Soucek for all intents and purposes scored for West Ham, although I think it took a deflection and was called on OG. Krmencik played another full 90, completely blew a sitter early on, but made up for it with an assist. Actually the fact Krmencik missed an open net and still had a decent match is probably the best sign of his form since he's never been known for much but goals.
Coufal to West Ham may be announced as soon as tonight according to some English sources, and Trpisovsky seemed to confirm its close. This move seems to make a lot of sense for everyone, and I was surprised when the original interest two months ago didn't lead to anything.
Wow, that developed fast. Great move if that can be finalized. I also noticed his Wikipedia page is currently undergoing interesting renovations as well to say the least... Those English fans are really something else.
Silhavy must plan to make a literal wall of skyscrapers for a defence with him and Petrasek back there..
Schick just scored his first Bundesliga goal for Leverkusen, but shortly after had to be subbed off with what appears to be a hamstring injury. I'd imagine he will be withdrawn from the national team as a precaution at the very least. Hopefully it's nothing too serious.
I had just started watching when he sat down on the field to indicate injury. Its hard to tell the extent, but he walked off with no problem even if he couldn't run / continue.
Coufal started right away and had a good match apparently. Slavia London West Ham beat Leicester 3-0, a 2nd good result for them in a row for the most pessimistic team in England.
Vaclav Jemelka is apparently in Belgium getting a medical exam for a move to Leuven. Would be a big blow to Olomouc who are having a solid start to the season. For Jemelka its an okay move, won't put him on the national team radar, but he should be able to play and get a change of scenery as he enter the prime years of his career since he is was an Olomouc youth product.
Good news from the low countries. Vaclav Cerny added a very good assist to his impressive start. While he didn't get a point, Krmencik was healthy enough to put in 65 minutes of good work despite his injury right before the break.
I admittedly didn't view Cerny as NT material going into this past international break, but having revisit the talent and potential shown when he first broke through at Ajax, factored in with our everlasting absence of dynamic, lethal wingers, I do think he warrants a call up in November at this rate. It feels as though the traditional Czech winger is almost more useful without the ball than with it since their workrate often exceeds their actual skill on the ball. Cerny was such an exciting prospect at Ajax and the U21 level because he was different from this, and quite the opposite actually. We really do need a fast, skillful winger that cuts inside on his favoured foot and can take on defenders. I'm now hoping for the Cerny - Schick - Jankto reunion at the senior level eventually.
Not too surprising, from a prestige standpoint their is Ajax (plus PSV & sometimes Feyenoord) then there is the rest of Eredivisie, so performing well at Twente isn't going to go as noticed. Also as Danicek pointed out, Tomas Hajek, who might generously be called an average defender in the Czech league has played 4 full 90s in 5 matches for Vitesse.
I noticed Hajek had been now starting as well and was quite surprised. I think it would be worth including him on the reserve list just to have a left footed option in the mix. I mean, would Petrasek really be that much better than him? Probably not, but I guess more deserving of a call up for sustained performances. Another kind of random update from abroad, though probably a more household name is Tomas Pekhart, who currently is the leading goalscorer in Poland. He actually has a good scoring record since joining Legia last year and some Czech fans have been suggesting Silhavy include him. I myself am not one of these people, as I do recall him being absolutely useless when he was a NT regular under Bilek. Quite possibly the worst striker we've ever deployed in terms of statistical records (Dolezal, and just recently Poznar + Rabusic are probably worse, but have limited appearances). I would assume the fans really making a case for Pekhart are sort of the anti-Krmencik/Vydra ones that I had mentioned in the NT thread.
There is a twitter rumor that West Ham want to add Alex Kral to their cadre of former Slavia players, although the valuation seems a bit off. West Ham are in for Spartak Moscow's Alex Kral. He was/is Tomas Soucek's central midfield partner at Slavia/Czech national team. Spartak paid €12m for Kral last September and would want at least 18m if they have to sell.His contract expires in 2024, salary around €1m/year.— Artur Petrosyan (@arturpetrosyan) November 22, 2020
Kral should probably wait until the summer for a move and ideally avoid West Ham if Rice is still there. It would be a very cool set up with Soucek and Coufal no doubt, but I think he can play for a better club. Elsewhere in the Premier League, Vydra had his contract extended by Burnley into 2022 which is kind of odd.
His agent actually mentioned on twitter that they exercised that option against Vydra and his wishes as they are looking for a new move. Burnley just wanted to make sure they get a transfer fee.
Saturday's game against @Mainz05en could see @TheoGS23 make his 2️⃣5️⃣0️⃣th appearance for #Werder! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/S0xkuvqBRy— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) December 18, 2020 I believe he's now tied with Claudio Pizarro for most appearances by a non-German player at Werder Bremen.
Nothing too exciting on the moves side. Krmencik to PAOK on loan, he showed signs of recovering to start the year, then more injury/fitness problems and now seems completely surplus. Probably on the verge of a career death spiral if he doesn't produce on this loan. Lukas Kalvach is being linked with CSKA. Russia still has a dubious reputation as a career killer for many Czech fans, although Kral seems to be doing okay. Some strong performances, especially by the West Ham duo. I believe Soucek scored the first Premier League goal of 2021. Darida also had two assists last match for Hertha Berlin.
Scored a debut goal, although it was one of the worst I've ever seen involving a completely blown offside trap gave him a 2-v-1 with the keeper and he still waited to shoot so long that it was nearly saved.
Awful news out of the Netherlands today as it appears Cerny has seriously injured his knee (not the first time in his young career either) and will miss the remainder of the season which would assumingly include the Euros. Cerny was currently on 6+7 through 15 games and amongst the leading point producers in the Eredivisie. Rumours of Ajax potentially repurchasing him were surfacing along with clubs from other countries being interested in recent days. Have to wonder who Silhavy will deploy at right wing. I believe Kopic is also out with a longterm knee injury and Masopust is now playing more rightback at Slavia (not that I consider either to be viable starting options), so without a doubt our weakest position now. I think a (slight) change in formation is required. I'd play a 4-3-2-1 with a midfield of Darida - Soucek - Kral and then Barak - Jankto slighty advanced supporting Schick. Even with a healthy Cerny, this was a variation I've had in mind and honestly would prefer anyways, but now should be quite obvious with this injury news.