A boost of confidence. Three wins, one draw. With all due respect, the Slavists did not meet the strongest opponents in Portugal, but before the start of spring, it is estimated that they did not lose even once. “Defeat can still come in preparation, it can be excused by a demanding program. Of course, it’s more pleasant not to lose, it will help the whole team,” smiled assistant coach Zdeněk Houštecký. “Especially in the last two games against Beijing, we had a hard time. Even our former stopper Míša Ngadeu admitted that they wanted to play against us.”
Solid defense. Score a goal for Slavia? A tough discipline. The Vršovice team conceded only thirteen times in eighteen autumn league matches, and the defense was also clear in Portugal. The famous team scored only one goal in 360 minutes, they finished three of the four games with a clean sheet. Both reinforcements on the left side of the defense look promising: the 19-year-old nimble Senegalese El Hadji Malick Diouf and the five-year-old versatile Ondřej Zmrzlý, who is also expected to play as a defensive midfielder.
Goal throws with reserve. Nine goals in four duels is not a bad balance, but at the same time, one cannot avoid the impression that the team from Eden could have achieved even better numbers. A lot of chances remained unused and, for example, in the second match against the Beijing Chung-che Kuo-an team (0:0), the ball hit the post twice and the crossbar once. “They also didn’t recognize our goal, which I think was legal,” commented assistant Houštecký. “After a heavy load, we lacked lightness, our legs are heavy. Sometimes it lacked a second when the player should keep calm and turn it around.”
Staňk’s bad luck. He wanted to fight for the number one goalkeeper position, instead after returning to Prague he will go for a magnetic resonance imaging with a damaged calf. Goalkeeper Jindřich Staněk, a winter signing from Pilsen, had a bad training session. He missed the first two games to be sure, and when he finally started in the third, he had to leave early in the first half. If a higher power does not intervene, spring will be seized by Aleš Mandous. And one more problem: even midfielder Conrad Wallem did not play the first game against Beijing due to injury.
A couple of question marks. 35 players went to Portugal – and not everyone on the roster will stay like this. There are more names that may not survive the selection of the squad. According to the weaker workload in Portugal, Slovak midfielder Jakub Hromada, Ukrainian stopper Taras Kačaraba or Brazilian offensive wizard Ewerton, whose goal against Beijing could be saved, are offered for example. Or not?
Preliminaries of Slavia in Portugal
Slavia–Sanderjyske 4:0
12. Tijani, 31. Van Buren, 51. Provod, 77. Wallem
Slavia–AIK Stockholm 2:0
67. Oscar, 82. Ševčík
Slavia–Peking Kuo-an 3:1
60. Douděra, 69. Ewerton, 90. Jurečka z pen. – 2. Abreu
Slavia–Peking Kuo-an 0:0
2024-01-28 06:42:11
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