At least we have some options on the bench this time around because I'm not satisfied with what I've seen in that opening half. We should be able to sustain pressure and force Israel deep into their own half with elegant possession. This midfield works well at covering space and winning the ball back, but is still lacking that cutting edge. In general though, we've never really dominated possession under Silhavy against weaker opponents.
Not good substitutions, we'll probably still win, but Silhavy's player selection is increasingly unforgivable.
My support and trust in Silhavy has honestly been fading. His job security is way too safe in my opinion.
From what I can tell West Ham's style is to win with as few touches as possible and concede 70%+ possession... we don't really have that option in this kind of match. Might help if we get promoted. I think Coufal's fine, but I can't really recall the last time Soucek asserted much influence on a national team match.
If that game in Scotland was 180 minutes instead of 90, all three of them would've completed that game and we still probably wouldn't have scored.
Important result for us, but another generally poor performance. My top three today would be Jankto, Vaclik, and Kalas. Credit to Darida for the nice early goal. I would drop Soucek for our next match and try Kral - Darida - Dockal/Barak in midfield, and definitely drop Masopust for Cerny if it wasn't already obvious.
Despite Silhavy's best efforts we did hold on. I don't understand the player selection, Cerny is younger and in better form than Masopust or Kopic; The 3 holding midfielder formation isn't working, and Barak is also in form. It's one thing to have a questionable starting lineups, but the substitutions may have been worse.
Unfortunately, we will probably never see a 4-4-2 diamond, or a 4-5-1 without traditional wingers (Christmas tree formation) with Silhavy managing. He is just so conservative. I even recall us already questioning his substitutions in his first few games in charge.
Hovorka has withdrawn from the team and is replaced by his club teammate David Zima, who recently turned 20 and is probably our #1 (out of possibly just one) centreback prospect currently.
The U-21s have officially qualified as Greece defeated Scotland. We barely deserve it as we've not been very good, but still an important chance for some young players to potentially attract international interest. Also, after this autumn my attitude is ******** Scottish football, so at least we are going instead of them.
The modified U21 tournament is divided into two stages: • Group stage to be played during the March international break (will overlap with senior team World Cup qualifiers). • Knockout stage to be played and completed in early June just before the senior level European Championship begins. It'll be interesting to see how Krejci and Silhavy cooperate regarding player selections. This obviously applies mostly to Hlozek, who *should* be fully recovered from his injury by March, but assuming match fitness is lacking, I'd expect him to play with the U21s for their group stage instead. Zima is now another player that fits this criteria with his recent call up. I think he should absolutely be included in our Euros squad along with Hlozek if he continues progressing at this rate. Kral is technically also eligible to play for the U21s, but that'd be a longshot since he's a senior team mainstay now.
We'll need both results to win the group and advance to League A, but I think I'm more confident in Israel beating Scotland than us beating Slovakia. I can't believe Silhavy just couldn't make ONE change at the very least, but I'm not surprised in the slightest.
Hello, I have 4 tickets for the Czech vs Croatia game on Friday 18th June at Hampden Park for Euro2020 and was wondering if anyone would want to swap for Scotland tickets that they maybe have there hands on
I'm mostly bothered by Masopust continuing to have a guaranteed starting spot for no apparent reason and the fact Darida-Soucek-Kral isn't working. With what we have the defense and Ondrasek are reasonable.
Masopust had to be dropped for Cerny in my opinion, then maybe Barak replacing Soucek (or Kral, but our Soucek-less midfield worked very well in Slovakia). Defence is fine for now, but I still think Ondrasek is more impactful off the bench at this level.