BILIĆ’ PROPOSED STARTING XI
Croatia start their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign this Friday, as they travel to Latvia for a 2PM (Eastern) kickoff. The Vatreni will be without midfield magic man Luka Modrić as he rests a nagging groin injury. Anything less than three points from this match would be absolutely disappointing and could unravel manager Slaven Bilić’ grasp on the team.
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LIVE COVERAGE OF THE MATCH AVAILABLE ON CSR TWITTER
LIVE FEEDS:
ATDHE.NET
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WHEN WILL PLETIKOSA BE READY TO PLAY AGAIN?
Agreed Greece is just so boring and they are so overrated. How they are ranked over Croatia in fifa rankings is a joke and it shows how idiotic the fifa organization is. I look forward to Croatia kicking their ass.
Marko, I saw the 2nd half of the Greece game. Seemed be the same team that we saw in the World Cup, a team with no true playmaker and a legit goalscorer.
They will be dangerous in the Croatia game since they don't want to be with just a point after two games.
I can't believe Greece tied Georgia. Are they really that weak? I mean I saw their matches in the WC (they were horrible, unorganized and confused), but damn against a what tier-4 team they tie at home?
Seems Israel will grab 2nd and Croatia SHOULD get 1st. I hope Israel gets second, I'm sick of watching Greece and their boring play. I hope this isn't an anomaly because it bodes well for the other teams in the group.
Tudzman
I assume you are being sarcastic. Look at Latvia's WC qualifying record and I think they only lost 3 games.
They are no powerhouse and we should beat them, but 3-0 and the way we played is as much as we should expect. The 6-0 games are saved for Malta, and Andorra and not many other teams.
E
Even though it was 3-0, these are the types of teams we should beat by 5 or 6 goals.
Wow Greece can only draw with Georgia at home….
This result is exactly the way I wanted the campaign to begin- with a resounding 3-0 victory. This (hopefully) will set the right tone for the rest of quslification.
MOM- Niko Kranjcar. No doubt, it was only Latvia but he truly "ran" the midfield. He was everywhere, even helping out in defense. (It would be a shame if he gets pushed further down the pecking order at Spurs now that VdV arrived.)
Waste of Space= Vukojevic. Being completely useless for everything other than destroying, he ends up taking away from the team. Pranjic made more (accurate) passes in 15-20 minutes than Vuk did in 70.
Give the announcer a break- what do you expect from someone who calls "schedule" , a "shedule"…
Great goal by Shnah. I guess that's Srna…
Pranjic needs to give lessons to Vukojevic on how to play CDM.
Kranjcar is even defending tonight(and well).
This is better. Petric is now playing as a right forward.
@ Michael: those are good news!
Fuck no!!!That wouldve been terrible- thank you Niko.
I wasn't saying Ilicevic should start or even play necessarily, just a call up.
Exactly. Besides, if I was going to set my attack based on crossing the ball I would give the start to Nikica. Total waste putting Mladen in that position.
Ivo,
Yes, the one guy able to get on the end of all those crosses(Petric) is the one sending them in…(to 2 little men, Olic and Dudu).
Bilic the master tactician…
Georgia is currently up 1-0 on Greece.
How are we looking so far? Have not seen any of the match due to work.
Kranjcar's been the best player so far. Petric has been largely frustrating(as usual), although he came alive a little towards the end of the half.
It's tough to say much as Latvia's been content to let us have possession. Hope that goal got rid of the nerves- it certainly did for me.
re: mandzo and wolfsburg
anonymous i believe aston villa bought bosko balaban for 6m 🙂
all we're saying is what has he done to deserve it. NOTHING! 16 Goals a season in HNL1. yeah marvelous!
i believe bilic, sokota, vugrinec, bosnjak, ljubojevic have all done this before and even the guy you said is a dud vrucina. its nothing special.
so vrucina does it and it does not matter and he's a dud. mandzo does it and he's a national team player. strange logic.
when mandzo does something abroad then select him.
Hahahaahaha. You are right Rob. I wonder if he forgot his glasses…
Feels like we have 80% posession right now….need to make something out of it.
Commentator is a joke on the English stream – keeps saying Srna as Snah.
Hvala ti Rob
Who cares about player 14 through 23. Only 14 guys pay in a game.
If you look at todays line-up it is pretty close to the best we can field (only Modric missing through injury).
In net Runje is the only option, maybe he sucks to some of you but he is all we have…so our goalie sucks.
The back four that started is as good as it is going to get with who we have. Srna is a right back, that's what he plays, and agasint a team like Latvia I like it a lot. Who else should start? The best LB is playing and the best D are playing in the middle of the D.
In the middle and up front who is not playing that should be? Jelavic and Pranjic (who doesnt play much in Bayern) will come in if we are struggling to score. you can't really say anyone on the bench or not called is better at the D Midfield spot the Vukojevic.
If we lose it's because we are not good enough or played bad, it is not because we selected the wrong players.
E
As for Mandzo, I am not the biggest fan, but a good team in Germany bought him for good money, so bilic is either really good and making people spend 9M Euros on crappy players or the guy is not bad.
Petric as a right midfielder??
http://atdhe.net/23484/watch-latvia-vs-croatia
A direct link for the match please
To me Vanja Ivesa (goalkeeper) must be doing something right to play EVERY single match in the Turkish league for the last three seasons. I'm surprised he hasn't at least been tried in a friendly.
Luka Vucko is also better than Buljat. Mandzo – i'm not going into that as everyone knows my opinion on him and why he is in the team. Bilic's buddy – end of story – just like Dino Drpic.
Jelavic should have started out Mandzo.
Ilicevic – maybe not this time as Gabric done nothing wrong. But maybe lets see where he is at next round of internationals.
Also lets see where Lakic is at. If he's still firing then he should be personally be allowed to throw Mandzukic out the front door of the camp. Mate Bilic can throw out Pokrivac.
why ilicievic….because he had 2 good games to start the season. dude played 2nd division last season.
If not Runjje, then who. Pletikosa has not played in a year and Subasic is hurt and not beter than Runje.
Take out Mandzukic, runje, olic, and id liek to take out vukojevic but dont know who i would replace him with!
Who is on the bench? I'd like to see Ilicevic get a call up after his performance against Bayern.
Srna should be a winger, what has the guy done so wrong as winger in the future. I think they are worried about our CB situation so Corluka has to play back there. Also is Pranjic out of form or something because I noticed he's out. Strinic has great promise though, showed great skill against Wales and Austria. As for Mandzukic, he is having a good start with Wolfsburg so we should see. I am not really a fan of him though. Eduardo needs to get on the score board today.
I agree about the goalie, and I won't be too thrilled if Mandzukic starts, but I still have a bigger problem with Vukojevic starting. Also, still not sure if Srna should be in the back. We'll see how it goes, even without Modric there is no excuse not to come out of there with 3 points.
The 2 biggest problems in that line up… obviously it's the wrong goalie and get Mandzukic out of there. I would consider a different forward pairing. I do, however, like the back line though
I sure hope thats not the starting 11 Bilic picks!