If Kolar was left footed, I’d honestly think it was Petr Cech in goal with the helmet and bad distribution.
That was not a great half, we had some moments, but I feel we're more interested in keeping pressure off the back-line rather than attacking.
Not a great half at all, but I wouldn’t put it past Trpisovsky to completely out-coach Arteta in the second half. I wouldn’t be too stressed as of now.
I think Slavia are playing a narrow 4-4-2 now. Very lucky to still be 0-0 after Lacazette blew that chance.
Yes, further confirmation this would be the worst 0-0 against a team with a weaponry themed named for Slavia this season.
Ah, lame would have preferred it just stay 0-0 if it was going to be a draw. Good for Provod, probably the best player in the league right now (Sima is electric but very very very raw, and Hlozek has been injured too much).
It's really kind of encouraging that we played that bad and managed a draw with Arsenal in London. Sima was invisible, Stanciu below average, Dorley and Bah struggled at times as a tandem on the right. Zima was hampered by picking up the yellow, and he got beat on that play uncharacteristically. Holes did well considering he was out of position, Provod is brilliant and Olayinka was good early but faded as the match went on.
I agree that Provod is likely the best player in the Czech league right now based on current form, production, and most importantly, potential to acclimate to a top league. This might be kind of an unpopular opinion, but if Slavia receive an absurd offer for Sima this summer (looking at you West Ham), they should just cash in while he’s such a hot commodity. There is no doubting the potential there, but he’s extremely raw (more so than Hlozek in my opinion) and is not quite at the level of other young phenoms in Europe that he’s somewhat unfairly being categorized with. Based on how he and they couldn’t finish golden scoring chances against Jablonec and Slavia respectively, I expect to see Hlozek to Arsenal rumours soon.
So Slovacko have actually managed to keep playing well for a whole season this time, and are now in 3rd place. A really remarkable feet considering that according to transfermarkt (which is not very accurate outside the top leagues, but still) they have 13th highest market value in the league way behind other European contenders.
Wow, we actually expanded our lead and managed to have a VAR check not rob us for once. Crucial 3 points for our survival hopes.
I feel like Brno will stay up. I don’t think they’re any worse than Teplice or Mlada Boleslav, and I hope they remain in the top flight next season at the expense of either one of those awful sides. Haven’t spoken much about them recently, but with those injuries to Cermak and Bucha, I think it will be very difficult for Plzen to finish in the top four. I’m not even sure they’ll remain in the top six at this point. Without European football for consecutive years, I doubt they’re in the greatest position financially and will likely have to sell a few key players this summer. I wonder if there will even be a big 3 next season, but rather a big 2 of Slavia and Sparta (kind of the case already anyways). I get the feeling Plzen might be entering a dark age after a successful last decade.
I still think Plzen have the infrastructure and corporate backing to not disappear yet, but they will need to get back into European football ASAP if they want to do more than be a Liberec/Jablonec level. I hope Brno survive,not sure I expect it just yet, but its annoying that battling relegation seems to be our limit at this time. 2nd largest city, 2nd largest economy, sports culture (although now focused on the far more successful hockey team) and yet we continue to be run like a semi-professional club.
Brno can definitely be an essential team for the league and *should* be able to remain a regular outfit at this level. I really hope they can manage to build a new modern stadium, even if it’s not the spectacle as the previously proposed concept. I noticed the majority of Czechs also hope they don’t get relegated for the reasons you mentioned. There’s far more potential with Brno than Teplice or Mlada Boleslav, even if it just seems a fantasy at the moment.
Mlada Boleslav have decent infrastructure as well, and a roster that looks like a first league team. They also have better form at the moment so definitely think they have the better odds of staying up. Teplice have.... the preposterously over-sized stadium and Patrik Zitny who would probably help his development to go to a better side even if they stay up. They have gotten worse and worse as the season went on, partly due to injuries.
The last plan I saw was to build a new stadium in phases on the Srbska site that will look sort of like the Eden arena. Zbrojovka aside, the city's inability to resolve the disputes around the entire Za Luzankami complex has just left a crumbling complex right in the heart of a thriving city. Both we and Kometa wanted to renovate it.
Slavia are resting some players for Arsenal including Olayinka and Sima. While Slavia still have several dangerous players, this is probably Sparta's best chance to break Slavia's derby dominance in quite a while.
I’m pleasantly surprised by this Slavia lineup. They’re clearly taking this seriously enough and must figure they can basically secure the title with a win today, and allow themselves to focus entirely on Europa League should they eliminate Arsenal. Sparta field basically the same lineup that’s shown shades of that dominant 13/14 season under Lavicka in their past two games. They’re boosted by a returning Hancko who is a defensive upgrade over Polidar. I still give Sparta the edge here, but definitely not as favoured as I initially thought. This would be a great opportunity for Vrba to win over some of his doubters and I imagine his side will be very motivated.