"Smash 'em at Anfield": Sparta v LFC - An Interview with Mark Smith

Well, at least there's still someone left to support, you might say, after Arsenal got beaten by having drawn Barcelona in Zürich last week. However, Sparta Praha still don't really look favourable to go through to the later stages of Europa Cup either. I know Liverpool are as solid in their recent performances as Arsenal's defence in past few years but, you know, it's Liverpool. Anyway, a great draw for the fans who will surely appreciate one of EPL's top sides playing at Letná. I talked to Mark Smith of Play Waved On about Sparta's chances and many more.

TMO: Mark, as you’re a Liverpool and Slavia fan, it‘s really not hard to predict who you will going to support throughout this tie, is it? The draw must have been a dream come true for you.

Mark: It was a fantastic draw for me as a Liverpool fan! I was hoping the two sides might get drawn together in the group stages, but was disappointed. So to have Liverpool drawn against Sparta Prague in the knockout stages is a wonderful draw.

Although to be fair, I don’t feel much hatred for Sparta Prague. Its true I follow Slavia since moving to Prague but I have been to watch Sparta few times in Europe and have been impressed with a few of their players.

How seriously is the Europa Cup being taken by Liverpool? Can we expect the strongest line-up to play in the tie?

I believe Liverpool and Roy Hodgson will take this competition very seriously, the majority of fans will also expect the team to go as far as possible. It might not be the glamour of the Champions League but winning matches breeds confidence, whatever competition it is.

The domestic games in between the Sparta Prague matches are Wigan and West Ham – not the toughest fixtures, so I would hope and expect that Roy play Liverpool’s strongest team and makes sure that Sparta are given some respect.

How is the draw perceived among the Liverpool fans? Do they consider Sparta as any real threat for them?

The Liverpool fans would expect to beat Sparta quite easily; having the home leg second is also a big advantage. The game in Prague could be tricky, but whatever the result is in Prague the LFC fans would expect to smash them at Anfield.

European nights at Anfield are very special and can be intimidating for visiting players, so it could depend on how the Sparta players prepare for the game in England, if they turn up with the autograph books they could be in trouble.

I think the fans are very happy with the draw, a long weekend in Prague is always a nice trip, regardless of the football!

Where do you see Sparta in terms of quality, had they been playing in an English division?

I have been impressed with the quality of Sparta, in comparison to the rest of the Czech top flight. But I would put them at the level of mid to lower Championship teams in England, alongside the likes of Sheffied United, Derby County, Reading, Coventry etc.

They might be able to surprise teams in one off cup games (beating Palermo at home) but are also prone to lapses in concentration and inconsistency (drawing with Lausanne Sports 3-3 at home and knocked out of the Czech Cup by Banik Sokolov).

Liverpool haven’t been doing quite as well recently as they have always had in the past. Nobody in Prague would have seriously thought about overcoming Liverpool a couple of years ago. Now it doesn’t feel that impossible, even though it’s hardly likely that Sparta could go through. What sort of weaknesses in the LFC squad will Sparta have to exploit in order to get to the round of 16?

Its been well documented about the recent troubles at Anfield, results have been poor and the lack of investment in the playing squad has been found out. Liverpool is very much going through a transitional period right now.

The weaknesses would be at full back for Liverpool, Konchesky is having a torrid time against every right sided player he comes across, also Glen Johnson is not the most accomplished defender as his strengths are going forward.

The lack of pace is also very evident in the current team; if Sparta can attack Liverpool at pace they can cause a lot trouble. BUT, if Liverpool are given time on the ball in midfield and Torres is given decent service it could be a long 180 minutes for Sparta.

The two key players for Sparta are Juraj Kucka and Bony Wilifred, if Sparta Prague manages to keep hold of these players during the January transfer window then who knows?

Which Sparta player in particular will Liverpool have to be aware of?

As mentioned, I think Kucka and Wilifred are big players for Sparta. Kucka’s energy and ability to dictate play from midfield will play a big part in how Sparta copes. The only problem is that Kucka will be facing the likes of Gerrard, Meireles, Lucas and Joe Cole. A massive step up in class for him and Sparta’s players.

I am also a bit worried that Vaclav Kadlec could catch out our defence, Carragher has never been blessed with pace and Kadlec is very lively and could prove a handful.

Would any Sparta player make the squad at Liverpool (or the other way round? :)?

Which Sparta player could make it in Liverpools squad? Ha, well, that’s a tough one. Kucka and Kadlec would be my two picks; both would make the Liverpool bench at this moment in time. But I would be very excited if Liverpool could sign Kadlec as he is definitely a player who will have a massive future.

I would expect the majority of the Liverpool side to make it into Sparta’s, imagine Torres at Sparta? Ha, crazy thoughts! Although there are a few players who might struggle to make Sparta’s first team!

And finally, what kind of a result do you expect from both ties?

I would expect to Liverpool to win both legs, 1-2 and 3-0. The first leg in Prague will be tough, Sparta have been performing well at home in Europe, beating Palermo and getting a decent point with CSKA Moscow.

Even a 1-1 draw in the first leg would be an OK result for Liverpool, a victory in Prague might leave Liverpool complacent for the Anfield game. Overall, it should be comfortable for Liverpool though.

You can visit Mark's great Play Waved On or follow him on Twitter @play_waved_on.

Vintage Czechs #1: The Mighty Comeback

It might be pretty obvious to start this column with the most famous Czech performance in recent years, but there you go. The game between Netherlands and Czech Republic at the EURO 2004 group stages (!) maybe wasn't one of a great importance - both teams, having won their first encounters against Germany and Latvia, respectively, could still easily qualify in the later stages of the competition. But the game still has to go down as the most magical one for the Czechs since 1994, when the former federal Czechoslovakian team split.

The reason why I am bringing up the game now is primarily because it was named the greatest moment in the Czech sport in the last ten years by Lidové noviny just a week ago. Nevermind the competition of this year's three Olympic gold medals of Martina Sáblíková, ice-hockey world cup winners, the game was top, and most deservedly so. It's still thrilling to read about the match in which not only the "golden generation"* of players like Nedvěd, the then holder of the 2003 Ballon d'Or, Poborský, Šmicer, Koller and so many more, performed so well, but also showed such determination and skill to turn the game around from 2-0 down to 3-2 up AND produced such stunning goals. (*The term "golden generation" hasn't been established yet but it's likely to be introduced as the Czech national team is really not doing so well recently and the prospects for another few years aren't really looking up either).

Vladimír Šmicer celebrating his winning goal

Honestly, it's hard to add much more to what Michael Cox of the ever-brilliant Zonal Marking has already written about his own favourite team of the last decade and the game itself. This really was a team you could be proud of to support. There was passion, will, pace, technical quality, and the tactical mastermind of Karel Brückner in his brighter days. A year with a great Czech side, and the Invincibles on top of that (normally I would go the other way round, but whatever), what more you could ask for?

Tomáš Rosický On His Way Out From Arsenal?

There's been much talk in the Czech press about Tomáš Rosický, the Czech captain and Arsenal's number 7, constantly not being included in the starting eleven of his club, and, therefore, on the way out to Villa or back to Germany where he used to play for Borussia Dortmund until 2006. This might seem fairly reasonable on the first sight - Rosický is in his prime years, captaining his country, where he's by far the best player, and he's hardly performed below par this season when called upon. Yet Rosický now fails to become an integral part of the starting eleven like he used to be in the 2007/08 season. MF Dnes give their own explanation to the reason:

Arshavin, Fabregas, Nasri or Wilshere are selfish on the pitch. They're younger as well, so they're more perspective. Maybe that's why they play more.

Well, as you can see, the first explanation to the rumours regarding Rosický is, sadly, blatantly simple and speaks for itself: most of the Czech sports journalists have never been quite the brightest ones you'll ever see. The same applies to most of the commentators and pundits - the level of writing about football in Czech Republic, at least in the mainstream press, is mostly nowhere near worth talking about. Take an average piece about Premier League - and it's probably worse than reading anything from Stan Collymore. It's dull, amateurish and it's not more intellectually challenging than babbling of a twelve-year-old kid in the comments. It's tiring, really. Almost like this.

While it's true that Rosický hasn't played as much as he might deserve, given his undeniable talent, desire, workrate and experience, there are more reasons for that. Firstly it's down to the fact that he's only been available after his long-term injury and subsequent and inevitable niggles for a couple of months (note: Wenger has always said that it takes a player almost the same length of his previous injury to fully recover). Rosický, having come back after a year and a half at the beginning of the last season, has played 33 games out of possible 53 in 2009/10, so it's almost baffling, due to his injury record, that he hasn't been injured since the start of this season. He's still hardly reliable not to concede an injury though, so I'm suggesting Wenger is not rushing him back too much, granted, as he has plenty of other options to choose from as Arsenal haven't been struck by too many injuries on his position. As it's Arsenal, though, this can change within a week, so I wouldn't worry too much about Rosický not starting in every game at the moment.