ANALYSIS Hronka in Slavia: trigger of the press and an above-standard athlete, but…
Petr Hronek became Slavia’s first winter signing. The nine-year-old Bohemians offensive midfielder has been in the sights of coach Jindřich Trpišovský for a long time, during the autumn the “stitchers” intensified their interest and gained the support of the “kangaroos” half a year before the end of the contract for an acceptable amount. What could Hronek bring to the runner-up game? And for what reason are there doubts about the meaning of the offenses?
Although Hronek is not one of the most famous faces in the Czech league, he has been performing above-standard for a long time in the Bohemians jersey. In almost three and a half years, he did not fall out of the lineup and the game of the green and whites depended on him. Both first Luděk Klusáček and then Jaroslav Veselý built their game on Hronko’s attack and pressing abilities.
These are the two strongest game skills that Slavia has. During his time with Bohemians, Hronek developed into a great runner and athlete, whose sprints start the entire team’s press session. No offensive player in the league pressed as heavily as Hronek. He also used his dynamism, acceleration and strength when running for defense. As you can tell from the run-with-the-ball graph, he mostly specialized in quick rushes in the right gap, which is the space between the line and midfield.
In addition to pressing and attacks, he excels in duels – with a 56.7% success rate, he ranks among the fifth most successful offensive players in duels. He was more successful in aerial battles than 73% of offensive players in the league, which is also a very high number. The “Stitched” thus gained an interesting option for duel matches against the best teams in the Czech Republic or for intense duels in European cups, where dynamism, combativeness and great physicality could stand out much more than in most ordinary league duels.
Among the weaknesses of this former Jihlava or Zlín player, we can definitely include creativity. Unlike other offensive midfielders, he did not take the ball between the opponent’s defensive lines very much, in Bohemians he focused on the ball behind the defense. Creating chances depended on other players. It is also not very dangerous in our territory. In the current one, he got to 0.10 xG (Goals Expected) per 90 minutes, which is a very below average number (19th percentile among offensive players, 100 best, 0 worst).
Hronka’s lack of creativity and reliance on rushes behind the defense could be a big problem against weaker opponents. Bohemians specialized in a duel concept of the game with a large number of sprints, Slavia dominates most matches and besieges the opponent’s block. Slavia’s other offensive midfielder Ondřej Lingr is similarly uncreative, but he offers a much greater goal threat than Hronek (0.41 xG per 90 minutes).
Age (29 years) is also a big question mark. Hronek will receive a relatively high salary, so there is a risk that Slavia will not pay much in the event of poor performances, as he will be a complex product. However, coach Trpišovský certainly knows Hronko very well and all parties are doing their best for a successful engagement. We’ll see if that’s enough. However, the concerns are justified.
Data: wyscout, visualization: David Rozlívek.