Even now at 28, his finishing and movement remains erratic. He’s still rash and almost immature between constantly drifting offside or needlessly barging into defenders to foul them. I suppose his role is to be a nuisance though, so definitely can be an asset to certain clubs. I think 10-15 goals is a reasonable expectation for him at Slavia assuming he starts somewhat regularly.
Sparta's European journey begins today against Rapid Vienna. A nice regional tie, and one I would rate Sparta as very slight favorites in. Sparta have been poor in Europe for a few seasons (although at least last year they made group stages), and this is likely their last chance to make a run with Hlozek.
Just blew a golden chance to double that lead, which admittedly may have made the rest of this round a stroll.