2024-02-20 03:13:01
“Sparta has taken the lead, but I am convinced that it too will stumble. All teams are fighting for something, no match is clear-cut,” says former forward Petr Švancara in a traditional commentary for Aktuálně.cz about events in the Fortuna:Liga football.
Slavia hesitated in the overtime in Zlín, and Sparta actually increased their lead. But I don’t think the title should be decided.
Watching her, I’m convinced she stumbles too. All teams are fighting for something, for cup positions, for salvation, for placement.
Matches – God forbid – are not straightforward, simple for the favourites. The derby will decide, superstructure.
It is very important for Sparta that Lukáš Haraslín starts and he is in form. Especially shooting. He has the respect of his teammates because they can count on him to finish.
When you have a fighter like that in front of you, you are already subconsciously looking for him because you know he can shoot. The fact that he has a bit of luck with it is part of it, it goes against him.
It’s just a mystery to me that he doesn’t play whole games. When he gets even more healthy together, he will be even more important for Sparta. Because he can count on him. The same cannot be said about Kucht, and his backup is worse than Slavia’s.
After the match with Liberec, the guest coach Luboš Kozel lamented that Pešek should have been sent off after the second yellow card when he fouled Penner while the score was 0:0. I agree with him, red.
However, Kozel should have realized that it was played on Sparta, and I am not adding anything else.
In the end, when Sparta was defending a narrow lead, I also noticed how the referee was waiting for a Spartan player to fall and thus break the Liberec pressure. Again different verdicts are coming…
Last year’s top scorer Václav Jurečka was sent off in the extra time in Zlín. He weakened the team, but Slavia should have won the game even in ten minutes.
I can empathize with his feelings, I’ve experienced it many times myself. From the first minute, you’re messing with someone who’s watching over you. You are the star in quotation marks, you arrive somewhere, from the first minute someone runs into you, provokes you. And that is often the purpose.
Just like Vlasta Daníček from Slovácko, Jurečka couldn’t do it. Guys have to be careful about that.
It also happened to me once, in 2009 in Slovakia. My guard kept loading me, I swerved, unfortunately I hit him in the face between the nose and teeth.
The delegate saw it, I got five or six games and loaded from the press. Today there is also VAR, which reveals everything.
Oscar and Ivan Schranz saw the fourth card, they will serve their punishment at home against Pardubice, which need not be such a concern, they will be available for the derby.
I don’t accept the opinion that they did it on purpose. First of all, Slavia would not have to think like this and maybe they don’t even think, and then the boys themselves are eliminated from the starting line-up. And I wouldn’t gamble too much with that.
Other fighters rush to take their place, often the misfortune of one is the fortune of another. The competition is great. The replacement will work for the current substitute, the coach will immediately say, hey, he’s in shape. This also applies to Jurečka.
I’m a bit blown away by Slovácko’s performances and results. Things got off to a good start in Zlín, then Daníček’s offense came. Before that, the team missed the conclusion with Pardubice, despite playing a power play. Together with Karvina, it is the disappointment of spring for me.
At the same time, the staff is decent, the coach is strict and skilled, he will rise. Now comes the ideal opponent: Sparta at home with a sold-out auditorium.
On the contrary, I praise Zlín. He scores points, he has improved in his game, the change of coach has worked. He fights to save the fest.
But Pardubice and České Budějovice are also trying, no one is written off in advance, as was the case in previous years. I’m happy about it, it will be exciting down there too.
- Former league striker. He was born on November 5, 1977.
- One of the greatest talents of Czech football at the beginning of the 21st century. He played for nine different clubs in the top flight. He was brought up by Zbrojovka Brno, from where he transferred to Slavia Prague. He also scored goals for Viktoria Žižkov or Slovácko, abroad for Slovan Bratislava.
- He played 309 matches in the Czech first league, scoring 59 goals.