Croatia defeat Czechia 2-1 in a weird one from Prague to open up their Nations League campaign!
Modrić scores a beauty from the top of the box. Czechs come down moments later to equalize after Gvardiol/Vušković make a mess of clearing the ball. Then Marco Pašalić heads home a header in the 77’ that barely crosses the line following a Perišić cross. Czech equalize moments later AGAIN on a counter…but luckily VAR take the goal away due to offside.
Vatreni got the result they needed on the road. Thats most important. But Jesus, they need to settle down and keep the lead after scoring. Bilić will certainly have notes for the boys after this one.
FT Croatia skim by to win 2-1 in Prague.
70′ OMG are you fucken kidding me??? Czechia marches down the field and equalizes after the Pašalić goal. Luckily for Croatia, the Italian ref goes to VAR and after a lengthy review, the play is ruled offside. It was a very close call but come on guys! Can’t let these guys equalize immediately after you score. Issue!
77′ GOOOOALLLLLLL!!! Marco PAšalić with a header that just crosses over the line…barely! Perišić runs down the left flank and puts a perfect ball to Pašalić back post. The Orlando man heads down, the Czech goalie makes the save but the ball completely crosses the line. 2-1 Croatia!
76′ SUB Modrić comes off. Josip Mišić comes on to anchor the midfield.
72′ Czechs counter down the field quickly and have an open man in front of Livaković but he bottles it. Could easily be Czechia 2-1 right now.
67′ YELLOW CARD Luka Vušković picks up a soft yellow for a late knock on the back in the offensive 3rd. Very soft if you ask me.
64′ Three SUBS from Bilić! Matanović come off for Budimir. Ivanović comes off for Mario Pašalić. Luka Sučić comes off for Marco Pašalić. We should get much more wing play and 1v1 dribbles with Marco in the match now.
54′ 1-1. Czechs tie it up. Following a throw-in, Gvardiol misses the header and Vušković mistimes his clearance of the ball. Czechs gets the ball in the box and Karabec is all alone to do what he will. He is never going to miss from there. Nothing for Livaković to do. Game on!
46′ GOOOOOALLL!!! Luka Modrić take a bow! Matanović with a beautiful slide to intercept a Czech pass deep in their zone. Modrić picks up the ball and marches towards the Czech goal. He looks to pass…looks to pass but then rifles the ball from the top of the box to beet the Czech keeper far post. What a goal from the 41 year-old!
HT Croatia the more dangerous team in the half and should have at least one goal. Vatreni with 5 shots (1 on goal) and 61% possession while the Czechs have yet to register a shot and picked up a yellow card after a foul on Modrić.
45′ Modrić rifles a pass to Vušković at the top of the box. He taps it to Matanović who fires just wide off frame with the Czech goalie frozen. Croatia has woken up a bit in the final moments of the 1st half.
43′ Petar Sučić dances up the field and finds himself in the box with a clear shot on goal but Hornicek makes a great save! Should be 1-0 Croatia.
40′ Lots of crosses in the box. Even more missed connections.
34′ A little more liveliness from the Croatians. Luka Sučić having some decent looks. Modrić connected well in the box with little passes but didn’t get the opportunity on goal he needed. Still 0-0.
24′ Luka Sučić rifles a falling volley out of the sky on the right side of the box but it goes just outside of the far post. That would have been a beauty!
10′ Slow start to the game on both sides. Not much rhythm quite yet from the Croatian side but they are receiving a handful of corners in the Czech half.
HERE WE GO! Croatia’s first match following the World Cup will be in Prague against the Czechs.
Croatia starting XI vs. Czechia has been confirmed. We’re essentially playing a 4-4-2 with no natural wingers but two #9 strikers in Matanović & Ivanović. Baturina has been ruled out with a fever.
Gvardiol & Vušković locked in the back together as CBs.
Remember, Bilić will have to rotate and throw new squads out there this month with 4 games being played in 11 days.
Vuskovic and Gvardi, wake the F–K up. You guys look confused, not sure of the positioning. Oddly, our senior players looked in better shape than these kids who think their hot stuff. They are not. Play like that against Spain and it’s 3-0 or 4-0. Czechia is a division C or D soccer country and we made them look good. Bring back Dalic-LOL
Don’t understand
Isn’t this Bilic job to motivate the team
What happens if Modric not there – who deals with the motivation?
Can’t believe he’s admitting this publicly – basically saying he can’t do it Modric has to do it for him
Slaven Bilić on Luka Modrić’s speech:
“The goal was phenomenal, but the way he gave that speech… That’s something I haven’t heard in a long time.
He wasn’t the captain in my time. But that minute before going out onto the pitch, when I say something and then he says something… Those 30 seconds… Even I, who know him that well, said, ‘Wow.’ Incredible, fair play to him.”
Only watched it once and with some pretty thick morning beer goggles on.
Thought Ivanovic, L. Sucic, and Vuskovic were out weakest players. Team and shape looked great until the formation change. 2nd half was much sloppier. Kovacic was great. Or as the moron English commentator kept calling him, “Kovacivic.” How many f*ckin years does he have to put in your league for you to know who he is? Moron!
All in all big 3 pts on the road.
Naprid Momci!
LOL.
Yeah, the commentator was just brutal . . . also talking about the “Pasalic brothers” and the “younger brother” Marco . . .
Unbelievable
Finally an appropriate use of the word Moron on this forum!!!
Thank you for mentioning that idiot commentator….Kova has won 4 champions league titles….why the constant disrespect towards our players!!??!! Drives me nuts!!!
FYI. (Don’t shoot me, I’m just the messenger):
FOTMOB ratings/
Matanovic 7.6
Ivanovic 7.1
P Sucic 7.1
L Sucic 7.1
Kovacic 7.7
Modric 8.4
Peresic 8.2
Gvardiol 7.1
Vuskovic 6.5
Stanisic 7.1
Livakovic 6.9
————————
Marco P 7.2
Mario P 6.4
Budimir 6.4
Misic 6.4
Sofascore ratings:
Matanovic 6.8
Ivanovic 6.0
P Sucic 6.5
L Sucic 6.5
Kovacic 7.3
Modric 8.5
Peresic 7.6
Gvardiol 6.8
Vuskovic 6.0
Stanisic 6.3
Livakovic 6.8
———————————
Marco P 7.3
Mario P 6.7
Budimir 6.9
Misic 6.7
Vlasic 6.5
24:39
Franjo has to clear it from the corner flag bc Perisic didn’t pick up his man lol
The guy is everywhere
The play started with Liva kicking it to Luka Sucic who gave the ball away and we’re lucky they didn’t get a real shot away
22:41
High IQ pass by Franjo outside of the boot – onto defenders head – right to Luka Sucic for the shot – that’s a deliberate play to get the ball to LukaS
19:58
Perisic waving his arms at Franjo bc the pass was 2 yards off
Come on Ivan
Ur like a Jackson Pollock splatter paint all over the field – how the hell is Franjo supposed to guess ur finally going to make an over-lapping run here
20:10
Modric yelling “Franjo Franjo”
Really class u geriatrics
Maybe u can help build his confidence rather than both of u scolding him on the field in the first 20 minutes
The pass was 2 yards off
It’s not his fault there is a Premier League RB Coufal on that side
Instead – u geriatrics should realize there is a first cap LB on the other side of the field and try to penetrate down that side – use ur brain – go for the easier side – when England play Croatia do they try to penetrate vs. Stanisic or Perisic at LB – use ur brains more
17:30
Screen-shot this
Perfect example of free-for-all
Modric and Kova weren’t able to get it out the first time
So Pero has to drop deep
U have Pero Modric Perisic lined up horizontally
U have Kova slightly ahead
Why is Pero Modric Kova forming an overload triangle here
It’s crazy
There is no purpose
U shouldn’t need Pero to drop deep here
The three midfielders are within 15 metres of each other for no reason
Can’t Perisic on LB handle it – why does he need Modric between him and Pero lol
Look at 17:32 the Pero Modric and Kova triangle lol
Pero then has to rush to receive the ball back again at 17:41
Such an ugly sequence – such an ugly / free-for-all build-up/progression
There is no idea here – just wild Wild West on the field
It’s all a bit of a joke
Reading some the previous comments I totally agree especially about the substitute teacher lol, the good news about Franjo, although he may have lost the ball a few times on the offensive side he had some good movement and he definitely tracked back a lot more than any of other forwards. Kudos for that for sure
**defenders.
Who would you guys say was her worst overall performer from the starting 11?
I liked bits and pieces of Ivanovic, but he would be my weak link out of our five attacking or midfield to attacking options
Luka,
A good point.
Ivanovic worked hard and had some jump. . . occasionally, here and there, it seemed to be to no particular end or positive result . . . he did not convert his effort into anything meaningful, perhaps didn’t create enough from it. But the effort and enthusiasm were there.
I am not sure it comes down to any one player. I suppose, if I had to say, that Vuskovic was not quite as solid in the second half as he normally is, as we would expect him to be, or as he usually will be.
My sense of it, though it is very hard to analyze unless one really knows the game which I don’t, is that there was a bit of an understandable lack of cohesion and co-ordination among the players, who are not yet used to playing alongside each other, and moreover playing under a new coach.
Crnkovic wrote a long post fairly recently that touched on the need to have the right combination of players in the right system. It seems it takes time, and we are still working that out to some degree. For example between Gvardiol and Vuskovic when paired in the middle. . . Both great players but maybe they need some time to play together . . .
If Gvardiol is playing alongside Lovren in WC 2022, Lovren is the clear veteran leader and Gvardiol probably doesn’t try to do too much, stays in his lane, etc. It clicks well. With Vuskovic and Gvardiol maybe a little more time and patience is required. Sutalo and Vuskovic have been on the field together before . . . Sutalo looked good in his last game for Lazio, we will see how they do with Gvardiol at left back . . .
I think about hockey, which I watched for many decades. Famous forward lines, famous center-winger pairings (eg Gretzky-Kurri, Popein-Bathgate), excellent defensive pairings, etc. The players gelled and were familiar with who would be where on the ice.
In that sense, one looks at our goal against Brazil, Orsic-Petkovic combined when we needed it most, two Dinamo players from the HNL.
It strikes me that Petar and Baturina play well together and perhaps that this goes back to shared time at Dinamo, that Kova, Modric, and Perisic have a certain comfort level on the field together after all these years on the NT, but for many of them perhaps it takes more time.
Petar and Luka Sucic seem to combine fairly well against Czechia.
This Czech club has some fairly good players, it’s world ranking is decent. We were on the road in their stadium, and I thought that we really controlled the first half, they didn’t penetrate much, we were solid.
The second half became a bit more scattered for us, we gave up more.
Maminjo offers the point that we just became a bit cocky in the second half, and perhaps that’s right: some overconfidence after controlling the game in the first half caused us to become a little more scattered . . . That might be the right assessment.
But overall, we got the result. As some here, Jo for example, have said, that is what is key. We take the win and grow from here. Sometimes we can maybe be a little bit too critical. A 2-1 win is a positive start.
I loved our offensive output and the changes to each made but shit is it me or are we not tracking back because it seemed like we were getting caught on the counter? Was it a high press like Klopp system plays that got us into multiple runs. Spain will bury us if we let them go at us like that everybody upfront and a few left offenders racing back.
My guess is that Bilic thought Czechia would have trouble handling the press and that largely panned out. Not so with Spain and England. That’s why P. Sucic needs to be in the mid-field against those teams.
15:13
Why is LB Perisic fouling a guy at the centre of the pitch
What’s the formation ?
Players just going whether they want lol
Perisic free-roam all over the field
If he’s LB – he’s LB – he’s not this going everywhere like this
It’s a bit of a joke
It’s like Bilic is a substitute teacher and the kids are just doing whatever they want as nothing is serious
Implication of this is Franjo has to be responsible for the whole side as he has no idea where Perisic might be on the field lol
15:57 nice defensive play by Franjo (that’s Perisic’s man btw – but Perisic is playing “LB” when he feels like it – otherwise he’s going where he wants – no rules)
13:30
2nd foul by Kova
If the first foul in the 1st minute where he kicked a guys stomach was only a yellow (instead of the red it deserved)
This should be his 2nd yellow and he’d get a red
No clue why the ref didn’t call either
So either Croatia should have been down 10 men for 89 minutes or 77 minutes because of Kovacic – take ur pick
What was the tactics on those first three corners ?
Vuskovic was just being used as a runner and/or a blocker
But none of those first three corners were aimed anywhere close to Vuskovic
The point in having in offensive corners is to get the ball to him
Fire the new set piece Italian coach – he’s a failure – if he can’t figure that out
10:59
Why didn’t Luka Sucic try to score as the Franjo cross/shot gets deflected and lands right in front of Luka Sucic ?
Instead he lets it go out for a corner
But it lands right there – sure the angle is tight – suspect Luka Sucic isn’t comfortable trying a shot with his right foot there to bang it in – we know from yesterday’s hat trick that Jaga is able to shoot and score with their right foot
Not sure why u guys are picking on Franjo – first 11 minutes he’s been decent – in the first minute he was overly excited/exuberant trying to make an impact and fouled 2-3 times – but since then he’s settled in – again he’s against Coufal on that side (which none of u morons mention/recognize)
First ten minutes can’t figure out our structure build-up
Perisic is glued in the opposition half (first 6 minutes)
It’s like Gvardiol and Vuskovic the only defenders (Stanisic isn’t so far up but higher) in a back 2 with no FBs responsible defensively
When building from Liva – the CBs are so far apart – Perisic is somewhere upfield already – Stanisic is higher – Kova and Modric are dropping into pivot – can’t really figure out what they are trying to do – but it can’t be this
RB Coufal is a Premier League player
LB Slama is a Czech league reject
Look at difference in their heat maps
Coufal had twice as many touches as Slama
Important context when assessing job Franjo was tasked with vs. Luka Sucic
Of course none of u MORONS think about that
TO BE 100% MORONS
SLAMA – THAT WAS HIS FIRST CAP FOR CZECH AT 27 Y/O
COUFAL – HAS 66 CAPS
BUT U MORONS ARE COMPARING FRANJO VS. LUKA SUCIC WITHOUT CONSIDERING THIS
MORONS MORONS IMBECILES MORONS
Kova kicked Czech player in first minute
That’s a red card – all day long – reckless and dangerous
Croatia should have played 89 minutes with 10 men
Having only Sutalo and Smolcic on the bench as options is CRIMINAL
Can’t leave Jakic and Pong at home or in the stands
U need one person on the bench for EACH position
U don’t need 4 attackers – 4 midfielders – and 2 defenders on the bench
Absolutely criminal
Come on Bilic – you know better – it’s crazy town
Perisic
Like that he was watching during the Anthem who was singing and who wasn’t and was taking notes
Modric was the best and only one singing it properly
The rest of them – embarrassing
I think some players like Luka Sucic doesn’t even know the words
Vuskovic lips were barely moving
Not to pick on them – Gvardiol was poor – Liva was trying (being next to Modric) – Pero was kind of trying – Stanisic nothing
FFS – if you’re representing the Croatia NT – sign the National Anthem – it’s not hard – look how Brazil sing when their anthem gets pumped
Very very disappointing – completely unsatisfactory – and Bilic doesn’t bother singing either – but at least put your hand on heart – that’s the minimum
Already pissed off and the ball not even dropped
Look how BEAUTIFULLY the Czech players sing the anthem – so nice to see – don’t care much for the sopranista pedar who was leading them – but they at least have some national pride when it comes to their anthem
Croatia players – some looking around – the space between players was asymmetrical – Perisic baby-sitting/watching who’s singing – just a terrible alignment and national anthem singing – complete failure and unacceptable
Tunnel
Why did Bilic go over to Czech captain Coufal pre-match and say hi and shake his hand and have a chat ?
Coufal was at West Ham 2020-2025, while Bilic was at West Ham 2015-2017 – so they didn’t overlap – nor did they overlap at any other club
Very weird
Never seen anything like that ever (especially since they didn’t overlap)
Against protocol
Also, why didn’t Bilic sing the National Anthem and put his hand on his heart during the National Anthem?
That’s the first Coach in the HISTORY of the National Team that didn’t sing and/or put their hand on their heart during the National Anthem
Both of these details matter A LOT
Bilic do better. The game hasn’t even started yet and you have two strikes
To be 100%
Even if Bilic and Coufal did overlap at a club (which they didn’t) Bilic should still not go over and talk to him and shake hands and chat – but it’s especially weird given there is no overlap and they don’t know each other
This isn’t some networking event – this is a competitive football match
Even the Czech keeper is looking at the interaction and knowing its weird and then laughing about it – it’s like Bilic doesn’t know etiquette and how to behave
Fortuna Arena
Cool pre-game light-show
Built in 2008 for 40M (of course it would cost 2x, maybe 3x that to build the same today)
20k capacity
100% better than the new DZ stadium
The outside is a bit date now 18 years later (look at day time pictures) – but this should be a good inspiration – proper stadium – nice lines – sensible – all 20k seats covered – etc
Boban do better
Watching the game live yesterday I thought after the subs in the 60 minute we switched to a back 3 which after watching it again we did switch to a back 3. Interesting choice by Bilic but after that switch we were more vulnerable to the counter attack. In the end it worked out as our 2 wingbacks were involved in the game winning goal. Not sure if I would do that switch again but Bilic at least tried something different in the game which we never really saw under Dalic. The other thing I really liked is the way we pressed for large portions of the game and it was actually effective. When we pressed under Dalic it looked very lackadaisical.
Vušković is a gifted player, but his performance last night was very poor and made the match more interesting than it needed to be. He needs to run more and mark harder. Luka Sučić needs to run more too! He jogs back after we lose the ball. Franjo Ivanović has it right : he sprints as far back as needed to make sure there’s no damage. The veterans are all still great, and the young players besides the CBs also. Bilić brings more intensity than Dalić, but Gvardiol and Vušković so far are proving Dalić right
I disagree with two statements above. The Pašalić goal was solidly over the line after going through Horniček’s legs, with green all around, but Horniček reacted very fast to try to disguise it. That was a goal, no question. And on the 2nd Czech goal called back for offsides, maybe Hlozek’s position was a close call, but the guy who scored was way obviously offside and participating in the play. That’s what VAR is for, and there’s a reason why the check didn’t take long. Hlozek shouldn’t have been able to make an assist there is Gvardiol had defended well, but at least the boys correctly played the offside trap and called for review
* I meant Vušković. It was Vušković on the ball
Seems like Gvardiol’s already ready to play at a Championship level 🤦
I enjoyed watching the game
Croatia largely dominated
Funny that modric and perisic continue to deliver the decisive blows
Dalic deemed gvardiol unplayable in the wc. When he did play him, he gave up the game losing goal
Essentially gave up two goals here
I don’t think now it’s an injury thing,
I think it’s a man city thing and how playing in that system has corrupted his defender mentality.
The nt would’ve been better off if he remained a yoeman workhorse defender at leipzeg rather than trying to become Marcelo 2.0
Anonymous has to do EVERYTHING for u morons
Given Olic qualified for Euro
Next two games are meaningless
As such, Bilic can now call up some of the U21s for next 3 games
Anonymous’ order of priority:
Jaga – obviously
Vrbancic – for Misic role
Soticek – for LW
Hrgovic – for LB 🙈
Sege – for RW
Would give others at U21 sitting on the bench a chance to play and get experience (as e.g. Sepic at LB) next two U21 matches – while U21s get chance to train with the A-team and can include 1-2 on the match day 20 player squad
BILIC MUST CAP JAGA THIS INTERNATIONAL WINDOW – WILL HELP HIS STATUS WHEN HE GOES BACK TO PAO – MANAGER WILL SAY WOW THIS GUYS REALLY ON THE CUSP OF THE A-TEAM LET ME WORK WITH HIM TO MAKE HIM THAT PLAYER
Once again – it’s Anonymous that has to come up with the greatest ideas the World has ever seen – while u morons squabble about babble
I just don’t think Gvardiol is the same on the NT since his injury. He was supposed to be a prodigy, and now he’s more of a liability.
Which really confuses me because I watch Man City games when I can, and he’s doing OK in those games.
When he came on as a late substitute in the Ghana game in Philadelphia, he still looked like not himself as me being a person watching him live (yes, he was coming off that injury and recently back to active play).
Maybe pre-injury he was in a super human mode. As we have seen, people just aren’t the same after a major injury.
Maybe Man City is grinding him down. Which still doesn’t explain the lapses on the NT.
He also doesn’t have Broz in front of him soaking up the presses and counters.
You just have to hope.
In another note, I thought the dark blue jerseys with red highlights looked super sharp!
Here is to a better next game.
He’s still only 8.5 months removed from that broken tibia.
Normally, a broken tibia takes 6-9 months to heal…plus whatever time it takes for him to get back into full form.
Maybe this is a case of him not being back to full form. Maybe his early comeback delayed his recovery time.
No excuses, why the fuck is he called up then??
Because our other options are just as bad (even when they’re healthy).
Bilić is sliding Gvardiol over to LB and playing Šutalo with Vušković in the middle.
He’s likely going to slide Perišić up to LW and bench Ivanović.
Well we got the win and we need to clean things up . A lot of positives and still some bad habits to clean up
@inspector, exactly this 👍🏻
Great to win it. Vitally for Euro seedings as well..
Gvardiol and Vuskovic completely made a meal of their goal.
Luka like a fine wine. Perisic with the money cross for the winner.
We move on.
I want someone to take out that stick calves pos yamal.
I’m still waiting to see what L Sucic brings. He’s been a big name for us and I usually see an average performance from him.
He da man
As he goes we will go..
He needs to be the man and we win the euros dawg
Agreed.
He’s talented but he’s yet to have a MoTM type game for us.
He’s barely played for us.
Watch this
Pretty good performance overall but that goal we gave up should never happen. Terrible mistakes by both Gvardiol and Vuskovic who I thought both didn’t play well. Both had their mistakes in the second half. Ironically our best players were the old vets kova Luka and Perisic. Matanovic and Petar Sucic I thought had a good game as well. Would have looked a lot better with Baturina as Ivanovic is a bit smotan but does work hard.
Also yall dunking on Gvardiol saying he can’t play cb for city although Guehi the starting cb for city gave a free goal to Spain a minute into the match, much worse than anything Gvardiol or Vuskovic did today. I’m gonna say it again but the reason Spain don’t concede like we do is because of Rodri, we don’t have Rodri but if we just focus our midfield 3 more rather than Petar Sucic at pure 10 and instead get Petar Sucic to help on those transitions, we’ll be better. But the first 70ish minutes Gvardiol and Vuskovic made defending look easier than it was, they made it look like Czech just couldn’t get the ball through, it was just later on too open in front of our defensive line and we can’t expect Kovacic and modric to always save us there as it’s not their only job and they supply us with so many other great qualities, they just need Petar Sucic help in this department.
Way too harsh on Gvardiol today, he just needs support from midfield in transitions, modric and Kovacic are good at everything else, Petar Sucic will have to step up in this department. Baturina back at LW will solve our attack, Marco pasalic or Luka Sucic on the right with Matanovic still starting maybe Musa for his goalscoring or pace and Beljo sub and we’re good, although Matanovic on the ball qualities just seem so useful if we can get our wingers or midfield to score.
Perišić had a great game today too same with modric, so useful to have him in attack and defence, we can’t afford a defence only LB when Stanisic is already so passive offensively, Perisic opposite evens it out nicely and lets us fit Baturina forward, stanisic will step up more when facing stronger wingers, Czech didn’t really have that today. Hopefully stanisic perfects his crosses, he’s been improving and if stanisic can cross like Perisic then Matanovic will be much more effective.
Midfield 3 of Kovacic, Petar Sucic, modric instead of Petar Sucic as a pure 10 or shadow striker will help since Sucic doesn’t really have the passing or agility of a 10 like Baturina or Majer for example. I’d like to see Majer+ Musa as subs at least potentially for good pure goalscorer+pure chance creator combination, would have been better subs than Mario pasalic and budimir.
then goal Czech’s scored had nothing to do with midfield. Gvardiol let his man EASILY slip past him
I have to agree with Slavonac. It was definitely a mistake by Gvardiol and Vuskovic also shit the bed as well. Very poor defending. It could just be jitters with all the changes but we will have to see against Spain.
I wonder if it is a difficulty for Gvardiol because he is not playing as a Centre Back for Man City consistently. In Vuskovic’s case, I keep catching myself saying run for fucks sake…lol. We all know he is good on the ball but seriously.
I dunno, we are definitely missing that rock solid defense, against a team like Spain or England it would show more. We were lucky this game was against Czechia today, They really need to step up against Spain and England if they want a positive result.
Yup. This was the same thing he did against England multiple times (yet Vušković got the blame), leaving his CB hung out to dry.
Part of Gvardiol’s defensive success at 2022 was *i think* Dalic telling him he couldn’t take risks and had to be a stay-at-home CB. He has the talent for that. But part of what makes both Vušković and Gvardiol world-class is that they take risks and have a high success rate in those risks springing a scoring chance.
My fear is that they can’t both be doing that all the time as it increases the chance that a high risk/high reward moment backfires if they don’t get it right. You can’t have both of them doing that all the time.
Maybe if they had some chemistry of playing together more often they can work out those kinks.
exactly. even on their second goal (offside) Gvardiol was in no mans land while Vuskovic was going to challenge the attacker with the ball.
It doesn’t matter if Gvardiol let the ball slip, that sort of ball can get through easily in many circumstances and mistakes happen, it’s about how you react to those mistakes, Vuskovic tried to save him but got a bit unlucky, the real problem came from the cross/cut back, it went to a completely unmarked player who scores around the edge of the box under 0 pressure, a team with a real dm like Spain and Rodri would have filled that gap and blocked the crossing lane or just at least got a foot on the ball before a the shot on goal, just to make it harder for them, the back 4 cannot engage it if there is too many players in the box or too much space between them and the receiver, they can only try to block it since they’re stuck forming the offside line and marking other players, Gvardiol and Vuskovic were too far away from the cross to stop it and it needed to be a dm, Petar Sucic was too far forward and modric+Kovacic didn’t track back and just kinda stayed around the LCM area further up cause they didn’t think they had to track back since the chance happened so suddenly. Luka Sucic tried to stop it but he was too late. Petar Sucic should have dropped back sooner, our midfield left a giant gap there and again many times afterwards, the investment of Petar Sucic at #10 is in hopes he scores, if he doesn’t we waste most of his skillset, #8 keeps his goal threat just the same since our 2 other midfielders rarely venture too far forward too much, #8 cm gives us that extra defensive stability at the back for our defenders.
Again, let’s say vs Spain they play a brilliant ball in behind, this time it isn’t Gvardiol’s fault but just a good pass from Spain, how do you prevent it from being a goal? You can’t just concede every-time the ball slips through someone which we have for many years at this point. Because Spain will do the same thing and just cut the ball back across goal and let an open player slot an easy goal, we need a dm to pressure these cutbacks and break up play before teams get the chance to play forward passes into our backline.
The point is a dm would have cleaned up the cross that led to Czech goal, admittedly we kinda shut off at this point just in general not thinking Czech was gonna do anything, midfield was just a bit too relaxed at this point, someone like Petar Sucic who vs Brazil friendly before World Cup reached a 36.8 km/h top speed can easily track back to fill in the gap that the Czech player scored under 0 pressure, not to mention sucic stamina and distance covered statistics, he’s that extra bit of running we need supporting modric and Kovacic from transitions. If not him then Bilić needs to call Darko Nejašmić at least to close out games for us as the anchor dm, probably a sub since the sheer quality of modric and Kovacic in other facets of play like build up and playmaking is still unparalleled as they were 100% our best players today and are generally. But Sucic probably just needs that instruction of when to go forward/drop back, you’d be surprised how many plays proper DM’s prevent before they develop too much, it’s one of the most important roles in world football rn.
I think in our circumstance, with modric and Kovacic still being solidly disciplined defensively usually when not having to chase or track too much ground, a #8 like Sucic will overall be enough defensively rather than a pure 6 like a busquets since they really only need that extra bit of energy and pace in midfield to track back covering large gaps of space and cover transitions/counter attacks.
Just looking back on that goal too, Vuskovic actually read and reacted to the scorer much quicker than stanisic did who was actually closer, their striker played as a decoy between the cb’s which was clever in that position, but again, one of our players back there as a 5th defensive option in our rest defence prevents the goal.
All teams usually invest 5 players forward and 5 in the rest defence at a time, no team relies on just their back 4 for these things.
I otherwise thought Perisic had a great game, Gvardiol was better in the first half but still was irreplaceable in build up and recovery pace, vuskovic was solid most of the match and just needed some more set pieces and crosses to him, and stanisic had a quiet game but still alright generally, if he can improve his crosses and play quality crosses more consistently like Perisic then that is still our best back 4.
Yes, three in the midfield with P. Sucic would really shore up the defense.
Kovacic, Modric, Perisic were still our best players today. Remarkable. I thought Matanovic was good. L. Sucic needs to play. Where was Vuskovic on either goal? He seems to be out of position too often.
Absolutely. All 3 are once-in-a-lifetime players in different ways, and it still shows.
The Czechs didn’t look dangerous often, but when they did, our defense looked shaky. Vuskovic, and even Gvardiol, are still young. I think it’s ok if there are still things to sort out. We’ll good to go for the Euros
Baturina over Ivanovic will be a huge upgrade. Otherwise I like the lineup.
This lineup (with Baturina) is our best lineup on paper.
I would stick with it, but we need to be careful with the high press and our back line needs to make safer plays.
A few brain farts.
They definitely had a few periods of momentum but we controlled it. The stats don’t lie.
Not a convincing win, but a win nonetheless. Croatia winning 2-1against the Czechs was probably the most predictable scoreline, whether it was under Dalic or Bilic.
Let’s see what the next couple of games look like. I have a feeling the squad list will look very different than this one in a year’s time. Either way, always nice to get the 3 points.
Yall really believe Pongracic or sutalo are better in the air than Gvardiol… We’d be losing 3-0 if it were them. No one here is acknowledging the build up play Gvardiol was doing or the multiple races he won that would have meant goals conceded. Only problem was too much space left open in the defensive mid spot, every cb duo and fullbacks in the world would concede like we did today without midfield support, anyone watch man city for example knows this even when Gvardiol doesn’t play, Guehi and Dias have conceded these goals many times, same with psg and Madrid, Spain and Barca have Rodri keeping it clean for them. Modrić and Kovacic were great in build up and had such a dominant game today from them and defended well in a block, they just struggle defending in transitions as DM’s, they need a dm to anchor them like Brozovic used to, Petar Sucic should drop in deeper from cam more often to help there, he needs to be more #8 than #10, too much #10 from him today and it would solve our defensive problems. I know he’s great in attack but he can get involved just as much since he has the engine and pace to go box to box easily from deeper positions, he’s not a winger or a 10, he doesn’t have the agility or acceleration but he can definitely get back in time over long distances to stop that goal we conceded if he reads it and is instructed to do so. This is the one change we need to completely lock down our defence, not the backline but the defensive mid.
Baturina was missed today, we’d be winning in the first half had it been Baturina instead of Ivanovic. Ivanovic has decent workrate but just little quality in the final 3rd creating chances or taking them. Luka Sucic was actually pretty good playmaking and probably scores on another day, I would have kept him on and just pulled Ivanovic for Marco pasalic then push Luka Sucic in the middle and Peter Sucic back as 3rd midfielder, he just needed better support from a quicker player, but having Marco pasalic giving us an actual winger outlet is just so helpful. Luka Sucic might be better as the second striker if Baturina is the cam in a 4321 Christmas tree formation.
Otherwise this is still the best lineup and tactics that just dominated the first half, they played really good overall just the one goal mistake and too much open space in transitions which a more disciplined Petar Sucic would solve in a midfield 3, no need to force him to be a pure cam. Dalic had this same problem and then some so I’m not too concerned.
Also our subs are just boring and disappointing when we have so many young talents that would actually do something, I’m sorry but Musa/Beljo would have been better sub options than budimir for today when we need a goal, Jagusic, Stojkovic, even nejasmic as a anchor to prevent those transitions would be good even off the bench, Mišić wasn’t too bad though, Marco pasalic was great of course but Vlasic, Mario pasalic and budimir are just boring subs that you don’t really expect too much of in terms of X-factor which shouldn’t be a problem when we have many new players with that potential. Would have liked Majer getting a chance today too, we were missing a playmaker and a real chance creator when modric came off.
But Baturina needs to start LW in this setup with probably Marco over Luka Sucic although Luka was good, he’s the difference between an open game like this vs us leading by multiple goals in the first half.
Also should say Matanović was great, too bad he didn’t get any better chances but his link up and hold up play is elite, allows us to completely dominate possession, if he had Baturina supporting him I’m sure we’d have scored first half.
Vuskovic and Gvardiol had a great first half, they just need #6 support from either Nejašmić (who should have got a call) or Petar Sučić (which is the best option while playing #8 still).
Not totally convincing but, i think, a good victory overall. Win’s a win as Dom Torretto famously said, heh.
I almost had you there
We won that is the main thing.
Defence is bad and it does not matter who plays as CB’s.
We can see why Gvardiol does not play CB for Man City. The guy does not have a high footballing IQ, he keeps on making silly defensive mistakes. He should have never gone in to challenge for that ball. If that was inside the penalty box yes go and challenge but not that high up the field.
As a CB he should have set back, and he has to take most of the blame for that goal although Vuskovic did not react well either.
Kovacic I thought was our best player.
Then how do you explain WC2022?
He had an unbelievable match against Belgium playing mostly on adrenalin and youthful exuberance. He also played well against Morocco for the third spot play off.
The match against Argentina in the SF he made a huge positional mistake with their first and crucial goal when he was too high up the field and left a huge gap in the middle of our defence for a through ball which led to their penalty.
He has made so many mistakes for our national team mostly from his inability to read the game and the worrying thing is that he keeps on making them.
Not sure if we persist with him as a CB or play him as a left back like at his club side. As a LB if he does make a mistake, it will most likely be less costly.
Bilic just stated on NOVA TV that for the next match Gvardiol is going back to LB and Sutalo is coming in as a CB.
Bilic wants to look at different combinations in the middle. I think that is good as he assesses his personnel. However, I see Vuskovic as a non-negotiable at the end of the day, so the question really is: Vuskovic and who?
I also like Gvardiol as left back in any event, as he is dangerous on the attack and it brings him into the offence more.
Mart, I would be somewhat more hesitant than you to downplay Gvardiol’s tremendous 2022 WC. He was only 20. On the whole, he made a huge contribution.
He has been an excellent player for his MC club, one of the best club teams in the world. We have to give him due respect for what he has accomplished.
Mart, your views on Soticek?
You must be watching him closely since he moved to Hajduk. I only saw the highlights of the U21, but he looked explosive and dangerous today. What is your assessment at this juncture? Do you think he has what it takes to one day be a starting winger for the NT?
First of all, Soticek made the mistake when he did not join Dinamo a few years back, instead going to Basel. This was a bad career move and his progress has stagnated.
When he joined Hajduk, you could tell that his confidence was down due to lack of playing time at Basel. He has improved a lot at Hajduk and has been playing well, but then we need to keep in mind it is only HNL.
Anyone with talent should be excelling in HNL where the tempo is slow and you have heaps of time on the ball and space off the ball.
Yes, he played well for the U21. He is on loan at Hajduk so it will be interesting to see if Hajduk buys him or he returns to Basel.
Very hard to say if he has it to make the national team? he will need to move overseas and prove himself in a stronger league.
He definitely has the speed and the skill, and I would not write him off.
maybe Dalic wasn’t delusional. Gvardiol has been let off the hook by us on soo many occasions but today, we got what we wanted to see and the Czech’s do not have fast and dangerous strikers and we still made them look better than they are.
sure, decent ball distribution but we don’t have a rock solid centre defender pairing if you ask me…at least not at the moment.
I think we got a bit cocky to be honest.
We dominated the first half and started to get more aggressive and pressed even further forward late in the first half and in the second.
This is still an away match and it seems like we expected a win (which is good) but you still have to be careful. These guys are still pro footballers and anything can happen.
I thought Stanisic played a solid game and was steady on the right.
Maybe we need to give Gvardiol and Vuskovic a few games together?
Glad to see Bilic start on a winning note. But our back 4 still needs work. Vuskovic has done so well outside the National Team. Hopefully, he becomes consistent while playing for Croatia. Gvardiol needs a wakeup call for the national team. But those 2 are still young.
Back line terrible yes gvardiol terrible and hey my not be a good defender anymore did man city ruined him? again another game Vuskovic been not good.
Yet to see Vuskovic play well in the checkers jersey
Free Pong!!! 😉
Where is the next Schildenfeld?!
Thank.fkn now defend you homos
Omg
Gvardial and Perisic do not belong in the positions played here. Can they play them ? Yes not very good for 75+ min gvardial is a lb from Croatia anyways. Perisic left wing but also why are we not playing inform baturina is crazy
Baturina is sick
He has a fever bud read the posts.
Baturina is sick, otherwise he would have stared over Ivanovic
Modric is stretching his legs on several occasions now. He needs to come off ASAP!
Gvardiol another mistake
Exactly. That’s the same mistake he made several times at the WC
Bring back Pongračić!!!
Too soon 😂
Sranjo Franjo. He lacks creatively and very indecisive. Luka Sucic has looked dangerous.
And on queue the ‘other timeless Luka’ with a great goal. So happy he stayed on…
Luka!!! Absolute legend
Not a whole lot to say, boring first half. A few good chances while the Czechs have no answers for our defense.
We got better as the game went on.
Also my observation is that there is so much more movement on our corners. And not one of them were short!
Ivanovic needs to come off guy’s smotan
He’s been awful.
Yea. He’s trying, but he’s not doing as well as we need him to.
I could watch Petar Sučić lažnjaks all day
He posterized that one Czech in the box.
Love this!
Big front 4.
Obviously Bati is a massive player but Czechs are physically imposing. I like Franjo out there.
Here’s your chance Franjo, now take it!
Probably the only surprise in the starting 11 is Ivanovic, however with Baturina being sick it is probably the correct decision by Bilic.
U21 have qualified for the EURO with two matches remaining, after Ukraine and Turkey drew 2 – 2.
Awesome!
Projected lineup
Sick>Musa Baturina Jakic Pongracic
Modrić most likely start but questionable
—————————Matanovic————————
———Sucic———————————Vlasic———
——————————P.Sucic—————————
—————Kovacic—————Modric—————
Perisic———————————————Stanisic
——————Gvardiol——Vuskovic—————
Subs
——————————(Beljo)—————————
——————————Budimir—————————
———Ivanovic————————M.Pasalic——
——————————Majer——————————
——————Misic—————Pasalic—————
—Gvardiol—————————————Smolcic
———————Vuskovic—Sutalo——————
That’s our best hope with options available….
I doubt any of us saw this one coming but I like it:
Stigao sastav Hrvatske
Hrvatska: Livaković – Stanišić, Vušković, Gvardiol, Perišić – Modrić, Kovačić – L. Sučić, P. Sučić, Ivanović – Matanović
We badly needed to try this CB pairing in a back four.
This backline is intriguing, especially if Perišić can continue to play the LB stop gap role as well as he did at the World Cup.
I wish Baturina could play but I’m glad we’re trying Ivanović there instead of Vlašić (which is what a lot of the predictions had). Ivanović is skilled and young, and if it works out , then it gives us another young option to build towards our core. But that spot is still 100% Baturina’s once he’s back.
Yes I agree. I do hope we one day find a good solution for left back though, Perisic is too valuable even at this age, we could use his service in attack.
I am particularly interested to see how Ivanovic does. I like him…he’s always dangerous.
Hopefully he doesn’t get rattled by the physicality of the Czechs
Jagusic was great. 3 world class goals. In his post game interview he said that the 2nd was his favourite because it was his first career goal with his right foot.
The commentator said during the game that his club coach has stated that Jagusic will play all of the European and domestic Cup games. He will play very little in the league until next year when he expects Jagusic to be front and centre all season in all competitions.
Commentators are stupid
It’s not dogmatic as that
Have been in contact with people at the club – Jaga needs to put more effort and work rate and fight for the team – he shows this he’ll play more in the league now
His goals today were unreal.
This kid needs to play regular first team football.
He’s good enough for the senior team right now, but just needs the exposure and club football to prove it.
OLIC IS A MORON
HE DIDN’T TAKE JAGA OFF
HUNGARY PLAYER WACKED JAGA IN THE KIDNEY – JAGA WENT DOWN
MINUTE LATER JAGA GRABBING HIS HAMSTRING AND STRETCHING HIS HAMSTRING AND CALF FOR LAST THREE MINUTES ON THE FIELD
OLIC BROKE MY JAGA
ANONYMOUS HATES U OLIC !!!!!
You need to go on Jaga instagram and tell him get the heck out of Greece they don’t play young talents.
Greece is terrible choice – but he’s made his bed and needs to FIGHT and outwork Kangwa and Ounahi for game time – he sees every day how much more he needs to give and level up – that’s the motivation he needs to really push on here
3-1 Croatia U21
Guess who scored ?
JAGA !!!!!!!!!!!
That’s right btches
Anonymous’ Jaga got a HAT TRICK TODAY
U GUYS ARE ALL SERIOUS IMBECILES !!!!
ANONYMOUS IS GENIUS GOAT EYE TESTER !!!!!
Nice pass from deep to Soticek – who with a nice dribble and then cut inside – then he made a nice burst of speed then reduction and feign a shot – lay-off to Jaga who slotted it no effort right in top corner – Verinac also was key in the goal as he made a good run in the box and dragged two defenders towards him (one of whom fell over) so there was room in the centre for the ultimate Jaga shot
ANONYMOUS IS THE BEST EYE TESTER IN THE WORLD
AND U MORONS ALL GAVE UP ON JAGA BECAUSE HE DOESN’T PLAY EVER MINUTE AT PAO – MORONS !!!!!!!!!!
Buddy you need to relax about Jaga.
Most of us were calling him out to be a future talent for the NT.
Not sure why you’re making claims that people here “gave up” on him…especially when you were the first to give up on Bati boy. 😅
Because hes a Moron.
Everyone saying Dalic and now Bilic should call up Sege to the NT – that’s giving up on Jaga (Sege got yanked first today – easy easy sub to make – mentioned before he’s been slow at Pompey this season)
Anonymous first to post Jaga on this site and said “you can’t teach this talent and foot work he’s born with it”
Anonymous first to say he’s making the NT and going to the WC (which would have happened if he stayed at Belupo)
Anonymous told everyone Baturina is fat, lazy and soft – all true – Anonymous perfectly called the Baturina bottom his cameo Bologna based entirely on BODY LANGUAGE – if we left it to the geniuses saying everything is ok Bati would still be fat, lazy and soft and mediocre – so actually all of u gave up on Bati by saying mediocre is fine while Anonymous said no no Bati u need to do more!
Anonymous perfect 100% hit rate !!!!
75% of your ramblings are borderline schizophrenic. You’re arguing with “morons” on this website who “gave up on Jaga” when I haven’t seen a single commenter call him anything less than a very good player. Can you please stop flooding the comments with this type of stuff
Topic off —> Verinac on (debut for Croatia)
Sege off –> Bukvic on
Croatia 2 Hungary 1
Jagusic with another good goal, this time with a first-time volley from side on which went in off the post.
Not sure why Prpic is in the starting 11 over Kumar ? Prpic is not playing at all for Porto while Kumar is a regular for Istra in HNL.
Yes I haven’t seen much of Prpić, but many Hajduk fans were baffled that Porto even bought him for that much. He might just be fool’s gold.
Kumar is consistently playing for Istra and is in great form (on a team that is holding their own in the HNL).
I’m sure it’s just because of him being so young, but hopefully he starts getting even more time with NT.
Well probably see Kumar and Sepic come in next game together side by side – today he kept the three Hajduk boys in defence side by side (and Hrgovic and Soticek together on that left side)
Yea that chemistry set up the first goal
2-1 Croatia U21
Beautiful play
Vrban picks up ball center of park – passes to Zvono you DRIVES forward – passes to Soticek with a wicked shot and incredible save – the save comes out to Jaga in the box who FIRES it in with his right foot perfectly pass the keeper and just inside the right post – perfect shot and goal by Jaga
That’s a brace for Jaga
Told you MORONS Anonymous never gives up on Jaga
Anonymous RIGHT
All u MORONS wrong
Turkey 1-0 Ukraine
Croatia and Turkey currently both 14 points
Prpic softest penalty ever (never seen a penalty like that before – a random cross came in and wasn’t really close to the Hungary player to attack)
Anyways – Hungary score – but Silic is a moron – there were THREE Hungary players lined up on Silic right side ready to run and get a rebound – with ZERO Hungary players lined up on Silic left side – it was obvious the penalty would be struck to Silic right side – yet he dove left – come on guys do better
1-1
A bit harsh on Silic, it was a well taken spot kick.
Before it was taken u saw the Hungary player jockeying for position with Sege and encroaching in the box ? And the ref came over and talked to them to stop. It was clear at that point reading the field that three Hungary players on that side and only one Hungary player on the other very far side. This is U21 and it’s simple tactics – this overload is for the side the penalty is being taken – Silic should be able to read this on field – instead he guessed early and dove the wrong way – there was no reason to dive that way
This is Hungary U21 B team – not Harry Kane and England where there is a possibility they overload the wrong side as reverse psychology/tactic – if u see three players jockeying to enchroach on one side as a keeper u dive that way
OUT: Baturina, Jakić, Pongračić and Musa
U21 1-0 at HT
Olic/Kranjcar tactics abysmal
Croatia has 65-70% possession – the build up is CBs passing sideways with FBs over and over again until they try to progress via wings or Silic punting it long – not enough trying to build-up/progress via centre of the pitch – Zvona and Vrban are basically stranded in center midfield (as the half progressed they dropped deeper at times to pick up the ball – but not enough) – neither are involved enough in the game (especially Vrban) – Zvona has more freedom to move around and even help in the press
The line-up doesn’t really work – it’s just put the best eleven players on the field and pray – Jaga and Sege covering a lot of the same area on the pitch (and standing within 5 yards of each other at times) – Jaga is more central and more freedom to roam but still
Jaga – didn’t like his first 38 minutes – lost possession a couple of times – fell on contact a couple of times – going into duels wasn’t great – but the last 7 minutes he was the regular Jaga – went into three duels and drew fouls and or free kicks – much better – nice goal
Sege – not much (too similar/near Jaga) – couple nice defensive sprints back to break off potential attacks – but nothing going forward
Soticek had a good half – very silky on the LW – covers a lot of grass with long strides – like what I see but needs to do more – maybe the best player in the first half – Zvona was good too – Jaga was the best player in the last 7 minutes of the half
Hrogovic – within the first 7 minutes kicked the ball out twice and gave up free kicks – decent going forward – but not really tests defensively – at one point he tried to drift centrally horizontally for some reason and gave the ball up for a counter-attack – would like to see Sepic come on for the 2nd half
Hungary hasn’t gotten really near Croatia box – so zero assessment on defensive nor Silic ability
WOW…what a goal by Jagusic!!!
Which one? Lol
The guy scored three sick goals
Jagusic bicycle kick goal v. Hungary u21, 1-0
1-0
Jaga chest and bicycle kick goal!
Soticek assist
As you guys know, analytics is a major focus of mine. As a long time cybersecurity entrepreneur, it has often been at the forefront. With the growth of ai, I haven’t been able to dive into soccer in the same way my love for it warrants as ai has been a boom for the business given the increased cyber risks it poses and our increased capacity to develop products that I’m so short on time.
With that being said, as we start a new coaching campaign it is important to highlight the change in the analytics set up.
Dalić had Marc Rochon as his lead analyst for essentially his entire Croatia tenure. Rochon had worked with him before Croatia and, after nearly a decade together, obviously had a huge amount of institutional knowledge and familiarity with how Dalić wanted to prepare for opponents.
Bilić has gone in a somewhat different direction. He has three dedicated video analysts, Alen Terzić, Jasmin Osmanović and Ive Bilić, so it looks like a more specialized division of the analytical work rather than having so much continuity centered around one longtime analyst.
Alen Terzić is Edin Terzić’s brother and left Borussia Dortmund to join Croatia. Slaven has known him since 2012 and specifically sought him out for the role. Jasmin Osmanović has a much deeper analytics résumé: master’s in kinesiology, developed at Dinamo Zagreb and Croatia’s youth teams, then worked with Dinamo, Osijek and Trabzonspor and spent years on Nenad Bjelica’s staffs through Champions League, Europa League and Conference League campaigns. He has also been head of match analysis for Bahrain and teaches football at Zagreb’s Faculty of Kinesiology.
Ive Bilic is the nepo pick as Bilics nephew.
The most interesting addition is Gianni Vio, who is there specifically for set pieces. He was part of Italy’s Euro 2020-winning staff, where Italy scored 3 set-piece goals, including the equalizer in the final. He then went to Tottenham, where the impact was pretty striking. Spurs had scored 9 set-piece goals over the entire 38-game Premier League season before he arrived. With Vio, they scored 10 in their first 15 league games the following season and finished with 16, including 12 from corners. He’s also famous for developing a library of nearly 5,000 set-piece routines. Bilić specifically identified Croatia’s set pieces and aerial game as an area that needed improvement, so Vio could be a pretty meaningful addition.
Who knows how it will all pan out but hopefully it means Bilic is not neglecting this area which will become ever more impactful with Ai.
The Zlatko Dalic era began with UAE and a 4-0 victory. We will know in the next 18 months or so if we will miss him. I hope the best for Coach Bilic, but will miss the man who gave Croatia two WC semifinals. Go Croatia! Viva Zlatko!
Croatia U21 starting XI vs. Hungary U21 B-team
Kick-off 11am ET
For those in Budapest
https://m4sport.hu/elo
Silic
Kruselj Prpic Mlacic Hrgovic
Jaga Vrba Zvona
Sege Topic Soticek
Disappointed Istra’s Sepic isn’t starting at LB after he gave the best LB performance of all time last game vs. Gorica – but doubt Olic and Kranjcar actually watch the players
Reminder: SIX of Hungary best U21 are with the A-team – so this is Hungary U21 B team
Who cares
There is some excitement for this team in this site which is interesting given this is essentially the same team as the wc
But people seem to be hopeful for the a new era and the question is why are people feeling that way
I think it’s because
1) people hope a new coach will unlock more from this group
2) there was hope for our defense and it was a disaster. Perhaps now we get to see a true in form gvardiol vuskovic pairing and what it could be
3) martin baturina: the great hope for a game changer. Can he be?
4) the strikers: continued questions of do we have something here? Matanovic, musa, beljo, ivanovic… particularly the first 3 all present hope that they could be a 20 goal scorer in a top league given the right situation. Budimir arguably already prob that but older. Not sure ivanovic is pure striker enough to ever have that much pure goal output
Martin Baturina has a high fever he won’t be playing against Czechia. According to Jutarnji List.
What matters is who actually plays.
Vušković, Matanović and even Peter Sučić weren’t starters at the World Cup. Now they’re getting 90 minutes per game guaranteed.
The CB pairing, that Dalić always defaulted to, have no presence in our box (which is made worse by Livaković being an elite shot stopper, but not dominant in the air). This has led to so many goals against. Now, we’re completely switching it up with Gvardiol/Vušković in the middle.
Some other guys have either gotten a lot better, came back from injury, or came back from the dead (Luka Sučić, Gvardiol, Smolčić, Ivanović) so it adds more to it especially since most are very young and could be part of a future core.
Truth,
I think you covered some of it well in your answers.
I think it’s perhaps because, on the whole, people can see the future taking shape, there is more clarity.
Many of us, whether wanted to admit it or not, believed that when Modric and the “golden generation” were no longer able to carry the team, we would go through a dark valley, and perhaps be wandering in the desert for at least 4-8 years. What we had gone through was special, and we were perhaps hoping that our small country might, once again, somewhere down the road in the not too distant future, recapture its footballing glory and be able to realistically compete against the giant nations of the footballing world, that are not twice as big, but in fact 10-30 times larger than us.
Dalic did wonders for us. We knew he would likely be gone. It was an era that was ending.
Suddenly, we see who are our new coach will be. He has very impressive qualities, he is a Croatian patriot. . . We have 5 core starting players 26 years of age or under, who can now carry the team . . . They are worth between 40-70 million Euros each on transfermarket, but probably worth more than that, four of whom who are 24 and under, . . . and two similarly young players starting to make a real statement (in Luka Sucic and Igor Matanovic) that they belong in that core group of starters.
We have many younger prospects with potential and some great veterans to plug holes and fill gaps. 2028-30 is looking infinitely more promising than it did a short time ago.
WC 2026 involved what felt like the ending of a great era . . . Where we are right now feels more like a beginning.
That would be my take on your question, my answer for what it is worth.
So excited
I think we should be aiming for more than just third place. ***k Spain and England. Yes third is minimum requirement but aim for the stars
Win would be great, but we cannot afford to lose the match. We need to come no lower than third in this group to be seeded for the EURO 2028 qualifying draw.
Need to start the match with our strongest team.
Spain is going to be extremely tough, two matches against them in a space of a week or so, however if we could get a point against them in the return match in Split it would be a bonus.
England will be also tough but I’m optimistic that we could get something from the match in Rijeka with no crowd allowed apart from school kids.
A few years back also in the NL we played out a 0 – 0 draw with England in Rijeka and on that occasion, there was also a ban on crowd attending.
Liva;
Jakic, vuskovic, gvardiol, stanisic;
Kovacic, p sucic;
Perisic, L sucic, baturina;
Igor
Love this formation
I like this lineup. If no Modric and Bati due to illness, put L Sucic on the right wing, Perisic on the left, P Sucic at #10 and Majer along side Kovacic.