Slavia have apparently completed the signing Bohemians's Abdulla Jusuf as well, the first Bahraini to play in Europe has been a revelation so far this season. That said this is a case of Slavia using their wealth to take a chance on a player that has only shown for a few months. It may make them better for a Champions League run or it may not, but it definitely does make Bohemians worse... At some point these moves do more harm to the mid-table teams than bolster the top.
This crucial winter window for Sparta seems to be going completely awry at the moment. It seems their current #10 and highest valued player Nicolae Stanciu is looking for an exit, any exit. They wanted Kral and Jusuf, both of whom signed with Slavia. The player that most wants to come to Sparta is Dockal, and his Chinese team isn't negotiating at the moment so that is also very up in the air. It's a rough situation to start in for Rosicky, he has 2 years of very expensive mismanagement to try and fix and an impatient fan base.
Some better news for Sparta, they are finalizing the signing of Jablonec central defender David Lischka who is a very promising young player in a position they need reinforcement. They also signing Jablonec's right back Matej Hanousek, who is a solid player but not sure he adds much they don't have.
And immediately back to bad news, this move has been stopped as the medical examination revealed a potential heart issue. There will obviously be additional tests and it may be solvable, but always creates the possibility that a youth national player will be retiring at 21.
What do you think his chances are? Is he going to bring in some aging Czech players or focus on bringing players off to sell?
It's too early to say for sure, but I haven't seen any reason to say that he will have much immediate success. Some of it though is just the situation they are in which will not be a quick fix, but their transfer window so far seems like a team that is only reacting rather than implementing a plan. I do think there will definitely be attempts to add more Czech players (both young and older) at Sparta. Their fans are quite provincial anyway and expect to have players with some attachment to the club other than a contract. They have derisively referred to the current squad as "Romanians" and mercenaries. That is why so many want Dockal even though they don't really need a #10, it's because he loves the club and think he'd give the team a missing Czech heart.
You're a Sparta fan? It's actually fairly easy to find streams for their matches compared to smaller clubs. While I think Sparta have a lot of changes needed, they definitely still have some talent to work with. Benjamin Tetteh especially has all the skill attributes of a top striker, although he is already attracting large transfer offers from England so he may be moving on this winter.
I'm trying to pay more attention. I started watching Sparta in the good old days back when they were in Champions' League. Since then, I've been spread pretty thin with life but I'm trying. This thread has been pretty much the only source of news.
Glad the news here helps, I try to keep it objective even though Sparta is probably my least favorite team along with Ostrava. For all there problems from a strictly talent standpoint there is no reason this Sparta team can't compete for a top 3 finish still. There problem is more getting the pieces to fit correctly, and quite frankly, they have more competition than they used to. Slavia can match them in money and prestige, and Plzen have built stable success using moneyball this last decade. Jablonec and Ostrava are solid sides, but clearly way behind Sparta in talent and depth.
Stanciu leaving Sparta for the semi-retirement league in Dubai. 10 Million Euro transfer fee, which is probably worth selling. Talented player on his day, but never showed much in key matches and in general was kind of inconsistent.
To add to that news a bit, Sparta are insisting this move has no bearings on the ongoing Dockal negotiation, but that would be hard to believe considering they now actually need a 10. Henan Jianye have essentially told Sparta that they want their money back (8.5 Million), which seems like an insane over valuation 2 years later and way more than Sparta should pay (though I suspect they might). Slavia may need to scout an additional defender signing this winter as Michael Ngadeu is being pursued by Fulham and Newcastle. My opinion is that he's the best defender in our league for the last year and on the latter end of prime age for a center back, so if it comes through he should definitely be allowed top take the opportunity to play in a top league.
https://isport.blesk.cz/clanek/fotb...-klub-uplatnil-opci-na-elitniho-kanonyra.html Great bit of business by Mlada Boleslav, they lock up the leagues top scorer on a permanent deal and can likely sell him on either abroad or too a Prague team for way more than the reported 400,000 they spent. That said, they still only really have enough quality to be outside contenders for the last Europa League spot.
Ngadeu to Fulham looks to be imminent, big loss for Slavia - well for European ambitions, I think they still are the team to beat domestically - partially offset since they signed Kral earlier this window. We keep a longer transfer window than top leagues to a chance to cover deadline day, but it remains to be seen if they feel they need an additional player. As for Ngadeu, I would say his time at Slavia is a great example of what out league can be for foreign players. Slavia bought him cheap from a lower league, gave him European exposure and now are giving him an opportunity to play in England. The league needs quality international players to prosper, and having examples like this (and Dzeko, Bony, Dubravka...) makes the leagues a more viable option for up-and-coming players from Africa or Eastern Europe. That said Slavia probably should have put a higher release clause on him
Apparently Fulham didn't get everything done as far as negotiating final terms after Slavia had accepted their offer. Ngadeu has returned to Prague saying he looks forward to the spring competition in Europe. Slavia's general manager was a bit less easygoing about it and took to twitter to criticize Fulham for failing to reach an agreement with a player they allowed to leave training for. The tweet was in Czech and since been deleted, but it went something along the lines of "No surprise they can't manage Brexit. Shameful negotiations with the club and player..." I'm sure there will be more details today, but it's not so important it just means the deal fell through. Feel bad that he missed a chance to play in England, although if he waits until summer he may be able to find a better team as Fulham are a bit of train wreck. Helps Slavia in Europa League though.
It looks Bohemians continuing to open up a new pipeline from the middle east bringing in 20 year-old Bahraini midfielder Mohamed Marhoon. Not officially confirmed by the club yet, but the Bahrainian FA made a social media post about him saying something like good luck in Prague with a Bohemians logo. Like with Yusuf last summer he was apparently referred by Miroslav Soukup a Czech manager that's been working in the middle east the last few years. On a different topic, we are now less than a week from the season resuming, and my general impression is that Slavia and Plzen had the best winter transfer windows. I still think Slavia are the overall better team and could potentially runaway with it. Ostrava signing Kuzmanovic helps address their need for goals/creativity, but they really wanted to add a pure striker this window. Some other signings like Kozak to Liberec have potential, although I'm not convinced he's ever regained first team ability after previous injuries. Sparta did a good job clearing up some of their budget, but as of now they've not adequately replaced Stanciu and are suspect defensively. Opava probably had the worst winter, losing their two best players.
The Czech transfer window is open until February 22 (I knew it was longer, but didn't have the exact date until today) so some winter signings will likely occur even after the season resumes. Slavia and Plzen had to wrap things up on top league schedule because this week was the deadline to register additional players for Europa League.
The theme of the first weekend has been scoring debuts for winter signings. Results so far: Slavia 2 : 0 Teplice - Comfortable result for the league leaders, Mick Van Buren notched a goal in his return from a long injury. Soucek scored the first goal on a panenka style penalty. Mlada Boleslav 1 : 1 Plzen - late goal via penalty from Komlicenko gets a point for the home side. Plzen now 6 points behind Slavia, but on the plus side their two winter signings Kayamba and Beauguel combined for the goal. Karvina 1 : 1 Opava - Meh Liberec 4 : 0 Pribram - Pribram's fast start is a distant memory as they look to be the worst team in the league heading into spring. Kozak got the 4th goal to have a scoring debut. Liberec are within striking distance of a weakened Zlin for the top 6 position.. Zlin 0 : 1 Slovacko - alarming result for Zlin Dukla 1 : 1 Ostrava - meh, Kuzmanovic scored in Ostrava debut The one remaining result is Sparta : Bohemians which is scoreless in the 70th minute. Sparta had several opportunities in the first half, but now look frustrated.
Sparta wins on a 90th minute penalty, but still a poor performance as they need a late penalty to see off a 10-man Bohemians at home. Just realized that I missed one other result: Olomouc 1 - 2 Jablonec - Olomouc put a up a good fight at home, but Jablonec was able to get the result and remain top 3.
Huge week coming up for Slavia and Plzen, both teams will be playing in Europa League Thursday before facing each other in Plzen on Sunday. A Slavia win would put them in a fairly commanding position to top the table for the first phase of the season.
AC Sparta Praha have agreed with the Chinese club Henan Jianye FC on transfer terms for Bořek Dočkal. The next steps that should lead to Bořek’s return to Sparta is the player's negotiation about ending the contract in China and signature of the contract with ACS. #acsparta pic.twitter.com/IrHgkD5uzI— AC Sparta Prague (@ACSparta_EN) February 12, 2019 After a long pause in negotiations this move that has been more or less known since November is happening.
Not able to watch, but Slavia and Genk are still on 0-0 just before half. Sounds like a fairly timid match from both sides so far. Slavia has had the slightly better half overall, but both teams have so far only managed to find the woodwork. Slavia would really want a win at home to have a good chance to advance.
70 minutes in and the match is definitely opening up from the reports. Slavia still having the better of play, but Genk having an occasional chance as well.
0-0 FT Slavia had 15 shots with nothing to show for it, which has sort of been a common theme for them in Europe this season. Genk had 3 shots, but all of them were threatening chances while Slavia had 5 shots that forced a save or intervention by the post. No reason they can't advance in Belgium as they clearly have the ability to match their opponent, but I suspect Slavia's inefficiency in front of goal will cost them.
Plzen 2 - Zagreb 1 Certainly still work to do in Croatia, but the home side's experience advantage definitely appeared after the visiting side's excellent opening goal.