I’d say today’s European games are the most anticipated for me (so far) this season. Slavia are finally gaining momentum to the point where they should now be competitive from the start against Feyenoord and challenge them for top spot in the group. Sparta playing Rangers was always going to be heavily scrutinized for various reasons, but coming off that Slovacko debacle (that has a nice ring to it), I also suspect Vrba is on the hot seat with another bad performance.
Between his performance today and the comical own goal he allowed against us while playing for Israel, I think we have Marciano on payroll.
It's Thanksgiving in the states, so not watching. Slavia I see are up, but Sparta and Jablonec sort of limping into this week.
A terrible missed opportunity for Slavia who concede late while having a man advantage. They’ll have to settle for second at best now.
Sparta need an entire squad overhaul if they are to fire Vrba. There’s simply too much deadweight within the squad (Stetina, Dockal, Krejci I, Vindheim, etc.) that are basically unusable at this point. The priority needs to be developing youth (Karabec, Vitik) instead. I don’t think Vrba is capable of achieving this. I’m starting to wish Hlozek had left Sparta this summer because he’s stagnating this season and doesn’t seem content right now. While Krejci II (when healthy) is generally thriving, Sparta should capitalize on his current value much like Hlozek (even if his slightly declined recently). I can’t say Sparta didn’t leave their mark on the international stage though. Filip Panak made the misplays segment on Canadian SportsCentre this morning.
There are a lot of lopsided results lately, Sparta, Slavia, and Plzen have been in 4-0, 5-0, and 6-0 matches in the last week.... of course Slavia and Plzen can at least feel better that they won theirs. 2. Liga is already at winter break, Brno staying the course with a fair cushion into the 2nd half of the season, but hard to predict if we can keep momentum going when their are no competitive matches for like 14 weeks.
Sparta salvaged a 2-0 win despite their poor form and slow start. They will drop to Europa Conference League in Spring. While we need coefficient points, part of me hoped if they failed to advance they would just sell Hlozek in the winter. Jablonec lost, and are done. Slavia just denied a clear penalty because for some reason there is no VAR. A draw is enough for them to advance, but an early goal would have helped a lot.
Holes hits the cross bar after a great Samek initiated move leaves him with a good chance. Slavia are the better side overall this half, but they need some luck. (I feel this has been the case many times this year) Samek is really quite a prospect.
Slavia take the lead early in the 2nd on a fantastic finish by Schranz... almost makes up for his inconsistent form September-November. Olayinka just added another post hit... in summary I expect Slavia to leave Berlin with at least the 1 point they need although this should already be over.
Union just equalized on a weird set of deflections on a corner, reminder that Slavia should have had 3 goals already even without the missed penalty call, so if they do somehow blow this it's really on them.
Slavia do hold on to get the away draw against Union Berlin, they advance to the next round. While overall a failed fall in Europe for Czech teams, two teams will be playing in the Spring.
Sparta may have finally broken that pathetic stretch that started against Slovacko, as they dominated their 2nd half in Bronby and are now doing it domestically against (an admittedly very poor) Bohemians. 4-0 lead at halftime, Pulkrab with a poachers hat-trick largely created by Hlozek (2 assists already). Next week is the last fixture until February. Slavia and Plzen have kept their pace so they will be 1-2 at the transfer break, but Slovacko have slowed down after a very strong start and have already fallen to 4th.
Conference League knock-out draw: Sparta vs Partizan Slavia vs Fenerbahce Good mix of interesting and manageable honestly. Would probably slightly favor both, but could go either way. Matches take place in February.
So there is some rumors that Sparta will be taking over Kral's loan contract as part of their new found co-ownership with West Ham. Not sure the validity. More certain and consistent is that they look to sign Tomas Cvancara from Jablonec, adding a very effective young striker.
A lot has been made about Hlozek's (who scored again today) form not being up to the standard he set last year. He has 5 goals and 11 assists in 18 league matches, if this is his bad form it just goes to show further how above this level he is.
I don’t think Hlozek has regressed this season as some are claiming, but he’s definitely had more “bad” games in the current campaign than the previous term. I feel it’s a combination of lingering fatigue (basically had no summer break post Euros) and adapting to a new(er) position, so I’m not overly concerned. Despite all that he’s still leading the league in points and with a proper winter break, I’d expect him to expand his point lead even further in the spring (if he does remain at Sparta).
The 2nd half of the season has returned with a whimper for the main contenders, although Plzen at least managed 3 points and have gone top of the table. The most alarming drop-off would seem to be Slavia, as they lost to Karvina (the worst team in the league) at home and then lost to a similarly uninspired Sparta team in the cup today. Selling Stanciu and Kuchta without adequate replacements may have been a mistake, or maybe this is just a temporary dip (probably some combination of both).
Busy day at work has me slow updating, but Slavia despite their awful domestic form did get a 2-3 road win to start their round against Fenerbahce. They will be up an away goal heading back to Prague, which is a good but not safe lead. Sparta and Partizan are still 0-0 about 13 minutes in.
Sparta had some early chances that weren't taken, they aren't good enough to leave xGs on the table at home.
Dreadful match, even when I had time to check in I was too bored to pay attention. Sparta look set to lose as the one moment of action in the 2nd half was there defense getting stuck deciding to offside trap or not, letting Partizan score on the simplest of direct plays.
I don’t think Vrba will be employed by the end of this season, although Sparta’s issues reach much further than him.
I don't even know what it would take to fix Sparta at this point, Slavia was battered by injuries this season and Plzen are over-perfoming but completely lack depth... yet they still are a fairly distant 3rd...