What did the Czech Republic and Estonia show? The search for a left back is on, King is out

The Czech national team closed the World Cup qualification with a win over Estonia. However, the performance was not ideal and they have to work on a lot of things before the spring barrage. What did we witness at Letná?

The King needs to play

Alex Král earned a solid place in the national team lineup back when he could play for the U21s. He helped with excellent performances in the Euro qualifiers, but his form has gone downhill in the last year.

On loan at West Ham, he hasn’t played a single league minute yet and the lack of play has been noticeable. The balls were bouncing off the hairy midfielder, he didn’t excel going forward, on the contrary, he was lagging behind next to the rampant Michal Sadylek.

The left backs are missing

If Jaroslav Šilhavy’s boot is pressing somewhere, it is definitely on the left side of the defence. Jan Bořil, a stable member of the starting lineup, hasn’t been right since the summer Euros. And the alternatives are not doing well.

Ales Matějů is a hard worker, but it is clear that he is right-footed and only fills in on the left. Filip Novak has his best years behind him, he’s not what he used to be up front, and he often doesn’t keep up at the back. His wing support was minimal, not only against Estonia.

The Estonians are going up

Let’s stop briefly at our opponent. Estonia showed in qualifying that they can be counted on in the future. A draw and a loss by a goal against Wales, a 2::0 win against Belarus and losses of 1::3 and 2::5 against Belgium are stepping stones to the next qualification.

In this qualification, it will be enough to finish in third place in the group and Estonia can play in the barrier for the Euro. A team that is not afraid to play with the ball and that scored only two goals less than the Ukrainians in the qualifiers is undoubtedly up to the task.

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