Czech team player ratings after Wembley loss to England

Czech football pundits have handed out individual marks to national team players following their defeat to England at Wembley Stadium in London. As is traditional in Czechia, players are graded on the familiar school scale, where 1 is the top mark and 5 a total failure — and it was exactly those bottom marks that went to two players: captain Vladimír Coufal and right-back Jiří Sláma.

The match was a tough one for the Czech defence. Early in the first half Coufal turned the ball into his own net, and England forward Harry Kane completed the rout with a brace — one of his goals came from a corner, where he outjumped Sláma. By the time the score reached 0:3, Lukáš Ambros had been replaced by Adam Hložek.

Two flops: the captain and an exhausted defender

Vladimír Coufal drew the most criticism — a mark of 5. Still recovering from injury, he wanted to put in a strong captain's performance at Wembley in the absence of regular skipper Krejčí, but instead conceded an absurd, almost comical own goal in a situation that didn't call for one at all — England's Eberechi Eze wasn't even trying to cover the far post. After that moment, which effectively decided the game, Coufal had no time left to make amends.

Jiří Sláma also received the lowest mark, a 5. For the squad's most-used player, this was already his fourth start against top-level opposition in eleven days — and it proved to be one too many. Alexander-Arnold and Rogers constantly threatened down his flank: Kane scored from a Rogers pass, and later outjumped Sláma again for his second goal from a corner. Head coach Denia, it seems, should have rested the defender or substituted him sooner.

The rest of the team: no flops, but no sparkle either

Goalkeeper Lukáš Horníček earned a solid 3: he could do nothing about the goals, but in the 6th minute he produced a phenomenal save from an Alexander-Arnold free kick, bravely dived at Rogers' feet and deflected a Bellingham shot with his heel.

In central defence, Martin Vitík (4) let himself be drawn out of position by an England combination before Kane's goal, allowing the world's best striker a calm, unmarked finish with a two-metre gap to spare. Robin Hranáč (3) had no part in any of the goals conceded and played his usual steady game — both centre-backs clearly lack match practice at club level: Vitík at his own club, and Hranáč at Hoffenheim.

In midfield, Alex Král (3) tried to play the holding-midfielder role, nutmegged Arsenal's Eze with a clever back-heel, but also made a mistake of his own in build-up play — a slip-up saved by goalkeeper Horníček; the long-haired midfielder was overall one of the pleasant surprises of the camp. Michal Sadílek (3) stopped Bellingham with a spectacular tackle right in front of the stand full of Czech fans, ran hard in defence as usual and picked up a yellow card for a tough challenge. Lukáš Ambros (4) gave Czech fans a scare early on with a poor pass out of defence that, however, did not lead to a goal — England didn't even get a shot away — and his only notable attacking contribution was a clever back-heel for Lingr, before he was replaced by Hložek at the start of the second half.

When Pavel Šulc (3) did manage to get into the final third, it was clear he wasn't at his best: once he held onto the ball too long in England's box, and another time he played a pass so wildly inaccurate that Lingr wouldn't have caught up with it even on a motorbike. After the break, Šulc drifted further left to help out more defensively with his running, and looked more assured — setting up a good chance for Macek, for instance. Ondřej Lingr (4) tried to stay active and won a foul off Guéhi before the break, but struggled badly in defence against the attacking Alexander-Arnold, which let England keep building attacks down the right flank; he was replaced for the second half by Matěj Radosta.

Squad debutant up front Ryan Nadery (4) was given an extremely tough task: he barely touched the ball in the first half, but fought tirelessly and won a few individual duels here and there, even though England's quality proved superior. Matěj Radosta (4), who came on at half-time, barely used his main weapon — pace in behind the defence — and went largely unnoticed this time. Roman Macek (3), who replaced Sadílek 25 minutes from time, fired a powerful shot that gave goalkeeper Pickford work to do and, with a bit more luck, could have given Czechia a consolation goal. Ondřej Zmrzlý (3) came on for a completely spent Sláma and, among other things, held his own in a tough duel with Bellingham — he might have been better off starting the match, since unlike his rival for the left-back spot he hadn't just played almost three full matches in a row.

The only bright spot: Hložek

The best mark of all went to Adam Hložek — a 2. One of the camp's most eye-catching players came on with the score already at 0:3 and immediately put England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford on edge with his pressing. He dropped deep several times to win fouls, made dangerous runs into the box — misjudging one chance with his left foot that went to Šulc — and had one more shot with his weaker foot right at the final whistle. He finished the match wearing the captain's armband, underlining his importance to the current national team.

It is noted separately that defender Ondřej Kričfaluši was not given a mark, as he spent too little time on the pitch.

Source: sport.cz