Our game against Wales is going to be massive which is obvious. Our last 3 games are all very much winnable and would put us on 16 points. Bad news is Wales has one more game than us but if we win all our matches, and Wales win their final 3 matches which includes Belgium, well we both end up on 16 points. Basically we really need to win all 3 of our games or else we are not going to the world cup.
We should win all three comfortably if we have an even halfway healthy lineup honestly (and nobody gets a stupid red card). Wales needed 2 penalties and a lot of stoppage time to beat Belarus (who looked lifeless vs us) and then failed to produce a goal at home against the weakest team in our group (Estonia, who we crushed away although that team had some Covid issues). Those are the 3 ahead of us. I actually think our toughest match of the 3 will be Belarus for the simple reason that it's away (and far away at that since they have to play their matches in Kazan).
There is also a weird backdoor way into the WC playoff through Nations League. Currently, Wales and Austria would advance as the 2 highest ranked UNL group winners not currently in the top 2 of their qualifying Group. If Wales were to overtake us, then we'd actually be next in line provided none of France, Belgium, Italy and Spain fall into 2nd place. Ideally we would make it the old fashioned way as we'd be seeded in the playoffs.
We’re basically guaranteed a playoff spot at this point, but certainly want to finish second to be possibly seeded and have home field advantage. 12 teams in total will compete in the playoffs (10 runners up and the 2 best ranked Nations League group winners not already qualified or in the playoffs). That makes for three pathways of four teams playing single leg semi finals and then a final to determine the winner. So in the end, just three teams will advance out of the twelve. Above all else, the expectation needs to be set at finishing second in this group. This whole lax attitude of relying on our Nations League ticket isn’t good enough. It’s a great cushion no doubt, but this kind of complacency is why we’ve failed to advance to previous World Cups and always just settled for finishing third in spite of our traditional qualification success for the Euros. Honestly, looking at the other current second place teams, there’s nobody I really fear. Qualifying while the World Cup is still prestigious (32 teams and every four years) is absolutely mandatory for me next year and I believe we now have the quality to finally do it.
Fairly sure that Jankto is out for the rest of the qualifying cycle at least. 🚑🔵 Míchel ha comentado en rueda de prensa que todo apunta a que Jakub Jankto tiene roto el peroné de la pierna izquierda y afectada la tibia.Noticias devastadoras. pic.twitter.com/X2pnleDjXB— Sp_ | Getafe (@Sp_Getafe) September 18, 2021 All indications are that he has a broken fibula in his left leg with some impact on the tibia as well. Without more details hard to make firm predicition, but best case for full training is probably 6 months.
God that’s awful news and terrible luck. I doubt we’ll see him in the national team again until the next Nations League campaign in June 2022, but hopefully he’s back for Getafe in the spring. As for our other longterm injuries (Provod and Cerny), it’s imperative that they’re both ready for the playoffs in March. I think Cerny should be available for an international return in November, while Provod will ideally be back with Slavia after the winter break.
It flew mostly under the radar, but our Women's National Team managed a 1-1 draw in a qualifier against the Netherlands who are one of the top ranked teams in the world, even though our best player is injured. Too early to guess if we finally qualify for a major tournament, but slow and steady progress. We actually had a lead until fairly late.
Awful news about Jankto. We thankfully have some depth on the wings so it shouldn't hurt us too bad, but I am excited for Provod to potentially return. Schick is also having a very strong start to the season in Germany.
A pleasantly surprising update on Jankto who appears to not have fractured anything at all and will be sidelined for just 4-6 weeks with an ankle sprain. He’ll certainly miss the October qualifiers and possibly November, but most importantly is no longer in jeopardy of missing next March. It’s about time we catch a break on any injury related news.
The next squad for the October break will be announced tomorrow. The only confirmed injury absence for now is Jankto as already discussed, but Kolar and Kudela may not be ready in time and therefore not released by Slavia. Otherwise, this should hopefully be close to our Euros squad.
Na utkání proti Walesu a Bělorusku nominoval Jaroslav Šilhavý tyto hráče 📃 pic.twitter.com/k6UXUSz1IV— Česká fotbalová reprezentace (@ceskarepre_cz) September 29, 2021 Can't really complain about anything here, we have some players injured but nowhere near as depleted as last time around. Also, Wales is missing Bale which for how much they rely on hime even if a bit past his prime is probably equal to us missing Jankto, Cerny, Provod etc. combined.
It's a good first team there. Again centerback is the issue, but I do wonder if we will continue with Kalas-Celustka, or bring in Brabec/Zima?
I suspect it will be Celustka - Kalas at least against Wales. I would probably do Kalas-Zima personally on form and balance of experience/youth although I wouldn't be too bothered or excited by any combination. I have no idea how Brabec has done in Greece, but he was in poor form when he left Plzen. It seems like he is starting every match, and they have only conceded 2 goals in last 4 matches, but I don't have match ratings to see how much of that is his impact. Celustka is a bit of an enigma, he tends to play better for the NT than his club, but I just wonder how long he can keep that up at his age.
I’d also expect Celustka - Kalas to start, which I agree with for Wales at least. If Kudela was available, then I’d of started Zima alongside him to form an all Slavia alumni backline. Celustka is fine for now I guess, especially if including him means excluding Brabec and not Zima (when Kudela is healthy). Without Bale and nearly at full strength ourselves (mainly with Schick), I think we should be beating Wales comfortably.
V nominaci #ceskarepre došlo ke čtyřem změnám 🔄 pic.twitter.com/5RUUe5FcKm— Česká fotbalová reprezentace (@ceskarepre_cz) October 5, 2021 I was genuinely shocked when Kuchta was the only squad addition yesterday and no withdrawals were reported, but as always (looking at you Tvrdik), that was short-lived. Coufal is a (very) big loss, especially when Kaderabek isn’t available. I’d say Sevcik is the next most significant loss since neither Kral and Holes are in decent form. Boril actually appears to have sustained a more long term injury that could sideline him up to six months, so potentially a chance for Novak to reclaim that spot, but probably better to eventually try Sadilek there. Otherwise, the replacements are again lazily arranged by Silhavy. He just calls those that he knows from previous meetings and are nearby, so clearly convenience is prioritized over actual merit.
Expected team for tomorrow: ———————Schick———————— -Hlozek————Barak—————Pesek- —————-Holes——Soucek————— -Novak——Kalas——Celustka——Mateju- ———————-Vaclik———————— Fullback is a clear concern, but otherwise I’m fairly certain the rest would’ve started anyways. If we see a few Schick flexes, it’ll be a good day. I’d say only Wiesner is somewhat deserving to be here (with our absences) and actually has a trace of upside unlike the other three. He could even be in contention to start since he already plays beside Celustka and behind Pesek at club level.
Mateju isn't a bad option, but this is a horrible luck for Kaderabek who surely would be starting. I am really unimpressed with our wing options to be honest. Seems like a lot of our wingers are just ok players.
Probably the best team we could field all things considered. That bench is pretty weak though. Gotta hope we get the job done early. The longer the game goes on, the better for Wales.
Kral instead of Holes, but otherwise what adam CZ posted. It's not our best lineup but should be enough at home against Wales.
Our fullback issues are really showing up on both sides of the pitch. We normally depend on Coufal to help with buildup as much as defense.
On replay, Hlozek's pass to Novak deserved an assist in its own right, but good composure from Pesek (not his strong suit as he has a terrible xG to actual G ratio).
I see a lot of "great match" spin in match tracker and media sources, but I thought it was dire personally. Even with our clutzy defense both teams basically created 2 real chances each with a 50% success rate. Theirs a different between even and good.
Just tuning in now for the second half. Sounds like I didn’t really miss much, but to not capitalize on Schick’s current form would be a huge disappointment.