I saw another article with Hlozek linked to Bayern, Dortmund and Juventus. With Sparta's season going up in flames he should be pushing for a winter move.
Zima looks to have claimed the starting role in the Right side of a 3 CB formation at Torino as he has started the last 3 matches there. Somewhat surprising as he is a left-sided player, but he's got good reviews from today. Cerny and Jankto are both getting minutes after there respective injuries, but yet to reclaim starting roles. Sadilek is actually playing midfield for Twente now, and also has played that role well for us recently... considering how bad our LB options are it's a bit disappointing he didn't take that role forward. Schick's retained his scoring touch after a short absence. So much of his success with Leverkusen is tied to Wirtz though and we have nobody in form that is near that creative, but at least he's taking his scoring chances.
All great news and I will add that Kaderabek most recently returned to action this weekend after his latest setback. Every relevant player abroad is healthy as far as I know. Hopefully Zima will continue to improve and keep his starting spot throughout the season. While you’d expect Silhavy to opt for more experienced players in this playoff, I do think Zima is best suited for Sweden’s style (specifically in marking Isak) amongst our central defenders. I’m somewhat concerned about Jankto’s career trajectory at this point. Transferring to Getafe was a lateral move at best and if they’re relegated this season, I’m not sure what he does next after missing such a significant portion due to injury. With Schick in this kind of form we shouldn’t fear anyone in our playoff path. It’s a good point that Wirtz has been integral to his success this season, so one can only hope that Hlozek can fulfill that creative role for us.
Jankto's move didn't really make sense, but his first few appearances it was clear he was intended to be a key player for Getafe whereas at Sampdoria he was a role player. So it may have been somewhat related to that. Hlozek needs to go ahead and move along to progress I think, he's recovering his form after a rather ineffective stretch, but (despite the countless Slavia injuries) Sparta aren't winning the championship this year and failed to progress in Europa League.
Interesting rumor as the window approaches: #Sampdoria are interested in #SpartaPraha’s centre-back Martin #Vitik (born in 2003) to replace Mayo #Yoshida, who could leave in January. #transfers— Nicolò Schira (@NicoSchira) December 18, 2021 I have to think he would be a prospect more than straight into the squad at this point.
Yes please. We are desperate for any talented CB to play somewhere at a higher level than the czech league or turkey.
Michal Sadilek also made it into Telegraaf's Team of the Week#FCTwente pic.twitter.com/vUn48Ls6te— FC Twente Latest (@FCTwenteLatest) December 20, 2021 Sadilek making multiple teams of the week and Twente are now 4th on the table behind the big 3 of the Netherlands. Still 22 and after a bit of an injury interruption he is quietly having a breakthrough year for club and country.
Lokomotiv Moscow apparently made an offer to Slavia for Jan Kuchta. The reported amount seems low to be accepted (4 million EUR), but I think they'd let him go for around 6, so something to monitor.
Seems like Slavia have accepted 5 Million, so Kuchta is almost certainly on his way to Moscow. Normally I hate when Czech players go to Russia as it always derails their career, but since Kuchta is sort of an "does everything okay, but nothing great" role player at the national team level entering his prime instead of a potential star... go get paid!
Kuchta's move is done, if he performs in Russia it will hopefully keep him ahead of the ghost of Krmencik's career. Jablonec seem to be selling every player with value after a disappointing start and it has revived a potential move from last summer linking Dominik Plestil with Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt. It's a move up from Jablonec, but I'd just as soon see him move to a bigger domestic club.
Who had money on Barak being the first ever Czech player to score a Serie A hat trick? Supposedly some bigger Serie A teams are interested now.
I'm surprised it wasn't Schick. I'm only in my 30s so I don't remember a whole lot about Czechs in the serie a, but I do remember us having a lot of quality defenders and some mids. Not too many strikers.
Nedved would have been my guess. Not a transfer rumor, but a first bit of international buzz for Slavia's 17-year-old emerging wonderkid, Daniel Samek: https://www.goal.com/en/news/daniel...d-emulate-frenkie-de-jong/blt0fbf5ad6a631ee80
I’m starting to think Samek has the highest ceiling out of our current prospects. Obviously, Hlozek is the furthest along with a big transfer imminent (though two years older), but Samek is an incredibly classy player for his age. I’d expect him to already be a full senior international by next year and regularly featuring in Euro 2024 qualifying.
Our left back situation is looking very dire right now. All of our options are either injured (Boril, Kaderabek, Novak) or unemployed (Mateju). It’s been an injury-riddled campaign for Kaderabek who’s currently sidelined for the third time this season. As far as I know, his recovery will take “weeks”. Novak appears to have been seriously injured today, so more than likely a long-term recovery awaits which almost certainly rules him out for March (Boril was already confirmed to be out, but is probably done in the national team anyways). In the case of Mateju, his contract (set to expire this summer) was abruptly terminated by Brescia. I can’t imagine he’ll be called up in March if he remains without a club. Ideally, Kaderabek recovers in time to deputize at left back, but if not, Sadilek would need to play there.
Barak is really generating interest at the moment. The latest team to be in the mix is Tottenham who are willing to spend up to €20 million. Multiple teams from England and Italy are in pursuit. I’d prefer he just remain in Italy but move to a bigger club, and with the playoffs ahead of us, not transfer during this window to maintain his current form. Our offensive cornerstones have been Schick and Jankto for basically all of Silhavy’s tenure, but I now see Barak replacing Jankto in this regard going forward.
Barak is too slow for top Premier League teams... sometimes he's a step too slow for us. He's having a good season though.
Report from Italy says that Mateju has passed a medical and will sign with Venezia in Serie A today. Honestly, he may take the starting spot as from transfermarkt their similarly rated fullbacks are injured. About the best move for him, he stays on a Serie B level team (playing time), but gets at least few months of Serie A competition.
My guess is wages and budget issues. Brescia have had a lot of squad turnover this year, and going into Spring have a lot of loaned players. Serie B is admittedly pretty awful from the little bits I've seen compared to the other top Coefficient countries' 2nd leagues. I don't particularly rate Mateju, but he did start 17 matches this season before being among those given a free transfer.
Slightly different type of update: Jaroslav Plasil had the thankless job of being the caretaker manager for Bordeaux last weekend. They had fired their previous manager and the new one wasn't able to arrive in time for the weekends match. They lost 3-2 although actually bounced back from a terrible start to make a close match. It looks like Plasil will be retained as Assistant Manager in the new staff, but Bordeaux are currently bottom of Ligue 1 and are one of the worst defensive teams in league history (currently 61 Goals against in 24 matches).
I didn't even know Plasil was still there in a coaching capacity. Good for him though. He was clearly liked at Bordeaux, and maybe he can eventually land a manager gig somewhere if that is what he wants. Maybe even Bordeaux when they are relegated.
Schick scored his 20th league goal yesterday, but unfortunately sustained a calf injury. No confirmation yet on the severity, but let’s just hope it’s nothing serious. If he’s unavailable for these World Cup playoffs, our chances of qualification are < 20% in my opinion.
Schick is out for "a few weeks" which isn't really any clearer for the purposes of the qualifier, but at least there is a chance he'll be back. Cerny picked up an assist for Twente, he is still working his way back into the lineup, but he is appearing as a sub in almost every match it seems. Barak scored I think his 10th goal of the season, seems to be in great form right now.
The recovery time could really go in either direction. We’re 4.5 weeks out from the Sweden game, so this will be tight. He wouldn’t be 100% if he played, but that’s still better than any replacement of his. Some positive news is that Kaderabek has returned from his latest injury, while Jankto has made two consecutive starts (rare of late) as a left wingback interestingly enough. Otherwise, I believe Vydra is currently recovering from a recent surgery to repair an inguinal hernia, so another potential forward out or at the very least, lacking full fitness.