The Vatreni play their final friendly before taking off for the United States Sunday night versus Slovenia in Varaždin. Dalić is rumored to put out a 4-2-3-1 lineup which is the ideal formation for CroatianSports as long as right winger Marco Pašalić starts opposite Perišić.
We need to assume the Slovenia starting XI is how Dalić wants to start vs. England June 17th in Dallas.
Don’t really understand this lineup
Oh nice. Stanisic needs a rest. Apart from that it’s good
Livaković
Stanišić
Erlić
Pongračić
Gvardiol
Modrić
Kovačić
Marco Pašalić
Kramarić
Perišić
Budimir
Lineup livi stanisic Erlic pongracic gvardiol Modrić kova pasalic krama perisic Budimir
Any news on lineups?
Finished watching Belgium
U guys are all way to reactionary and negative (hopefully that’s not how you live your lives)
It wasn’t that bad
Luka V was 100% tanking to hide his ability – light jogging so he seems slow (like on the 2nd goal), not heading any ball in the defensive box the whole game, not even marking anyone on defensive corners, 1st goal he didn’t step up fast enough and block, etc etc
Not surprised none of u MORONS picked it up – it’s pretty obvious
Did u see at the 70th min subs (there was probably a water-break then too anyways) but Luka ran over to Corluka and they had a several minute 1-on-1 discussion – Luka was waving his arms trying to figure out what he should have done better and what he needs to do (of course not – as none of u pay attention)
Moro – he’s like Pauhlino – pure 6 – but actually has a nice passing range – like that switch of play to Marco on the right side – not even sure he gave away the ball on the 2nd goal – looked like he was fouled – he was responsible defensively and tracked back and broke up a couple of plays – he’s a good pure 6
Did u all see Luka Sucic SPRINT BACK FULL SPEED on 4th minute of extra-time and take the ball away from Lukaku ? WOW WOW WOW – I checked 5 times to make sure the # on back of jersey that it was actually him – couldn’t believe it – now if THIS is how he is able and willing to play there is an argument that the starting midfield for England should be Pero, Bati and Luka Sucic and of course Modric (one of them has to go to “RW” or whatever) – was so nice to see it – and the boy is VERY FAST – incredible – this is the BEST thing I’ve seen him do on the NT – and he got rid of that negative body language maybe he’s grown out of his petulance
None of u MORONS picked up that b/w the 60th and 70th minute subs – we played a back 4 with Sutalo moving to RB (until Jakic came on) ? U guys are mostly helpless u don’t pay attention – Luka V was tanking anyways – but we had a back 4 for at least 10 minutes
Think Dalic brought on Budimir and Krama – to confirm – they shouldn’t start against England – Budimir is a complete disaster – he is so clumsy like Bambi – he body-checks people needlessly if he even bothers pressing (Musa is a bit guilty of the needless contact too but he’s smarter about it) – he goes looking to be fouled and flops – he missed all those headers (in a real game Luka V would have stepped in and called to take the header that Budimir rattled off the cross-bar) – he’s not fast enough or seemingly willing enough to press England – we need FAST and ENERGETIC and PHYSICAL front 3 (or whatever) to press England – Musa and/or Igor will start vs England – mark it
Krama – as others have said – is just a poacher – and likes his little moves on the ball – but offers nothing else – he is a luxury player – he can’t start vs. England – we will be a man down from the get go – u need YOUNG and ENERGETIC players
Nobody mentioning Croatia midfield – I mean the pundits – if Pero, Bati and Luka Sucic – are ready – I say start the three of them – they all have something to prove on the international stage – all three are being under-appreciated – of course you have Modric on there to manage the game and instruct the kids – give them the stage and let they run it again England
I really hope Croatia ends up with a 4 in the back for the WC. The LWB/RWB positions are really hard to fill and we just don’t have someone on the right who’s going to be both dangerous going forward and reliable defensively.
Today’s predicted lineup (Livaković – Stanišić, Šutalo, Vušković, Gvardiol – P. Sučić, Kovačić – Marco Pašalić, Modrić, Perišić – Budimir) is probably our best starting XI at the moment. Kramarić/Baturina are also really good CAM options if Modrić drops back.
I said it before that majer is a worthwhile nt player
I felt against Belgium he could’ve been needed off the bench as Croatia looked devoid of offensive ideas when the subs came on
Hrvatska za Sloveniju (4-2-3-1):
Livaković – Stanišić, Erlić, Šutalo, Gvardiol – Modrić, Kovačić – P. Sučić, Kramarić, Perišić – Budimir.
I’d like to start a GoFundMe to payoff Dalic to play Marco on the right and call up Majer on the bench.
I think one person here or a few had said Majer is too slow but that’s only when Dalic inserts him in a false position on the wing.
I also would like to start a separate GoFundMe to have Dalic instruct players to add at least 3-5 crosses in the box per half.
Besides that let’s hope and pray that Dalic’s magic run goes out with a bang.
https://croatiansports.com/croatia-take-on-belgium-in-world-cup-friendly-tuesday-12pm-et-kickoff/#comments/527721
@A Tin U
Hmm I believe Dalic is going with four at the back versus Slovenia. Hope Vuskovic will start again so we can catch a glimpse of how he does in a four-man backline. I would probably go with Sutalo too as his CB partner (despite the recent errors)… c’mon that Sutalo of season 2024–25 must still be somewhere waiting to be summoned by Bog for our party this month!
I’m looking forward to World Cup too and boy, do I love your mantra— Modest expectations but high hopes 🙂
I said this before the goal of Sutola’s was ping ponged and was a fluke but this what happens when you throw balls in the box.
It’s doesn’t have to be pretty. As well I find all our defenders super talented but overly confident.
They tend to be to arrogant and goof around with ball when sometimes you just need to blast the ball into the stratosphere and not take chances.
They always think they can dribble and pass their way out of the zone.
Maybe another GoFundMe is required on basic clearance tactics, lol.
Looking forward to today’s game!
Hopefully we’ll learn a little more.
We’ll probably see Matanovic at some point. In a perfect world, it would be nice to have at least one of the strikers catch fire and even pop a couple of goals today before leaving to WC. . . maybe it will be Igor.
Modric, Kovacic, and Gvardiol, who have not played as much as usual at their clubs, will have another opportunity to fine tune their game.
Baturina is ready to go. Looked solid against Belgium. Petar Sucic should be clutch and give us a Broz level performance at WC. I am not too worried about those two.
Hopefully Sutalo has a good game today and plays with confidence. Yeah, we definitely need the 2024-25 Sutalo . . .
Another WC wild card is Luka Sucic. After a disappointing season, at least in the early going, he certainly ended on a high note with the cup win at Real Sociedad, and scoring that big goal when it went to kicks and everything was on the line. He has the ability to be an offensive threat, has a good foot when he unloads it, which is something we need. He has travelled a bit of a rocky road with the NT in the lead up, maybe a little more time for L Sucic today to see where he is at and what he might bring to the table for us.
@Bartolec, I will be interested in reading the post-game insights and commentary here as always.
Bog i Hrvati!
Should be interesting to see if Dalic goes back to 4231 formation.
For confidence it is important that we depart for the USA on a winning note and hopefully no injuries.
Some people on here (previous topic) were stating that our women’s team was about to qualify for the women’s WC in 2027. There is just about NO Chance of that happening.
Yes, we top our group but in League C. Even if we were to win the group ahead of Kosovo or come out as one of the best runners up, we then have to play countries that are runners up or third placed teams from League A and following that there is another play-off match.
The best we can do is win the group and move up into League B but qualifying for the women’s WC with the current standard of our players is only a dream.
Watching the match against Kosovo we did have one player Galic from Australia playing for us. I think that is what HNS needs to do like in men’s recruit players from diaspora, but the only problem is I don’t think enough Croatian girls play soccer in diaspora at a high level.
It’s really not important how good the opposition are. That is nothing croatia can control. If a team is amazing and plays incredible and beats us then you just have to accept it. But the guys must make sure we play to our strengths. That we are confident and positive and do what we do well. We are also be of the best in the world at feeling the spaces and rhythm of a game. We beat England in the World Cup semi final before, first 30 minutes England completely dominated. Then we found the space and slowly began to control the rhythm. By the end England had nothing and we could have scored more. Teams will try to hurt us early the way Spain did. We must start very strong and professional. If we are focused and sharp and organised the game will begin to go our way. Football is like chess. Every match is a completely unique story.
Hoping Modric puts together the lineup and does his coaching as he has done for the last 8 years. Dalic will be at mass praying for a raise
England New Zealand
1-0
Apparently a pretty piss poor performance by England
Let’s not hit the panic button yet guys
I watched it, it was a sedate game with a lot of England second and third stringers I think so that puts it in some context.
Panama 1 – 1 Bosnia again has me thinking Panama are not as bad as I first thought 🤔
thats their team England thats not 2nd or 3rd stringers.They changed half out at 1st half.
Panama are very organized and will try to score on the counterattack and on set plays. They work very hard and will battle for every ball. They scored against Bosnia in injury time after a corner kick.