-Kramarić scores off a header in the 31’
-Awful 1st half where Croatia were caught on the counter multiple times. Faroe Islands could have easily scored 2x
-Dalić started Mario Pašalić and Baturina with Kramarić and Fruk. Why no wingers??? This was a perfect match for Marco Pašalić to start
-Sosa and Baturina not currently playing for their clubs…and it showed
-DCC and Pongračić were burned multiple times. Boy, did we miss Gvardiol and Stanišić today
Faroe Islands is ranked #141 in the world and went toe-to-toe with #10 Croatia. Much respect.
FINAL. 1-0 Croatia. The Vatreni are honestly lucky to escape the Faroe Islands with all three points tonight.
80′: SUBS. Marco for Mario in a Pašalić swap. Smolčić comes in for Jakić for extra added defensive support.
60′: SUB. Modrić in for Baturina. Hopefully he calms the boys down in the midfield.
50′: First subs come into the match for Dalić. Ivanovic in for Budimir. Perišić in for Borna Sosa. Where is Marco Pašalić at?!
46′: No subs at halftime. Expect the cavalry to come in 15 minutes from now. Croatia need to score one more goal.
HT: Croatia luckily up 1-0. Both sides should have scored twice. This is what you get when you play a B-list squad with zero wingers. Put in Marco Pašalić. Let Modrić and Perišić get in at the 60′ mark.
31′: GOOOOOAL!!! Finally! Jakić sends a cross from the corner flag. Budimir heads it to the back post and Kramarić taps in with his head. Took half an hour but Croatia finally on the board. Still not playing well as we cannot keep up with the Faroese counter.
27′: Petar Sučić rocks a shot off the left post from outside the box. Still 0-0.
20′: Another Faroe Islands counter. They are torching our CBs right now. What is going on?!
10′: Baturnina corner flies off the head off Fruk. Ball is on frame but the Faroese keeper makes the save.
5′: Faroe Islands catch Croatia on a 2v1 break away. Should have been an easy goal but Livaković makes a HUGE save and the ball is cleared off the line my Mario Pašalić.
Lots of new faces coming into the starting XI for Dalić Friday night in Torshavn. Fruk gets the stat alongside Pongračić and Majer. Modrić and Perišić will likely come off the bench in the 2nd half to add to their national caps total. But how can you not start Marco Pašalić on the right win for this match?! What does this guy need to do?
Looks like Stanisic will be attending tonight’s training in Zagreb after the birth of his daughter. Question is will this be enough for him to start against Montenegro?
Stanisic has been playing as a left back for Bayern in recent matches and Dalic is planning on replacing Sosa with Stanisic at left back.
Sosa is a waste of space.
The only thing he’s good at are crosses, but he rarely even does that anymore.
We should look to move forward with a backline of of Stanišić, Gvardiol, Šutalo and Jakić.
@TGAD
Re: Pong Fiorentina vs. HNS
How much of it can be explained down to different set-up/systems and players he has around him ?
Fiorentina play 3 at the back – Pong is usually the middle CB in the back 3 (5 – with two wing-backs)
vs. NT Pong is one of 2 CBs
Fiorentina play with a double-pivot of two #6s / DMs (this is something T started doing this year under Frank with Paulihna and Bentancur – and it makes life so much easier for the back 4 – as they mop up a lot of attacks – before it even gets to defence)
vs. NT Mario Pasalic was the make-shift DM last game
I suspect Pong looks better in Serie A – as the tactical set-up is much more secure and compact – both next to him – as well as directly in front of him with two #6s / DMs – so there is less opportunity for him to be exposed
Last game for the NT – DCC kept trying to get tight on the attacker on the other side of the half-way line before the attacker got the ball (but was always a step or two late) – so the attacker had chance to pass/flick it on to a teammate – and then they hit us fast on the transition – as such Pong was really exposed from beyond the half-way line and had to track back with no speed at his disposal (I doubt those kind of fast counter-attacks happen often at Fiorentina, and definitely not 4-5 times in one half) – also with make-shirt RB Jakic (although he did play good on the whole) and Sosa (who was a disaster defensively)
But I’ve only watched a few minutes here and there of him at Fiorentina – so let us know if this explains it or you have other thoughts/explanations
We always seem to blame Pongracic for our poor performances. OK the guy may not be our best CB, but he was not at fault with the 5minute chance for Faroes.
We lost the ball on the left-hand side with Sosa, Sucic and DCC in particular being way out of position. Mario Pasalic was also slow in tracking the Faroes player back.
From the coaching aspect DCC was the main culprit and of all the players that I have mentioned above Pongracic was the least to blame. Watch the reply.
It’s a good point. Also against Italy at the Euros, Pongračić was actually very solid and was not at fault for the holes in the defense (although he was 100% the weak link against Spain). Pongračić is very skilled with the ball at his feet and is pretty fast. Will be interesting to see who starts tomorrow. DCC is slow and can get arrogant, but he usually plays very well with Šutalo. Pongračić doesn’t seem to combine well with Šutalo. But maybe these things take time, just as the Kramarić-Perišić connection took time to work out
Correct.
Duje kept taking risks. It was frustrating.
Pongračić also made some deep runs with the ball, but Duje kept trying to intercept passes that he had no business trying to get to.
Either way, a trio of Duje, Pongračić (with Mario Pašalić in front of them) is a bad combination that shouldn’t be tried together anymore.
Not sure why we are relying on budimir and kramaric who are already 34..they are better than other strikers based on class and form now..but we really need to incorporate young strikers now..matanovic, (injured), musa, ivanovic (only one considered) and beljo now.
Krama is the leading scorer in the whole qualifying comp and you want to drop him?
I defer to many of the people here who know a heck of a lot more about the game than I do. And I have learned so much from your posts here. But let me go back to the case for Vuskovic, at risk of my being wrong. . . . And maybe I am wrong.
I accept that Vuskovic is only 18.
I have watched Pongracic, and I have watched Vuskovic. I grant that Serie A is a better league than the Belgium League so I accept that. Serie A is a top five league. On the other hand, the Belgium League is a good league, I would think somewhere near the Portuguese League and the Eredivisie. And respect to Pongracic who is a heck of a player to be able to start in a league like Serie A. No disrespect.
1. There is no comparing these two in terms of finishing. Right now. Vuskovic puts the ball in the net. He is a way, way better finisher than Pongracic already. I don’t think it’s close. And with this bunkering Faroe defence, Vuskovic is a physical presence who can finish who would have been a threat to score on each and every corner kick.
2. Pongracic, who has not played as well for the NT as he has in Serie A, is probably not going to be a better player a year from now. He has probably peaked. Vuskovic on the other hand, if he continues to progress as he has (and I agree it is an “if”) will be a much better player by the time of the WC than he is today. He will have one more full season of maturity. Looking out a year, even if he is not so on this day, he is likely our clear fourth starting defenceman by the time of WC.
3. By all accounts that I have seen, Vuskovic is a young guy who has leadership ability beyond his years, he is focused and respectful, confident but also humble. Look at how he speaks about Tottenham, talks about players like Romero and VDV. The kid says he has to work harder and have some luck to be that good. Great attitude. He already talks about finishing his career playing with his brother at Hajduk . . . Family and country . . . . playing in the HNL in front of Croatians. The kid has his head screwed on properly, he is not out doing some of the goofy things or saying some of the goofy things some young players say. A winner. The right kind of young player to have up with the national team.
4. You have legends of the game —not just considered legends in Croatia, but the entire world thinks and knows so— e.g. Modric, Perisic. The whole football world looks up to those guys, respects them. This is a young future leader of our team for the next 15-16 years. . . Why wouldn’t you have him sharing the field and the room with those guys? Learning to win from those guys? Two of the great clutch players we’ll ever see . . .
5. Young Vuskovic has been on the move for a couple of years now: Radomiak Radon, Westerlo, the pre-season at Tottenham, now off to Hamburg and the Bundesliga. He was with the national team earlier in the year, why not keep him with the NT and bring him back for some stability, familiarity, continuity with NT coaches, players, staff, while his club career is evolving and transitional? Let his roots grow as a national team member. He was here. Why send him off in another direction now to U21?
More to say but will leave it there. I respect Dalic, who cannot respect a second and a third in consecutive World Cups, coaching a country of less than 4 million up against those countries 10x, 50x larger. I’ll never knock Dalic.
But why on earth is Vuskovic not with the national team?
A Tin, you make some great points.
I think everyone is asking this question. Vusković should have been on the list here. It was stubborn for Dalic to not give him nod this time around. There were too many players missing and it was the perfect game for him to play.
Vuskovic’s only fault is that he is young, but he is an exceptional player at his age.
Dalic needs to get knocked for this because the issues that we had mostly came from the backline and his seniority rules mentality has bit him in the ass many times before. This tends to happen for him when he has players that are missing like he did with the game against Faroe Islands.
With the risk of sounded like a broken record he really needs to change this soon and more so than he has been. His problem is that he moves at a snails pace with how he has been implementing the youth.
DCC and Pongracic is a duo that does not work. I feel like it’s been tried many times already. It is not to say that either is bad player, the pairing itself does not work. This isn’t the first time Dalic has made tactical errors like this. To point out he does the same tactical errors many times and continues to do so in the future without learning. This pairing should not be utilized against stiffer opponents.
If people are saying we still won, what we have to consider is if this was stronger opposition that we were facing what would have occured then? If it was Montenegro for example they would have probably had more opportunities to score and would have put those chances away potentially.
I do not necessarily agree with some of the call ups. For example, I don’t think Sosa is a strong candidate right now. That may change in time, but currently he isn’t for me. So why not give Vuskovic the nod.
Fortunately for us, our player of the match Livakovic had a great game himself. Also, it seems as though Stanisic will be back for the game against Montenegro, we need the reinforcements right now.
I do understand some of the comments that I have been hearing on that discussion board and I get it. It’s our B team not our A team. Dalic decided what he decided because it was Faroe Islands and because certain palyer were missing. He has won many medals and had a lot of success with the Croatian team. All of this does register, but some of his decisions are still questionable and should be questioned. For example, the call up list and as Maminjo has pointed out the standby list. It goes hand in hand with the problems we are seeing, he needs to utilize the youth properly. I don’t gunk Baturina should be on the wing instead of Marco Pašalić who plays there regularly, just because Dalic’s wants to play him. No player is gonna say no to playing time, it’s the coaches job to manage this issue.
I am no expert, but just some thoughts.
You are correct.
Exactly four years ago (in early 2021) we had the exact same conversation here about Gvardiol and the overwhelming majority were against playing him because he was “too young” despite his obvious talent.
Then a year after that conversation, he was the best CB in the 2022 World Cup.
Giving Vušković minutes on this team (at least as a backup over guys like Duje or Pongračić) has “low risk, high reward” written all over it. It’s not like we’re getting some major stability in that backline with these current guys playing anyway.
We’ll all be laughing about this in a few years from now.
Does anyone have a link to the highlights of this game?
“Faroe Islands can have no complaints with their result against Croatia considering the victors produced 2.6 xG, 26 shots and three big chance, whereas they only mustered six attempts, with just one of those efforts made from inside the box in the second half.” From sportsmole
2.65 xG / 26 shots
Is not a good ratio – it’s lower than every single PL team last year
Looking at 26 shots w out context (xG) is silly
Too many bad (esp w bodies in front) / low probability shots
The issue is we couldn’t break down the block – we needed Bati or someone to play a magic pass cross field to back post – there was really none of that
We just kept moving the ball around the parameter – would have been better if Jakic or Sosa draws the press to their side and than quickly cross field pass the ball to other fullback at that point running forward
But random balls into Budimir’s feet weren’t the solution (his first touch and ability to shake/push defenders off when he has the ball in the box leaves much to be desired)
There was a nice play early on when Sucic passed to Krama who flicked it behind him to Bati – but Bati can’t shoot with his left foot I guess (when the angle/path was clear) so let the ball come across his body to right foot – he stopped the ball – than winded up for a shot (by that time Faroe reset and there was no path/angle to get thru)
Not a criticism
But 💯 Dalic instructed Pero not to receive any tackles into him
Whenever Faroe players were trying to tackle him – he was – in anticipation jumping up to avoid the tackle
It happened several times – maybe they were worried the foot might get stuck in the artificial turf during a tackle and blow his knee out
Again not a criticism – we need Pero for the WC – and we need him playing for club and country (god willing injury free) all year
The qualifier is important but smart to be prudent to make sure Pero doesn’t blow out a knee (like Pjaca in that meaningless friendly on the bad pitch that ruined his career)
Again, research when Pero had the ball and a Faroe player was tackling into him – Pero was doing a bunny hop to avoid any dangerous situation
This is also why btw Dalic didn’t flip Sucic to sole #6 with Mario
He didn’t want Pero in a position to have to tackle – especially in high pressure situations when one wrong tackle can blow the knee on artifical pitch
Re watch the 17 corners
And pay attention to DCC and Pong
How many times did they get their heads on a corner ?
I don’t mean when they close their eyes and it hits their shoulder lol
That’s why Vuskovic should have played – as eg at 14:25 – the corner comes in and Pong has a couple yards space around him – instead of jumping and heading it (like Smolcic did late on) – he just stands and lets the ball go over to head – and Faroe player heads it out
If Vuskovic was there – he heads it on goal – or flips it on to far post where Budimir was lurking
That’s why Vuskovic should have played
Again, rematch all 17 corners – they only player getting their head on the ball was ironically our shortest player Fruk
And btw T asked him to stay and play in the cup games and in case of injury – he said he isn’t better today than Romero and Mikey VDV – doesn’t mean he isn’t better than Pong and DCC lol
It wasn’t really a double pivot OOP
Mario was sole #6
Pero was #8/10 and was not tracking back at all
After 2 minutes – the first breakaway – Dalic should have flipped their positions OOP to stabilize the defence – Sucic has more speed to track back when we gave ball away downfield
That was an easy / obvious in game change
But Mario should be commended on his defensive effort
He ran (as fast as he could) to get right behind the Faroe player on the 1st breakaway – if he’s not there the Faroe player has more time to go around Liva etc
The second break – DCC didn’t block the cross (with his half ass kick up late) and Pong was running nowhere relevant – Sosa was even worse – both w zero positional awareness/relevance – it was Mario that ran back and was aware and positioned himself to get right next to the guy shooting (maybe he even got a slight deflection on the ball – not sure)
But if Moro’s natural position is as a #6 (don’t know) than yeah odd he doesn’t start in that lone #6 role OOP – maybe his club plays w a double #6 OOP and Dalic didn’t think he could handle the solo role ?
Kulusevski posting IG pic of his open knee during surgery today
Meanwhile
Jagusic posting IG yet another pic w his GF wishing her happy bday
🤦♂️
Igor posting IG pics of him at his bubble tea shop serving people
lol
and happy b-day to jaga’s girlfriend!!!!!
Is now a bad time to bring up that Pavlidis scored a goal and had 2 assists y’day ?
no its not
Ok
Then I’ll also mention 17 y/o Karetsas, plays as a CAM/#10 for Gent, but forced on RW for Greece, who had one goal and one assist (Pavlidis assisted on his goal) vs. Belarus
lol
I look at dalic and have just never seen someone who looks that smart. His success with the nt has layered on an additional degree of arrogance.
Overall i tend to think managers don’t matter that much unless they don’t do anything really dumb (see stimac)
Dalic tenure has earned him a lot of the benefit of the doubt. But then again, if a pk shoot out in Russia and qatar lands on tails instead of heads does it all feel so much different?
Offense was ok. There were some threatening shots and good saves. Faroe island is stingy and haven’t lost a game by more than a goal in who knows how long. But someone said Croatia played good but they didn’t. Offense was fine. Defense gave up way too many dangerous opportunities.
Coach Dalic did something which is the envy of many national team coaches- take his team to consecutive World Cup semifinals. Think how hard that is! Call it luck, call it whatever you want, but he did it. Viva Zlatko!
Dude the mental acuity involving coach DALIC is mind boggling coach DALIC has spoiled Croatian futbol fans with unparalleled success amigo enjoy the win !!!!! Not one of the best but a win c’mon man
16 y/o Belinho senior debut for DZ in y’day’s friendly !
id throw him in right now
spain don’t wait why should we
Let’s wait and see if he’s actually good first hahaha.
But yeah, I’d give him a cap just to screw over Brazil haha.
Dalić is not going to satisfy all the fans unless he wins the world cup. He just gave two more players their first caps, and he used a game he thought they could win to give the bench and fringe players a chance to show what they can do in a match where it turns out they could afford to make mistakes. Back in the day, Croatia would have scheduled friendlies to run such experiments, but there is no longer time in the schedule. This was treated like a practice match or a warmup for Montenegro, a match in which the head-to-head result is likely to turn out more important. Was a it a risk? Sure. But getting these players on the field, even in unusual combinations is not a bad thing when your goal is to win a tournament in a year from now. He also seems to have learned from his Nations League mistake against France that he can’t rely on Modrić and Perišić two games in a row (but he can with Kramarić and Budimir). Getting the CBs to work together a bit is always important in case of injury. Pongračić has a problem playing with the repka, but everyone who’s watched him play for Fiorentina knows that he can be excellent, so Dalić is trying to make it happen. 80% possession and 26 shots with only one goal score has training match written all over it, and what is missing is a bit of fine-tuning. Jakić and Livaković deserve more credit than they get.
He also didn’t seem to learn from that same France Nations League game of mis-managing his subs.
Same for Euro2024 final match, when he subbed off Modric and Kova against Italy, leaving our worst midfielder (Broz) in the game, allowing for Italy to come back in injury time.
I don’t think he’s learning anything these ‘experiments’. That’s my issue.
He’s fine when picking our starting eleven (when we have everyone available and at full strength)…but when we’re missing players or if something is not working in-game (and he needs to make a change)…he can’t figure it out.
Maminjo you are dumbie. Broken record with you. Get a life.
Listen to yourself. You make no sense.
I was at that game. I couldn’t believe Kova was pulled. Broz was always so important to our success until the Saudi move. After that his play dropped off considerably. When Modric scored the place erupted. We got jobbed that game with the 10 minutes of added time from the Dutch ref with and Italian boyfriend.
We definitely got jobbed for the additional injury time minutes, but those terrible subs gave Italy the midfield and made it easy for them to come back.
I agree about that. I do think he’ll figure it out for the World Cup though. He seems to make the winning choices in that situation (and mostly only in that situation, although he’s done well in the last two Nations League tournaments too). I have no doubt that Croatia will beat Montenegro tomorrow in a business-as-usual way, like against Czechia and eventually qualify for the world cup.
Do you realize that coach Dalic is one of the longest tenured managers currently I question your knowledge of futbol especially Croatian futbol man
A lot of comments saying Croatia played bad; I disagree. Statistically Croatia dominated in every facet, around 80% possession and 26 shots on goal. That being said you’d expect more than 1 goal from 26 shots. Yes there were a few mistakes from Pong and Duje but they made up for their errors with key blocks/tackles. Also the ref was mediocre, unnecessarily giving a yellow to Ivanovic, and missing more than a few Faroe Island fouls. Sucic was a stud, Fruk should have been subbed out earlier and Baturina was just OK. Livakovic was sharp and Jakic played well. For a Croatian B Team that rarely (if ever) plays they got the 3 points. On to Monday’s game.
Fruk was actually good yesterday. I’d like to see him play more centrally (as it is his natural position).
I like that Dalic at least played Krama in the middle (instead of sticking him out wide) and have Budmir in front of him.
They have GREAT chemistry together, and I think we REALLY need to stick with this tandem in our starting eleven.
I don’t like Ivanovic’s role on this team.
I would like to stick Ivanovic in the starting eleven and try him out in the same role that Fruk had yesterday.
I think that Ivanovic needs to play with a frontman (like he does at Benfica with Pavlidis lately) and I’d like to see if he can replicate his club success as a starter with us.
Dalic is using him as a direct substitute for Budimir…but this doesn’t make any sense as they are completely different players.
If we need a backup for Budimir, we should probably be calling up one of Kulenovic or Beljo (to fill that Budmir role off the bench if we need a guy to get physical with the opposing CBs and get his head on crosses).
Can’t have Krama or Ivanovic acting as the lone striker up top anymore.
Although this game was hard to watch, and we played poorly – we still got the 3 points. Too many times we’ve not got the result and made our road harder. Remember we didn’t start/have available 6/7 regular starters. Modric, Perisic, Kovacic, Sucic, Stanisic, Sutalo and Gvardiol. Think about that. Dalić knows he had to save both Modric and Perisic for Montenegro.
Dalić isn’t a magician but aside from not starting Marco Pašalić, what else could he have done with the players we had? Sure we could have kept Vuskovic and had him start in place of Pongracic but I’m not sure that would have made a difference.
We don’t have the depth to replace that many regulars.
I’m hearing Stanisic is back next game and I’m hoping Sutalo can play. That should shore up the back.
Things he could have done were the following…
#1 – Do NOT sub out Budimir (a header specialist) against a bunkering team…our scoring chances dropped off significantly once he was subbed off
#2 – Do NOT start two of your slower CBs against a team that is very fast on the counter (I understand that we were short handed, but I think Šutalo was available and Dalić was just saving him for Montenegro)
#3 – If you insist on saving Šutalo for next game, then call up Vušković and/or some other young and fast defenders for more depth (Duje and Pongračić kept getting burned on the counter to the point where we had to sub in Modrić to help out defensively)
#4 – Play Marco Pašalić (an actual RW player) and stop using the RW position as an excuse to play the next central midfielder who feels they should start
#5 – Don’t ever start Mario Pašalić in the pivot.
He’s not good defensively. Either start him in a more offensive role, or just keep him on the bench.
Not sure what defensive breakdown happened between him and Duje, but it led to that first Faroe breakaway.
I’ll give you the Budimir sub bit again Dalić probably saving him for Montenegro which should be a tougher game than this one.
Sutalo is just coming back from his injury and I’m sure Ajax would be pissed if he plays 2 full games in 4 days. He’s been a sub twice for Ajax since coming back and has played 40 minutes so far this season. I’m sure he starts next game.
If they don’t start Mario P in the pivot, who do they start in his place? Moro would be an option, but everyone would lose their minds about starting him period. We had no other options with all of the injuries.
As for Vuskovic, he’s obviously going to be a big part of our future and a huge talent. But he’s an 18 year old kid who last played in a match Aug 3rd and played for 11 minutes. I agree with smart, there is no way any coach in their right mind starts and plays him. The other option on the bench was Erlic…and I think he’s slower than Pong and Duje.
I’ll say it again, we were so depleted that he cobbled together what he could.
Calling up so many inured players was the issue.
Starting Moro actually would have been a good idea. The guy is a reliable player and is a natural defensive midfielder. Maybe he’s out of shape though. I think Pongračić had to get the start in these circumstances. It’s on him that he plays so much better for Fiorentina than for HNS. I agree that Mario P is a terrible choice for a defensive midfielder.
@Mali Ante
Jakić can play the role. It’s his natural position and he’s better suited for it than Mario Pašalić.
Then you call up Moris Valinčić (best player in the HNL right now) to cover RB. Smolčić wasn’t bad there either.
I agree with Jakić being a natural defensive midfielder. But then to start either Smolcic or Valincic at RB in their first cap would be tough a call. Once injured players are back, all will be fine again. Dalić does need to find another LB or RB as cover. You can’t count on Juranovic as he’s often injured. What ever happened to Bradaric? I think he’s in Serie A and was great for the U21s a few years back.
It’s not that tough a call.
When he was finally forced to call up and start Petar Sucic (with Brozovic’s retirement), it worked out well…and it worked well because Petar Sucic was in great club form in this same CDM role and it translated well on the NT pitch.
Pasalic always plays VERY poorly for us in the pivot. Our huge losses to France and Portugal in Nations League were when he played there. He was largely invisible there yesterday, so it would be addition by subtraction by playing Jakic there.
Valincic is in full form and would have probably done fantastic yesterday at RB. If not, then you have Smolcic. If he’s a bum too, then you can say that you did all you could.
But to try the same failed experiments over and over (with zero success) shows that Dalic lacks the confidence to go beyond the players outsight of his seniority list. Positions don’t seem to matter to him.
Pašalić did track back and save a goal when he cleared it from the line. I think it was partly his fault by Pašalić played out of position and was invisible but wasn’t horrible. Sucic aside from his shot off the post made a number of awful passes.
Not sure that you are right about the comment on Luka Vuskovic ??
Had he played it probably would have been worse?
Vuskovic has hardly played in the last month or for that matter in the entire pre-season and some people on here would have him in the starting 11 lol. Pongracic is not the greatest but has been a regular starter for Fiorentina in the new season and in the absence of Sutalo he is the most logical choice as a CB.
Vuskovic has great potential, but let’s be realistic the 18 year old kid is not ready for EPL and I doubt that he is ready for Bundesliga with HSV? he would have been better staying in the Belgium League or the English Championship for his development.
My point is, we went into this game with the intention of playing only two CBs. We didn’t call up any CBs that we legitimately intended to play.
Dalić does this thing where he predetermines his lineup and subs in advance of the game and rarely makes a tactical in-game sub. He’s done this before and was burned for it.
Whether it’s Vušković or some other CB… just call up someone you would sub into the game in case of injury or performance issues (like today).
It’s just my opinion to call up Vušković because he’s one of our biggest talents and worth subbing in for a few minutes.
It’s not like guys like Sosa, Baturina, Smolčić and Duje play regularly at their clubs anyway (and they all got minutes).
Very bad game
Sometimes you play down to your competition
Let’s hope today was the case
1. Agree vuskovic needs to be involved and groomed to replace DCC before WC 26.
2. Modric doesn’t look like he can play 70 mins. It’s a good question weather to start him or bring him on at 1/2 (everyone knows Dalić will play for PK’s – which has worked well in the past and is likely still the best strategy to defeat superior opponents). It just seems he has more and more sloppy mistakes (and believe me … there is no bigger Modrić Fan then I. I cried when he scored that goal at Italy > Luka Sucic > Budimir > Modrić).
3. Maybe Budimir deserves more credit with his head (he delivers for club). He’s just so awkward. The player I was most excited to see and most disappointed with was Franjo. I just came from pork chop land and bought his jersey in Ibufeira. We are going to need him for a good +45 mins at WC.
4. Perisic changes the entire (attacking) dynamic of the team even at 36
5. Petar Sucic is the future in midfield. If he burried that first shot (post) there would be 100 articles saying Madrid is signing him. (I agree there were a few bad passes).
6. I would have liked to See Majer play (but not on the wing). He will likely need to sub in mid during WC (although Kova should be young enough to play 90 when healthy).
7. Marco Pasalic was a bit disappointing but maybe the goal after he came on was to kill clock and be conservative
***Instead of Doom & Gloom …. I saw a really nice (unexpected) bright spot to get EXCITED about …. ***
***Toni F#%^ing Fruk***
I’m not talking about being over aggressive at times, trying bicycle kicks or a few clever passes ….
I’m talking about the hustle
Winning balls and hustling back after 70+ mins
Fruk showed out
Hopefully he isn’t a 1 kick wonder
Lots of love to everyone (including Dalić. What he has done over the last 2 WC’s is unthinkable). Hopefully we have another deep run and players like Josko, Petar & Franjo start taking over (All under 25yes old).
We won and you can say that we had a bit of luck. I guess the main thing is we got the important 3 points.
I wrote earlier that I did not think that Dalic was going to be a fool and not start with our strongest lineup and what does he do? he leaves Modric and Perisic in particular on the bench. We simply did not have enough quality crosses into the box. Defensively we looked shaky especially in the first 20 minutes or so and could have been down 1 or 2 goals.
Faroes are no mugs like majority on this forum thought; they defend well in numbers and are dangerous in transition, on set pieces and playing on a plastic pitch is a great leveler. They won’t be easy again come November when we play them in Varazdin.
Majer was supposed to start but from what I understood on NOVA TV he felt unwell? prior to the match and was a late change.
Most of our players are not in good form and lack playing time not to mention injuries. We need to win against Montenegro and then the big and most likely the decisive match against Czechia in Prague in early October.
On paper Chechia have an easier draw having beaten Montenegro twice and their three remaining matches are Croatia (H) Gibraltar (H) and Faores (A).
I guess what we have learned today is that our qualification for the WC is still some distance away.
And the Faroes signature win was???
So there is an article on Jutarnji, Stanišić had a daughter which is why he missed this game. He will return on Sunday apparently. We desperately need the guy back.
you think we should call up domagoj vida to stabilize the back line?
he still is our best secondary defender and plays a lot
We got the win but this game could have ended in a disaster. Had this been another team this game would have ended in disaster. Montenegro will be a challenge and we still have a long way to go. Cannot complain to much since this campaign has started off very well and would like to avoid the drama
Overall: 3 games, 9 points , 11 goal differential, on the surface, seems like incredible results.
Don’t really want to know how the Cevap results were constructed today, but next time, Dalic needs to season with Luka V., and Marco P. if we can. Best to continue to keep the Majvar sauce bottle closed. Hopefully, we don’t need to rely on Kramaric and Livakovic to provide lamb next time.
Pong?
Pongracic continues to be a disaster in defense. Running around like a headless chicken. Zero defensive awareness. Whenever he plays we’ve gotten smashed by 3 goals against turkey, austria, and spain. If Faroe was a half decent team we would have conceded three goals and lost 3-1. I dont care if duje and pong played together 10 years ago in salzburg, that duo has never worked out for us.
Observations:
1. We have exactly three world class defenders: Stanisic, Sutalo and Gvardiol. And they are all world class. This is Sutalo’s last year at Ajax as a top team in a top 5 league is going to go after him. After those three, there is a huge drop off. The obvious guy to step into the role and take over that fourth spot as we head toward World Cup is Vuskovic. It is, as has been quite rightly noted below, a terrible mistake not to have him with this squad. Respect Dalic for what he has done, but he is wrong on this. Moreover, for those of us who watched Vuskovic play a fair bit in the Belgium League last year, he can be deadly on set plays and getting his head on the ball. The guy scores goals. With all those corner kicks today, Vuskovic would have been (quite likely) our biggest threat to get his head on a few of those, might have had a goal or two, and I think made a difference in this game. If you are playing against a team that plays that kind of defence, you need Vuskovic. He would have been a great offensive threat in this game. Strategic mistake not to have him in the lineup and on the field. Gvardiol broke out at the last World Cup, Vuskovic should be the Gvardiol of 2026 WC.
2. Some guys seem to play better for the NT than their club team, and some play not as well for NT and better for club. Why? I don’t know why. I have watched Pongracic in Serie A. I think he actually plays better in Serie A. I don’t know why that is, but it just seems to be the case. He did not play well today, he is a better player than that. He plays better in Serie A.
3. Petar Sucic is great. He is the future. But he was not up to par today. Too many passes went awry, they were just not sharp. He will be better.
4. Baturina does not seem to have the jump or confidence he once had. (Probably due to lack of playing time at Como?).
5. Some guys just have a nose for the net. Krama is one of them. He just has a knack of getting into the right place at the right time and scoring. I don’t think anyone teaches that, some players just have it…a goal scorer’s instincts. And we needed that today, it was the difference.
I look forward to everyone else weighing in with their thoughts. I agree we were lucky today not to be scored upon once or twice. Not a stellar game.
Question:
How much does this artificial field matter? How much was it the source of our apparent troubles? I saw our guys slipping and so forth…not a great performance, but can we chalk at least some of it up to this field?
Let’s hope for a better performance against Montenegro.
Have a great weekend everyone.
I watched a Prva HNL game live in Sibenik where they used the same half-turf, half-grass hybrid. Guys were slipping all over the place. It was comical.
if we think this was painful, just wait till we play a team with speed and structure …
we ain’t very good, speed never was addressed and we will pay for it
Get the hell out there with the 3 points.
Horrible game, but there is a reason those hacks never lose by more than 1…long ball and hard to play against on that turf…..hopefully they steal some points off the Czechs for us at home…(they only lost late in Prague 2-1)…. Time to pummle the Montenegrins…
This was an unnecessary scare. How do you make Faroe Islands look good?
No experimenting against Montenegro. Play wingers on the wings. Don’t play DCC and Pongracic together.
Duje needs to be told that he’s not a forward nor a flank player. Pongracic too.
They both made some deep runs forward, and slowly made their way back. I saw Duje running up the left side on one play in the second half.
Mario Pasalic isn’t a defensively great player, so he’s not going to drop back and give them that cover (like Modric and Kovacic can) to do these things.
Just happy to get the ugly win and move on. Really game against a classic bunker and playing artificial grass didn’t bode well. They are not a Gibraltar-like push over team. Not to mention being without 3 of your starting back 4 plus no Luka Sucic, Majer getting hurt before the game started AND having Modric and Perisic start on the bench.
Jakic filled in nicely and as someone on the site said, is a solid Swiss Army knife player for us.
Yea, Jakic has a nice role for us on this team as a useful backup.
But when we play teams like this, we NEED to just stick to our crosses and proper corners.
Krama’s goal was a result of a nice cross and header from Budimir. Budimir (and a few others) had some other great crosses and headers this game.
We sent in like 3 proper crosses at the end of the game too (in injury time) and almost scored on each of them.
Not sure why we had to stop doing this during the first part of that second half.
Terrible substitutions and game management by Dalic (except the Modric sub).
I think we were so short handed for these games (Luka Sucic being Dalic’s fault), that Dalic had to adjust the lineup and keep Modric and Perisic fresh for the next game.
All these young guys are at new clubs or trying to fight for their next big career move in the next few upcoming transfer windows. They’re not going to get injured on artificial turf in the Faroe Islands. It’s a nothing of a game where only 3 points mattered. 3 games, 3 wins. What more can we ask for as fans at this point in the qualifiers?
If you watched the game, you’d see that Faroe were countering hard and creating many chances for themselves.
This wasn’t some routine 1-0 win, where our players had full control and were playing it safe to avoid injury.
Faroe had a breakaway in the first half, and Livakovic bailed us out. That should have been 0-1. Faroes also dominated chances in the first 30 minutes of the second half (after we stupidly subbed out Budimir).
We had to bring out Modric because we were so disorganized defensively.
For sure, not a great showing. But the Faroe keeper had a superb game, and our qualifiers have never been a good indication of how we perform at major tournaments anyways. I’m not saying it’s anything to be proud of necessarily, but it’s frustrating to watch some Croatian fans act as if this is a sign of things to come when we’ve always bounced back from poor performances like this one.
I’m sure we will bounce back, but it’s a bad sign when your coach takes stupid risks and makes stupid mistakes like this (and was only lucky to get by with 3 points).
I don’t want us to lose our World Cup seeding. I don’t want to see bad lineups like this during an actual tournament either.
We didn’t call up the right backups. We chose to play players with seniority (out of position) than simply play guys in the roles they know. We subbed out our most effective player, which gave the opposing team a lot of momentum. Then we had to sub in Modric, just to calm the waters (and risk injury to him).
Overall, just stupid coaching, and I wish I could say we won’t see this again, but I’m sure we will.
Dalic is absolutely loyal to a fault. I think some fan’s demands, like wanting Kotarski to be played today instead of Livakovic, are just stupid. One has a World Cup bronze medal, the other is having a good start to their season in Denmark. They’re obviously not at the same level.
But our winger issue is a good example of what you’re talking about. Pjaca, for example, looked significantly more dangerous for us in the limited minutes he got (when he was still in the fold about a year ago) than any of the slower veterans he was so persistent on playing in that position. And that probably doesn’t even crack the top 10 examples I could have used. Head-scratching for sure
Brother a win is a win a little humble pie never hurt no one amigo we all as fans of Croatian futbol should be grateful that ZLATKO Dalic was at the wheel man
The silver lining is the lesson that we shouldn’t take anybody lightly. We also started 6 players who usually don’t start- a good chance to get some experience. And everyone has a bad game once in a while. Good time to have one and maybe it will be a wake-up call.
Shit game….
Ante wtf why do I have a rookie u er 10 comments Ive fucking been with you from the start and know I have well over a 100 comments come fix that get it together I know your bust …but from the begin Ning ive been there
sorry for the typo’s * busy
Wow! Was this a painful watch ….
Doesn’t look like any of our young guns want to be on HNS , just keep bringing in other young guys till we see who wants it. Outside of Fruk, this young guys look like their not ready for the big team.
What young guns?
The only young guy out there was Baturina (who was played out of position).
Very, very poor.
DCC and Pongracic obviously are not the first choice for the CB pairing. Seems like we have seen this pair in friendlies before and they were terrible. On the other hand, Jakić is doing good job filling in at RB.
They haven’t been good today.
Faroes should’ve been up 1-0 on that break, and there have been a few other close calls on the counter.
Should have just tried Luka Vušković.
Not calling up Vuskovic was a big mistake here, now that Gvardiol is injured. Now he is forced to play a more offensive player like Perisic at the back. So to me I would substitute one of the two of Fruk or Baturina and place Marco Pašalić there. You need someone that has an eye for goal.
Duje and Pongračić are completely out of sorts.
They’re going to sub in Modrić just for defense.
I’m not sure what Dalic’s idea is to always have players out of position. I thought both Fruk and Baturina were midfielders…not wingers. This seems like an odd lineup to me. Why not play Marco Pašalić in his natural position? He is that scared of playing a guy that is in MLS? This Faroe Islands man…not Germany or Italy. He really is afraid to take risks.
They’re playing on artificial grass too.
You’d think Dalić would play the one guy on the squad who plays regularly on this type of grass.
Poor Sosa slipped out of bounds on this stuff haha.
Well, we’re winning
Did those Farris Wheel Island guys putting downers in our juice. The guys look messed up , like on some Epstein drugs
Baturina reminds me physically of Majer and Vlasic, big chested with high center of gravity and slow. Sucic on the other hand is swift and impresses me.
Duje not having the greatest game
What happened to Majer? They are saying injured in warm up . . .
Any stream guys? The time has come to watch the game not talk about it!!!
https://vipleague.im/football-schedule-streaming-links
I’m expecting a 5-0 win today. Let’s see what our substitutes are capable against even a weaker team. Croatia has implemented lots of fresh new talent and lots of quality transfers out of HNL. I’m worried still about our backend with our left backs not being strong. Also having youth on our side for wingers and a forward concerns me. Let’s see if Livakovic can step up in a more fast paced and skilled league. I’d like him to gain more confidence and ball control. La Liga will test him and much more preparedness for next year. I’m also predicting Germany or Italy aren’t making the World Cup. Both have looked awful since the last Euro. Even mid teams like Belgium or Sweden are diminishing. Spain, Portugal, France and England always are going to make it far. I’d say as of now we are in the category with Switzerland, Netherlands etc. I still think we have the potential to make another run one more time with this squad. Perhaps a quarter finals? It will be a much easier route if we stay top 9 in the FIFA rankings. Nevertheless we will have to play the best regardless. I just hope next year is an improvement after that disastrous Euro. It still boggles my mind that teams such as Jordan or Uzbekistan qualified.
I think that is a bit ambitious seeing as tho their last 11 games have been a solitary goal win/loss and they are clearly good defensively in recent times.
Wow
Modric and Perisic bench
Fruk starting !!!
Jakic RB
4-4-2 with midfield diamond
Budimir Krama
Majer Fruk
Sucic Mario Pasalic
Sosa Pong DCC Jakic
We should be able to put in a team from Zadar Zlivo weekend league and beat Farris Wheel Island. Idemo.
Jakic and Majer should be in the starting eleven.
Re: Stanisic private life
A week ago
Nobody knew anything about it. Zero. Nothing.
Today
Stanisic already has a son (!), and his expecting a daughter (big sister to his son). She was due Aug. 30th but she is taking her time.
Still no clarity on “partner” situation though
I’m sure Stanisic is thrilled that Dalic initiated this snow-ball effect
Hopefully he doesn’t score an own-goal vs. Montenegro as pay-back to Dalic
Anonymous’ scouting / eye testing knows no bounds !
Vuskovic HSV competition CB Omari (Comoros lol) lost yesterday to Mali 0-3
Omari is #20 – he looks really slow to react on all three goals (like his brain processing speed is a slow to progress than react) – he doesn’t seem to read the game well nor anticipate – and his movement seems sluggish/slow – and his angle to close down attacker is completely off
1st goal – he went to close down defender (not good angle) – but weird defending where he opened his leg and ball went thru to man in front who scores
2nd goal – he was slow to react/track back – the keeper brought down the man for a penalty – but if the attacker got around the keeper Omari was nowhere – after the penalty got called Omari booted the ball into the stands (guess he got a yellow for that?)
3rd goal – his movement towards the attacker all alone near the byline was terrible – but it was obvious the attacker’s only option was to cut it back/cross into front of net – but he didn’t close down distance towards attacker nor did he anticipate and dive to intercept/kick the ball out of play to prevent the cross getting through
Overall not impressed – if this is what Vuskovic is competing against – think he should be ok
Here are the highlights
***.plus.fifa.com/en/player/6cb49fb9-b74d-458e-9e3a-f1f17ea40d77?catalogId=151ce0ab-d9ad-468c-95d8-86f3bd1ff0e7&entryPoint=Default
I didn’t think Smolcic got called up? Did he get called up as a back up. Maybe I missed something.
Initially Smolcic was not called up nor was he on the standby list.
When Juranovic got injured Dalic called him up.
Looks like those squad lists are not set in concrete and they can be changed at a late notice to replace injured players.
The standby list is looking like a joke.
Dalić needs to stop doing this nonsense.
Dalic is no fool and will correctly start with our strongest 11 currently available players, anything else would-be sheer stupidity. This an important WC qualifier and no time for risky experiments or underestimating Faroes. Hopefully we can score a few goals? and in the second half rest some of our senior players.
The only question is will it be Pongracic or Erlic to partner DCC in the middle of the defence.
Last interview that I saw from Dalic suggests that Stanisic might be back for the Montenegro match?