PRANJIĆ PLAYING ROUGH AGAINST LYON
Both Ivica Olić and Danijel Pranjić got the start for Bayern Munich in front of a packed Allianz Arena in their Champions League semifinal first leg bout versus French side Lyon. The first half ended 0-0 with Olić having very little opportunity to do anything. He tried running around like his usual self while supplying passes but didn’t have the same impact as he’s had in previous Champions League matches this season. Olić was subbed out at halftime for Anatoliy Tymoschuk.
OLIĆ DIDN’T BRING HIS ‘A’ GAME FOR LYON
Pranjić played well on the day as he maintained his midfield composure without making any mistakes. He even blasted a left-footed shot towards goal but had it parried away for a corner. A little more power and it might have been another Sportscenter Top 10 upper 90 goal. Pranjić’s only misstep on the day was receiving a yellow card which means he will miss the away leg in France. So will teammate Franck Ribery, for receiving a straight red due to a stomp on the ankle, and Lyon’s Jeremy Toulalan (the best name in French soccer) for picking up two yellows in a matter of five minutes. Pranjić was subbed out in the 63′.
Arjen Robben was once again the hero as he put Bayern up in the 69th minute with a bast that appeared to deflect off of Müller. It was enough for the 1-0 win as Munich are now 90 minutes away from the Champions League Final where they would either face Barcelona or Inter on May 22nd in Madrid.
olic and pranjic both played well. but i don't understand the substitution for olic. he's their hardest working striker, and mueller doesn't impress me one bit. you would think that, with a man down, bayern would want to keep their hardest working striker on the field a little longer.
pranjic has been great of late. he seems to always get open to receive the ball in midfield support, helps maintain possession, and helps distribute the ball with precision. his defensive play has been strong as well.
i foresee a bayern/inter final. i love balotelli. he's a freak of nature. he will distinguish himself as a world class talent in the next few years.
The talk of Pranjic leaving Bayern was from before the qf's. Since then he's played well in both the league and the CL(much, much better than before). If Van Gaal stays(he will) he'll keep Pranjic at least as a squad player. He just needed time to adapt to being at a huge club(Heerenveen is a village club, more or less).
As for Pranjic being Modric' alternate- are you serious?!? Yes, he's done a job in CM for Bayern, but to give him the role of midfield engine (when Modric is injured)/creator is crazy. Did you notice how everytime he got the ball from Demichelis, he sent it right back? He clearly isnt comfortable in that position. That's not the behaviour of a CM(and it's certainly not how Modric receives the ball). Can you imagine Vuk and Pranjic as a pairing? How would play develop? Everything about Pranjic screams wide-left midfielder. He lacks the guile, vision, and short passing ability of a CM. His positives are quickness, shooting, crossing. The only way I could see him playing centrally for us is with Modric, not without him, where his responsibilities would be similar to his with Bayern.
In truth, Its a shame that for both club and country, everyone wants to play Pranjic in every position except the one that he's best at.
In the quiet words of the Virgin Mary, come again? Apology for what?
I must be slipping, I didn't even catch it. I'm becoming too nice for this site.
Ante B., I owe you an apology. I misread your earlier post. I thought you were being sarcastic. Again, my apologies.
Thank you Ante.
I'm there. I'll get working on the credentials ASAP.
San Jose je metropola, vi ste kurac! 😉
I literally shot out of my skin when I heard the news; if I were a chick, I would have mouth blasted it already. Now I just hope that the Croatian players will be in attendance. I know Kranjcar is injured hurtly but I would pay one million dollars to get a picture of him and Fisto together.
Hopefully too many Croatians won't already be in Hrvatska.
Svircicu,
Samo dodi! Ma dodite u sto velikom broju, pogotovo ak nasi Crottenhamci igraju!
I can already see all of us outsinging all with red and white jerseys on…and Croatians flags a waving.
"Our (Tottenham's) pre-season schedule in the U.S. will conclude on the East Coast with us participating in the 2010 New York Football Challenge in New Jersey.
The 2010 New York Football Challenge will be a four-team tournament involving fellow Barclays Premier League side Manchester City, MLS outfit New York Red Bulls and Sporting Lisbon from Portugal."
Dude, if you read the whole piece you'd see the reference to the four-team tournament. Now, work with me here, HYPOTHETICALLY, if you were to substitute Hajduk Split and/or Dinamo Zagreb in place of Sporting Lisbon, yes, you just might attract the Croatian community.
Incidentally, if you had a chance to see Kranjcar, Modric and Corluka, wouldn't you want to check 'em out, even if they were only playing San Jose?
@Ante B,
If I am in Cali on July 17th, I will make the "short" 6 hour trek up North to Buck Shaw Stadium(hopefully they change the name of the stadium by the time Spurs show up)
Tottenham to play against the SAN JOSE Earthquakes?
HELL YES! Who is coming with me?
Do you guys think the Cro boys will be playing in that? Man, I hope so. I can get the Croatian community out here to that stadium for that one, easily!
Toooo! Just made my day knowing it's right in my backyard.
RE: Spurs' trip to the U.S….
This is indeed very interesting… now all we need to do is substitute Hajduk Split and/or Dinamo Zagreb in place of Sporting Lisbon and Ante's dream, which we all share, would become a reality.
Olic does want a rest. He was already talking in the summer of taking a break from international matches and giving younger guys a chance. I think it was injury around the time of the qatar game that did it. I think Olic deserves rest. Euro 2012 will be 6th tournament so he deserves some rest time…
We could even pull Olic out of action in summer completely. Two guys who won't want rest is Eduardo and Klasnic due to lack of games. So maybe next game – Eduardo, M Bilic, Jelavic, Klasnic and Petric if he's fit.
I agree 100% with everything you said about Pranjic. He's a better midfielder than defender and Bilic should have considered him to fill the empty spot left by Modric. I didn't hear anything about Bayern wanting to sell/trade him. It seems he always plays the critical matches so he's well respected in the club. I guess Pranjic and Ribery will miss the next game because of too many cards.
Kranjcar's ankle injury is pretty bad and he'll be out for a while. I hope he keeps up his fitness while he's out of action.
Olic won't want to stop to take a rest. It's against his character. I agree that Jelavic needs some consideration as a starter too. Petric is also out due to injury so maybe it's time.
By the way, who the hell is Contento?
This might interest some:
http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/international/news/spurs-heading-stateside-220410.html
I've been impressed by Pranjic recently. I can't see why Bayern would want to sell him. I think when Bayern had their shaky spell things may have got blown out of proportion, but actually you can't do better than a Bundesliga title and Champions League winners if they pull that off. I think those guys have all come good in the end.
I think Robben has made the difference. They guy is too damn good. However i've seen decent things from much maligned players like Van Bommell, Tymoshuk, Pranjic and Demechelis lately. I think what all those guys have is experience and that tells at this stage of the season.
Badstuber was also just a master stroke by Van Gaal as Bayern got rejected in all there moves for right and left backs all season and in the end some times it shows you don't need to buy anyone and can find the answer from within.
Has anyone also seen where Pranjic is playing. He's in the Modric role. Maybe Bilic should have took note about where to put Pranjic when Modric is out. Hopefully the days of Pranjic at left back are over. Next game i'd like to see Cale get another run out or Simunic to play there.
Subasic, Srna, Corluka, Krizanac/ Lovren, Simunic; Rakitic, Dujmovic, Modric, Kranjcar/Pranjic; Eduardo, M Bilic
should start next match.. Olic needs a rest and should either take summer off or play from bench. Need to also take a good look at Jelavic during summer.