Also, I would like to shoutout Fanatismus Cesko, the supporters group that has completely revived the in-game atmosphere, which had been lacklustre for a long time. Their continued efforts despite generally subpar (to put it politely) performances is greatly appreciated and has made a difference. Every international game should be viewed as a special occasion. Between a World Cup and a Nations League with Croatia, England, and Spain, there’s plenty of opportunity to further build on this momentum. Going to be a fun year for the national team.
Our needlessly long preliminary World Cup squad was released last week and is set to be cut down to 30 players tomorrow. A few complaints from me as is tradition with every team that’s announced. Radek Vitek wasn’t even considered, which all but confirms that he was one of the players that Suchoparek called out after last year’s U-21 tournament. Glad we’re taking the personal agenda of some clueless assistant seriously. I’m probably higher on him than most, but Kral not being on a 50+ player list is just straight up disrespectful. Hard to make a case for him to be in the final team right now, but he’s one of the few that have actually established themselves abroad. And I guess this coaching staff has decided that all our problems start and end with Cerny. We’ll excuse and forgive Coufal, Kuchta, Doudera, and Chory but draw the line at a few bad post-match interviews and some attitude. Jemelka and Kliment have both been ruled out with injuries, so two less names from that initial list.
I'll wait until we start trimming that to give thoughts. The biggest question is does Hlozek have a chance of being ready. He is back from injury but has nearly a full season of missed match fitness.
The following 29 players were named to the almost final team, three more will be cut after our first warm up friendly next Sunday. Kovar / Hornicek / Stanek Holes / Krejci / Zima / Hranac / Chaloupek Coufal / Zeleny / Jurasek / Doudera Soucek / Darida / Sadilek / Cerv / Bucha / Sochurek Provod / Hlozek / Sulc / Ladra / Visinsky / Sojka Schick / Kuchta / Chory / Chytil / Kabongo Ten Slavia players is utterly ridiculous and the Plzen bias remains strong. The national team has basically become a domestic all star team where we try to push the boundaries on how far we can reach into the Czech league to pick players for this level. I know the league is steadily improving, but our coefficient ranking is still flattering compared to the actual quality of our league. I understand we have to rely on domestic competition, but there’s too much emphasis and bias placed on it in my opinion. I maintain that a coach detached from the Czech football landscape would benefit us, especially considering how toxic our leading club has become. Also, no foreign manager would willingly leave out players like Cerny and Karabec for Visinsky and Ladra. The worst decision by far was Vitik being left out. Yes he’s been injured, but so has Zima, and I don’t believe he would’ve made the team even if fit. He was already on the Euro 2024 team and yet two years later, after moving to a top league, he’s still behind Holes in the hierarchy… That pretty much sums up our backwards mentality towards promoting younger players. The inclusion of Sochurek is a pleasant surprise though and I really hope he makes it. He’s an exceptional talent playing the exact position we’re desperately lacking. I can see him going to the World Cup and then playing for the U-21s in the fall knowing how we develop players.
It’s definitely not ideal, but Hlozek absolutely has to make the final team in my opinion. Not as a starter, but in a reduced role coming off the bench he’s still better than anyone not named Schick, Sulc, or Provod.
I would probably leave Darida (looked behind the pace at this level), Chory (mostly for being an ass) and one of Ladra/ Doudera / Kuchta / Kabongo, but most likely it will be some combination of Ladra, Visinsky, Sojka, Kabongo, Sochurek.
I’m thinking Ladra and Kabongo are clear cuts, while the final spot will be between Bucha and Sochurek. I expect Sojka to make the team due to his versatility and form. Visinsky obviously another candidate to be cut. Several core players won’t play today, so really not expecting much from a makeshift lineup.
Honestly felt Ladra and Bucha probably should have stuck more than some that did, but not like any of the borderline players were going to get playing time. Kabongo has some upside, but his finishing needs to improve to be in the senior team. Have to balance building fitness and not risking energy with Hlozek, but I'm hoping we can have him along side Schick and Sulc.
I feel for Bucha the most. Finally given a chance after being overlooked for years and falls just short. At the peak of his career, but we’d rather take a clearly past it Darida. At least Sochurek is a potential generational talent that you have to start building on now. Although, it seems like it may have been Nedved ordering Koubek to take him. What’s sad is that we’ve seen all three of them on the field together for ~25 minutes… I’m just worried that Koubek is going to continue trying to force Chory into the lineup next to Schick.
Overall, the warm-up friendlies were fine. Most importantly, no injuries apart from a knock suffered by Kuchta. I think there will be one, maybe two changes to the lineup that started against Guatemala. I’m expecting Holes will start. I’m not as high on Chaloupek as many are, and that’s not just reacting off the last game. He had shaky moments against Denmark and even Kosovo too. A possible change in midfield, but I think Sadilek (or Cerv) are more suited for this first game against South Korea. It’s always painful when we’re forced to create from lots of possession which this game shouldn’t be. A second straight tournament where we enter with a manager in charge for less than six months, so another built-in excuse for our FA if we crash out of the group stage. With that said, there are legitimate challenges that we face such as climate, altitude, travel, and playing a host country in a fortress of a stadium, but not advancing to the knockout stages would be a failure given the expanded format.
I have no idea what to expect, and I'm entirely too tired to think about it, but I'm glad we're here.
No Czech coach has realized that you need to play the ball into the feet of Schick. Just unleash the madman off the bench if you want to play like this.
I'm struggling honestly. Korea certainly look beatable, but our passing has been so conservative and negative that it's hard to see.