Given Ajax Amsterdam’s reputation, it may sound strange, with an absence of humility, but Slavia let two points lie in Eden. They drew 1-1 with the Dutch giants as they overcame a first-half deficit. Substitute Tomáš Chorý scored the equalizer. And that was the point, the rotation in the lineup, at a total of five positions, did not work out. “The players from the bench brought us quality,” admitted coach Jindřich Trpišovský. The “stitching” started to work only after the change of sides, but they managed to squeeze through the dense pressure only into the resulting pile.
The day before the match, Jindřich Trpišovský discussed the traditional meeting with journalists. Logically, given Sunday’s derby with Sparta, the composition of the starting line-up was discussed above all. How many changes will there be? Much? Little? “The rotation will be, but not frantic,” assured the coach.
In the end, he decided on five changes compared to the last league match against Bohemians (4:0). Not all of them succeeded. That is also why in the second match of the main phase of the European League, Slavia only drew 1:1 with Ajax, although they had a significant advantage in ball possession (55:45 percent) and fired a total of eighteen shots compared to only six opponents. After the initial triumph in Razgrad, he is on four points.
“We made defensive mistakes, we had to make up for the loss, then it was one goal, but we scored only one goal. In the first half, we lacked more intensity and emotion,” said the Slavist coach.
So let’s go through it. Instead of a more traditional stopper trio, the coaching staff opted for a four-man defensive formation. On the left with Zmrzlý, Oscar was guarded by Prebsl, in a 4–2–3–1 formation Wallem and Michez were on the wings and Chytil was on the tip. None of the mentioned players performed above average.
The rotation was mainly based on teamwork, on cooperation between the ranks. A sample example: a few minutes after the start of the match, Slavia tries to get out of the opponent’s press, they play a classic passing pattern, but Wallem sends the great Brobbey into a great opportunity with an inaccurate pass to the stopper position. A twenty-two-year-old guy with a price tag approaching a billion crowns, however, under the pressure of Zima, burns by the wayside.
It was Wallem who did not play a good game at all. He often lost balls on the left side, he did not get into the match for the entire sixty minutes of his stay on the pitch. He looked without energy, his body language showed that he had left his self-confidence unknown where after the summer’s unsuccessful transfer anabasis.
Ajax was more dangerous in the first half. When the defensive trap on the left didn’t close, Holeš directed the ball towards the goal with a defensive intervention, and Kinský had to demonstrate agility and reflexes. But even the second warning was not enough. In the eighteenth minute, another of the rookies in the Zmrzly lineup made a really bad decision in the penalty area, he fouled Rasmussen and Van den Boomen safely converted the penalty kick.
Slavia’s occasional jams did not end with a goal. Caught on the front post narrowly missed, Lingra’s excellent pass along the goal line was again not cleared by Zmrzlý. In the second half, the inevitable happened. Trpišovský brought three key players from the bench to a stable starting line-up. Provod, Chorý, Diouf and Jurásek entered the battlefield. The arrival of unquestionable quality was immediately apparent.
“Yes, the substitutes brought us quality. It’s just a shame that we weren’t at Choré more, we couldn’t get several dropped balls into the goal,” complained Trpišovský.
Water began to boil in Ajax’s penalty area and after seven minutes, Chorý found Juraska’s exemplary center and leveled scores with his head. The score did not change further, despite significant pressure from Slavia, which increased even more after the expulsion of Baas. However, nothing came out of the several jams, and in the heated conclusion, in which the imprecise Latvian referee Treimanis handed out several yellow cards, it was in vain to wait for the winning blow.
“After two games we have four points, now we go twice away. I don’t have experience with a big table, so I can’t say if four points is good, but I’d rather have six. However, if we play at the same level, hopefully it will be enough to advance from the group,” concluded Trpišovský on Thursday evening.
Now he is fully focused on Sunday’s big derby with Sparta.
Goals
Guests: 18. van den Boomen
Assemblies
Home: Kinský – Douděra, Holeš (C), Zima, Zmrzlý – Prebsl (74. Zafeiris), Oscar – Michez (60. M. Jurásek), Lingr (60. Diouf), Wallem (60. Provod) – Chytil (60. Sick ).
Guests: Pasveer (C) – Rensch, Šutalo, Baas, Hato – van den Boomen, Hlynsson (42. Tahirović), Taylor (78. Rugani) – C. Rasmussen (56. Wijndal), Brobbey (56. Akpom), Godts (56 .gaaei).
Substitutes
Home: Bořil, Diouf, Chaloupek, Konečný, Jurásek, Chóry, Trédl, Zafeiris, Pech, Provod, Mandous, Slončík
Guests: Akpom, Faberski, Gaaei, Banel, Gorter, Janse, Kaplan, Rugani, Ramaj, Konadu, Tahirović, Wijndal
Cards
Home: Holeš, Prebsl, Douděra, J. Trpišovský (off the pitch)
Guests: Hato, Taylor, Baas, Pasveer, Wijndal, Gaaei
Referee
Treimanis – Gudermanis, Spasennikov – Ratnieks (all LVA)
Stadium
Fortuna Arena, Prague-Vršovice
Visit
19,296 viewers
