Tag Archives: Czech Republic

Euro 2012 QF – Czech Republic 0-1 Portugal – Match Analysis

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Lineups

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Match Analysis

Meireles starts on left again: After switching Meireles and Moutinho partway through the game against Germany, Bento started with Meireles on the left against the Czech Republic. The idea is to put the more attack-minded midfielder on Ronaldo’s side, as Portugal have increasingly come to rely on Ronaldo more and more as this tournament has progressed. In truth this didn’t work so well in this match as Ronaldo has begun to drift infield (more on this below), and the Moutinho/Nani wing was more productive against the Czechs, resulting in Moutinho getting the assist for the only goal with a burst from deep to the byline late on.

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Meireles and Moutinho in midfield

Czech Republic offer no resistance: Rosicky didn’t recover from injury in time for this match, so the Czechs had very little creativity in midfield. Pilar has been outstanding in this tournament, but had probably his quietest game so far, with an exceptional run down the left in the second half being his only notable contribution. It was a shame, as many had expected this match to be more interesting than it ended up being, as the Czechs didn’t test Rui Patricio once.

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Not a single shot to test Rui Patricio, while Pilar was quiet

Ronaldo is Ronaldo, again: As the tournament has progressed, Portugal have descended from a balanced attacking team to a side purely set up to feed Ronaldo. He now has licence to roam behind Postiga at will, who is reduced to simply making runs to try and draw defenders out of Ronaldo’s way. This has negated the threat that Ronaldo was providing on the left, meaning that the opposition right back is now rarely in a position to have to deal with Ronaldo running at him in a one-on-one. It has also tied the fortunes of Portugal to one man who, despite all the posturing when he knows the cameras are on him, has been nearly as profligate as he has been selfish. Again he scored the vital goal, but again it was his single attempt on target of eight usually more wayward shots, and his performance was summed up by an excellent chest down and turn just before half time, when instead of rolling the ball across to Almeida to tap into an open net from six yards out, he knew he’d be in a shout for goal of the tournament if he finished it off and so volleyed it from a tight angle against the outside of the post.

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Ronaldo is abandoning the left to play across the front, where he is being spectacularly wasteful of good chances

This is a dangerous development from Portugal, which has worked to this point because a) Ronaldo hasn’t been marked out of the game, and b) Portugal have been allowed to create enough chances for Ronaldo to miss before he finally tucks one away. As the tournament progresses, both of these are likely to change, and Portugal will need creativity from a non-Ronaldo source if they are going to cause problems.

Conclusions

A disappointingly one-sided affair which in truth should have been a lot more emphatic a victory for Portugal than it eventually was. The Czechs offered no threat to Rui Patricio at all, with their attacking intent neatly surmised by sending Cech up for a corner at the death – even if the ball had fallen to him, a header could have gone in any direction off his ridiculous angular headwear.

Portugal have now played two teams in a row which have been not much better than woeful, and find themselves in the semi finals. But Portugal themselves haven’t needed to be exceptional, and have made it through despite developing their team around a player who has missed plenty more great chances than he has tucked away. If they play France in the semis, perhaps they might even reach the final, but Spain, or Germany/Italy in the final will not allow Portugal to play in the way they did here – chances will be few and far between, more attention will be paid to Ronaldo, and opportunities will need to be taken.

Euro 2012 A3 – Czech Republic 1-0 Poland – Match Analysis

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Lineups

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Match Analysis

Poland start strong but lack width: Rosicky was injured for this game, and his lack of influence in the Czech midfield showed early on as Poland seized control of the game. In fact, after 25 minutes Poland had already racked up eight shots at goal with none from the Czechs in response, such was their early dominance. Blasczcykowski had the best chance, seizing on a Czech mistake but slicing wide.

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All the threat from Poland in the first 25 minutes

This dominance was mainly due to Blaszczykowski playing narrow and driving infield of Limbersky, while Obraniak was notionally the left sided forward but was roaming the pitch behind Lewandowski. With little width, Lewandowski was peripheral in open play, often coming deep in search of the ball as Poland never tried to get to the byline and deliver crosses. Bilek instructed Kolar to drop further off Baros to help in central midfield, and the extra body allowed them to gradually take control of the match as they congested the space in the centre that Blaszczykowski, Obraniak and Lewandowski were utilising.

Czech Republic susceptible at set pieces:

Poland continued with this narrow approach from open play, despite causing problems for the Czechs at set pieces. Twice they managed to get a man free at the near post to flick on a corner, but missed the ball on both occasions. Obraniak’s set piece delivery was exceptional, and the movement by Poland in the box was good, but they weren’t quite connecting. There were clear signs that they had the beating of the Czechs at set pieces though, and it was strange that they didn’t adapt their strategy from open play to test the centrebacks aerially.

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Despite the problems they were causing from corners, Poland only tried crossing from deep in open play

Czech Republic threatening from set pieces:

Whereas Poland weren’t learning from their set piece threat, the Czechs were. Despite being dominated in the first half, they grew into the game and recognised the threat they were causing from corners and set pieces. It was notable how they focused on this tactic when they saw the problems they were causing Poland, and while this didn’t result in a goal, it did lead to a point blank header from Sivok which was saved well by Tyton.

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Unlike Poland, the Czechs did adapt to put pressure on from crosses

With all this susceptibility to crosses going on at either end of the pitch, it was surprising that the goal would come from a different route entirely. Poland gave the ball away in midfield, allowing the Czechs to break on the transition, and Baros laid it off for Jiracek to cut inside and slide into the far corner. At the time of the goal the Czechs were firmly on top, but on balance it was perhaps unfair on Poland who had dominated the first half.

Pilar outstanding:

A note on Pilar, who has been exceptional in all three matches so far, providing an out-to-in threat in a similar vein to Silva at Euro 2008. Even in the 4-1 loss to Russia he was a constant attacking option, and in this game he shouldered the burden of creativity well in Rosicky’s absence. Against Portugal he will be up against Pereira in behind Nani, a side of the Portuguese team which was exposed by Krohn-Dehli earlier in the tournament, which will be a battle to watch.

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Pilar has stood out in all three Czech games so far

Conclusions

Poland can consider themselves unfortunate not to qualify for the knockout stages. They were generally unfancied prior to the tournament, but this was based mainly on the lack of competitive football rather than the quality of their constituent parts. The “Dortmund three” were already well known, of course, but will have opened the eyes of a few people who don’t follow the Bundesliga or European football quite so closely. In the end, throwing away a 1-0 lead against the ten men of Greece cost them dearly.

The Czechs proceed to face Portugal in the next round, and have done particularly well given their main centre forward is Baros who has been peripheral throughout. Despite this, they bounced back from a 4-1 opening defeat to Russia to qualify top of the group, and had the best outcome of group B possible – prior to the tournament they must have thought a game against Germany or a strong Holland would be all they could hope for. Rosicky is a big loss, though, as they barely edged passed Poland without his creativity and they will be hoping he is fit for the quarter final on Thursday.

Euro 2012 A2 – Greece 1-2 Czech Republic – Match Analysis

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Lineups

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Match Analysis

Greeks don’t learn lessons from matchday 1: As noted in the match analysis of Poland v Greece, Holebas is not the most natural left back in the world and he was left exposed too often. In this match it was clear after 5 minutes that Greece had made no attempt to fix their problems on the left side of defence, as the Czechs rapidly took a 2-0 lead by exposing this flaw, no doubt having picked up on it from watching the first game. First, Jiracek opened the scoring with an out-to-in run that Holebas was slow to pick up, played in by Hubschman from midfield with little pressure on the ball, then as Holebas was sucked into midfield, Fortounis was slow to cover, and Gebre Selassie managed to get in behind to pick up an excellent throughball from Rosicky to square to Pilar. Both goals required a helping hand from Chalkias – who would depart 15 minutes later with a heavily bruised ego – but the Czech Republic were scything Greece open at will.

Hubschman pivotal, in both senses of the word: In the game against Russia Bilek chose not to start Hubschman and the Czechs were eventually overrun in the first half and went in at the break 2-0 down. Hubschman started this match, and effectively turned the area in front of the defence into a no-mans-land; it wasn’t so much that his tackling and intercepting prevented Greece from playing through the middle, merely his presence dissuaded them from trying. Instead, Greece were forced to play wide and attempt to find a way back into the game via crosses from the wings.

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Greece couldn’t play through the middle in the first half, simply due to Hubschman’s presence rather than tackles or interceptions

Greece change without improving in the second half: At 2-0 up, the Czech Republic seemed content to sit on the 2-0 lead and see out the game, while Greece shuffled their front line in order to search for a way back into the game. Fotakis was substituted from the centre, where he had been ineffective in the first half, with Fortounis moved infield from the left, Samaras shifted to the left side and the substitute Gekas taking Samaras’ place up top. In all honesty this move had little effect; Samaras was more effective than Fortounis on the left, but what Greece gained here they lost from the centre, where Samaras had been a much more effective target man in the first half than Gekas would be in the second.

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Samaras as the target: 4/4 successful aerial duels. Gekas: 0/5

Having said that, the Greeks would score a goal from a Samaras cross from the left tapped in by Gekas – unfortunately it required a horrible mistake from Cech to turn what was in fact a terrible cross into a tap into an open net.

Conclusions

The Greek lineup showed signs that Santos had learnt from the exploitation of their left side in the first game, but within 5 minutes that was proven to be demonstrably not the case. They changed around their front line in the second half, but without the Cech mistake it looked like they could have played all night and not scored – in fact their only shot on target in the 90 minutes was the goal.

The Czech Republic did learn from the first round of group A matches, both fixing their own flaws and exploiting their opponent’s. Once 2-0 up it was simply a case of not doing anything stupid, which Cech did, but the 2-1 victory puts to bed any mental doubts after the Russia defeat and sets them up well for the vital game against Poland on Saturday.

Euro 2012 A1 – Russia 4-1 Czech Republic – Match Analysis

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Lineups

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Match Analysis

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Statistically an evenly matched game, apart from one stat in particular…

Club vs country: The Russian starting 11 featured no fewer than seven players from the title-winning Zenit side, which only lost 4 games in this elongated Russian Premier League season. It is therefore no surprise that Russia’s style and interplay is very reminiscent of Zenit; let’s face it, even if Advocaat wanted them to play in a different way, these players would naturally settle into the style they are used to for their club. The Czech side, in contrast, featured players from 11 different club sides in six different leagues.

Czechs start strongly: Despite the cosmopolitan nature of their lineup, the Czechs started the stronger side. Jirasec and Rosicky were the leading lights of the opening phase, picking up the ball and driving at the Russian defence, while Pilar on the left was also a threat, getting the better of Anyukov at right back on several occasions, and being ably supported by Kadlec pushing forward on the overlap. In the first 10-15 minutes the game was all Czech, with Russia barely able to string a couple of passes together.

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Czechs have more possession, further forward, in the opening phase

Arshavin sparks into life: After weathering this early period of Czech dominance without really being tested at the back, it was Arshavin who dragged Zenit Russia back into the game. Operating on the left, he won a corner which allowed Russia to move up the field and cause their first defensive problem for the Czechs, then released Zhirkov on the overlap with a bit of trickery for their first real shot at goal, which was skewed wide by Kerzhakov. All of a sudden the game looked much more even as Russia had finally established a foothold.

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Arshavin ineffectual in the first 10, but involved much more in the next 15

Czechs absent in midfield: At this point the most obvious tactical deficiency of the Czechs was beginning to be exploited by Russia. With Rosicky and Jiracek notably pushing forward to support Czech attacks, it was left to Plasil to be the more defensively minded of the three. This is a job that he doesn’t have the necessary restraint and commitment for, preferring to venture forward himself when his team are in possession. With Russia the better team and likely to try to play through the Czechs, it seemed odd that Bilek started with this lineup instead of Hubschman who is a more natural protective midfielder. It led to Plasil being caught regularly up the pitch, often giving the ball away himself, and allowed Russia to break at the Czech back line with numbers.

This exposure of the defence was in part responsible for the first goal, as Plasil’s absence drew Kadlec in to midfield to try to break down a Russian attack, where he clashed with the recovering Plasil and took them both out of the game. Russia played the ball to Zyryanov in the vacant left back slot, who crossed for Kerzhakov to head against the post and Dzagoev to follow in as the Czech defenders stood and watched.

Plasil was also at fault for the second goal, allowing Russia to break 4-on-3. Arshavin overhit his pass to Kerzhakov, and as the #11 turned to remonstrate with his captain, Dzagoev stole in to lift the wayward ball over a hesitant Cech.

Despite Plasil’s problems, Jiracek and Pilar in particular were causing problems whenever they received the ball, willing to drive forward and cause Russia problems.

Hubschman changes the Czech fortunes: At half time Bilek removed the ineffectual Resek in favour of Hubschman, adding some form of protection in front of the back four. This pushed Plasil up alongside Rosicky, and moved Jirasek out to the right. Now the Czech Republic had a secure base to allow the forward line to commit to finding a response to being 2-0 down, without as much risk of being caught on the counter as in the first half. This is how they should have started the game, if it wasn’t already clear.

Plasil made the most of his new-found freedom by supplying the assist for the Czech goal. Picking up the ball in acres of space, he had all the time in the world to play in Pilar on an out-to-in run, and Pilar had no trouble rounding Malafeev to make it 2-1. Pilar was having a spectacular game on the left, and deserved this well-taken goal. Similarly, Anyukov was not enjoying Pilar’s challenge, and it was fittingly the right back whose poor attempt at playing offside allowed Pilar in behind.

Kerzhakov has his boots on the wrong feet: The game was now more open as the Czechs began to search for the equaliser, and Rosicky was the only man to get a shot on target in this period of the game. That statistic is mainly due to some woeful finishing from Kerzhakov, who found himself in good positions as Russia began to exploit the Czechs’ necessary hunt for a second goal.

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Kerzhakov sees cows arse, holds banjo, can’t combine the two

Pavlyuchenko finishes it off: Having agitated for a move from the Spurs bench in January to get playing time before the Euros, Pavlyuchenko showed that he was not bluffing by producing a goal and an assist from his 16 second half minutes. The assist was hardly spectacular, taking advantage of a lucky break of the ball to feed in Dzagoev who adopted the hit-and-hope approach to finishing and narrowly missed Cech to make it 3-1. Then Pavlyuchenko himself received the ball of the edge of the box, realised that Hubnik was intent on committing himself to winning the ball, so drew him in, made a yard of space and fired the ball past Cech into the top corner. Cech got fingertips to it, but it was a powerful shot and a difficult save to make.

Conclusions

A surprisingly even game. Russia were the better side and created the best chances, while exploiting Czech tactical naivety in the first half. However, Pilar was the standout player, constantly causing problems, able to take players on and rarely losing the ball. Jiracek too deserves a mention. The two Arsenal mini-maestros performed well, while Dzagoev took the headlines with two goals but was not as spectacular as the post-match hype suggests. Both of these sides should progress from group A on this showing.