What did Slavia show against Feyenoord? Kúdela held his own, new Souček struggles in midfield

She was losing, leading, losing and finally tied. Slavia came away from Rotterdam with a 3-3 draw against Feyenoord in the Europa League quarter-finals, what did the match show heading into the rematch?

Talovjerov hasn’t scored yet

When Slavia bought Maksym Talovjerov in the winter transfer window, probably few expected that Jindřich Trpišovský would try to turn him into a central midfielder. The Sešiovan coach sees him as Tomáš Souček, not only because of his stocky physique.

But so far, Talovjerov hasn’t played a single match in midfield. His biggest weakness is clearly his passing, which the spectators could see on Thursday. It’s clear that he is a stopper, it doesn’t look like a new Soucek because of his work with the ball.

Kúdela is a surprising but good option

When recalling the autumn game at Feyenoord, many a Slav player remembered how the fast wingers troubled the Seychelles defence. That’s why it was surprising that Ondřej Kúdela appeared in the starting lineup for the first time since August.

After ninety difficult minutes, however, Kúdela must be humbled. He was confident in the midfield and his speed was much better than expected. It is a big plus for Slavia’s management that they can count on another defender.

The confident Olayinka can

Peter Olayinka’s woes in the spring part of the season are obvious, even though the Nigerian winger is scoring goals. One of the team’s captains loses balls, handles offensive situations poorly, and is only in the lineup because of a wide marauding midfield and his experience in big games.

On Thursday, it was confirmed for the umpteenth time that the confident and the unconfident Olayinka are two different players. Since scoring the goal, the experienced speedster has been one of Slavs’ best players, winning countless balls and being valid going forward. Now we just need to confirm it in the next game.

Source:: SK Slavia Praha