Results so far this week: Karvina 2 : 3 Olomouc Teplice 0 : 1 Ostrava Opava 5 : 0 Pribram Mlada Boleslav 3 : 0 Bohemians Zlin 1 : 0 Sparta Pribram falling apart after a decent start, they've conceded 11 and scored 0 in their last two matches... Jablonec are a solid team, but losing by 5 goals to Opava is alarming. Zlin and Ostrava with good results, Olomouc finally gets a win.
Plzen 2 - 1 Slovacko Jablonec 0 - 0 Slovan Liberec Plzen has more or less built their season on winning by 1 goal. The one remaining match this weekend is Slavia : Dukla. Regardless of that result (though Slavia heavy favorites), next week will have 2 fixtures between top 4 teams. Plzen traveling to Ostrava, and the first Prague derby as Sparta hosts Slavia.
Slavia 4 - 1 Dukla Predictable end to the week's matches. Updated Table after 13 rounds 1. SK Slavia Praha 33 2. FC Viktoria Plzeň 31 3. FC Baník Ostrava 27 4. AC Sparta Praha 26 5. Fastav Zlín 24 6. FK Jablonec 23 7. FC Slovan Liberec 17 8. FK Mladá Boleslav 17 9. Bohemians Praha 1905 16 10. 1. FK Příbram 14 11. Slezský FC Opava 13 12. SK Sigma Olomouc 13 13. FK Teplice 12 14. MFK Karviná 11 15. Dukla Praha 10 16. 1. FC Slovácko 9
Krmencik is out injured for about 6 months, which is a big blow to Plzen and the national team. The upcoming long winter break means they'll have a chance to potentially bring in a new striker. Considering this is generally regarded Krmencik's last season at Plzen they would need to make a big signing anyway, but another hit for Plzen is this will likely drop his selling price. The most logical option is Komlicenko from Mlada Bolelsav, although he may be out of their price range. Beauguel from Zlin also being mentioned. Another option is they take a chance on calling up their promising 18-year-old youth striker named Tomas Kepl, who has done very well in the UEFA Youth League this season.
The marquis matches are done. Sparta 2 - Slavia 2 Ostrava 0 - Plzen 1 Sparta able to hold Slavia to a draw at home, and Plzen picking up a big road win in their first match without Krmencik. Zlin and Jablonec also picked up wins to round out the top 6. In 2. Liga, Brno is finally starting to play like a promotion contender after a very slow start. Still 6 pts behind C. Budejovice and Jihlava though.
The overall trajectory of the season has been fairly stable, Slavia is still running ahead both in points and performance. Plzen was a bit lucky to be keeping up most of autumn, but look increasingly likely to fall behind with Krmencik injured. Sparta have a lot of talent, but can't do anything with it and are falling even farther behind. I suspect it will be a busy winter transfer window for Sparta and possibly Plzen. Slavia probably content unless they need to replace a player sold abroad (most likely candidate would be Soucek).
Plzen beat CSKA in Moscow, that's surprising considering how they've played lately. It also temporarily puts them in line for a Europa League in spring as they have the head-to-head tiebreaker. Still one more set of matches. That late conceded penalty in the first match may still come back to haunt them. Edit: Specifically the remaining matches are Plzen hosting Roma and CSKA away to Madrid.
Bordeaux 2 - 0 Slavia Bordeaux scored the 2nd goal in stoppage time when Slavia was chasing an equalizer because it would have put them through today. They had a shot cleared off the line late but for the most part were a bit lackluster from the match description. Zenit defeated Kobenhaven in the other match, so Slavia needs only a point in the final match to advance. Zenit, who they are hosting, secured first place with today's results so they'll have the added bonus of an opponent with no real urgency.
I thought Plzen were entering a tail-spin the way they played the last 3 rounds, but they now have a Champions League win and a convincing 2-0 league win to show they are still alive. Kopic (re)emerging as a key player. Still likely need an additional striker. As for Sparta, a lot to unpack from their 2-1 loss at a very poor Slovacko. They missed two penalties, picked up 2 stupid red cards, and more or less looked like the complete mess they've been most of this season so far. Massive wage bill, proven international players like Stanciu, and they drifting further behind the other big 3 clubs. They seem to be lining up another spending spree for winter, but ultimately they need a permanent hire an actual manager and find a leader on the field. Sural was supposed to be their captain and he's barely played since September.
Slavia gets the win away to Opava 2-3. They are still running ahead of the league overall, but maybe having a slight dip in form slightly in recent weeks. 2 Goals from Zmrhal and 1 from Soucek. Jablonec with an emphatic 4-0 win against 6th place Zlin moves ahead of Sparta for 3rd place.
I've mentioned that Sparta and possibly Plzen should spend this winter window. I've talked less about Slavia since they don't have as many needs, but they do have a lot of money. They may actually wind up spending the most based on some of the speculation. Their biggest needs are a consistent striker and some defensive depth, so of course most of whats being talked about are midfielders.
From: https://isport.blesk.cz/clanek/vip-...en-v-praze-topi-miliardy-paclik-vydelava.html Interesting graph on net profit / loss for the Big 3. It's not that surprising to see Plzen running surplus as they spend less on transfers and have multiple Champions League appearances, plus the Prague teams generally have more room to take risks because their ownership is far wealthier and brand is stronger so it's likely that there is some additional financial factors for them... That said Sparta's 2017-2018 number is shocking, and really reinforces what a failure the last couple of seasons have been for them in terms of incoming transfers under preforming value and failing to make it into even Europa League.
Sparta are getting the early start on winter transfers: Should confirm the signing of 24 year-old Swedish international David Moberg Karlsson in coming days, 2 Million Euros transfer fee. I know very little about this player other than he's apparently a pacey winger, but seems like a lot of money to risk on someone that has only succeeded in the Nordic leagues. The Dockal deal is also likely very close, essentially it's figuring out how much is needed to terminate his Chinese contract. There are a few other retro Spartan's being talked about this window as well, probably the biggest name (though least verifiable rumor) being Wilfried Bony who lost his place in Swansea and seems to have kept some ties to the Czech Republic (he played an exhibition in Brno last summer and did a few interviews) Presumably they will have a few players heading for the exit as well - unless the chart I previously posted is just the beginning of an elaborate bankruptcy plan - their most valuable current transfer assets are probably Stanciu and Tetteh, but they are both new arrivals that I can't imagine will be sold right away. Sural seems likely to leave as he isn't playing much lately, and he doesn't seem to want to renew his contract. There are some rumors for Slavia too. One of the more interesting ones is bringing David Pavelka back from Turkey... It's more interesting because this would presumably be done as a replacement for Soucek's upcoming move abroad - Slavia for there part have acknowledged they don't plan to have him past next August. They are also linked to Petr Sevcik (Liberec) or Martin Hasek (Bohemians) although I'm not really sure why, they need forwards and defensive depth not more midfielders.
Should also add Plzen has made a few big moves Kayamba will be arriving, and I think brings some qualities to speed up the attack from midfield that Plzen are currently missing outside of Kopic. The striker signing (to cover both Krmencik's current injury and future departure) will be Zlin's Jean-David Beauguel. This seems like a very smart signing, he's probably the most similar forward in terms of quality and playing style in the league. Not sure it makes them any better, but means they'll offset their biggest loss.
Sad to hear Dockal will be returning to the czech league. I liked watching him in the MLS, but I get that he is way too expensive.
Friday results: Zlin 0 - 2 Plzen Beauguel was held out of the match against his soon to be employer, and Plzen's restored form continues. Dukla 1 - 2 Pribram Both of these teams are kind of awful, and any points toward missing the relegation group is crucial. I was looking ahead at the schedule, among the many positives of the new league set up is that the ridiculous winter breaks of years past will be cut down to a more sensible 6 weeks (from late December to early February). In the past seasons I seem to recall it was closer to 10 weeks (first week December to mid February).
Olomouc 1 - 0 Slovacko Bad team beats worse team Ostrava 2 - Bohemians 0 Ostrava continue to do well. Supposedly they have some winter reinforcements in mind, but haven't heard much specifics. Slavia 3 - Ml. Boleslav 2 Slavia still the best in the league, and goals from Skoda and Olayinka a good sign as they need to recover form from earlier injuries. This match was 3-0 until the 87th minute but Komlicenko scored two goals in 3 minutes... Don't know where he will end up after this season, but I highly doubt he'll still be at Mlada Boleslav. Karvina 2 - 1 Jablonec Huge upset result for Karvina. It gets them temporarily out of last place, and it also means that 3rd place Jablonec is 9 points behind 2nd place Plzen.
Sparta 0 - 1 Teplice Actually saw a fair bit of this one. Sparta slip to 5th following another poor performance, the winter break and reinforcements can't get here soon enough for them. Kral was excellent for Teplice, definitely looked ready for a bigger club.
Sparta completed signing the signing of Karlsson. Slavia have signed Liberec's Sevcik and Jablonec's Masopust... Fine players but I don't really get the need.
While the 1. Liga winter break has been reduced to a more sensible just over a month, the 2. Liga break is 3 full months so that it's more or less 2 seasons. Play will resume in March (seriously), and their isn't really any one or two teams running away with it as in the top division. Ceske Budejovice are on 35 pts, but Jihlava and Hradec Kralove are not far behind on 33 and 30. Brno, the only team that matter, are in 7th place on 23 pts, and have kicked off the winter by terminating 4 players' contracts including the once promising but recently dreadful Milan Lutonsky. If the glass is half-full it means they have plans to make several winter signings, if it's half-empty than any hope of turning the season around is lost. Frankly, I have zero faith in the current Brno ownership to make necessary investments, so for the time being Brno is a hockey city.
It is, the 2. Liga really needs to be reformed a bit. I think we are currently at a point where only like 22 clubs in the country fulfill the stadium requirement for for the first division and part of that is winter field maintenance. I think they need to start enforcing a minimum requirement for 2. Liga as well, and perhaps reduce the size of the league to accommodate only viable clubs with a few open spots for other clubs that are willing to make the upgrades.
SK Prostejov started off well in the 2 liga but really dropped off in the 2nd half. They need some wingers and a striker. They might just have enough to avoid relegation, but the club does not have that much money. The new mayor of the city, who is also the president of SK Prostejov wants to renovate the old ground on sportovni ulice. It has been sitting empty for the last 10 years. https://prostejovsky.denik.cz/zprav...ho-stadionu-rika-frantisek-jura-20181017.html I took this video of the stadium three years ago, but nothing has changed since.