Euro 2016: Comeback will boost Czech Republic, but they need to be more positive to stand a chance

The Czech Republic hopes were kept alive after they came back from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw in the Group D match on Friday. The reason the Czechs could come back had a lot to do with how their opponents threw away the game. Croatia should have walked out of the game with all three points after Ivan Perisic and Ivan Rakitic scored in either side of half-time.

As Milan Skoda’s gorgeous 76th-minute goal got Czechia back into the game, the Croats should have realised what was coming. They missed a few simple chances, and what made matters worse was that the equaliser came following a five minute delay caused by Croatian fans throwing flares onto the pitch. The players appealed for calm in front of the stand, but this had quite evidently disturbed the tempo of the game and Vida’s mistake came quickly after the resumption. Tomas Necid made no mistake from the spot and blasted his penalty home.

At the same time, it would be unfair not to credit the Czechs’ resolve to come back into the game. Their character and resilience must be hailed even though they didn’t threaten for vast majority of the game. Sometimes comebacks and turnarounds like this can spur a team to do great things and Czech Republic might have resurrected their dead chances at the tournament.

The Czechs’ performance against Spain left a lot to be desired as Pavel Vrba’s side played defensively and the coach’s plan was to extract a draw against their opponents. This strategy almost worked but for Pique’s late winner. For the side to progress further, however, playing defensively would certainly not work. Vrba changed the approach and his side were not looking reticent anymore and instead could be seen trying to play more positively. The manager had reacted well and started Brighton winger Jiri Skalak instead of the less offensive Theodor Gebre Selassie. David Lafata was also given a start and he replaced Necid, who had a very poor outing against Spain.

They started the game decently although Croatia well and truly dominated the affair and their superiority was quite apparent. They weren’t able to do much of note inside the Croatian box and it wasn’t until Lafata’s brilliant header, which basically came out of the blue, that they were able to translate some good work in the midfield and in attack into something substantial.

It was Rosicky’s cross to Lafata that began the turnaround but the Czech legend is likely to miss their crunch match against Turkey next week after pulling up with a hamstring injury. However, considering he had a passing accuracy of 55% misplacing 15 of his 33 passes; was dispossessed 2 times (the most on the pitch alongside Darijo Srna) and had made just one key pass — the cross for the goal — it might work in Czech’s favour to have to play without Rosicky. It is actually surprising how much the side seems to be dependent on him when he’s on the pitch, especially considering his recent injury record.

This should prompt Vrba to use Vladimir Darida in an attacking role. While the Hertha Berlin player can play anywhere in midfield, he played most of his games last season as an attacking midfielder and got four goals and two assists in that role. Due to Rosicky playing as the attacking midfielder, Vrba uses Darida as a holding midfielder in a pivot alongside Jaroslav Plasil. The Czech side needs a victory and it will only come with goals. Turkey have struggled defensively and Darida might be of more assistance spraying the ball for the strikers from an attacking position, and have shots at the goal himself.

Vrba’s men need to take some inspiration from their past to ensure they have slim hopes of staying in France beyond the group stages. The great Czech sides of the past had a sense of adventure when they played, something that has not been seen for more than 10 minutes at a stretch with the current team. They should be encouraged by their comeback against Croatia but need to produce more in track if they want to achieve what the former great Czech sides have.