Will Angelo Preciado start in the derby?
JIŘÍ FEJGL: NO, there are more reasonable options
Of the right wingbacks – i.e. in the competition of Tomáš Wiesner and Jan Mejdr – he is purely the best in football. Fast, emphatic, technical, with a good shot, center. Simply bounced. After all, he also kicked off for Ecuador in forty matches, facing the juices of the highest class, Brazil or Argentina.
Angelo Preciado is a great player. Undoubtedly. But it is necessary to remove the word PLAYER. Other parameters of his performance and behavior are no longer so shiny. First of all, it is a matter of discipline, both gaming and social. In the first parameter, he is literally tragic. He played nine games for Sparta in the league, was sent off twice, in two consecutive games for similar offences, lunging at the opponent. In addition, he escaped further red cards, he almost had two derbies. Regarding the second factor, we can draw attention to the reluctance to learn English, not to mention Czech. Plus some private flights.
Because of the aforementioned, he should not start in the derby, on the contrary, Sparta must want to get rid of him. After her performances in the Europa League, she should receive at least the same amount as she paid for him, i.e. a little over 60 million crowns.
Towards the clash with Slavia, he also has more reasonable (just not as attractive) choices. Wiesner pitched in the last four games, Sparta won them all. Yes, he has defensive reserves, sometimes even behavior on the set, but for example he played very well last time in Slovakia. He should be Brian Priske’s first choice at this point. Although Mejdr will retire after the season, he is tested in tough matches. Last year he contributed to the title quite significantly, he was definitely not the fifth lap in the car. He helped with physical parameters, strength, but above all with his intransigence and defensive diligence.
Both – Wiesner and Mejdr – have an advantage over Preciad in the team hierarchy. Manchaft knows that there is much more reliance on them. In short, they are a more reasonable solution for the fight for the title.
MICHAL KVASNICA: YES, he has to play or leave
Why didn’t Sparta hesitate to invest over sixty million crowns for him a year ago, when they had Jan Mejdro and Tomáš Wiesner in their squad and Adam Gabriel in Hradec Králové at the time? Because she was convinced that Angelo Preciado would take the right side of the lineup to European level. However, Brian Priske also very quickly installed it in the foundation. The Ecuadorian spent twenty familiarization minutes at home with Slovácko as a joker and then went into the derby in Eden from the very first minute.
And he really confirmed that European level, especially in the cups. If we take purely football quality into account, such a right wingback has not run in the Czech Republic since the departure of Alexander Bah. In terms of performance, Preciado fulfilled sports director Tomáš Rosický’s summer visions of reinforcements.
We can already argue about character qualities… Repeated short-circuits damaged the South American’s credit with the fans and especially with the team, which he weakened twice. So far, he has played only nine games in the league since his September arrival from Genk in Belgium, there was certainly no such plan despite the understandable rotation.
However, D-Day calls for the best. And if captain Ladislav Krejčí and co. they took the naughty fast foot to their mercy, which coach Priske is 100% aware of, he will start at Letné. If not, Sparta must say goodbye to him in the summer, because the economically hugely expensive engagement of a representative with experience from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar would be meaningless at that moment.
Preciado did not transfer to Prague to help conquer České Budějovice or Zlín. With all due respect to these units, ACS could afford to use Petr Hodouš or Lukáš Váňa against them – and the result will not tell. After all, Preciado also sat on the bench for the duels against these opponents.
So against Slavia and Jan Bořil in particular, cheers to action.
