Noticeable improvement the last few minutes, but we can't really squander any opportunities and expect a result.
I don’t think Hasek and this staff are capable of delivering a performance like the ones that beat England and drew Belgium.
The knock-off Slavia press years made us punch above our weight in matches like this. This reminds me most of Euro 2016 era performances
What a dilemma it is when the only two players capable of individual brilliance (Cerny and Schick) are also the ones not suited for this kind of game and seemingly uninterested.
Honestly we've been flirting with conceding a penalty all match, any stolen points will take a lot of luck. Goal was nice to see though.
There’s been one genuinely good 90 minute performance under Hasek and that was the 2-0 win over Albania. That’s it. 17 games in now.
Unfortunately, I don't think this will cause any changes. I think in the minds of the FACR we just can't compete with Croatia... you know a country with less than half our population, fewer economic resources and similar levels of corruption... Look obviously Croatia punches way above their weight in terms ofd eveloping talent and has for a long time now, but this isn't France or Germany where excuses like that can feed the defeatist fan base's cynicism. We should be asking what they do right that we aren't (half our population is over there getting on lost on a hike any given time during the summer, surely someone can stop by training ground), but instead we'll keep this going for another total embarrassment or 2, then bring in the next mediocre friend of the FA. Oh, come on, this is the first time we have had any hope going into the offseason in decades. Don't drag us down to the national team's level by taking that away.
We’ve effectively pissed away the last three years. There was an opportunity to dismiss Silhavy after the 2022 playoff and appoint a manager adept at modern football. The longer-term view being the next World Cup, while still having a tournament in between (that’s arguably harder to not qualify for) as a building block. But no, we prefer to recycle the same dinosaur managers and display our sorry ass defeatist attitude over and over again. We’ll insist that we can’t compete with Croatia because we still don’t have the players we once did twenty years ago. I feel like Hasek would be better suited for literally any role that isn’t head coach. I do think he’s a better personality than his predecessors, but he’s clearly been too far removed from the European level to be on the sidelines in this day and age. I wanted to believe that his assistants could compensate for his shortcomings, but they’ve proven to be just as incompetent. We’re basically guaranteed to be in the playoffs, which leaves us with six games left to prepare. Four qualifiers and two friendlies that haven’t even been arranged yet. Another board meeting awaits, but no changes will be made as already confirmed by Trunda.
Pavel Nedved is set to return to Czech football. He will become the general manager of both our A and U-21 teams. What exactly he’ll do in this role, I have no clue but credit to Trunda for at least acting early in his tenure (that Croatia defeat sure helped I bet). Had this appointment been made eighteen months ago alongside an actual good manager, I’d be excited. Our on-field product won’t improve until we completely change our philosophy with coaching. Official press conference is scheduled for tomorrow.
Brankáři: Jindřich Staněk, Matěj Kovář, Vítězslav Jaroš Obránci: Ladislav Krejčí, David Douděra, Martin Cedidla, Tomáš Holeš, Martin Vitík, Robin Hranáč, David Jurásek, Václav Jemelka, Jaroslav Zelený Záložníci: Tomáš Souček, Lukáš Červ, Michal Sadílek, Alex Král, Michal Beran, Vasil Kušej, Václav Černý, Lukáš Provod, Pavel Šulc Útočníci: Tomáš Chorý, Jan Kuchta, Matěj Vydra, Patrik Schick It’s pretty much the expected team with a few bizarre decisions, so the usual squad selection then. At least the presentation video was cute and well done. I didn’t have Stanek in my squad, but I obviously forgot about our shortage of young goalkeepers abroad, and how we put Slavia on a pedestal and don’t want to offend anyone there. First call ups for Jablonec pair Cedidla and Beran. Eh, whatever. I have no real expectations of either, although there’s been plenty of push for the latter to be called up. The options outside of Coufal (who is suspended) and Doudera are grim. I imagine Karel Spacil would’ve got his first call up if not for his scary head-on collision over the weekend. He’ll bring much needed versatility and youth to our left side. I really can’t wait to remove Jemelka, Boril, and Zeleny from the international scene entirely. Hasek is clearly in no rush though. To not call up Karabec and have five central midfielders is a choice, especially when there’s an opportunity to try him out in a friendly. I get it though, he’s only played 20 more minutes than Chory will have in the weeks leading up to this break. A return to the national team for Vydra after nearly four years, and one that I’m actually okay with. He’s done very well to reignite the tail-end of his career at Plzen and at least had a respectable one prior to that.