It’s certainly a pleasant surprise, but perhaps not as unexpected as initially thought. I did find Silhavy’s comments about not selecting Pavelka to be kind of similar to those he made about Dockal. It appears he decided to move on from both and I can’t fault him for that. It’s a shame about those few injured players that are absent. Our squad at complete full strength with Kolar, Krejci II, Provod, and Cerny is quite strong (relative to our past teams) and looks promising going forward. A considerably better feeling about our team for this tournament and beyond compared to the one at Euro 2016.
Our training camp officially starts this upcoming Monday and will be based in northern Italy where we’ll play their national team next Friday. I’d imagine we’ll be starting near our best XI in both friendlies with some experimentation, but most likely won’t be too casual or gracious with playing time for everyone. I think the best way to approach these two games is to set up our lineup and tactics in Italy as we will with Croatia and England, and then use that final warm up with Albania to focus on our approach against Scotland. I’d definitely start both Zima and Hlozek in Italy though. I’d rather test them against a top European opponent to see how they fare and then decide from that if they’re ready to start for us at this tournament.
I'm collecting different types of stats on each EURO 2020 participant. The Czech Republic are definately capable of getting far in this EUROs. Key man will be Schick. They need someone upfront who converts the chances. The Czech Republic have one of the worst shot goal conversion rate of all teams in this tournament. For the five encounters in the Nations League (I discarded the home game against Scotland for obvious reasons) and the two World Cup qualifiers against Belgium and Wales the stats are as follows: 88 Shots 30 Shots on Target 9 Goals => 34% On Target rate (that's low) => 10% Goal Conversion Rate (that's shockingly low) Only Scotland is worse than Czech Republic in the goal conversion rate. They are abysmal to say the least. 6%. They needed 111 shots for only 7 goals in 9 games. What a conincidence that these two teams will meet each other on matchday 1. Let's come to a good part of the Czech Republic team. They are very good at defending as a unit. They regularly manage to keep opposition away from the last 35 metres. The final third for the opposition team. Kept Belgium at only 24%, Wales away at 25% despite being one man down for about 30 minutes. In other words the action in those games took only place for about 22-23 minutes in the 35 metres area of the Czech goal. It would be interesting on top to know how much they were able to penetrate the penalty box but no data is available. These are very good figures and indicative of a very solid team defense. What is the recipe for success in tournament football? First and foremost a rock-solid defence. If you don't have class defenders then you gotta defend very well as a team. Czech Republic is doing that. Other than that you need to finish off your chances. Outsiders especially against big teams don't get a lot of goalscoring-chances. Having a decent conversion rate is decisive. Why did Wales and Iceland go far in 2016? Because they defended well and were realatively good in scoring the chances they had. It's not about playing pretty. It's not about possession. It's about team defense and being opportunistic infront of the goal. These are two indispensable traits that an outsider/dark horse needs to be successfull in a major tournament.
I hope for you guys that the Czech Republic won't be the Peru or Morocco of the 2018 World Cup. Both teams were gritty and entertaining to watch but just lacked the end product in the final third. I think the importance of an in-form Patrick Schick for your team's success got underlined by these stats.
GOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING!Adam Hložek signs a new contract! https://t.co/b5XnuqLUpi pic.twitter.com/DpWOI6YjEO— AC Sparta Prague (@ACSparta_EN) May 30, 2021 As much as this is sort of a cool passing the torch photo from our last world class player to the next, I really hate this decision. He's above our league by some distance already so all he is doing is risking injury, and Sparta's Champions League aspirations would be better served cashing in Hlozek for 4 more Molberg Karlsson level players than having one superstar for an opponent to focus on. All the more reason to hope he has a breakout tournament so a big enough offer comes in. (Also why I mention this here instead of league thread)
It's hard to really gauge if Schick is in form or not, because his international reputation after leaving Sampdoria is basically mediocre club striker that shows his skill/high valuation for the national team. It would be nice to see him have a 20 goal season, but his club form always seems to be separate from national team.
Those stats are not that surprising from what I know of us and can recall as far back as 2019 during our Euro qualifiers, but very interesting nonetheless. We almost always outshoot and generally outplay our opponents, but without Schick (who didn’t feature for us at all in 2020), our conversion rate is very poor as evident by those stats. It’s been agreed upon here that he is our most irreplaceable player (less so now with Hlozek in the team) for this reason. As concerning as central defence is for us, we definitely are a better organized team defensively under Silhavy and really don’t concede that many shot attempts or high quality chances (at least it feels this way compared to our offensive stats). That’s why the majority of the goals we concede are so frustrating because they occur without any prior sustained pressure or threatening attacks from our opponents.
As for our first match with Scotland, it is not only crucial for our hopes of advancing, but to overcome our nightmare record against British opposition which includes those two recent Nations League defeats. Obviously can’t really consider that first defeat due to our emergency Covid squad, but it’s worth noting our most prolific goalscoring threat (Schick), most productive playmaker (Jankto), and most creative midfielder (Barak) were all absent in Glasgow. I realize they missed key players too, but those three I mentioned would change the result I’m sure. I’d say those examples of Wales and Iceland in 2016 apply more to Scotland than to us. Those kinds of teams rely more on deep defending, resiliency, and crowd support to grind out results. I feel we’re still on another level from a talent standpoint. Factor in the events and outcome between Rangers and Slavia in the Europa League, and suddenly this becomes a much more anticipated and emotional match. I’d be lying if I said this game didn’t feel a little personal at this point and I genuinely hope we crush them. That being said, I can totally see us losing to Scotland (again) and then beating Croatia.
Yeah, in 6 of those 7 games that featured in my stats Schick wasn't playing. Only in the Wales game he featured but he got sent off. I agree with Schick and an in-form Hlozek as a serious option things will look better on the attack. Defensively the Czech Republic are rock-solid. Some of the defensive stats are exceptionally good for a team of this caliber. I noticed your very good defensive organisation in your game against Belgium. It's welcome to see that the stats back up what I saw. If you make it to the knockout stage you can cause with your approach problems for any team. As long as you concede nothing or only one goal you are always alive.
I say only this. This Group D will very probably produce some eyebrow raising results. Especially for folks who didn't pay attention to your team's development. It won't be a straight forward group by any means. Scotland naturalized Che Adams. They won't be as poor in attack as their stats suggest. He's a player that features regularly for Southampton. Can't wait for the EUROs and see how this Group D plays out.
From what I’ve read about him, Schick is more the quiet type and known to be kind of withdrawn, almost even a bit conceited. My theory as to why he’s maybe struggled at club level is from having trouble acclimating to his teammates and managers. I think he’s more comfortable in the national team setting and obviously his quality stands out far more amongst international teammates than club companions. Even when he was in poor form at Roma, he always performed well in the national team and should be considered a threat at this tournament. Still without a doubt one of the more naturally gifted and elegant players we’ve ever produced.
The lingering hip injury that’s been bothering Hlozek of late ruled him out of training today, but apparently nothing serious. I thought for this reason he’d skip the Brno game, so hopefully playing that first half was worth it ahead of the Euros. I’m hoping he has a breakout tournament not just for the sake of attracting big clubs, but to shut up those that maintain he doesn’t perform in big games (such a small sample size limited to Slavia really) and only produces against weak opposition. Even when we do have a potential world class player, our people still find a way to criticize and undervalue him..
This is sort of a "which thread should I put this in," but it sounds like Fousek will win in the 2nd round of the vote. A big regional divide: I. KOLOČECHY: POBORSKÝ 77 / FOUSEK 49MORAVA: POBORSKÝ 14 / FOUSEK 56CELKEM: POBORSKÝ 91 / FOUSEK / 105Předseda FAČR nebyl zvolen. Ve druhém kole by takový počet hlasů stačil Petru Fouskovi ke zvolení.— Martin Vait (@themenoffside) June 3, 2021 Fousek was the reform candidate in this case, whereas Poborsky (great player that he is) seemed too cozy with the previous corrupt officials, so definitely seems like the better result if confirmed. edit: official now that Fousek won, it's official. At a political level this was depicted as a proxy war between Sparta (backing Poborsky) and Slavia (Smicer then Fousek), but I feel most Sparta fans reactions seemed to prefer Fousek as well.
Based on all the photos from our training camp I’ve seen, I’m not expecting Hlozek to play tomorrow. This hip injury appears to be troubling him more than initially thought, so hopefully he’s left out as a precaution. I’d say the three things I’d really hope to see for tomorrow would be: • Proper minutes (at least a half) for Zima. • Starting Barak alongside Kral and Soucek instead of Darida. • Assuming Hlozek is out, trying someone other than Masopust at right wing.
Hi guys, A long shot here but I’ve heard a lot about Czech fans wanting to sell their euro 2020 tickets as they are unable to travel to the games due to coronavirus. If anyone was looking to sell their Czech v Scotland ticket I would happily take it off your hands ! Also any suggestions of websites where the Czech may sell these tickets etc would be much appreciated !
So us vs Italy tonight. This is surely prep for England. Will be a good test for the team. Italy isn't the team they once were, but still are a good nation.
I'm going to miss a big portion of this match, but more or less echo Adam CZ's wants for this match. Really hope that Hlozek is healthy enough to get at least a half to be tested against top competition. I don't really see Masopust's season as deserving a starting spot, he more or less became a rotation player when Sima caught fire. I think the RW position should be a battle between Hlozek and Kaderabek even if it isn't either players natural position.
Masopust has consistently been the worst of our regular starters since 2019. I’m really hoping he gets phased out of the national team once Cerny returns. Not to mention Provod can play there if needed with our crowded midfield. I’d even rather call up Lingr or Weisner going forward, but that’s a long shot with Silhavy. Hlozek won’t play today unfortunately, but hopefully can feature against Albania. Without him, I’d lineup in more of a 4-3-2-1 with Jankto and Barak playing behind Schick. Not like that will happen anyways since Silhavy has shown zero interest in adjusting from the same old 4-2-3-1.
Counterpoint, our central defenders... maybe Masopust is the worst frequent starter in a position that has options.
Central defence is the more concerning position overall, but I can at least say Celustka was usually reliable for Silhavy up until this year. All of our other centrebacks are quite close in games played under Silhavy (out of Kudela, Brabec, Kalas, and Suchy), so I didn’t consider one of them to be a frequent starter like Masopust. The fact that we haven’t explored more options beyond Masopust or other formations at this point is what’s really annoying.
🇮🇹🇨🇿 Do přátelského utkání proti Itálii nastoupí #ceskarepre v této sestavě 👥#itacze pic.twitter.com/z5ebvyVnRI— Česká fotbalová reprezentace (@ceskarepre_cz) June 4, 2021 I feel like Silhavy couldn't make up his mind on rather to be experimental or not. Kalas, Hlozek and Holes are unavailable due to injury. The immediate reaction online is trashing Celustka-Brabec, but also not sure what purpose resting Vaclik and Schick when they could use prep minutes.
Looks like a solid B team with some starters sprinkled in. Kral starter is good to see. Hopefully we have him and Soucek anchoring those CM spots in the euros, and I think the #10 spot is up for grabs, but Darida likely holds the keys at the moment, although Barak had a good year and is more of a traditional #10. Back up striker is also open. I don't know why Vydra really doesn't get a look in. He has had an alright season all things considered for a premier league side. I also pray we don't have to see Masopust at the Euros. Where is Provod? I'd rather see Kaderabek at RM than Masopust.
I was expecting to start our best XI available as Italy appear to be doing so, but a few changes is fine, and I wouldn’t really consider playing Pavlenka, Krmencik, or Brabec as experiments compared to others. It’s much better than fielding a completely random XI as Silhavy has done in past friendlies.
These new white kits might be plain, but actually look quite sharp. Much better than the one it replaces.