Photo by: Nir Elias/Reuters
Hampering injuries and a lack of playing time in the EPL have many losing faith in Niko Kranjčar’s ability to start for the Croatian National Team. But, if the past teaches us anything, Kranjčar is poised to have a huge showing in Euro 2012.
It seems like only yesterday that Harry Redknapp brought over the young Croatian talent to join his fellow countrymen at Tottenham. Before joining the Crottenham squad, Kranjčar was the creative dynamo at a beleaguered Portsmouth side that was going through the ebb and flow of new ownership and major changes to their roster. It was not until the 2007/2008 season that Kranjčar displayed his worth, by leading the Pompeys to their first FA CUP victory since 1939. Kranjčar was never a premier scorer, recording only nine goals in 83 appearances, but his ability to create space and deft passing ability is what helped Pompey take the trophy.
He had proven himself in the EPL but Kranjčar still needed to convince the Croatian fan base that he could make a difference in a major tournament. With his father now out as manager, many were anxious to see how he would fair in Slaven Bilić’s system. Without missing a step, Niko shined in his midfield role alongside the likes of Luka Modrić, Darijo Srna, Milan Rapaic and a few other aging midfielders. Against England, Kranjčar solidified his spot by providing constant pressure to the Lions back four, registering a handful of close calls against the English keeper and scoring first in their second victory. He kept his solid performance up throughout the European Championship, until they eventually fell to the Turks in a shootout.
After their staggering defeat in 2008, the team was visibly shaken. The 15 minutes of fame was up for the young Croatian, as his international woes meshed with his club woes. The Pompeys were facing a terrible 2008/2009 season and the Vatreni weren’t fairing much better with a loss to England and tie against Ukraine in which Kranjčar did not play. In February 2009, things got worse as Niko publicly asked to leave a soon-to-be relegated Portsmouth side. With the end of a season and a long layoff, the midfielder was finally picked up by Tottenham just days before Croatia’s disastrous 5-1 defeat to England. After putting in his time, Kranjčar got the start for the Spurs as they crushed Burnley 5-0. In his next few starts, he posted two assists and one goal, helping Spurs to a three-game win streak. As the season progressed, Kranjčar seemed to be the magic man for the Spurs posing a constant threat to opposing defenses through spot kicks and beautifully threaded passes to his speedy forwards. Filling the role of an injured Luka Modrić, Kranjčar was the savior for Croatia in a last minute win against Kazakhstan and a facilitator in their 5-0 trouncing of Liechtenstein. Kranjčar ended the 2009/2010 season with a winning goal against Belgium for the Vatreni and a valuable player in the Spurs squad.
With the long break, Kranjčar came back in the 2010/2011 to see that his football honeymoon was over. Kranjčar had lost his solidified starting role at Spurs to Gareth Bale and his misfortune was carrying over to the national side. With a quiet game in a friendly draw to Slovakia, missed opportunities against Latvia and a tie to Greece, things seemed to be slowly slipping for the midfielder. With his opportunities dwindling, Kranjčar needed to somehow show that he was still a worthy midfielder for both club and country. In the coming months, Kranjčar would use that fire to score five goals in three crucial matches for the Vatreni in Euro qualifying. The new year rolled around and Kranjčar was still not seeing much playing time at Spurs. In February, he finally got the nod in late back-to-back appearances in which he scored two game winning goals. In that same two week span, Croatia handily defeated the Czechs in a 4-2 victory.
At this point, the pattern is as clear as day; when Niko is playing consistently at his club, Croatia are winning handily. Along with club performances, Croatia seemed to be at their best with Kranjčar on the left accompanied by Modrić and Srna in midfield and a speedy forward up top. 2011 has been the only year that Croatia has actually seen a drastically better record without Kranjčar in the lineup, but we can all see that this year has been one of the most nerve-racking to watch. Kranjčar is a master of many trades, bringing his dribbling ability to free up space, a foresight that any forward would love to be paired with and a violent strike that can come from anywhere around the box. Many may disagree and still see Kranjčar as a lazy and uninspiring midfielder, but Croatia will undoubtedly face an uphill battle without him in the starting lineup.
* The graph of 2008
i totally agree about Niko starting as a center forward behind someone. Put an Olic or Manzo up there, then put Niko right behind them. I take Niko over any of the strikers at this point on Croatia.
and Sandy Alderson!
@Lebo
They might’ve employed sabermetric employees, but that doesn’t mean Brian Cashman is a Moneyball GM. Same goes for Walt Jockety when he was in St. Louis and John Mozeliak (sp?) who took over for him. The game has gotten much more statistical over the last 10-15 years (many stats I think are nonsense) so naturally more clubs are going to implement these sabermetric guys as an additional resource to the club. That doesn’t mean though the Yankees or Cardinals or a moneyball club. Sure, the Yankees spend a lot of money, that doesn’t make them Moneyball. The only GM’s I know for a fact who are “Moneyball guys” are obviously Billy Beane, Theo Epstein, when he was GM of the Dodgers, Paul DePodesta, and JP Ricchardi of the Blue Jays.
@Fisto
Look under “impact”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moneyball
@Dukic
So why would we start Kranjcar if he’s playing a position on the field that Bilic isn’t utilizing?
I love Hajduk, but I could’ve won the title in the HNL by myself. The league sucks. I think your San Jose team can win the HNL.
@Lebo
I agree with ya on the Red Sox. The Yankees and the Cardinals on the hand, I don’t think they use Moneyball at all.
@Lika Lika
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Bravo. Too bad Bilic will never allow Kranjcar to play that role anytime soon.
@ Dukić
“one last thing about kranjcar that 99% of you probably dont know. his best position and the position he is born for is playing behind the forward which he barely ever gets to play!”
Ding ding ding ding. Ladies and gentleman we have a winner.
I would say 96%.
🙂
im really disappointed in the horrible football knowledge you guys have. niko is by far our most talented player. the man is pure class. he wouldve been perfect for seria a in the 90s. (at the time by far strongest league in the world). he isnt appreciated in todays footballing world because it is becoming an athletes game which takes the beauty away from the game for me personally. man pretty much got hajduk the title by himself the last season he was there! led portsmouth to the fa cup. almost got tottenham a 4th place finish last season.
the only reason lennon starts in front of him is because of speed speed speed!!!!! look at the berbatov probably the best technical player in the epl! nobody comes close to him in that but he sits on the bench! for people like me who like to watch formations and coaches using different methods epl isnt for me.
for perisic. he is a talent and a half. guys he is playing for the defending bundesliga champs! they didnt buy the guy for nothing but im sure you guys all know better then a highly successful football club who has won the champions league and have one of the largest fan bases in germany.
one last thing about kranjcar that 99% of you probably dont know. his best position and the position he is born for is playing behind the forward which he barely ever gets to play! guy is a top class professional also. the best we have.
on the HNL situation
bottomline is in today moderns game money is the answer. hnl and leagues that dont have money will keep on going downhill. unfortunate the beautiful has come down to this. we will never see my beloved hajduk in europe doing work anymore or dinamo either. come russia and ukraine are moving up fast cause of the money! and trust me i believe mafia is running the hnl and feel for these guys who dont get paid but it all comes down to money! hajduk will never have a sliskovic boksic zungul surjak and the greatest croatian player ever vukas!
bottomline the beautiful game is getting uglier and uglier every day. the passion is gone.
Oakland was the first to start it, and teams like the Epstein’s Red Sox proved it could win titles. Yankees, Cardinals, are among the other championship teams that use them.
My numbers mean a little, but like I said before I get your stance.
@Lika Lika
Well said.
Well said.
A couple of things that can make people dilusional about Kranjcar
1. He peaked way to early. His years in portsmouth were his best and probably will be his only best years. Cant dwell on the past.
2. Playing on Portsmouth with no namers beside defoe and crouch, and players without technical skill made Kranjcar look like a stud, and rightfully he did play like a stud most of the time.
3. He helped Portsmouth win FA cup, most of the best teams try to avoid playing their best as to focus on champions league.
4. Weve only seen Kranjcar play in EPL, could be better player in different league.
5. Possible that Kranjcar has many other things on his mind besides nogomet that he finds more important, hence altering his game.
6. For NT, on average, Kranjcar plays good not great and never is consistent. Could this be due to chemistry, lack of form, teams are not challenging enough for him etc. Who knows?
A player that has accomplished what he has accomplished as a PROFESSIONAL footballer is great. I don’t believe one should say he “sucks,” more so that he just isn’t playing well enough in someone’s eyes or could be doing better in the position that he is in.
Peace Peace Peace, I come in Peace.
BOG I Hrvati
@KVP Lebo
Never said numbers don’t mean anything. Your sounding like a politician who likes to twist words around. I said YOUR numbers don’t mean anything.
And you want to use Moneyball as an example? How many World Series titles have the Oakland A’s won since using “Moneyball?” They haven’t been a relevant franchise in 10 years since Mulder, Hudson, and Zito. Pitching wins, not Moneyball. Go read up on your history kid.
Lol. If numbers don’t mean anything I guess you can throw at the record books, scoring titles, and everything else the world revolves around. Go read up and maybe watch a movie like moneyball. You’ll see that numbers are huge.
@ KVP Lebo
hahaha your funny. Brag about a 5.0 rating. Also, keep bragging about a goal in which Scott Carson made one of the biggest blunders in England history (#2 behind Paul Robinson). Sometimes, the best talent on the field doesn’t work. I’ll take chemistry any day over Kranjcar. Period. You can keep writing articles to try to revisit the issue, my opinion will never change. I don’t have anything against the guy personally. The guy doesn’t fit in our midfield, he is a good compliment coming off the bench. I will take a midfield of Srna, Modric, Rakitic and Pranjic/Dujmovic starting any day of the week over Kranjcar. Your numbers in your article don’t mean anything.
I will repeat myself to Allen. I don’t give a rats a$$ about Niko playing for Dinamo or Hajduk. That has nothing to do with whether or not he should be starting for the NT.
Here’s your goal.com stats:
http://www.goal.com/en/match/60469/arsenal-vs-tottenham/report
Kranjcar definitely doesn’t have the worst rating. In fact, Walcott got the highest rating for Arsenal here. When Walcott plays well, which is every once in a blue moon Arsenal actually end up winning.
@ Fisto
The reason I mentioned he was back with a vengeance was due to the fact that he hasn’t played much this season due to being benched and injury. Your first two paragraphs pretty much baffle me.
“Up to this point, Niko has not shown the ability to develop trademark skills in which that player is known for (i.e. shooting, dribbling, effort, etc.). Since joining Portsmouth in 2006, Kranjčar has only scored 9 goals in 83 apperances for the club. Whether that total is respectable among midfielders is debatable. However, his work ethic and the ability to take on defenders is something that isn’t up for debate. Niko simply doesn’t have it in him”
You’ve gotta be kidding me. Kranjcar is known for his creativity and dribbling ability. He’s not a scorer. Anybody else on our team that can’t score much? Rakitic (12) (5), Modric (8) (4) (12), Srna (7) (15). Most of Srna’s goals come from the spot mind you.
Niko applied pressure in the first game against England, and scored the first goal in their second encounter. Maybe you think he looks lost at times, but our current midfielders aren’t scoring dynamos as you may have figured out. Even though a midfielder should score, their main job is to control the game in the middle and provide their forwards with looks to score. He needs to be creative (check), provide balls to his forwards (check), and provide a threat on goal (I’m pretty sure he was one of our bigger goalscorers when he was placed on the bench at Tottenham.
I appreciate your enthusiasm to denounce the guy, but if you think Perisic, Rakitic, or Pranjic are going to be better on that side I think your kidding yourself. Kranjcar has age and has been performing against top clubs for the better part of his career. You have Pranjic riding the bench and old, Rakitic doing ok in Sevilla, and Perisic riding the bench (for the most part in Germany). Perisic is the future, but he still isn’t going to get the look over Kranjcar 9/10. Yes Perisic presents a speed factor on the left, but he’s still young and brash when it comes to playing.
Serie A cant be that bad – there dumping all the English teams out Champions League. Jelavic hasnt even got to the stage of producing in a league even on the level of Serie A. I dont know why people are comparing Perisic and Kranjcar. These are two totally different players who are in Croatia’s squad for two different reasons. Kranjcar is a total playmaker where Perisic is a goalscoring midfield who is good in the air and is there to offer an option as a midfielder and attacker. Perisic is not supposed to be competing with Kranjcar. RAKITIC is. Compare Kranjcar and Rakitic.
Then why when we argued about him few months ago on FB, you brought it up. I saw your article from TWO years ago which is pretty long ago I’d say. Whatever this is debate that could never be won.
No Matt, I will not repeat myself over and over again. Go look at the archives. Why don’t u counter what I said instead.
Allen, like I said before, I don’t care about Kranjcar playing for Dinamo and Hajduk. Go look at the archives, quit twisting my words around, and look at what I wrote.
@ Fisto
Care to counter what Mihovil said there. I mean I get your hate for the guy, but I think you’re pretty wrong here. Opinions differ.
@Allen
What Fisto said earlier.
Perisic scored today, time to start going crazy about him again!
Your right Fisto about the whole HNL situation with Kranjcar because that’s how irrelevant it means to me. You hold this grudge because of a lopsided rivalry. I’m not sorry if I offend you hardcore Dinamo or Hajduk fans because the fact is that it’s a lopsided rivalry that is becomes irrelevant as the years go on. You want to hold a grudge on Kranjcar for that and then a few other miscues, well then you’re the fool here.
That being said, Golden Child your wrong. Kranjcar was nothing but a liability today. He did little to nothing offensively and it was smart to take him off. I really don’t want him starting next week against Man Utd because he simply doesn’t deserve it. I’m a big Spurs fan and I want to win. Lennon is simply a better option than Niko at this point.
and for dukic our best player LMFAO !!
krancjar sucks
Well done GoldenChild!
A nice article to counter Fisto’s article a few years back. I like the stats.
Fisto’s Article September 24, 2009:
https://croatiansports.com/?p=795
I think both of you are a little too extreme. Kranjcar is not a “bust” and “Croatia will” NOT “face an uphill battle without Kranjcar in the starting lineup.
Croatia did just fine against Turkey without the services of the only Croatian international that has played for both Dinamo and Hajduk(correct me if I am wrong here).
I wouldnt start Kranjcar against Ireland unless he starts up top with Olic/Mandzukic/Eduardo. However, I dont know how they would mesh.
I like Kranjcar off the bench early in the second half.
Budan……. How bad is Serie A if Igor Budan is scoring goals every weekend?
@Toronto Croatia,
You make a good point. In most cases a player performs much better for the national team if he is getting minutes for his club. However, in some cases a player gets burned out after a long season. England complained of fatigue at World Cup 2010 after a long EPL season(EPL, Carling Cup, FA Cup, Champions League).
Its no surprise what Budan is doing in Italy but the reason why he hasnt had a international career is that the next injury is just around the corner for him. It will be a surprise if he lasts till the end of the season. He’s doing all that can be done to go from nowhere to proving he’s got quality which isnt in dispute. Sadly though he’s a risk to take to the Euro as could drop out just like at the last Euro campaign. Sad as he is a good player.
What is peoples opinion on the last striking position. Nikica Jelavic’s position is hugely up for question in my opinion. Nikola Kalinic has a strong case. He actually did something during the qualifiers. I think though its really unfair to not give Mladen Petric his one last chance to impress. As a sub i’d rather have Petric there than not have him there.
@ Fisto
“Matt, I’m not even gonna waste my time because I’ve spent enough time on the subject matter. Go look at the archives. As for the title, don’t put he’s back with a vengeance when he gets a 5 rating from Sky Sports, the worst rating on the field.”
True, but “9” other players had a 5 rating and there was a 4 rating as well.
http://www.skysports.com/football/match_facts/0,,11065_3472004,00.html
Matt, I’m not even gonna waste my time because I’ve spent enough time on the subject matter. Go look at the archives. As for the title, don’t put he’s back with a vengeance when he gets a 5 rating from Sky Sports, the worst rating on the field.
Oh you mean the game where Harry pulled Kranjcar and the Spurs got dismantled. Sounds good. Kranjcar put pressure on the defense in the first minute, that ends up in a goal scoring opportunity just a minute later.
With a comment like that, I could say the same thing to you that you just said to Allen. But seriously, I really want to hear your argument against him.
He’s really back with a vengeance. hahahaha Nice jinx
Allen, if you had a clue what you were talking about, you would be dangerous. Too bad you dont have one…
@AZ
Budan scores again, but I’ve been watching Palermo and the guy isn’t really much to write home about. You can catch some of their games on ESPN 3. He doesn’t really bring pace, his touch on the ball leaves something to be desired, and he’s 31.
@Toronto
Hunger works. Kranjcar showed that on a national level when he wasn’t getting playing time for Tottenham. Match fitness matters though. No matter how hungry somebody is, you’re going to want to get the guys in that are capable of playing the entire match.
I know we want our guys to have playing time leading up to the Euro’s but can something also be said for having some of our guys being somewhat ‘Fresh’ going into the Euros?
Guys like Olic, Kranjčar etc. could potentially perform better BECAUSE they are so hungry to play. Yes or no?
Budan scores again!!! For the past few weeks, it seems none of the strikers on NT has scored any.
I will say this though, Niko had no business starting today. Lennon is a far better player for the SYSTEM of Spurs. I’m not saying he’s better than Niko but for Spurs system, he’s miles ahead. Spurs imploding at Emirates, I shut it off once Walcott scores. Tough times.
Yeah Fisto you won’t because your bias and your opinion is irrelevant when it comes to him. You have this hatred for him because you can’t get over some disloyal transfer in some no named league. That’s right I called HNL no name so be offended because it is. HNL can’t afford to pay their players, to me that’s an utter joke. I don’t care what Niko did, all I know he’s a good guy and not a cancer to any squad. Perisic is overhyped but he is still very young. I’m always a Niko fan although he hasn’t broke out like we all expected. At the end of the day, he will always be on the team because he has that great talent. Its just a shame people bias like Fisto could never give an opinion on him just for some transfer in a no name league.
#1 Niko isn’t lazy, he’s just slow as shit. He’s almost always the slowest player on the field
#2 Perisic > Kranjcar imho
Vlatko Marković će odstupiti s čela HNS-a prije Eura!
http://gol.dnevnik.hr/clanak/hnl/vlatko-markovic-ce-odstupiti-s-cela-hns-a-prije-eura.html
Nice to see some of you coming to your senses. I couldn’t believe a few months ago all the morons that had a guy like Perisic above Kranjcar in the midfield pecking order. It’s not even close dudes…
@ Matej Lebo
Molim!
Dual monitors are the way to go if you can do it. Especially for a person that writes on a regular basis as yourself. Even @ work I upgraded to the dual and it is awesome for keeping track of the work space environment and the organization of data or apps on the screen. Articles on the one side, writing environment on the other or anyway you like as you have more room to play with.
im not even gonna say anything…
So many numbers I couldn’t keep my head straight. Looks like I need dual monitors. I was looking at an ESPN page that had 2006-2008 in one bracket. I thought o myself, “wow that’s a lot of games”. Thanks for the heads up, and it should be good.
Nice article Matej!
Unless I am reading the chart incorrectly, the numbers don’t seem to add up. Our win totals for 2008 is 15 on the chart but we won 7 games in 2008. Let me know if I cannot read or should slow down on the piva i rajkia. 2011 looks to be accurate.
Wikipedia has us beating Georgia in Georgia. Oops…. Shhhhhh, don’t tell anybody. Maybe we can change history.
🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatia_national_football_team_games#2008
he is our best player and most talented hands down. covik je kralj!