It will almost be two months since Ivan Hašek was fired. The Czech national team is still without a coach, which is unpleasantly surprising. Jindřich Trpišovský, as a possible successor, has not commented yet.
Although the results and performances under Hašek were accompanied by criticism, the coach did not violate the joint agreement with the football association, as he did not lose a real chance at the 2026 World Cup.
He will watch the March barrage from afar. However, he still does not know what kind of boss he will see in front of the shifter.
Quite possibly it will be Trpišovský, who is the number one choice. With the working title Savior. Slavia’s coaches are persuading him from all sides to agree to the unconventional dual role. He himself confessed how uncomfortable it is for him to hear his name on every corner.
“Will you get us to the championship?”
“And what will happen to Slavia if you promote?”
Working for the championship team fulfills him, but he is seriously considering whether to accept the union’s offer. For a certain period of time. Specifically for the play-off, which can be reduced to one match – on March 26 against Ireland.
Once advanced, the final against the better of Denmark/North Macedonia follows on March 31.
Both matches would be played in Eden, which Trpišovský considers his second home. He is attracted to it. And the players he once coached are urging him heavily to accept the challenge.
You want a full-time tutor
The sight of the Czech Republic taking part in the World Cup for the first time in twenty years puts him under pressure from all sides. He confided to his friends that he would leave the decision for a while to concentrate on his club duties, when the autumn part was over. This will happen on the weekend, when Slavia has a match with Jablonec.
Trpišovský knows that his team will spend the short winter break at the top of the table. With a lead that does not need to shrink below the current five points over the second Sparta.
How would it affect him personally (and Slavia as a whole) if he agreed to be a sidekick to the national team?
Would he be able to work at two addresses when the first one already takes up almost all of his time? Not surprisingly, those close to him disagree.
For example, last week: on Friday evening, Slavia played a league duel in Teplice, where they had already traveled the day before as part of the training session. On Saturday it was a little more relaxed, on Sunday it was time to board the plane to London for the Champions League. Preparation for Tottenham on Monday, press conference, training. On Tuesday, stress due to the endless traffic jam on the way to the stadium, late evening defeat 0:3, restless sleep and during today the journey home.
Where would Trpišovský want to fit the concern about representation?
It is also worth remembering that the coach who has the stamp of a football savior has never won the Champions League. He already had twelve attempts! Nevertheless – and let’s face it – for the vast majority of the public, he is the most suitable candidate for the position of state coach.
Why now, when Slavia is a renegade in the most watched cup competition?
Because at almost fifty years old he has grown up for the national team and has no competition. At least in the club scene.
Trpišovský at rep? This is public interest
After the sudden farewell to Hašek, the Football Association said it wanted to recruit a foreign expert for some new concept, but those were just strong words. There is no money in the coffers for foreigners, although national team manager Pavel Nedvěd tried to convince the Turkish doyen Fatih Terim or the German prankster Jürgen Klinsmann.
The latest big name to hit the airwaves is Slaven Bilić. The Croatian, who has Premier League experience, most recently worked in Saudi Arabia. The editors of Seznam Zpráv contacted him through the mobile contact he used in England, but there was no response.
Trpišovský is logically the first choice. He worked his way up from pupils, through amateurs and the second division Žižkov in financial difficulties. A successful spell in Liberec led him to Slavia in December 2017. Since then he has won the title four times and finished second four times. Coaching elite.
“But I have no ambition to lead the national team,” he repeated several times.
Moreover, it is hard to wonder that he would want to step into an uncertain project with such an insane amount of responsibility.
Photo: Profimedia.cz
Who will manager Pavel Nedvěd choose for “his” representation?
If we take it from the positive point of view: wouldn’t he regret for the rest of his life that he didn’t try? Maybe yes. But does anyone think about how Trpišovský’s coaching life would continue if the championship was promoted to America? After all, you can’t sit on two heated chairs, even if some coaches managed it for a temporary period in the past (Alex Ferguson, Guus Hiddink, Fatih Terim, Leonid Sluckij or Michal Bílek in Kazakhstan).
More realistic thinking begs the question: why would he want to sign for a team that embarrassed itself in the Faroe Islands and almost failed to even manage San Marino? Because he senses that he can lift him immediately. The skeleton of the team is made up of its Slavists or ex-Slavists. He would certainly get along with Spartans and ex-Spartans, they respect him.
And the negative: what can Trpišovský lose from his credit if he agrees and the bailout fails? Will he hurt himself?
Slavia will definitely not allow him to leave permanently. He doesn’t want it either. However, the noose is tightening and the esteemed coach is under pressure from the football authorities and circumstances that could be summed up under the single name “public interest”.
After all, the three most influential clubs (Slavia, Sparta and Pilsen) are agreeing behind the scenes whether they would share in Trpišovský’s salary with the national team.
Coach, we want you. We are begging you
“I’m not saying that it would be ideal for the national team, because he trains Slavia, but I believe that he would help them. I believe that the chances of going to the World Cup would be great with him,” said key midfielder Lukáš Provod a few days ago. “I understand that it is difficult for him because he is the coach of Slavia and it would affect Slavia in some way. But there is no secret – and the coach knows it from me that I would be happy if he was with the birthday boy.”
Trpišovský struggles internally with similarly passionate incentives. According to information, Seznam Zpráv actually asked for peace for the time being. Until the duel with Jablonec takes place on Saturday.
The national team is currently coached by 36-year-old Jaroslav Köstl, who inherited the selection from Hašek as an undismissed assistant. He has a contract until the March tie, but it can be assumed that Trpišovský would keep him as an assistant. After all, this is how they worked together for many years in clubs.
Köstl in a provisional role has won both matches so far. Although the 1-0 warm-up with San Marino bordered on farce, and after the subsequent 6-0 qualifying victory with Gibraltar, a childish dispute broke out again between offended players and a loyal fan base, who complained of a lack of commitment. For the time being, the forward Tomáš Souček, who was stripped of the captain’s armband by the executive committee for the next match, was left behind.
This is also why Czech (representational) football is under severe tension.
Instead of mobilizing for the March fights for world hope, he wallows in uncertainty. And still without a coach.
The older generation of coaches is already off the radar (Jarolím, Chovanec, Rada).
Mladá has apparently not yet grown up (Holoubek, Hyský, Kováč).
The idea with the explosive matador Koubek fizzled out. There was not a single word about the former national team coach Vrbo, his era was over.
Bílek, the current boss of the twenty-one team, could be an option, but he refused because he remembers the unfair lynching the football public organized for him before he advanced to the quarter-finals of the 2012 European Championship.
What about Luboš Kozel, who is established in ambitious clubs? Yes, also an option. Just like Martin Svědík, who is improving the Zbrojovka project in Brno. An interesting choice would perhaps be the distinguished and patient Vítězslav Lavička, who heads the Spartan academy.
When you carefully discuss all the real options that domestic football offers, you will still come back to the basic question. Why does the Czech Republic, a nation of football coaches, still not have a suitable and immediately usable coach for the national team?
Even Trpišovský is not the right answer, even if his appointment would make sense.
All he has to do is tell him that he’s taking the offer. We know he’s considering that sentence.
