You're listening to the Futglish podcast. Love
football, learn English. What were the biggest
upsets of the first round of the Czech League?
Would Michal Beran be a good signing for Sparta
Prague? What freak moment occurred during the
Slavia -Prag -Haradec -Kralové game? And what
verb is commonly used with the noun bet? Hello,
everyone. Welcome back to the FootGlish podcast.
If you've ever been wondering what FootGlish
means, then it's very simple. Foot stands for
football, glitch, English. This is an English
learning podcast about football. I'm the host.
My name is Danek Lukas. And I'm an English teacher.
And as always, we have got a guest. And this
one is really special. He is a returning guest.
After about a year, it's my pleasure to welcome
Stjepan Hayek back on the podcast. So Stjepan,
welcome back on the FootGlish podcast. It's good
to have you back, man. Thank you so much. It's
a pleasure. I can't believe it's already a year
since my last visit. Time flies when you're having
fun. That's true. So, Stjepan, you are a football
journalist and ex -football player. You used
to play for Sparta Prague as well, didn't you?
That's true. That's true. For six years, I guess.
Yeah, six years. And now you work for several
different platforms. So one of them is Kanal
+, which is Premier League focused. channel or
is it a streaming service or what is it is it
a tv channel i would say it's a channel we have
more tv channels of course but yeah i think you
can call it either television or tv channel yeah
yeah yeah so uh obviously the premier league
hasn't started yet so that's Something we could
talk about, maybe discuss some transfer rumors.
But I invited you mainly to talk about the first
round of the Czech League because you also happen
to be obviously a big Sparta Prague fan. And
I think you also work for Sparta Unlimited, if
I'm not mistaken. Yeah, that's true. I'm still
a commentator for some of the games of the B
team, youth teams and some other stuff. Which
means you have to. sort of be knowledgeable about
the Czech League as well. So I think we have
the right guest here. So what did you make of
the first round? A lot of surprises, to be honest.
I'm not sure if you are a fan of sports betting,
but if you placed a bet on, I don't know, Sparta,
Slavia, maybe Pilsen. Pilsen was the only one
that won out of the favorites. But Sparta drew.
Slavia as well. I think it was quite surprising.
But I think we saw a lot of great games. I would
say some of them were under the radar before
the start of the match week. But for example,
Mladá Boleslav against Liberec, it was 3 -3.
Great matches. I have to say I'm quite satisfied
with the start of the Šance Liga. Absolutely.
Maybe it's a bit tougher to take as a Sparta
fan, but for me as a neutral, I was impressed
by what I saw. I also got the chance to see one
game in person, which was amazing. And just to
go back to what you suggested, I did actually
bet on all of the games because, you know, I
don't really bet much, but I'm always excited
at the beginning of the season. this feeling
even stronger or just to enjoy myself even more
I go to the betting sports I join all the fantasy
leagues and all that until I realize I'm very
bad at all this and I fade away I had a great
I wasn't a huge fan of fantasy football and I
had an amazing debut season with the fantasy
premier league and the second season which was
the last season I was one of the worst but yeah
I have a similar story, in fact. My first season,
I think I was in top... Is it 1 million or something?
Which is pretty good, right? I was in top 5 %
or 10 % or something like that. But the following
seasons, I got only worse. Yeah, maybe luck of
the beginner. Yeah, beginner's luck, as they
say. Good phrase. And of course... Going back
to the Czech League, a lot of surprises, a lot
of upsets, as we say. And honestly, only Plzeň,
which was the opening game, Plzeň of the favourites,
they are the only team from the top five teams
that finished last season that won. And convincingly,
we have to say, they beat my university city,
my alma mater, Pardubice, 5 -1 away from home.
But I think nobody could expect anything different,
really. What do you think? I think so. Unfortunately,
if I have to place a bet, I'm going to use this
phrase again. Who's going to be relegated? I
think it's going to be Paderubice. Because they
are not the strongest side in the Chancelliga.
Yeah, well, maybe they will have some good players
in the winter transfer window. But right now,
I would say they are the favorites to go down.
Yeah, this is what most of the experts and pundits
say these days. And the podcasters, right? I
always hear the same. It's Pardubice going down.
Yeah, it looks like that. It does. And a 5 -1
defeat at home to Pelsen doesn't help. They started
in a great fashion, Blazang, right? Last season,
they finished second. Now they are in the Champions
League qualifier. I think tonight they are playing
Cerveceneva. I don't know how to pronounce it.
I don't know myself. Well, we'll see. I don't
know, man. Okay, but let's talk about those two
main favorites, supposedly, Sparta and Slavia,
the greatest teams in the Czech League, historically
the strongest teams. What happened there? They
both dropped points. I think it's a bigger surprise
that Slavia drew at home against Radec Kralové.
But as we said that Pardubice are favorites to
get relegated, I think... I think Hradec maybe
is a dark horse of the league because they have
a really strong side. They have great players.
They signed Vladimir Darida, who is, I would
say, a former international. And he played in
Bundesliga for a long, long time, right? Yeah,
for like, I would say maybe 10 years. I think
he played in Hertha, Hertha Berlin and Freiburg,
I guess. And yeah, a lot of great players. So
it was surprising, but not... As surprising as
Sparta. Sorry, it was more surprising than Sparta.
Yes, it was. Drew in Jablonec. And you've been
there. What was the atmosphere like? In Jablonec.
I was in Jablonec. I was invited by one of my
students. I'm not going to name him, but I got
the tickets. It was amazing. And as I was entering
the gate, I saw Vladimir Schmitzer and also Ivan
Hasek. So it was great. And the atmosphere was
amazing. The stadium was sold out. The sun was
shining the first half. It was a bit hard to
see the players because of the sun. As far as
the football goes, oh my God, that was such a
good game. Both teams wanted to play football.
And obviously huge expectations, mainly from
Sparta fans, as their coach, Brian Priske, had
returned. But they didn't seem to be in great
shape, which I guess was sort of expected. Jablonec,
on the other hand. picked up where they left
off. I thought they played really well. I think
so. I think the manager of Jablonec or head coach,
sorry, that's like in England, in Premier League,
there is always the managers. Almost always there
are the managers. So yeah, I think head coach,
head coach is more suitable for Czech League.
So head coach Lubos Kozal, he's great. He's great.
I would say a lot of people, underestimate him.
He used to be a coach of Slovan Liberec, which
is the biggest rival of Jablonec. Those two cities
are quite close. They are connected by the tram,
which is really interesting. To be honest, apart
from the game against Sparta Prague, I'm a fan
of Lubos Kozel and his work. Which means right
now I wasn't satisfied after the match. But yeah,
I think Jablonec is going to be pretty strong.
I would say at home definitely this season. Yeah.
And their first five fixtures are really tough
because not only do they have Sparta, they also
have Slavia and Plzen there. Yeah. So it's really
a tough run out. And it's great to get... a point
I think at home against Sparta even though you
know at some point as I was watching the game
I thought actually Jablonec could nick the win
but in the end Sparta equalized and the game
ended in a 1 -1 draw yeah well I would say it
was I'm not sure if I'm saying it right but it
was up for grabs for both of the teams i like
that phrase from from english english commentators
so uh yeah i would say i would say both of the
teams could have won but uh i think i think draw
is a is a good result for yablonets and i think
sparta is gonna get better and better with each
game under brian yeah yeah yeah well at least
i hope so let's hope so for sparta fans and um
they have a few issues though and if i look at
the changes they have made. It seems a bit weird
because it seems like there are more outgoings
than incomings. I know they got Kadeřábek also
from Bundesliga, a big sort of, we could say,
Sparta. Could we say legend? Maybe not a legend,
but someone who used to play for Sparta and has
a Sparta heart. I would say maybe fan favorite.
Fan favorite, maybe. At the age of 33. He's a
wingback, right? Right wingback, we could say.
And so he was one of the best Sparta players,
I thought. And then there is one player, ironically,
from Jablonet, Holi. And that's it, right? That's
it. No more signings for Sparta yet. I think
so. I think so. Maybe the player from Liberec,
Santiago Eneme. I think he was also one of the
addition to the team. But as you said, it's absolutely
correct. more outgoings. I think they will definitely
need at least one more midfielder after the Albanian
international Csazi Mlaci left to Rizaspor. He
went to Turkey, which was surprising for me,
I have to say, because they finished, I don't
know, sixth or seventh in the Turkish league.
I definitely understand that his income is going
to be much higher in Turkey. But, yeah, I'm quite
sad because he was a... Like a proper hard man
in the central midfield. He was playing with
his heart. And I loved his style of play, even
though sometimes individually, definitely he
made some mistakes. Who doesn't? But I really
liked his style. I think his legacy will be there,
you know, because it was also him we need to
remind everyone. It was him who made it possible
for Sparta to be in Europe. With that goal that
they needed in order to get a draw at home. Absolutely.
Otherwise, Jablonec would be playing the Conference
League now. So, Celsim Laci, I think, left his
mark on Sparta. And Sparta fans will remember
him fondly, I'm sure. And it's a shame. It's
a shame that of all these players that you might
potentially think of letting go, he was not the
one, right? Absolutely. He was not the one. I
could name other players that I think, I'm not
sure if it's too harsh, but they deserve to leave.
They deserve to be fired. They deserve to be
fired, yeah. I'm mostly happy about Pavel Kadežábek
because when I was in the B team, I played one
game for the A team. And I played with him. He
scored two goals. And I would say, even though
it was preseason friendly, I would say it was
his breakthrough game. After that, I think he
didn't leave the starting lineup. Sometimes I'm
saying I was the one who made it work. Did you
also provide one of the assists perhaps? I did
not. What about pre -assists then? No, unfortunately
not. Did you motivate him with a speech before
the game or something? There must have been something.
Absolutely. I think my presence was the most
important part of his progress. It was paramount.
It was key to that. Yeah. Okay. Great. That's
a great story. And so, yeah, as far as Jablonex
goes, I don't know. So I assume you watched the
game. But for me, the best player on the pitch
from the Jablonex side was Beran. I have to say.
I know everybody has been raving about this player.
I know a lot of people have been praising him,
including Lubos Kozel. But it's different when
you are actually in the stadium. You sort of
see everything from a different perspective,
you know. And I saw so many things there because
I was focusing specifically on that player. Oh,
my God. He is so calm on the ball. And he doesn't
lose the ball. And he makes great decisions.
And he takes risks. And he's so positive. He
doesn't pass the ball back much. Not at all.
He's always looking forward to find a player
in a good position and technically gifted. I
think Sparta might be the team that should buy
someone like that. What do you think? I think
it's a rumor that is circulating on social media
that Sparta should, or the Sparta fans, maybe
it's more a wish than a rumor. Sparta fans are
like writing like crazy that Sparta should buy
Beran instead of Laci, who loved. So I think
he's definitely one of the names. And as you
said, it was greatly said. If you are in the
stadium, you can focus on so many things. I was
at the Bohemians against Banikostrava game. I
was in the second row and I heard everything
on the pitch. Like the Jolicek, the stadium of
Bohemians. I'm not sure that you can describe
it with words. I think you have to be there because
the main stand, acoustic, everything. And you
are in the game. So as you said, it's absolutely
different perspective. And back to your question,
but I think he's the... type of player that's
part i should go for yeah but if i'm lubos coz
i don't want him to leave honestly because he's
such an integral part of that team yeah so he
it's interesting because he's not the kind of
player the flashy player that would score you
a lot of goals or even make assists but yet he's
so important for the team in the build -up phase
and to he's so important to the way lubos coz
wants to play This combination football, right?
So I think, however, he can't stay at Jablonets
for too long for his own sake, for his own career
and development. And I think everybody knows
it. Yeah, I agree. I agree. Those type of players
are the players that you definitely need on the
pitch. Sometimes the people, they don't value
their work of those players. But I think they
are, as you said, an integral part of... Of a
team, of a side that plays combination football,
that depends on build -up. So definitely, really,
really important player for Ablohats. Okay. So
what about Slavia then? So again, they lost to...
They drew to Hradec, probably the biggest surprise
of the round. And there was one moment, right,
that everybody talks about now. So... It was
Tomáš Holeš who thought that the ball left the
pitch, right? And he thought he would have a
throw -in and stopped playing. But it stayed.
It stayed on. And the play continued. And the
player called Sojka, right? Also surprised by
this situation. Realized that he's alone. Nobody
was following him. And he went all the way and
scored. How did you see that moment then? I think
all the coaches that I had in my football career
said one same thing. Do not stop playing until
you hear the whistle. And I think Tomáš Hole
should definitely know that. I had immediate
flashback from the World Cup of Japan against,
I'm not sure if it was Germany or Spain, because
they had both in the group stage. And then Zdeněk
Folprecht was the bandit. for one play one play
sport he also also said the same thing so i had
immediate flashback and i think this time the
ball didn't look as out of play as it was in
the japan game which means uh i don't know i
i think i think it if i have to say i think it
wasn't out of play but yeah i don't think it
was and we have technology for this now right
so i think unfortunately I think, unfortunately,
we have it only on the goal line. They don't
have it around the pitch. Are you sure? Are you
sure VAR didn't check it? I thought VAR were
checking it. Yeah, but not with the technology.
They had to check it with the cameras. Okay.
With the cameras they have. I think it's like
10 or 12 cameras they have. But still, there
is no camera from the bird's view. How do you
call it? Bird's perspective. Yeah. But to be
honest. No matter what, it was Holes' mistake.
And he admitted to it in the post -match conference.
I was actually pretty sportsmanlike from him
to do that. And I wouldn't expect anything less
because, in my opinion, he's a gentleman of football.
Absolutely. And he admitted to making a huge
mistake. But that's something that shouldn't
happen because, as you said, I don't know what...
the coaches, what your coach would do if you
did that? Would they give you a lot of stick
for that? Absolutely. A lot of screaming, a lot
of shouting. And yeah, I think it's going to
be going to be quite, quite crazy in the locker
room. But I have to say one more thing. I was
also surprised by my Igor Ogbus movement of the
central back. Because Sojka, the player of Radec
Králové, by the way, I think he's on loan from
Viktoria Pilsen. And Ogbu opened the way to goal.
Absolutely easy. I understand. When there are
two players against one, where is the situation?
Two against one. You have to close the pass,
but also anticipate what he's going to do. So
you have to make a movement and make it a little
bit harder for him. And he had like... Five seconds
to realize what he's going to do with the ball.
It was incredible. It almost looked like Sojka
was surprised by the fact that he had so much
space suddenly and that he could do whatever
he wanted. And to be fair, I didn't play at such
a high level as you. I always played village
football. But I have to say, I like to score
a goal or two as well as a midfielder. But every
single time I had a chance like that. It was
the hardest for me. Like when I'm in front of
the goalkeeper or if I have like three, four
seconds to decide what I want to do because there
is no one around me. If I'm going alone on the
keeper, that is always the toughest for me. I
don't know what it says about me. Probably it
explains why I didn't make it into professional
football. But these are the hardest ones. And
he just dealt with it in such a calm manner.
So kudos to him. absolutely absolutely kudos
to him and i think i think even the professional
players has the same mindset as you had because
when you're running through a goal and you are
running for like 20 meters yeah like a lot of
things going through your head which means exactly
am i gonna am i gonna shoot for the far post
am i gonna aim for the between the legs am i
gonna like just close my eyes and I don't know,
try to lift the ball under the crossbar. I don't
know. It's never easy to go one -on -one with
the keeper. Never easy. And it's the same for
the players on the village and the players in
the Champions League. Okay, yeah. You've made
me feel better now. Okay, and we have to mention
the second goal that Hradec scored, the equalizer,
because that's the opposite case. That player,
It was a long range screamer, basically. Fantastic
shot into top bins. And that's the moment where
he didn't have almost any time and he made the
most of it. And I think he was substituted like
four or five minutes before and maybe it was
his first or second touch with the ball. So quite
impressive. What's his name? Hodek? I'm not sure
about his first name. I'm going to have a look
right after we finish. But yeah, amazing. What
a shot. When Slavia scored the goal to make it
2 -1, I was 100 % sure that they are going to
win. But this was out of this world. Yeah, okay.
That's another good phrase. And speaking of betting
again, I actually placed another bet on this
game, which said that I needed four goals to
be scored in that game. I needed 3 .5. And I
only placed this bet because I thought Slavia
would absolutely thrash Radetz. And how happy
was I when Radetz scored that goal to make it
2 -2. yeah yeah i can i can imagine i can imagine
i uh i did i didn't place a bet on the first
round but as you said before there is the beginning
of all the leagues and uh yeah we are we are
so looking forward for it so i think i think
i'm gonna i'm gonna play some small small bet
definitely until i start losing and realize leads
nowhere because This podcast is not sponsored
by any betting company yet. So I can be cynical
and negative about betting. Yeah, yeah. It's
interesting. You mentioned you went to see Bohemians
versus Bani, but we didn't actually say what
happened in that game because that was another
big surprise, I would say, because Bani Ostrava
lost. They finished third last season, right?
Yes, they did. And they lost their opening game
against Bohemians. You would not think that they
would be able to do that, to beat Ostrava. So
how did that happen? I would say the performance
of Banik Ostrava was one of the biggest letdowns
of the first round. Because their best players,
there is the Brazilian captain Everton. There
is Matěj Šín. There is Tomáš Rigo, the Slovakian
international. Unfortunately for Baník and their
fans, we packed up the opposite stand to the
main stand. They didn't play. They didn't play
well. And Bohemians had a great structure. They
have a great tactic. They had like four important
players in the attack. There is the striker Jusuf.
than two wingers. Where is he from? He's somewhere
from Bahrain. Wow, that's a very exotic place
for a player, right? So it's surprising. Is it
somewhere near United Arab Emirates, that country?
I think it is. Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates,
Saudi Arabia. I would say somewhere close. Yeah,
me too. Yeah, and I would say... I would say
pretty small country with a really nice flag.
I'm a fan of flags, so they have a really nice
flag. Is it the green one? Does it have a green
flag? I think they have a white and red and it's
shaped like... But maybe you can correct me.
Maybe I'm wrong. Sorry, it's shaped like... It's
like... Zigzag. I'm looking at it right now.
Yeah, you're right. That is an interesting flag.
You're right. I like it. I like it. It's a unique
shape of the flag. It is. And a unique player
as well. And I'm sure Bohemians are happy to
have him. Definitely. He scored the only goal,
the decisive goal. He was composed with his finish.
He looks maybe sometimes too composed. He's quite
fast. He can shield the ball from the defenders
really well. And as I said, they have two quick
wingers, Vaclav Drkhan and Vladimir Zeman. They
played really, really good. So, yeah, fair play,
fair play to Bohemians. And Banik has to improve
because they are playing the Europa League game.
How do you call it? Not preliminary round. Qualifier,
yeah. Exactly. Against Legia, Legia Warsaw. Legia
Warsaw, that will be a big game as well. Yeah.
It's almost like a derby because Banik is close
to Poland. I think there are some Polish fans
as well in the Banik, you know, among the Banik
fans. And that's, yeah, that's going to, I think
this league is started in a great fashion and
we have some rising stars and some players have
let us down as well, but I think it's only the
start, so anything can happen. Yeah, Paweł Schulz,
right? He became the... best footballer in the
Czech League for the previous season and won
the Ballon d 'Or of the Czech Republic. Czech
Ballon d 'Or. Czech Ballon d 'Or. And so obviously
everybody thought that he would leave Pilsen,
that it was time to go for him and he is an ambitious
person, an ambitious player and he doesn't shy
away. from talking about his ambitions, I think.
And he was linked with several teams, including,
I think, Bournemouth of the Premier League. But
he's still staying at Plasenian in his first
game. He scored a goal that probably, I don't
know, someone like, who would score a goal like
that? Who's going to shoot from this angle? Maybe
Messi from the other side? It was a Messi -like
goal. It was such a beautiful, well -worked goal.
And just the finish and the trajectory of the
ball. Oh my God, it was just so nice. And when
he was celebrating, it was as if this is nothing
special as well. Did you see that celebration?
Yeah, I did. It was like, yeah, this is the daily
work. I do this every day. Exactly, exactly.
But yeah, he's such an interesting, interesting
player. And I would be more than happy if he
is going to go to English Premier League because
there was rumors about Tottenham. There were
rumors about Manchester City even. Really? I
think it was back in winter. And then, as you
said, Bournemouth. And I think Bournemouth for
his development. It would be a great choice because
the coach, Androne Irala, or the manager, I have
to be clear. Precise. Yeah, precise. He is amazing.
That's exactly the manager that you want to work
under. And he would probably get the chance to
play there as well. I think so. A place like
Manchester City where you wouldn't think that
he would be the starter. I think he would be
a squad player. I think you can call it squad
player. If he's lucky. If he's lucky, yeah, because
with the players there. Exactly. All right, Stjepan,
is there anything else to add? Do you think we've
covered most of the most important moments in
the league? I think we did. I think we did. I'm
going to Pilsen tonight for the Victoria against
Servet. Let's stay with Servet. Servet FC is
the official name. We're going to have a look
for the Geneva pronunciation. I'm really looking
forward. I'm really looking forward because Canal
Plus Sport is going to be broadcasting the second
game. So me and my friend who is going to be
in Switzerland for the second game. I'm going
to... Tell him some information about Czech League
because he's mostly focused on Premier League.
Martin Minha, I think he was in your podcast.
Yeah, he has been on this podcast before. And
hopefully, I want to invite him again. So definitely,
definitely, he's someone I want to have back
on. Yeah. Enjoy the games, Japan. And I think
I have to publish this episode soon before the
game now. It's too much about that hype. Yeah,
but I'm going to watch this game. Obviously,
because it's an important game for Plasenia as
well. Absolutely, absolutely. By the way, thanks
for the invitation. I'm sure all of us from Canal
Plus Sport are going to accept the invitation
because it's always nice to have a proper English
conversation with a football, I would say, football
fan. Or, yeah, let's say football fan. Yeah,
thank you very much for coming on. And yeah,
perhaps I will talk to you again next year. Why
not? No worries. Well, anytime, just text me.
I think I'm going to definitely find 30 minutes
or more. Lovely. We can even talk about the Premier
League if you want. Why not? Yeah, I would be
maybe a little bit more sure. But I love Czech
League. It always had a soft spot in my heart,
the Czech League. But Premier League is something
else, you know. Yes, the same for me, man. Okay,
you take care of yourself and enjoy the game
tonight. Take care, Zdeněk, and speak to you
soon. Thank you. Bye, Štěpan. Bye -bye. Welcome
back to the Language Corner. As always in this
part of the show, what I like to do as an English
teacher, I like to clarify usually some vocabulary
from the interview. And because the interview
was quite long, I'm going to keep... This part,
short and sweet, and I will only explain one
collocation. What's a collocation? Collocation
is a combination of two words that often go together.
And what I liked was when Stepan said, I didn't
place a bet on the first round. So when we talk
about betting on sports, we can basically use,
I would say, two verbs, to place a bet or to
make a bet. And as far as I know, To place a
bet is slightly more official, slightly more
formal, and it's more common in this betting,
gambling, casino type of context. Whereas to
make a bet is more common for everyday conversation
when you are making a bet with a friend maybe
or something like that. So how about you guys?
Have you placed any bets in the past? Why don't
you let me know in the comments if you like to
bet on sports or not. And when was it your last
time you bet on sports or a football game? And
also, do you bet on your own games? Please don't,
because this is illegal. This is match fixing.
And this is something several players, even in
the Premier League, have already been charged
for. For example, now we have a case of Lucas
Paqueta, which we still don't know how it will
end. But it's not looking good for him. Not at
all. Speaking of betting and games, there is
another thing that is about to unravel, that
is about to start. And that's, of course, the
Fantasy Premier League. I have made an entry
for the Footgrish Podcast Mini League. You guys
can join. There is a link. In the show notes,
there's a link in the description of this episode.
So just click it and make your own team. I think
you have about three weeks until the start of
the season. Is it three or four weeks to make
your own team and join this popular competition
online? Okay, and that's all from me. Thank you
very much for watching. If you did enjoy this...
and you watched it as a video on the YouTube
channel, would you mind hitting the like button,
please? That's it from me. Thank you very much
and I'll speak to you soon.