I think a lot of the croatian success in the past 10-15 years was as a result of fierce and extreme patriotism and pride za dom I do not see it in this next generation of players where are the boban's and kovac's evry ball contested every inch contested the next generation has already forgotten the price payed for hrvatska by so many
Re: Alex There is no point mentioning Soldo over a new appointment which will most likely happen within next 8 months. I'd hugely doubt Soldo will make an impression in that time.
You are correct there is no young coach who has made a significant impression. The only ones who have roled their sleeves up and had a good crack at coaching are Nenad Bjelica, Kruno Jurcic and Igor Pamic but that qualifies them only for a decent HNL1 post at the moment. I'm sceptical about Soldo as he just continued someone elses work. That's Josip Kuze and Branko Ivankovic's baby at Dinamo not Soldo's.
It might not look good, but i'm sorry Ivankovic is the most qualified Croatian coach. He's won the Croatian league comfortably. He was assistant coach to Blazevic. He's still only in his 50's which is a good coaching age. He also guided Iran to the World Cup finals. Nobody else has a CV like that who is under 60 years old.
Yes Ivankovic does not inspire confidence, but if anyone can tell me a coach with a better CV then i'd like to hear it. I wouldn't like Ivankovic to take the post and i doubt it'd raise enthusiasm amongst other fans. But if HNS gave him the post then i'd support him and say at least he has some credentials. Basically you look at Niko Kovac, Prosinecki, Soldo, Mise etc they have no credentials. They should go and prove something first.
The next qualified is Zoran Vulic, but again all you'd say is this guy deserves a good HNL1 post, not a post as national selector. We can afford a foriegn coach. I have no doubt HNS can get a decent coach when they have the whole world to choose from. I wouldn't want Croatia to bankrupt themselves on a coach that has only come for the money. I'd want a coach that wants to prove something and really wants the job for football reasons.
@ Ziva Istina – If you read what I said carefully, I said he deserved a shot the beginning of last season where he banged in goals on a weekly basis for almost 8 weeks straight. That was in both the cup and league play.
As I said, it's too soon to know whether Soldo will be a good coach. However, he has the right attributes to be one. Only time will tell. My implication is that there aren't a whole lot of young Croatian managers and certainly not many older ones with an impressive CV. The pool is just too small. I'd love to hear how we'll afford a foreign coach, though. Unless Markovic put the money aside saved from Bilic' first contract( yeah, right,(I'm joking)), there's no way the HNS can or would pay for a quality foreigner. Besides, no decent foreign coach would tolerate the constant meddling by the Illluminati- a good thing. The Illuminati, however, wouldn't want their interests threatened- a bad thing. If the best you can suggest is Ivankovic, we're in trouble. If every Croat contributed just $1, we could afford any manager on the planet. Hell, alot of us (myself included) would contribute quite a bit more. Oh, well, we are allowed to dream…
I think Soldos proved nothing so far. It was not his team at Dinamo and he did no more than Ivankovic and Kuze had already set up before him. He also jumped ship early. Mainly cos he couldn't work with Mamic. However to take a team like Cologne to bottom of league is poor. They bought Podolski for £10m for goodness sake. How can you do that and be bottom of league. No to Soldo. No to Stimac. No to Prosinecki. No to Asanovic. No to Niko Kovac. I suppose so if forced to Ivankovic. But hopefully a foriegn coach.
I'd love Boban at the helm but like others have said, I'd doubt he'd want the position. I can't say I blame him. The problem with Croatia is that it is a small country where connections rule. Not only is there a small pool of worthy people for the top job, but there is a small pool of decent, qualified underlings. I'm not saying it can't be done but just that a)it would entail basically a revolution at the HNS, and b)There are extremely powerful, entrenched interests that would spill blood (already have) to maintain power. As someone mentioned, Boban is an idealist, and only an idealist could have the vision and integerity to clean up the mess. The question is, would he want to roll up his sleeves, put on the Kevlar vest, and leave his comfortable perch in Milan? As for the coaching job, I'd love a (good) foreign coach but looking at Bilic' salary, that's not going to happen anytime soon. It's too early to tell how Soldo's coaching career will go(it doesn't look especially promising right now, but that's a conversation for another time), but he has the potential to be a good fit- he's intelligent, has integrity, is a natural leader, etc,. Plus he's understated and doesn't engage in the sideline histrionics of Bilic. The question is whether the cabbal would want/allow Soldo and whether Soldo would want them…
@Ziva I agree with you. Boban would have to commit 100% to the job. We all know it would not be easy for him but he's the right person for the job. I'm glad we can agree on that. Boban would need a strong team with him that would not be influenced by agents and their money. There is crime, mafia, and corruption involved in many soccer federations so this is nothing new. I have a friend who's brother is a top official in another soccer federation. He informed me of players paying coaches to play and coaches receiving %'s of transfers. This seems to be normal around the world. We have to find a way to best deal with corruption and unfortunately that is something I don't have the answer to.
@ JP…..both are starters or have started majority of matches.
@Peter….Rukavina???? Why, what has he done since he left hajduk. Nothing. The kid wont get any playing team this year unless things change in Athens.
Also, to an earlier comment. Bilic and Stimac are not boys. They have a relationship, but they are not tight by any means.
@Vaterni….I would replace markovic with Boban only if Boban trully wanted the job and not because the public wants him to have the job. But, Boban alone will not be enough. He would have a hard time getting ridd of the criminal element in Croatia that is tied to the soccer leagues, games and managers. These guys are connected to murderers. Look at the death of Kranjcar's agent.
Re: Denis (Deno) Whatya on about. Nobody is saying Croatian football legends should run the country. I'm asking for Prosinecki to be head of sandwich making here. just one man boban to run hns.. why cos the HNS is and domestic football is going down a very dark and dangerous path. It is not too odd to ask a former player to take over the Croatian football association in order to turn the tide. After all what do you think Vlatko Markovic is? He's a former player. That's all. Its natural for former players to end up in these sort of roles. HNS appoint the new coach and can influence decision. If we've got the wrong man in there then Croatia is stuffed.
Have you not heard the recent shooting of a player agent and about the story in Croatia Sesvete. How about the death of Hjorve Custic. Also how about the recent story that most player agents are not registered. That's why HNS needs a new look. But as i say why'd Boban want to get involved.
@Ziva Slaven Bilic was given and opportunity as head coach of Croatia. Who did he coach before that? He had a spell at Hajduk and lost in U21 Euro qualifying to Serbia. Bilic got us to the Euro 2008 quarters and with a little luck we would have been in the semis. It was the first time we advanced to a 2nd round in a major tournament since WC 98. You have to give him credit for that especially not having a healthy Eduardo. I believe Bilic's team was more talented than those of Jozic, Baric, and Kranjcar. The reason he was so successful was because he chose talented young players like Eduardo, Modric, and Corluka.
I've always felt Boban would be a great person to lead Croatian soccer in the future. @Ziva If you could replace Markovic who would you put there? For myself Boban became a legend when he kicked that police officer at Maksimir. After leaving Dinamo he had an impressive career at AC Milan and with our national side. I always felt Boban was a leader for the Vatreni. I know Zvone is also a commentator in Italy. If they allow him to commentate games it means that he has respect from Italians who may be crazier about soccer than us. I believe Boban is intelligent, knowledgeable, and just a good person. I can't say the same for Stimac or many others. Has anyone ever heard bad press about Boban? The issue is whether Boban wants make a commitment to the HNS. If he does then he deserves a chance.
Croatia needs to fire Bilic, I ve never seen a coach jump up and down the sidelines like Bilic did against Belarus, the game against England our players had no confedence and no will to win, we need to bring in a coach from Italy or Portugal, etc.., just like Capello there should be no favourites, you play good, you ll play and Capello gives his youngsters a chance which Croatia doesn t do!! Look at Argentina, thats what happens when the players don t respect the coach no more, Bilic is too much of a friend instead of a coach!!!
Peter- I do agree that we have some serious defensive issues- both in the present, and even more so, in the future. Runje made more saves in the last 2 matches than Pletikosa has had to make in the last 4 years. That's not good. Some of our recent defending has looked like some bad slapstick routine, with players yelling at each other, Runje running all around the last 3rd of the pitch, and Simunic looking like he just jumped off of a freight train. If it wasn't so serious it would be really, really funny…
Boksic just wants an easy life. Jarni is a football man, but more interested in the game on the pitch rather than being an administrator. I think Jarni may have another go at coaching at some point.
Suker prefers personal projects like his academy which seems to be bring a certain amount of joy. Boban is qualified in terms of his outlook on the game. He has high standards and will look at the things wrong in the game. He will appoint the right people with the experience needed. He has great contacts, but basically if he arrived in HNS he'd take it away from the rather dark direction it is heading and already currently at. But i don't see him wanting a part of it. If he just looks over into Serbia and sees the grief Dragan Stojkovic got trying to help Serbian FA and Red Star then he'd prob feel he doesn't need that kind of life.
@ Alex – I didnt say anything to insult any of those young players. The point is that the generation they are in better pan out, because the gap between Simunic/Kovac/Krizanaz hasnt produced much with regards to defensive options. We better pray that Vida, Lovren and Prahic are as good as many writers in Croatia have said they are. With regards to Ilicevic, I have always been a fan. I would love to see him get some time in a friendly for Croatia. I think Rukavina should have at least been called up for a friendly within the past 2 years. More so when he was on a nice scoring run the first half of last season.
Bilic will come up with something. He's a smart lad. Everyone makes mistakes. He is human just like everyone else.
Having said that. We will become 2nd place in our group, and we will get a playoff spot. So thats why I think, we should send out scouts all over the world to find patches to fill those holes in the squad.
@Ziva… thanks for the skinny. btw., another question… are the players that you know personally, starters or bench warmers or both…? I think it matters in terms of the credibility of their feedback.
Also, aren't we all overlooking the fact that Stimac and Bilic are good buddies? Perhaps this explains why Stimac is increasing his influence with the Savez? After all it was Stimac who apparently told Bilic "to dive" when Blanc "struck him" in '98.
With regard to Boban, it's obvious why he could be the unifying force, and one with integrity at that. The man is a national hero, not to mention he was a world-class player for a long time. Also he's a class act.
Just take a look and compare Prosinecki and Boban. Both were world class players, but they are certainly not (and were not) viewed the same in people's eyes. Why? it comes down to "class", I think.
All this makes me wonder why Boban, Suker etc., don't get along with Stimac, Bilic, Ladic, Pros, Asanovic, and gang? They were all teammates who had tremendous success?
Maybe it's because Boban, and Suker don't need the form of the Savez to enhance their personal careers?
What about a guy like Boksic or Jarni? They seem to have respect on all sides too?
If we are to take the current state of affairs as indicative of the 98 team, then it seems that that team was successful in spite of itself, citing the fact that the players currently do not like one another?
Its also not about just playing young players for sake of it, its about building a team for future. Its about finding a replacement for Modric so even when he is fit – things don't weigh heavily on Luka doing everything. It also is about not playing hugely out of condition players. Basically if you're choice is an untried young talent or a guy that's been told to train away from his club team first team training i.e Leko, Pokrivac and Drpic for most of the summer, then who'd you choose.
Re: Badelj Alex, maybe you should watch this guy cos he is a class act. As for Lovren, he's like all young players. But he's only 20 and has played over 50 times for Dinamo. He is a talent. Ilicevic plays in Kaiserslautern. Idenitifed even by Bilic as a talent, but he needs to find consistency, but is only 22 so has time on his hands. All three are talented. I don't think anyone can question that.
Peter- That was perfect-LOL . For the people saying we should call up Lovren, Badelj, Ilicevic etc., perhaps Bilic doesn't call them up because he doesn't think there good enough? As I don't watch the HNL reguarly I can't comment personally, but could it be that we simply don't have alot of young talent right now? Everyone is blaming Bilics selection, but it's seems he didn't have alot of options. Yes, Dinamofan, I agree with you that friendlies would have helped blood other players(Cale comes to mind, especially), but it seems quite a stretch to think Badelj, Ilicevic, and Lovren would've changed what was a simply awful performance. Btw, I've noticed that in all these posts, many with lengthy reviews of each player, not one person has even mentioned the name Vukojevic…
Boban……..I like the guy and there does not seem to be any negativity attached to him, but why is everyone convinced he is the answer for the savez? What skills does he bring to the table? yes, he was a great talent, but that does not mean anything as head of the federation. He will still be working with the same lopovi who are there now.
I agree with @Ziva and @dinamfan. At the moment Boban is far away from becoming the head of the Savez. I know that Stimac has forced his way into the Savez but I know that his intentions are not honest. The problem is I don't seen anyone that will stop him. He will go to any means to get what he wants. If Markovic wanted the best the Croatian soccer he would convince Boban that he is needed for the future of Croatian soccer. Boban should be allowed to choose his own people to lead the Savez. I'm aware that Boban and Stimac do not get along and I don't believe they can work together. I will still hope by some small chance that Boban finds a way to that position. I'm a Hajduk fan but I don't care for Stimac at all. It will be interesting to see what happens because Markovic is getting very old. There will have to be change soon.
Re: Radman Klasnic has been dropped a few times though in the last year for his poor form at Nantes. He was also missing for over a year due to ill health so you can hardly say we keep selecting him all the time. He only came back recently – he scored against Poland, against Turkey, against Andorra. He's barely played any other games as far as i'm aware?? Petric i agree sometimes gets more playing time then he deserves, but Petric is a quality player. He is a player of moods though. However basically you know what will happen. If we dropped him he'd just continue scoring 30 goals with HSV like the does and then we can't say then we select on form. If you want players in form then Klasnic and Petric are just that. Who else is there on better form than them? Ruki's got better spinters, Mate Bilic's league has only just started, Budan is working his way back for his first games in a long time. Keric has stopped scoring. Kalinic is not scoring yet. I definitely wouldn't criticise Bilic for his choice of strikers. I think you get the best out of them by rotating them. I also believe you get the best out of Kranjcar, Pranjic, Srna and Raki by rotating them. Add to that Modric, Badelj, Sharbini and Ilicevic i actually believe we have enough creativity and firepower. We need to concentrate solely on improving the defence. Its real unfortunate you know cos Mirko Jozic created a excellant defence for us, but for a while we had no high quality midfielders or forwards, but then we finally found the forwards, but by that time the defenders got too old. Its a shame its worked out like this. I believe our Euro 2008 squad would have been almost perfect with Eduardo. That was the best time for this time to succeed. Now we need someone to find us a new defence. I don't believe thinking of Srna and Pranjic as full back solves anything. We have at present 1 quality defender Corluka. Krizanac is a bench player. Simunic is only useful for one more campaign. We gonna have to really improve things back there. Ivan Juric is out of the Kazak gave. I think this is the right time to bring in Lokomotive Moscows Tomislav Dujmovic to the squad. If we select on form then he must come in. Capello's selecting on form is not exactly true other David Beckham and Emile Heskey wouldn't be there. Heskey can't get a start at Villa and well everyone knows about the rubbish league Beckham plays in. He selects the players for the tactics he wants to play. He does recognise form, but its not always his first concern.
For once i agree with Ziva. Boban in the HNS is just a dream.
@ Nikolina Stanfel – Yes, we get it. The woman broke your heart and now you are trying to get back at her like you are 14 years old. Move on with your life man. Dont you see why women dont want you? Its because you are sad and pathetic.
I came here to gloat a bit, but I'm a bit sorry to see all this negativity here.
C'mon guys. Tiny little country and you punch above your weight in most sports you participate in. (Tell me if that's not true). And, with your tiny size, you're actually expected to be around top 10 in football.
I'm Brit, my wife's Croatian. So I've followed you since independence, since the great generation of Suker et al.
I have found Croatian teams to be either very inspiring, or very frustrating.
Knowing what I know, I was astonished that my stupid countrymen underestimated you on that dark night in 2007.
As last night, they should have known about the technical, ball-holding skills of your midfield and forward guys and made plans to cut off their space! I can't believe Mclarren didn't do that.
Whatever you say about that 5-1 beating, no Croatian team will come to England again and be disrespected.
Some interesting comments…..I'd like to respond to a few.
Boban…..there is a reason he is not around Croatian soccer and instead focuses his time as an analyst with Italian TV. As long as Stimac has a role in the savez, Boban will not have anything to do with croatian soccer. These comments about him becoming the head of the savez are a dream. It would take a meeting of the minds for that to change. For those of you who follow the day-to-day activities of the savez you'll notice that Stimac has positioned himself nicely for a run as president or possibly as the next coach.
yesterday's game….we lost to a side that was vastly better than us. I thought we would lose 3-0, so i am not surprised by the result. We were missing our best defender and our most creative player and we are not a deep side. We have a few players that can play top level soccer on the international level and are back ups are not capable of that. We saw that last night. Combine that with England's form and confidence and you had the perfect storm for a big England win. It's one game and time to move on. The bigger concern is the quality of play from the national team since the EUROs ended.
players reaction……I exchanged text messages this morning with 2 of the guys on the national team. They said they still have full confidence in Bilic and realized going into the game they would have a hard time getting a good result. Bilic will not quit – or at least they would be shocked if he did based on his comments to the team after the game.
Hey moj dragi hrvati, how do you say five in Croatian? hahahaha!! How I wish they had played at Maksimir. I would have given free anal sex and swallowed all the loads of jizm of all the African soccer plyers on the English team. I would also let them slap me around and then go for sloppy seconds. lol. yuuum, mouthfuls of African monkey sperm.
@ DinamoFan – I dont recall saying that Kalinic should have been brought into the squad for either Petric or Klasnic. The point I made was that capello calls up players that are in form and can fit his overall game plan which can also execute the tactics he sets out. We seem to call up Petric and Klasnic each time regardless how they play for their league teams (ie Klasnic last year and this) and even if they dont perform for the national team (ie Petric most of the time is under performing). I ask you then, when is it enough? These were the same mistakes that Mclaren made and Capello remedied. Players are now called up based on form and the ability to execute his overall game plan. I believe the results speak for themselves.
I doubt England will play their B team against Ukraine. Ukraine put up a good fight last time and the English have too much pride to just throw away a match. The Brits had a point to make with us so now they'll make a point by going unbeaten in their group to send Spain, Brazil, Germany and Italy a message that they mean business.
As for the lack of leadership and organization of the team, look what happened to England with a hired gun coach. Same team but with a different coach and the results are there. When I see the team play it just looks too disorganized. Way too many turnovers. No set plays or direction. You just can't make any mistakes against a top team or they'll make you pay.
I think your right. I have a feeling that Bilic may have a deal already which he is hiding with a big club after the WC, which is why he has lost all his focus.
I have come to terms that we just cannot compete like we could 2 years ago.
But I have faith in those boys. We will get stronger. Niko, Luka and Vedran playing together now in the EPL will really lift them from this disaster esp as they are playing for one of the best teams as they stand.
Believe in them. We will bounce back.
Who knows maybe Croatia get their own back in South Africa…
I don't even think bilic himself knows what he is doing anymore. I think his pasion for the job has died off since euro. Like I said I want a coach that is fierce and able to take strong control of his team unlike bilic who like mentioned previously calls up his friends instead of looking for young talent.
rE: dan The reason its not pleasing to see Stimac mentioned as coach is cos he is part of what is bad in Croatia. The terrible decision to increase the league to 16 although relegating 4 was a good idea as its worried a lot of teams that have been mediocre for years which is why Loko, Pula and Karlovac finding it quite easy. However believe me that was not planned. Stimac did it as it was supposed to help raise player transfer fees by lowering competition. Stimac is involved in transfers and agents and its not good. Croatia has big problems with all this at the moment. I believe Slaven Bilic has tried his best to stear clear of it, but ultimately he probably his to bend a little. Hajduk were prob on his back over Kalinic and Dinamo over Mandzo.
Re: Radman If you look for Kalinic to come in – if he scores regularly he's in. Simple's. No question about it as no matter what Klasnic's international record says he's 30 and Croatia are looking for a replacement. Personally i still like Klasnic and think he'll score in Bolton, but if Kalinic's hits goals for Blackburn that we have to recognise that we need to create a team for the future. I don't see how the other 4 strikers can be changed though. Mandzo seriously needs to add some finishing ability to his hard work though.
RE: Radman Why do you keep going on about Petric and Klasnic. Petric has scored 5 in 5 for HSV and Klasnic scored 4 in 5 for Nantes. If anything they are the most in form strikers. Regards Petric his problem is in his head, not in his footballing ability. Remember this was the guy that sealed the victory over England
Petric and Klasnic also did nothing wrong last night. If anything we got better when they came on and England got worse when Milner and Defoe came on. Petric at least forced a few corners. I am actually worried about Eduardo and i don't believe Croatia can do anything about it. We are gonna have to accept that Eduardo is prob gonna be like Micheal Owen in future and have to depend purely on his goalscoring instinct. I think he's lost his pace. He can get around the pitch as well as he did before. I think Arsenal will realise this as well. His touch is still good, but he's not the player he was before his injury. Its natural following a serious injury. I'd also be concerned about Modric's welfare. Broken legs and strength of a leg are serious things.
If you are a HNL1 club president and looking to improve your team then you take Branko Ivankovic, Elvis Scoria, Krunoslav Jurcic or Zoran Vulic and they'll give guarenteed success. However all those fall short coaching at a higher level. Ivankovic's Euro Dinamo side was like Bilic's last night. Everyone in the wrong positions.
I think Gudelj should take charge of Under 21's. Novelselac should take Under 17's. First team coach should be foriegn.
@Dan you can't be serious about Stimac. I knew he was coach of Hajduk for a few months but that doesn't qualify him to lead our national team.
@dinamofan I am also afraid that Branko Ivankovic will become the next coach. This would not be the best thing for the future of Croatian soccer. I've never been an Ivankovic fan and hope that we hire a coach that has proven results. I believe that Markovic hires coaches that he can control and that's a major problem. That's why I believe we haven't had a foreign coach yet.
Anyway back to Croatia. Denis how can you say Simunic was not at fault. Where was Lennon going exactly? Pokrivac showed him inside and he was running straight into two Croatia defenders, but then Simunic decides to hack him down. I'm sure you watch English football each week right. How many times do you see Lennon doing that to left backs. Pokrivac is not the first. Lennon was going nowhere. Simunic just did a typical Simunic challenge. We've seen it all before from him. I don't trust the guy in central defence at all. Left back or nowhere in my opinion for him. Simunic is okay when you give him one single job when the rest of the side is solid.
Also you say you don't see what more Bilic could have done. You mean you don't know what more Bilic could have done with the squad HE selected. He could have called a different squad. He chose not to learn about new players. Everyone talks about Niko Kovac, but a country and a coach has to move on. Bilic never wanted to move on from Niko or Robert. If he could he'd still play them. I believe Robert only missed the game due to injury. How is that progressive to Croatia's future. Although to be honest Robert prob will have a lot better than Krizanac and Simunic did. But he should have been rejuvenating the team. As for Leko, Drpic, Vejic and Pokrivac as i already said this is what destroyed us cos they are all out of condition and couldn't step onto the field when we needed cover. A full fit in form Leko is a replacement for Modric, but Leko rejected all transfers when Monaco categorically told him he's not involved with the first team. That's just unacceptable. You don't call a player in those circumstances. Regards Badelj basically Modric and Corluka were both thrown in the deep end. We could have done the same with Badelj and nobody would have complained. People would have just said well at least he's trying something for future of Croatian football and people would not have said he doesn't search for solutions and doesn't have terrible tactics by putting people out of position.
Modric, Corluka, Eduardo, Kranjcar all got in Croatia's squad justifiably. Nothing to do with Croatian Mafia. Kalinic however was selected during poor form. When Kalinic scores goals he deserves to be in, but not when he is in a 2 month drought.
Vejic and Drpic are there basically as they are friends of Bilic. Bilic basically just calls them to make up the number. He may field them occasionally against Andorra, but he basically calls them to hide the fact he hasn't bothered looking for anyone else.
Regards Cale, he could have been tested ages ago. A friendly against a decent side would have shown if he could perform at international level. If not then we learned something. This is all Capello has done with England is try players in friendlies.
Regards Bilic's position, no he should no resign and he should not be sacked. His contract runs out in summer 2010 and he should go then. I believe Bilic will work on things. As a coach he has lost his way and is no longer highly rated. I couldn't care less what happens to him at end of his contract. He can stick to playing guitar as far as i'm concerned. I do believe he deserves to be shaken by the hand and the end of his contract just like Jozic, Kranjcar, Blazevic and Baric. He doesn't deserve the sack considering his achievements with the team. We should already be talking to his replacement though and should be foreign. I doubt Boban would come to HNS as the problems are deeply routed. I hugely fear current HNS will appoint Branko Ivankovic who will not have the same support of players and fans. We need an appointment which inspires confidence.
For the Kazakstan match we should change Subasic for Runje. Sorry but Runje cannot play in 2012. He is 35. We should change Badelj for Jerko Leko. Tomislav Dujmovic for Pokrivac. Lovren for Vejic, Goran Sablic for Drpic. Rest of squad can stay as it is.
I hate to say this, but my mum and grandparents and ancestry are English so i may as be a England fan for once. Capello has done a fantastic job. His first 11 is brilliant. His full backs Johnson and Cole are athletes who can run up and down wing all day. Terry, Ferdinand and Upson are assertive. I also believe Carragher if called or Wes Brown could do a job for them. Right Wing Lennon is not technically gifted, but he's impossible to stop, when he runs with the ball cos of his low sense of gravity. Using him at right wing was a brilliant decision. He also has a Lennon number 2 in Walcott. Lampard is decent enough in midfield. Prob get exposed like Kranjcar if the rest of team is not firing and Barry same with him, but it is very balanced. Also Gerrard floating from left mid is extremely hard to pick up. Up front i actually believe England has problems. They seem to ask Rooney to do everything. Tactically Heskey is good for roughing up Eastern European teams that aren't use to dealing with a big man. Its interesting how we actually marked Defoe totally out the game. If England actually started Defoe things may have been different. But you got to credit Capello for great tactics for putting in basically a big lump like Heskey. I am not sure England can win the world Cup playing this way as eventually Heskey's limitations will catch up with them. In the world cup he won't face weak Eastern European central defenders each match. I think at some point England will have to find a left winger either Joe Cole, Ashley Young or even Ashley Cole on left wing and Lescot at left back. Gareth Barry to left wing and Hargreaves centrally. Ultimately England's best front two is Rooney and Steven Gerard, however Capello does not believe England are technically good enough at present to play those two. Next i think he will try to teach them how to play without a target man. Croats need to understand how spot on Capello's tactics are with England. Also keeping Rooney, Gerrard fit means everything to England. I strongly believe that Croatia can defeat England when they are down 3 or 4 of the starting 11. People like Lescot, Brown, Carrick, Defoe, Agbonglohar, Milner significantly weaken them. England have to keep this 11 fit to stand any chance of winning the world cup and Capello has to be always instrumental in keeping the side together.
@Dan I'm not saying that Boban should be the national team coach. He should be the head of the Savez which is Markovic's position. It should be up to Boban and his advisors to choose a suitable coach to lead the national team. That coach would be able to pick whichever players he wants. Corluka, Modric, Kranjcar, Eduardo and some young other players are on the national team because they deserve to be there. Our best players will most likely always be represented by these mafia guys. Thats fine but I want the best players to play on that team, not the players who offer a percentage of their next transfer to the national coach. Whenever a player is called to the national team his value goes up. The more caps he gets the more money he's worth. Stimac's brother is an agent and I'm sure Igor is involved with transfers. I think there would be a conflict of interests if he was the head coach. Also, he does not have the experience to be head coach. Slaven Bilic was couch of the U21 team and I still think he's a young and immature coach at times.
we have a big problem in the team, can somone give us some quality defenders? the hate of the english was so big that any team would have been lost to them, even with a full squad we never came home with one point. actually we have something to celebrate, the draw from belarus and ukraine. you should think that england will win against all teams, so this loss was calculating, we knew that this was going to be happened. if ukraine had won today that was a disaster, they still have to play andorra. the last game will be important. we have to win in far far away country full of sheeps and borat's, and hope that england wil not lose in ukraine. i cant imagine that england will lose because ukraine sucks really hard.
Well without the 'mafia' players like corluka, modric, Eduardo, kranjcar, kalinic ect would have not made it into the big time. They have shaped most of the current team and I think we should give them a go. I respect your thoughts on giving boban a go but I think he is abit too honest and we need someone who can really be incharge and lead the team to some decent wins.
@Dan I disagree with you. What experience does Stimac have coaching?? Stimac is mafia and will use the national team to push his own interests. Stimac, Mamic, Sinovcic and company need to stay as far away as possible. Its difficult when they represent our top players but that mafia should never be able to dictate who is on Croatia's roster. Every national soccer organization has their problems including personal interests and connections. We're talking about millions of dollars here. We need to put someone in charge like Boban who I believe is an honest person. He needs a strong team of people around him who have already made millions. Then, they will be less inclined to force certain players that don't deserve to be on the national team.
Dennis are you serious when you say that the penalty was not simunic's fault. I know your a fan of him and all but he should have been dropped straight after euro. It has been obvious for 2 years now that he is a player that can not simply keep up with the oppositions attack. Today was a perfect example of this. He's more fit to be a butcher than a player. I'm sorry but joes international time is over and it's time to bring in someone new.
In the case of bilic I think it's time for a change. The vatreni need a coach with authority and I think stimac is the man for the job. This whole team needs a face lift and by the looks of today bilic isn't good enough to keep his role as head coach.
Our next step is to take Croatians Around Europe to video. We would also like to set up a live show on ustream.tv where viewers can tune in and comment as we reply back to them.
What the hell are you people talking about! There is nothing Bilic could of done!! We didnt have enough quality players on our squad. So what, put cale in instead of pokrivac, we still would of lost. Maybe 4-1 instead 5-1…big fuckin deal.
Runje- is an okay goal keeper. Great 1 on 1. But can be shit at times.
Pranjic-is good when we have a solid defense.
Simunic-is good when the team is orginized. When its not orginizes he plays clumsy, and fouls.
Krizanac- is a good sub, nothing else.
Vedran Corluka- has great vision as a defender, always moves forward…does some mistakes at times. But is quality.
Srna- is great when the rest of the squad is on fire.
Niko Kranjcar- is one of our best players. Cant really show off his skills becuase hes trying to play safe all the time.
Luka Modric- is an energizer bunny, he keeps the squad going. When he touches the ball, players around him get excited and play well and more confident.
Ivan Rakitic- is great when the rest of the squad is doing good. He has potential…he can certainly change things at times. But hasn't really come out of his shell yet.
Eduardo- Top class finisher, just give him the ball near the goal chances are hes gonna score…
THINGS WE NEED We desperately need defenders. ANd we havent found a solution for a tough midfielder like Niko Kovac.
We also need someone on the squad with big balls. We need a captain my friends.
If I was bilic right now, i would send out scouts! To find solutions for those holes.
England has like 3 freakin squads on their team, and all players are class. We have 11 great players but if someone gets injured we're screwd.
we will get to playoff round. I really don't want to meet bosnia but if we have to than we will win. but i can just imagine the fans during those games will be way to crazy. Well get to south africa and make it to 2nd round depending what group we are in.
@JP you bring up some interesting points. I look forward to to see how the Savez reacts to this loss as well. When this qualifying started everyone was praising both Bilic and our players. Currently, Bilic is has hit rock bottom since he became the coach. Today he picked the wrong strategy and wrong players. He's lucky that we beat Belarus so we still have a chance of qualifying. I personally think Markovic will let him finish the qualifying period. The whole point of qualifying is to qualify and we still have an opportunity. McClaren lost his job because they didn't qualify and we haven't gotten to that point.
I agree with your thoughts about Bilic being more of a friend than a coach. He says him and Eduardo talk every day. There's no reason to talk to any of your players every day. I think its ridiculous. Slaven is young and he will learn that being an authoritative figure will take him much further as a coach. There must be some distance between a coach and his players. Life is all about learning from mistakes so he needs to analyze what has led to the poor results this qualifying.
You can say what you want but I'm sure Markovic has a say to which players are called. He is Bilic's boss so you can expect him to be heavily involved. You know these old school Croats want to be involved where they shouldn't. If Markovic let Bilic do what he wanted I'm sure Biscan would be on the team. Markovic and Srebric need to go so a new generation can lead our team. Its time for Boban to become head of the Savez so that we can move forward. These starci in the Savez are holding us back.
The biggest promblem is nobody is attacking the ball when england had it. always 10 feet away from the man and england did the opposite need players with energy
Our problems were so evident before the game. Bilic did nothing to try and fix these problems with his formation and additions to the starting lineup.
Finally, we have one more key game, have to also hope for some luck along the way. We then have 6 months to try and get it right. This looks bad, but, remember this. Most of these guys were the players that composed our great Euro 08 team. Just as most of the English were the players that got schooled by us. Football, like anything in life is all about confidence. Problems may be fixed, you are only as good as your last game. We still have talented players, talented prospects.
The funny thing really is how the roles have completely done a 180. It was our players who kept their mouths shut for the most part during the 08 qualifications, and we made the arrogant English pay for their stupidity. Bilic and Co began to open their mouths and goat the English. Remember this, no team in the world would play with 10 percent of the desire and hatred that the English played with today. They were exercising all their demons today. They achieved all they wanted. They played with passion and desire. I saw them run, dive and throw themselves at the ball. While our players looked like they wanted the game over before it began. Most of the team did play with no desire and heart. That is clear for all to see.
I have also said this before. Bilic made his success by giving youngsters a shot. He has since reverted from that policy and seems to have a cast that always seems to include Petric and Klasnic. Perhaps its time to do what Capello has done and give playing time to those who have earned it. How many laughed at Fabio when he called up players like Jimmy Bullard? He has won respect from the ranks because the team is even. Nobody is guaranteed a starting spot. On the other side, we constantly throw out the same faces who at times just run around and make up the numbers.
Slaven Bilic – Like many of you, I to was seduced by Bilic and his personality during the last qualifying campaign and Euro 2008. The thought that Croatia could produce one of the great coaches in the world, a man who is nationalist, loved nothing more then coaching his Nation. That thought was just to irresistible. In truth, that team essentially picked its self. I strongly believe that Niko Kovac did most of the work, never got any appreciation for it and made Bilic look good.
Dario Srna – The player that at time plays with more enthusiasm and passion has not been the same the last 8 matches. This is who I thought would step up for Niko and command the team. he has failed to do that. This is a man who I once told many that he was one of the most under rated free kick or corner kick specialists in the world. I can recall he last time he scored from a free kick. Was it against Australia at WC 2006? He has looked a shell of his former self.
Simunic & Krizanac – Well, our two best CBs have absolutely no chemistry with one another. I barely see them communicate, its just shocking that those are two professionals. It really makes you think, if the Prahic, Vida, Lovren generation doesnt pan out, who could possibly play Defense for the National team in the nest few years. Both Simunic and Krizanac are getting pretty old.
Runje – I dont like the guy, thats my personal opinion. He made some key saves, but then gifts the English goals 4 and 5. If he simply stays on his line for goal 4, hr catches that ball. Why he choose to run down a ball he will never come within 5 feet of catching is beyond me. Yes, he stopped the scoreline from being 9-1. I am just saying we have to look elsewhere, this guy isn't a national team starting keeper. Who should start? I have no clue, but he isn't the long term solution.
Kranjcar, Pranjic, Olic and Eduardoo – I fault none of these players. They ran, from what I saw, tried to do what they could. They were hampered by poor tactics. I was impressed watching Kranjcar at times, fish out of water and still tried, ran a bit, looked like he gave a genuine effort. Pranjic, tried to use his speed, as did Olic and Eduardo. Truth is, they were all starved for service.
Mandzukic – Great prospect, however, he has to be used in the right position. Mario is not a RM. As I have said numerous times, The team defense is already bad, what playing 3 strikers will do to remedy that problem is beyond me. Rakitic is naturally right footed, Srna was playing RB, wouldn't it make sense to put a RM at RM?
Pokrivac – Fish out of water. I advocated that he start. I assumed that he would be a good addition to a dual partnership with Vukojevic anchoring our midfield and guarding the back line. He was clearly at fault for the first goal. First rule of defending at RB or LB. You guide the midfielder towards the sideline and not allow a path to the center. let them cross balls into the box all day, I would much rather have that then let speedy wingers dance through the box. I am willing to give him another shot, he is young and does have skill.
They brought up both very good points, we lack a strong leader in our lineup.
Another thing (perhaps I'm crazy), but does anyone notice how one-sided our development is? I mean if it wasn't for Dinamo or our diaspora where would our talent come from?
Hi guys, nice report under less than ideal circumstances.
In line with what @Andrej & @Ivica are saying above, and in-line with what I have been saying previously, I disagree with you Dennis.
Mark my words, Bilic will be gone within a week, if not sooner. The mistake that you made Dennis is that you assumed that it will be his choice. It won't be. He will be forced to resign, or be given the old "quit or you are fired" option.
This is as it must be. When a nation as soccer-crazy as ours (not to mention prideful) experiences it's most embarrassing performance in it's history, for all the world to see, some heads have to roll. In the least, we as a nation have to make the statement that we will not tolerate such results. Look what happened to Mclaren, as just one example.
Since it's easier to replace the coach than it is to replace the players, we all know what will happen. If Bilic was savvy (which it certainly appears that he isn't), he would've come out after the game, and taken all the blame himself for the loss. He didn't do that, because he's in over his head.
He has the makings of a good coach, no doubt about that, but his immaturity is on full display. After a couple of years out of coaching he will understand his mistakes, and return better for it. He's only 40, and it showed.
Crapello gave it to him "dry" today, and is laughing all the way to the WC. Not to mention on the sideline during the game. But it's not Crapello's fault, Bilic did it to himself.
It's obvious that Bilic still thinks he's a player on the team, with his sideline antics, and buddybuddy approach with the players. That works in the short term, but rarely in the long run. His proximity has blinded him, and he is not the "Cool hand" observing from on high that a team needs. We need a general, not an old soldier.
Don't get me wrong, as a person he's probably a great guy, and I'd certainly like to have a "par piva" with him, but he needs to learn a few more things about life and about coaching, but we can no longer afford to fund his learning curve. Slaven is only a few years older than I, and I know from my own experience that these lessons aren't necessarily pleasant, but in the end, all will be better off, including Mr. Bilic.
A clean slate is coming gents, and I, for one, am happy about that.
btw. Mr. Ziva… since you purportedly have a direct line to some of the players on the team… what's the skinny?
i enjoyed that video you guys have alot of good points and i like the fact u arent one way just for croatia you look at bigger picture and do your research on facts, also i think your wrong about becoming world cup contenders…its all there..the pieces are there to the puzzle, the question is that is there anyone on the team to put there toghter, 2 many chiefs not enough indians on the team
Wow, does Bilic make so many changes before and during games just to make it look like he's coaching. What a clown, can we replace him immediately please!!!!
if bilic doesnt get us to the world cup, i think the only place he could get a job is the German 2nd division. His stock has dropped so dramatically since the beginning of this qualifying campaign.
I am with Denis on one thing though: we will get to the playoffs. England will put their 'scrubs' in against ukraine, but their 'scrubs' can easily handle ukraine. we will beat glorious nation of kazakhstan to get to the playoffs against a volatile opponent. There are so many chances for trouble with the playoff draw. Forget france, russia, etc. I am almost certain Croatia is going to draw Israel, Bosna, or Slovenia. Each game holds the potential of some serious security measures being taken by UEFA.
what does that have to do with the play on the field.
I think a lot of the croatian success in the past 10-15 years was as a result of fierce and extreme patriotism and pride za dom I do not see it in this next generation of players where are the boban's and kovac's evry ball contested every inch contested the next generation has already forgotten the price payed for hrvatska by so many
Hey who knows maybe thats why Eduardo Reja came to Hajduk – to make an impression and then apply for the national team job:)
Re: Alex
There is no point mentioning Soldo over a new appointment which will most likely happen within next 8 months. I'd hugely doubt Soldo will make an impression in that time.
You are correct there is no young coach who has made a significant impression. The only ones who have roled their sleeves up and had a good crack at coaching are Nenad Bjelica, Kruno Jurcic and Igor Pamic but that qualifies them only for a decent HNL1 post at the moment. I'm sceptical about Soldo as he just continued someone elses work. That's Josip Kuze and Branko Ivankovic's baby at Dinamo not Soldo's.
It might not look good, but i'm sorry Ivankovic is the most qualified Croatian coach. He's won the Croatian league comfortably. He was assistant coach to Blazevic. He's still only in his 50's which is a good coaching age. He also guided Iran to the World Cup finals. Nobody else has a CV like that who is under 60 years old.
Yes Ivankovic does not inspire confidence, but if anyone can tell me a coach with a better CV then i'd like to hear it. I wouldn't like Ivankovic to take the post and i doubt it'd raise enthusiasm amongst other fans. But if HNS gave him the post then i'd support him and say at least he has some credentials. Basically you look at Niko Kovac, Prosinecki, Soldo, Mise etc they have no credentials. They should go and prove something first.
The next qualified is Zoran Vulic, but again all you'd say is this guy deserves a good HNL1 post, not a post as national selector. We can afford a foriegn coach. I have no doubt HNS can get a decent coach when they have the whole world to choose from. I wouldn't want Croatia to bankrupt themselves on a coach that has only come for the money. I'd want a coach that wants to prove something and really wants the job for football reasons.
@ Ziva Istina – If you read what I said carefully, I said he deserved a shot the beginning of last season where he banged in goals on a weekly basis for almost 8 weeks straight. That was in both the cup and league play.
As I said, it's too soon to know whether Soldo will be a good coach. However, he has the right attributes to be one. Only time will tell. My implication is that there aren't a whole lot of young Croatian managers and certainly not many older ones with an impressive CV. The pool is just too small. I'd love to hear how we'll afford a foreign coach, though. Unless Markovic put the money aside saved from Bilic' first contract( yeah, right,(I'm joking)), there's no way the HNS can or would pay for a quality foreigner. Besides, no decent foreign coach would tolerate the constant meddling by the Illluminati- a good thing. The Illuminati, however, wouldn't want their interests threatened- a bad thing. If the best you can suggest is Ivankovic, we're in trouble.
If every Croat contributed just $1, we could afford any manager on the planet. Hell, alot of us (myself included) would contribute quite a bit more. Oh, well, we are allowed to dream…
I think Soldos proved nothing so far. It was not his team at Dinamo and he did no more than Ivankovic and Kuze had already set up before him.
He also jumped ship early. Mainly cos he couldn't work with Mamic. However to take a team like Cologne to bottom of league is poor. They bought Podolski for £10m for goodness sake. How can you do that and be bottom of league. No to Soldo. No to Stimac. No to Prosinecki. No to Asanovic. No to Niko Kovac.
I suppose so if forced to Ivankovic. But hopefully a foriegn coach.
I'd love Boban at the helm but like others have said, I'd doubt he'd want the position. I can't say I blame him. The problem with Croatia is that it is a small country where connections rule. Not only is there a small pool of worthy people for the top job, but there is a small pool of decent, qualified underlings. I'm not saying it can't be done but just that a)it would entail basically a revolution at the HNS, and b)There are extremely powerful, entrenched interests that would spill blood (already have) to maintain power. As someone mentioned, Boban is an idealist, and only an idealist could have the vision and integerity to clean up the mess. The question is, would he want to roll up his sleeves, put on the Kevlar vest, and leave his comfortable perch in Milan?
As for the coaching job, I'd love a (good) foreign coach but looking at Bilic' salary, that's not going to happen anytime soon. It's too early to tell how Soldo's coaching career will go(it doesn't look especially promising right now, but that's a conversation for another time), but he has the potential to be a good fit- he's intelligent, has integrity, is a natural leader, etc,. Plus he's understated and doesn't engage in the sideline histrionics of Bilic. The question is whether the cabbal would want/allow Soldo and whether Soldo would want them…
@Ziva I agree with you. Boban would have to commit 100% to the job. We all know it would not be easy for him but he's the right person for the job. I'm glad we can agree on that. Boban would need a strong team with him that would not be influenced by agents and their money. There is crime, mafia, and corruption involved in many soccer federations so this is nothing new. I have a friend who's brother is a top official in another soccer federation. He informed me of players paying coaches to play and coaches receiving %'s of transfers. This seems to be normal around the world. We have to find a way to best deal with corruption and unfortunately that is something I don't have the answer to.
@ JP…..both are starters or have started majority of matches.
@Peter….Rukavina???? Why, what has he done since he left hajduk. Nothing. The kid wont get any playing team this year unless things change in Athens.
Also, to an earlier comment. Bilic and Stimac are not boys. They have a relationship, but they are not tight by any means.
@Vaterni….I would replace markovic with Boban only if Boban trully wanted the job and not because the public wants him to have the job. But, Boban alone will not be enough. He would have a hard time getting ridd of the criminal element in Croatia that is tied to the soccer leagues, games and managers. These guys are connected to murderers. Look at the death of Kranjcar's agent.
Re: Denis (Deno)
Whatya on about. Nobody is saying Croatian football legends should run the country. I'm asking for Prosinecki to be head of sandwich making here. just one man boban to run hns.. why cos the HNS is and domestic football is going down a very dark and dangerous path. It is not too odd to ask a former player to take over the Croatian football association in order to turn the tide. After all what do you think Vlatko Markovic is? He's a former player. That's all. Its natural for former players to end up in these sort of roles. HNS appoint the new coach and can influence decision. If we've got the wrong man in there then Croatia is stuffed.
Have you not heard the recent shooting of a player agent and about the story in Croatia Sesvete. How about the death of Hjorve Custic. Also how about the recent story that most player agents are not registered. That's why HNS needs a new look. But as i say why'd Boban want to get involved.
@Ziva Slaven Bilic was given and opportunity as head coach of Croatia. Who did he coach before that? He had a spell at Hajduk and lost in U21 Euro qualifying to Serbia. Bilic got us to the Euro 2008 quarters and with a little luck we would have been in the semis. It was the first time we advanced to a 2nd round in a major tournament since WC 98. You have to give him credit for that especially not having a healthy Eduardo. I believe Bilic's team was more talented than those of Jozic, Baric, and Kranjcar. The reason he was so successful was because he chose talented young players like Eduardo, Modric, and Corluka.
I've always felt Boban would be a great person to lead Croatian soccer in the future. @Ziva If you could replace Markovic who would you put there? For myself Boban became a legend when he kicked that police officer at Maksimir. After leaving Dinamo he had an impressive career at AC Milan and with our national side. I always felt Boban was a leader for the Vatreni. I know Zvone is also a commentator in Italy. If they allow him to commentate games it means that he has respect from Italians who may be crazier about soccer than us. I believe Boban is intelligent, knowledgeable, and just a good person. I can't say the same for Stimac or many others. Has anyone ever heard bad press about Boban? The issue is whether Boban wants make a commitment to the HNS. If he does then he deserves a chance.
Croatia needs to fire Bilic, I ve never seen a coach jump up and down the sidelines like Bilic did against Belarus, the game against England our players had no confedence and no will to win, we need to bring in a coach from Italy or Portugal, etc.., just like Capello there should be no favourites, you play good, you ll play and Capello gives his youngsters a chance which Croatia doesn t do!! Look at Argentina, thats what happens when the players don t respect the coach no more, Bilic is too much of a friend instead of a coach!!!
Funny how Croatian football legends could run the whole country.
Peter- I do agree that we have some serious defensive issues- both in the present, and even more so, in the future. Runje made more saves in the last 2 matches than Pletikosa has had to make in the last 4 years. That's not good. Some of our recent defending has looked like some bad slapstick routine, with players yelling at each other, Runje running all around the last 3rd of the pitch, and Simunic looking like he just jumped off of a freight train. If it wasn't so serious it would be really, really funny…
Boksic just wants an easy life. Jarni is a football man, but more interested in the game on the pitch rather than being an administrator. I think Jarni may have another go at coaching at some point.
Suker prefers personal projects like his academy which seems to be bring a certain amount of joy. Boban is qualified in terms of his outlook on the game. He has high standards and will look at the things wrong in the game. He will appoint the right people with the experience needed. He has great contacts, but basically if he arrived in HNS he'd take it away from the rather dark direction it is heading and already currently at. But i don't see him wanting a part of it. If he just looks over into Serbia and sees the grief Dragan Stojkovic got trying to help Serbian FA and Red Star then he'd prob feel he doesn't need that kind of life.
@ Alex – I didnt say anything to insult any of those young players. The point is that the generation they are in better pan out, because the gap between Simunic/Kovac/Krizanaz hasnt produced much with regards to defensive options. We better pray that Vida, Lovren and Prahic are as good as many writers in Croatia have said they are. With regards to Ilicevic, I have always been a fan. I would love to see him get some time in a friendly for Croatia. I think Rukavina should have at least been called up for a friendly within the past 2 years. More so when he was on a nice scoring run the first half of last season.
We need some new talent on our squad.
New goal keeper.
New Captain.
Tough Midfielder ( Like N. Kovac)
New Defenders.
Bilic will come up with something. He's a smart lad. Everyone makes mistakes. He is human just like everyone else.
Having said that. We will become 2nd place in our group, and we will get a playoff spot. So thats why I think, we should send out scouts all over the world to find patches to fill those holes in the squad.
@Ziva… thanks for the skinny.
btw., another question… are the players that you know personally, starters or bench warmers or both…? I think it matters in terms of the credibility of their feedback.
Also, aren't we all overlooking the fact that Stimac and Bilic are good buddies? Perhaps this explains why Stimac is increasing his influence with the Savez? After all it was Stimac who apparently told Bilic "to dive" when Blanc "struck him" in '98.
With regard to Boban, it's obvious why he could be the unifying force, and one with integrity at that. The man is a national hero, not to mention he was a world-class player for a long time. Also he's a class act.
Just take a look and compare Prosinecki and Boban. Both were world class players, but they are certainly not (and were not) viewed the same in people's eyes. Why? it comes down to "class", I think.
All this makes me wonder why Boban, Suker etc., don't get along with Stimac, Bilic, Ladic, Pros, Asanovic, and gang? They were all teammates who had tremendous success?
Maybe it's because Boban, and Suker don't need the form of the Savez to enhance their personal careers?
What about a guy like Boksic or Jarni? They seem to have respect on all sides too?
If we are to take the current state of affairs as indicative of the 98 team, then it seems that that team was successful in spite of itself, citing the fact that the players currently do not like one another?
Its also not about just playing young players for sake of it, its about building a team for future. Its about finding a replacement for Modric so even when he is fit – things don't weigh heavily on Luka doing everything. It also is about not playing hugely out of condition players. Basically if you're choice is an untried young talent or a guy that's been told to train away from his club team first team training i.e Leko, Pokrivac and Drpic for most of the summer, then who'd you choose.
Re: Badelj
Alex, maybe you should watch this guy cos he is a class act. As for Lovren, he's like all young players. But he's only 20 and has played over 50 times for Dinamo. He is a talent. Ilicevic plays in Kaiserslautern. Idenitifed even by Bilic as a talent, but he needs to find consistency, but is only 22 so has time on his hands. All three are talented. I don't think anyone can question that.
Peter- That was perfect-LOL .
For the people saying we should call up Lovren, Badelj, Ilicevic etc., perhaps Bilic doesn't call them up because he doesn't think there good enough? As I don't watch the HNL reguarly I can't comment personally, but could it be that we simply don't have alot of young talent right now? Everyone is blaming Bilics selection, but it's seems he didn't have alot of options. Yes, Dinamofan, I agree with you that friendlies would have helped blood other players(Cale comes to mind, especially), but it seems quite a stretch to think Badelj, Ilicevic, and Lovren would've changed what was a simply awful performance.
Btw, I've noticed that in all these posts, many with lengthy reviews of each player, not one person has even mentioned the name Vukojevic…
Boban……..I like the guy and there does not seem to be any negativity attached to him, but why is everyone convinced he is the answer for the savez? What skills does he bring to the table? yes, he was a great talent, but that does not mean anything as head of the federation. He will still be working with the same lopovi who are there now.
I agree with @Ziva and @dinamfan. At the moment Boban is far away from becoming the head of the Savez. I know that Stimac has forced his way into the Savez but I know that his intentions are not honest. The problem is I don't seen anyone that will stop him. He will go to any means to get what he wants. If Markovic wanted the best the Croatian soccer he would convince Boban that he is needed for the future of Croatian soccer. Boban should be allowed to choose his own people to lead the Savez. I'm aware that Boban and Stimac do not get along and I don't believe they can work together. I will still hope by some small chance that Boban finds a way to that position. I'm a Hajduk fan but I don't care for Stimac at all. It will be interesting to see what happens because Markovic is getting very old. There will have to be change soon.
Re: Radman
Klasnic has been dropped a few times though in the last year for his poor form at Nantes. He was also missing for over a year due to ill health so you can hardly say we keep selecting him all the time. He only came back recently – he scored against Poland, against Turkey, against Andorra. He's barely played any other games as far as i'm aware??
Petric i agree sometimes gets more playing time then he deserves, but Petric is a quality player. He is a player of moods though. However basically you know what will happen. If we dropped him he'd just continue scoring 30 goals with HSV like the does and then we can't say then we select on form. If you want players in form then Klasnic and Petric are just that. Who else is there on better form than them? Ruki's got better spinters, Mate Bilic's league has only just started, Budan is working his way back for his first games in a long time. Keric has stopped scoring. Kalinic is not scoring yet. I definitely wouldn't criticise Bilic for his choice of strikers. I think you get the best out of them by rotating them.
I also believe you get the best out of Kranjcar, Pranjic, Srna and Raki by rotating them. Add to that Modric, Badelj, Sharbini and Ilicevic i actually believe we have enough creativity and firepower.
We need to concentrate solely on improving the defence. Its real unfortunate you know cos Mirko Jozic created a excellant defence for us, but for a while we had no high quality midfielders or forwards, but then we finally found the forwards, but by that time the defenders got too old. Its a shame its worked out like this. I believe our Euro 2008 squad would have been almost perfect with Eduardo. That was the best time for this time to succeed. Now we need someone to find us a new defence. I don't believe thinking of Srna and Pranjic as full back solves anything. We have at present 1 quality defender Corluka. Krizanac is a bench player. Simunic is only useful for one more campaign. We gonna have to really improve things back there.
Ivan Juric is out of the Kazak gave. I think this is the right time to bring in Lokomotive Moscows Tomislav Dujmovic to the squad. If we select on form then he must come in.
Capello's selecting on form is not exactly true other David Beckham and Emile Heskey wouldn't be there. Heskey can't get a start at Villa and well everyone knows about the rubbish league Beckham plays in. He selects the players for the tactics he wants to play. He does recognise form, but its not always his first concern.
For once i agree with Ziva. Boban in the HNS is just a dream.
@ Nikolina Stanfel – Yes, we get it. The woman broke your heart and now you are trying to get back at her like you are 14 years old. Move on with your life man. Dont you see why women dont want you? Its because you are sad and pathetic.
I came here to gloat a bit, but I'm a bit sorry to see all this negativity here.
C'mon guys. Tiny little country and you punch above your weight in most sports you participate in. (Tell me if that's not true). And, with your tiny size, you're actually expected to be around top 10 in football.
I'm Brit, my wife's Croatian. So I've followed you since independence, since the great generation of Suker et al.
I have found Croatian teams to be either very inspiring, or very frustrating.
Knowing what I know, I was astonished that my stupid countrymen underestimated you on that dark night in 2007.
As last night, they should have known about the technical, ball-holding skills of your midfield and forward guys and made plans to cut off their space! I can't believe Mclarren didn't do that.
Whatever you say about that 5-1 beating, no Croatian team will come to England again and be disrespected.
Luke
Some interesting comments…..I'd like to respond to a few.
Boban…..there is a reason he is not around Croatian soccer and instead focuses his time as an analyst with Italian TV. As long as Stimac has a role in the savez, Boban will not have anything to do with croatian soccer. These comments about him becoming the head of the savez are a dream. It would take a meeting of the minds for that to change. For those of you who follow the day-to-day activities of the savez you'll notice that Stimac has positioned himself nicely for a run as president or possibly as the next coach.
yesterday's game….we lost to a side that was vastly better than us. I thought we would lose 3-0, so i am not surprised by the result. We were missing our best defender and our most creative player and we are not a deep side. We have a few players that can play top level soccer on the international level and are back ups are not capable of that. We saw that last night. Combine that with England's form and confidence and you had the perfect storm for a big England win. It's one game and time to move on. The bigger concern is the quality of play from the national team since the EUROs ended.
players reaction……I exchanged text messages this morning with 2 of the guys on the national team. They said they still have full confidence in Bilic and realized going into the game they would have a hard time getting a good result. Bilic will not quit – or at least they would be shocked if he did based on his comments to the team after the game.
Hey moj dragi hrvati, how do you say five in Croatian? hahahaha!! How I wish they had played at Maksimir. I would have given free anal sex and swallowed all the loads of jizm of all the African soccer plyers on the English team. I would also let them slap me around and then go for sloppy seconds. lol. yuuum, mouthfuls of African monkey sperm.
@ DinamoFan – I dont recall saying that Kalinic should have been brought into the squad for either Petric or Klasnic. The point I made was that capello calls up players that are in form and can fit his overall game plan which can also execute the tactics he sets out. We seem to call up Petric and Klasnic each time regardless how they play for their league teams (ie Klasnic last year and this) and even if they dont perform for the national team (ie Petric most of the time is under performing). I ask you then, when is it enough? These were the same mistakes that Mclaren made and Capello remedied. Players are now called up based on form and the ability to execute his overall game plan. I believe the results speak for themselves.
I doubt England will play their B team against Ukraine. Ukraine put up a good fight last time and the English have too much pride to just throw away a match. The Brits had a point to make with us so now they'll make a point by going unbeaten in their group to send Spain, Brazil, Germany and Italy a message that they mean business.
As for the lack of leadership and organization of the team, look what happened to England with a hired gun coach. Same team but with a different coach and the results are there. When I see the team play it just looks too disorganized. Way too many turnovers. No set plays or direction. You just can't make any mistakes against a top team or they'll make you pay.
@ dan
I think your right. I have a feeling that Bilic may have a deal already which he is hiding with a big club after the WC, which is why he has lost all his focus.
I have come to terms that we just cannot compete like we could 2 years ago.
But I have faith in those boys. We will get stronger. Niko, Luka and Vedran playing together now in the EPL will really lift them from this disaster esp as they are playing for one of the best teams as they stand.
Believe in them. We will bounce back.
Who knows maybe Croatia get their own back in South Africa…
When will Tomislav Dujmovic get a run in the Croatian jersey?
I don't even think bilic himself knows what he is doing anymore. I think his pasion for the job has died off since euro. Like I said I want a coach that is fierce and able to take strong control of his team unlike bilic who like mentioned previously calls up his friends instead of looking for young talent.
rE: dan
The reason its not pleasing to see Stimac mentioned as coach is cos he is part of what is bad in Croatia. The terrible decision to increase the league to 16 although relegating 4 was a good idea as its worried a lot of teams that have been mediocre for years which is why Loko, Pula and Karlovac finding it quite easy. However believe me that was not planned. Stimac did it as it was supposed to help raise player transfer fees by lowering competition.
Stimac is involved in transfers and agents and its not good. Croatia has big problems with all this at the moment. I believe Slaven Bilic has tried his best to stear clear of it, but ultimately he probably his to bend a little. Hajduk were prob on his back over Kalinic and Dinamo over Mandzo.
Re: Radman
If you look for Kalinic to come in – if he scores regularly he's in. Simple's. No question about it as no matter what Klasnic's international record says he's 30 and Croatia are looking for a replacement. Personally i still like Klasnic and think he'll score in Bolton, but if Kalinic's hits goals for Blackburn that we have to recognise that we need to create a team for the future. I don't see how the other 4 strikers can be changed though. Mandzo seriously needs to add some finishing ability to his hard work though.
@ vatreni smiri se it's just an open suggestion
RE: Radman
Why do you keep going on about Petric and Klasnic. Petric has scored 5 in 5 for HSV and Klasnic scored 4 in 5 for Nantes. If anything they are the most in form strikers. Regards Petric his problem is in his head, not in his footballing ability. Remember this was the guy that sealed the victory over England
Petric and Klasnic also did nothing wrong last night. If anything we got better when they came on and England got worse when Milner and Defoe came on. Petric at least forced a few corners. I am actually worried about Eduardo and i don't believe Croatia can do anything about it. We are gonna have to accept that Eduardo is prob gonna be like Micheal Owen in future and have to depend purely on his goalscoring instinct. I think he's lost his pace. He can get around the pitch as well as he did before. I think Arsenal will realise this as well. His touch is still good, but he's not the player he was before his injury. Its natural following a serious injury. I'd also be concerned about Modric's welfare. Broken legs and strength of a leg are serious things.
If you are a HNL1 club president and looking to improve your team then you take Branko Ivankovic, Elvis Scoria, Krunoslav Jurcic or Zoran Vulic and they'll give guarenteed success. However all those fall short coaching at a higher level. Ivankovic's Euro Dinamo side was like Bilic's last night. Everyone in the wrong positions.
I think Gudelj should take charge of Under 21's. Novelselac should take Under 17's. First team coach should be foriegn.
@Dan you can't be serious about Stimac. I knew he was coach of Hajduk for a few months but that doesn't qualify him to lead our national team.
@dinamofan I am also afraid that Branko Ivankovic will become the next coach. This would not be the best thing for the future of Croatian soccer. I've never been an Ivankovic fan and hope that we hire a coach that has proven results. I believe that Markovic hires coaches that he can control and that's a major problem. That's why I believe we haven't had a foreign coach yet.
Anyway back to Croatia. Denis how can you say Simunic was not at fault. Where was Lennon going exactly? Pokrivac showed him inside and he was running straight into two Croatia defenders, but then Simunic decides to hack him down. I'm sure you watch English football each week right. How many times do you see Lennon doing that to left backs. Pokrivac is not the first. Lennon was going nowhere. Simunic just did a typical Simunic challenge. We've seen it all before from him. I don't trust the guy in central defence at all. Left back or nowhere in my opinion for him. Simunic is okay when you give him one single job when the rest of the side is solid.
Also you say you don't see what more Bilic could have done. You mean you don't know what more Bilic could have done with the squad HE selected. He could have called a different squad. He chose not to learn about new players. Everyone talks about Niko Kovac, but a country and a coach has to move on. Bilic never wanted to move on from Niko or Robert. If he could he'd still play them. I believe Robert only missed the game due to injury. How is that progressive to Croatia's future. Although to be honest Robert prob will have a lot better than Krizanac and Simunic did. But he should have been rejuvenating the team. As for Leko, Drpic, Vejic and Pokrivac as i already said this is what destroyed us cos they are all out of condition and couldn't step onto the field when we needed cover. A full fit in form Leko is a replacement for Modric, but Leko rejected all transfers when Monaco categorically told him he's not involved with the first team. That's just unacceptable. You don't call a player in those circumstances. Regards Badelj basically Modric and Corluka were both thrown in the deep end. We could have done the same with Badelj and nobody would have complained. People would have just said well at least he's trying something for future of Croatian football and people would not have said he doesn't search for solutions and doesn't have terrible tactics by putting people out of position.
Modric, Corluka, Eduardo, Kranjcar all got in Croatia's squad justifiably. Nothing to do with Croatian Mafia. Kalinic however was selected during poor form. When Kalinic scores goals he deserves to be in, but not when he is in a 2 month drought.
Vejic and Drpic are there basically as they are friends of Bilic. Bilic basically just calls them to make up the number. He may field them occasionally against Andorra, but he basically calls them to hide the fact he hasn't bothered looking for anyone else.
Regards Cale, he could have been tested ages ago. A friendly against a decent side would have shown if he could perform at international level. If not then we learned something. This is all Capello has done with England is try players in friendlies.
Regards Bilic's position, no he should no resign and he should not be sacked. His contract runs out in summer 2010 and he should go then. I believe Bilic will work on things. As a coach he has lost his way and is no longer highly rated. I couldn't care less what happens to him at end of his contract. He can stick to playing guitar as far as i'm concerned. I do believe he deserves to be shaken by the hand and the end of his contract just like Jozic, Kranjcar, Blazevic and Baric. He doesn't deserve the sack considering his achievements with the team. We should already be talking to his replacement though and should be foreign. I doubt Boban would come to HNS as the problems are deeply routed. I hugely fear current HNS will appoint Branko Ivankovic who will not have the same support of players and fans. We need an appointment which inspires confidence.
For the Kazakstan match we should change Subasic for Runje. Sorry but Runje cannot play in 2012. He is 35. We should change Badelj for Jerko Leko. Tomislav Dujmovic for Pokrivac. Lovren for Vejic, Goran Sablic for Drpic. Rest of squad can stay as it is.
bring niko kovac in as coach!
Fair enough
By the way stimac was head coach of hajduk for about 5 months while the board was looking for a replacment.
I hate to say this, but my mum and grandparents and ancestry are English so i may as be a England fan for once. Capello has done a fantastic job. His first 11 is brilliant.
His full backs Johnson and Cole are athletes who can run up and down wing all day. Terry, Ferdinand and Upson are assertive. I also believe Carragher if called or Wes Brown could do a job for them. Right Wing Lennon is not technically gifted, but he's impossible to stop, when he runs with the ball cos of his low sense of gravity. Using him at right wing was a brilliant decision. He also has a Lennon number 2 in Walcott. Lampard is decent enough in midfield. Prob get exposed like Kranjcar if the rest of team is not firing and Barry same with him, but it is very balanced. Also Gerrard floating from left mid is extremely hard to pick up. Up front i actually believe England has problems. They seem to ask Rooney to do everything. Tactically Heskey is good for roughing up Eastern European teams that aren't use to dealing with a big man. Its interesting how we actually marked Defoe totally out the game. If England actually started Defoe things may have been different. But you got to credit Capello for great tactics for putting in basically a big lump like Heskey.
I am not sure England can win the world Cup playing this way as eventually Heskey's limitations will catch up with them. In the world cup he won't face weak Eastern European central defenders each match. I think at some point England will have to find a left winger either Joe Cole, Ashley Young or even Ashley Cole on left wing and Lescot at left back. Gareth Barry to left wing and Hargreaves centrally. Ultimately England's best front two is Rooney and Steven Gerard, however Capello does not believe England are technically good enough at present to play those two. Next i think he will try to teach them how to play without a target man.
Croats need to understand how spot on Capello's tactics are with England. Also keeping Rooney, Gerrard fit means everything to England. I strongly believe that Croatia can defeat England when they are down 3 or 4 of the starting 11. People like Lescot, Brown, Carrick, Defoe, Agbonglohar, Milner significantly weaken them. England have to keep this 11 fit to stand any chance of winning the world cup and Capello has to be always instrumental in keeping the side together.
@Dan I'm not saying that Boban should be the national team coach. He should be the head of the Savez which is Markovic's position. It should be up to Boban and his advisors to choose a suitable coach to lead the national team. That coach would be able to pick whichever players he wants. Corluka, Modric, Kranjcar, Eduardo and some young other players are on the national team because they deserve to be there. Our best players will most likely always be represented by these mafia guys. Thats fine but I want the best players to play on that team, not the players who offer a percentage of their next transfer to the national coach. Whenever a player is called to the national team his value goes up. The more caps he gets the more money he's worth. Stimac's brother is an agent and I'm sure Igor is involved with transfers. I think there would be a conflict of interests if he was the head coach. Also, he does not have the experience to be head coach. Slaven Bilic was couch of the U21 team and I still think he's a young and immature coach at times.
we have a big problem in the team, can somone give us some quality defenders?
the hate of the english was so big that any team would have been lost to them, even with a full squad we never came home with one point. actually we have something to celebrate, the draw from
belarus and ukraine.
you should think that england will win against all teams, so this loss was calculating, we knew that this was going to be happened.
if ukraine had won today that was a disaster, they still have to play andorra. the last game will be important.
we have to win in far far away country full of sheeps and borat's, and hope that england wil not lose in ukraine. i cant imagine that england will lose because ukraine sucks really hard.
Well without the 'mafia' players like corluka, modric, Eduardo, kranjcar, kalinic ect would have not made it into the big time. They have shaped most of the current team and I think we should give them a go. I respect your thoughts on giving boban a go but I think he is abit too honest and we need someone who can really be incharge and lead the team to some decent wins.
@Dan I disagree with you. What experience does Stimac have coaching?? Stimac is mafia and will use the national team to push his own interests. Stimac, Mamic, Sinovcic and company need to stay as far away as possible. Its difficult when they represent our top players but that mafia should never be able to dictate who is on Croatia's roster. Every national soccer organization has their problems including personal interests and connections. We're talking about millions of dollars here. We need to put someone in charge like Boban who I believe is an honest person. He needs a strong team of people around him who have already made millions. Then, they will be less inclined to force certain players that don't deserve to be on the national team.
Dennis are you serious when you say that the penalty was not simunic's fault. I know your a fan of him and all but he should have been dropped straight after euro. It has been obvious for 2 years now that he is a player that can not simply keep up with the oppositions attack. Today was a perfect example of this. He's more fit to be a butcher than a player. I'm sorry but joes international time is over and it's time to bring in someone new.
In the case of bilic I think it's time for a change. The vatreni need a coach with authority and I think stimac is the man for the job. This whole team needs a face lift and by the looks of today bilic isn't good enough to keep his role as head coach.
Thank you Igor.
Our next step is to take Croatians Around Europe to video. We would also like to set up a live show on ustream.tv where viewers can tune in and comment as we reply back to them.
No comment on the game
it was embarrassing
but you guys should make a weekly news and talk video like this or a podcast on itunes
keep up the great work
What the hell are you people talking about! There is nothing Bilic could of done!! We didnt have enough quality players on our squad. So what, put cale in instead of pokrivac, we still would of lost. Maybe 4-1 instead 5-1…big fuckin deal.
Runje- is an okay goal keeper. Great 1 on 1. But can be shit at times.
Pranjic-is good when we have a solid defense.
Simunic-is good when the team is orginized. When its not orginizes he plays clumsy, and fouls.
Krizanac- is a good sub, nothing else.
Vedran Corluka- has great vision as a defender, always moves forward…does some mistakes at times. But is quality.
Srna- is great when the rest of the squad is on fire.
Niko Kranjcar- is one of our best players. Cant really show off his skills becuase hes trying to play safe all the time.
Luka Modric- is an energizer bunny, he keeps the squad going. When he touches the ball, players around him get excited and play well and more confident.
Ivan Rakitic- is great when the rest of the squad is doing good. He has potential…he can certainly change things at times. But hasn't really come out of his shell yet.
Eduardo- Top class finisher, just give him the ball near the goal chances are hes gonna score…
THINGS WE NEED
We desperately need defenders.
ANd we havent found a solution for a tough midfielder like Niko Kovac.
We also need someone on the squad with big balls. We need a captain my friends.
If I was bilic right now, i would send out scouts! To find solutions for those holes.
England has like 3 freakin squads on their team, and all players are class. We have 11 great players but if someone gets injured we're screwd.
Yes Radman. Thank you for that!
I'm sure "Practice! We talkin' about practice!" will become a recurring theme on CSR.
we will get to playoff round. I really don't want to meet bosnia but if we have to than we will win. but i can just imagine the fans during those games will be way to crazy. Well get to south africa and make it to 2nd round depending what group we are in.
Boban is an idealist. I am sure that he is so disgusted with the corruption in Croatia that he would not want to return.
@JP you bring up some interesting points. I look forward to to see how the Savez reacts to this loss as well. When this qualifying started everyone was praising both Bilic and our players. Currently, Bilic is has hit rock bottom since he became the coach. Today he picked the wrong strategy and wrong players. He's lucky that we beat Belarus so we still have a chance of qualifying. I personally think Markovic will let him finish the qualifying period. The whole point of qualifying is to qualify and we still have an opportunity. McClaren lost his job because they didn't qualify and we haven't gotten to that point.
I agree with your thoughts about Bilic being more of a friend than a coach. He says him and Eduardo talk every day. There's no reason to talk to any of your players every day. I think its ridiculous. Slaven is young and he will learn that being an authoritative figure will take him much further as a coach. There must be some distance between a coach and his players. Life is all about learning from mistakes so he needs to analyze what has led to the poor results this qualifying.
You can say what you want but I'm sure Markovic has a say to which players are called. He is Bilic's boss so you can expect him to be heavily involved. You know these old school Croats want to be involved where they shouldn't. If Markovic let Bilic do what he wanted I'm sure Biscan would be on the team. Markovic and Srebric need to go so a new generation can lead our team. Its time for Boban to become head of the Savez so that we can move forward. These starci in the Savez are holding us back.
Couldnt agree more!
The biggest promblem is nobody is attacking the ball when england had it. always 10 feet away from the man and england did the opposite need players with energy
joe from san bruno
@ Denis and Ante – I see you two referenced my Allen Iverson Youtube clip. Yes, we are talking about practice, this team needs allot of practice.
@ Denis – Did you read the art of war yet?
Our problems were so evident before the game. Bilic did nothing to try and fix these problems with his formation and additions to the starting lineup.
Finally, we have one more key game, have to also hope for some luck along the way. We then have 6 months to try and get it right. This looks bad, but, remember this. Most of these guys were the players that composed our great Euro 08 team. Just as most of the English were the players that got schooled by us. Football, like anything in life is all about confidence. Problems may be fixed, you are only as good as your last game. We still have talented players, talented prospects.
The funny thing really is how the roles have completely done a 180. It was our players who kept their mouths shut for the most part during the 08 qualifications, and we made the arrogant English pay for their stupidity. Bilic and Co began to open their mouths and goat the English. Remember this, no team in the world would play with 10 percent of the desire and hatred that the English played with today. They were exercising all their demons today. They achieved all they wanted. They played with passion and desire. I saw them run, dive and throw themselves at the ball. While our players looked like they wanted the game over before it began. Most of the team did play with no desire and heart. That is clear for all to see.
I have also said this before. Bilic made his success by giving youngsters a shot. He has since reverted from that policy and seems to have a cast that always seems to include Petric and Klasnic. Perhaps its time to do what Capello has done and give playing time to those who have earned it. How many laughed at Fabio when he called up players like Jimmy Bullard? He has won respect from the ranks because the team is even. Nobody is guaranteed a starting spot. On the other side, we constantly throw out the same faces who at times just run around and make up the numbers.
Slaven Bilic – Like many of you, I to was seduced by Bilic and his personality during the last qualifying campaign and Euro 2008. The thought that Croatia could produce one of the great coaches in the world, a man who is nationalist, loved nothing more then coaching his Nation. That thought was just to irresistible. In truth, that team essentially picked its self. I strongly believe that Niko Kovac did most of the work, never got any appreciation for it and made Bilic look good.
Dario Srna – The player that at time plays with more enthusiasm and passion has not been the same the last 8 matches. This is who I thought would step up for Niko and command the team. he has failed to do that. This is a man who I once told many that he was one of the most under rated free kick or corner kick specialists in the world. I can recall he last time he scored from a free kick. Was it against Australia at WC 2006? He has looked a shell of his former self.
Simunic & Krizanac – Well, our two best CBs have absolutely no chemistry with one another. I barely see them communicate, its just shocking that those are two professionals. It really makes you think, if the Prahic, Vida, Lovren generation doesnt pan out, who could possibly play Defense for the National team in the nest few years. Both Simunic and Krizanac are getting pretty old.
Runje – I dont like the guy, thats my personal opinion. He made some key saves, but then gifts the English goals 4 and 5. If he simply stays on his line for goal 4, hr catches that ball. Why he choose to run down a ball he will never come within 5 feet of catching is beyond me. Yes, he stopped the scoreline from being 9-1. I am just saying we have to look elsewhere, this guy isn't a national team starting keeper. Who should start? I have no clue, but he isn't the long term solution.
Kranjcar, Pranjic, Olic and Eduardoo – I fault none of these players. They ran, from what I saw, tried to do what they could. They were hampered by poor tactics. I was impressed watching Kranjcar at times, fish out of water and still tried, ran a bit, looked like he gave a genuine effort. Pranjic, tried to use his speed, as did Olic and Eduardo. Truth is, they were all starved for service.
Mandzukic – Great prospect, however, he has to be used in the right position. Mario is not a RM. As I have said numerous times, The team defense is already bad, what playing 3 strikers will do to remedy that problem is beyond me. Rakitic is naturally right footed, Srna was playing RB, wouldn't it make sense to put a RM at RM?
Pokrivac – Fish out of water. I advocated that he start. I assumed that he would be a good addition to a dual partnership with Vukojevic anchoring our midfield and guarding the back line. He was clearly at fault for the first goal. First rule of defending at RB or LB. You guide the midfielder towards the sideline and not allow a path to the center. let them cross balls into the box all day, I would much rather have that then let speedy wingers dance through the box. I am willing to give him another shot, he is young and does have skill.
Bilic will be fired or quit? Wow, JP, glad to see you're not overreacting. [/sarcasm]
God himself couldn't have coached this team to a performance today. They looked like they were hitting the pubs in London into the wee hours.
Shitmunic has to go.
Gentlemen, thanks for the video update on a dark day. I found your comments insightful and in general agreement with my own thoughts about the game.
I tend to be a Bilic apologist, for whatever reason, but that formation . . . was inexcusable.
Side note: That penalty call will be reviewed by FIFA…………and you already know nothing will happen.
They brought up both very good points, we lack a strong leader in our lineup.
Another thing (perhaps I'm crazy), but does anyone notice how one-sided our development is? I mean if it wasn't for Dinamo or our diaspora where would our talent come from?
Hi guys, nice report under less than ideal circumstances.
In line with what @Andrej & @Ivica are saying above, and in-line with what I have been saying previously, I disagree with you Dennis.
Mark my words, Bilic will be gone within a week, if not sooner. The mistake that you made Dennis is that you assumed that it will be his choice. It won't be. He will be forced to resign, or be given the old "quit or you are fired" option.
This is as it must be. When a nation as soccer-crazy as ours (not to mention prideful) experiences it's most embarrassing performance in it's history, for all the world to see, some heads have to roll. In the least, we as a nation have to make the statement that we will not tolerate such results. Look what happened to Mclaren, as just one example.
Since it's easier to replace the coach than it is to replace the players, we all know what will happen. If Bilic was savvy (which it certainly appears that he isn't), he would've come out after the game, and taken all the blame himself for the loss. He didn't do that, because he's in over his head.
He has the makings of a good coach, no doubt about that, but his immaturity is on full display. After a couple of years out of coaching he will understand his mistakes, and return better for it. He's only 40, and it showed.
Crapello gave it to him "dry" today, and is laughing all the way to the WC. Not to mention on the sideline during the game. But it's not Crapello's fault, Bilic did it to himself.
It's obvious that Bilic still thinks he's a player on the team, with his sideline antics, and buddybuddy approach with the players. That works in the short term, but rarely in the long run. His proximity has blinded him, and he is not the "Cool hand" observing from on high that a team needs. We need a general, not an old soldier.
Don't get me wrong, as a person he's probably a great guy, and I'd certainly like to have a "par piva" with him, but he needs to learn a few more things about life and about coaching, but we can no longer afford to fund his learning curve. Slaven is only a few years older than I, and I know from my own experience that these lessons aren't necessarily pleasant, but in the end, all will be better off, including Mr. Bilic.
A clean slate is coming gents, and I, for one, am happy about that.
btw. Mr. Ziva… since you purportedly have a direct line to some of the players on the team… what's the skinny?
i enjoyed that video you guys have alot of good points and i like the fact u arent one way just for croatia you look at bigger picture and do your research on facts, also i think your wrong about becoming world cup contenders…its all there..the pieces are there to the puzzle, the question is that is there anyone on the team to put there toghter, 2 many chiefs not enough indians on the team
Good post guys, hope you're right. Very disappointing day for all Croats.
Wow, does Bilic make so many changes before and during games just to make it look like he's coaching. What a clown, can we replace him immediately please!!!!
We just need to hope that Ukraine don't somehow pull 3 points out of a magic hat.
They looked pretty awful today vs Belarus.
Their last meet vs England though, Terry needed an 85' winner.
if bilic doesnt get us to the world cup, i think the only place he could get a job is the German 2nd division. His stock has dropped so dramatically since the beginning of this qualifying campaign.
I am with Denis on one thing though: we will get to the playoffs. England will put their 'scrubs' in against ukraine, but their 'scrubs' can easily handle ukraine. we will beat glorious nation of kazakhstan to get to the playoffs against a volatile opponent. There are so many chances for trouble with the playoff draw. Forget france, russia, etc. I am almost certain Croatia is going to draw Israel, Bosna, or Slovenia. Each game holds the potential of some serious security measures being taken by UEFA.