This is not a good look as this U21 side is stacked with talent: Vušković, Beljo, Zvonarek, Frigan, Vidović. Georgia was the worst seeded team to play in the playoff which gave this Croatian side a huge advantage. However. during the 1st leg, Soldo would score an own goal inside five minutes and Čavlina would pick up a red card in the 61st minute to make it incredibly difficult for the mini Vatreni to come back on the road. They would lose that game 1-0.
Croatia blew not one, but two leads in Rijeka Tuesday night and needed a 93rd minute goal from Šotoček to force extra time. No goals in extra time saw the game go to a penalty kick shootout which Croatia was up in every round except the last one. Hodža would have his high shot perfectly palmed by the diving Georgian keeper to force extra rounds. Georgia made theirs. Badelj missed. I to ti je to. Why can our Croatian youngsters never do good at the U21 and U19 levels? Why?
Manager Ivica Olić will certainly be on the “hot seat” after this result.
Anonymous has been saying for weeks that Kova needs “load managed”
He was playing 90′ every game for Man City as Rodri and KDB out
He should have taken the Nov games to recover (like many other big name stars did – e.g. England 9 players) rather than force himself into 2 Croatia games
Great judgement again from Dalic to play an obviously exhausted Kova (it’s been obviously for over a month now)
Now he’s out for a month if not more
Great job Dalic
Petar Susic was the obvious sub for either Kova or Modric for the games against Scotland and Portugal. But for some strange reason he decides to start Susic as the CAM against Scotland and Baturina out of position on the LW when you have a fully capable inform LW in Pjaca and Baturina could have played as the 10 the position he excelling as with Dinamo. Dalic has absolutely no tactical awareness.
Did he not miss Croatia’s two prior games? He was not gonna not play again due to “load management.” Geezus.
Pep: Kova out 3-4 weeks
NL QF’s Draw
Croatia v France and if win it will be Spain or Holland in the SF.
Very tough but I guess there was no easy matches.
Can’t complain.
We’re into the quarters because VAR saved us in the first Scotland game.
Anything from here is a bonus.
Great job Dalic / Olic
Bc u didn’t send Petar Sucic for U21s 2nd leg
U change the course of his fate / history
And now he’s injured his foot in training and out the rest of the here
You should be ashamed of yourselves
This is all your fault
x.com/TheCroatianLad/status/1859587814783897772
You can’t really be criticizing Dalic for the Butterfly Effect now too?
Horrible news for Dinamo and their upcoming Champions League games. Looks like he will be out for 6 weeks.
Shame.
But National Team is most important.
So long as his career won’t be hampered by this injury, and he can come back at 100% for the qualifiers, I’m happy.
I would say that success at Dinamo is more important right now for the development of National team players. An argument can be made that playing under Dalic is hurting their careers.
Why Dalic is not receiving more criticism for the National Team’s form right now is baffling.
It’s because of the bronze medal at WC2022.
He’s been riding that success, and although he’s had a bad Euro2024 and a bad UNL2024 (so far)…it’s going to take until WC2026 before he’s allowed to be criticized.
Shame, because I really think that World Cup USA is going to be a huge success and I believe a great young core of Gvardiol, Baturina and the two Sucics could do something special there.
Instead, I think it will just be (yet another) farewell tour for Modric, Krama and Perisic.
I’ve not seen anything of Baturina in a Croatia kit to suggest he’s ready. Good luck to him though, am cheering for him.
Did you watch the 3-3 Poland game at least?
Half of the time he’s been playing on the wing when he is obviously a CAM.
Thought this analysis of Conte’s new system at Napoli is interesting. Perhaps it could be applied with the nt.
https://youtu.be/65fMMzYpNCk?si=di1PV_A2V1N3D1wR
You need to have a caliber of coach like that in the NT or at least half of that calibre in which we don’t.
Dear HNS –
Why did Olic only announced 23 squad size for U21 – when Finland and Belgium both announced 24 squad size (and the max may have been even higher 25 or 26)
Whatever the max # only 20 players on day of game (11 starters + 9 bench)
So 4 players sitting in stands – those 4 spots could have been allocated for the 4 U21 w/ Senior team – in case one of them got a red card vs. Scotland, you know like what happened to Petar Sucic
Did one of the nose-pickers not think about red card vs. Scotland as a scenario ?
lol
Great planning / thinking about scenarios / covering all bases
Please stop with the nose pickers comment. Can’t take it anymore lol! Honestly it’s getting ridiculous I am starting to think that you, Anonymous, are a nose picker. Lol.
Do you suffer from nosebleeds? 😀
Pots for UEFA WC qualifying draw on 13 December:
Pot 1 – Spain, Germany, France, England, Portugal, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Swiss, Austria.
Pot 2 – Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, Chechia, Norway.
Pot 3 – Scotland, Slovenia, Ireland, Albania, Macedonia, Georgia, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Montenegro, BiH, Izrael.
Pot 4 – Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Belarus, Armenia, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Faroes, Latvia, Lithuania
Pot 5 – Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, San Marino.
We won’t know which group we are in until March 2025 when the NL QF’s are completed.
Ideal group for me would be: Croatia, Slovakia, Montenegro, Latvia and San Marino if in a group of 5.
All Balkan group of 4 😉
We could get Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Faroe Islands and San Marino.
Geez.
I guess this is to be expected since they expanded the tournament.
There are some decent countries in Pot 2 and even in Pot 3 that could cause us problems. If we stuff up big time and let’s say we come third, we are still guaranteed a play-off spot because of our high ranking in the just completed NL.
If you aren’t already make sure u check out Football Meets Data on x (twitter)
They are posting every day all the details around this as they come up
As e.g. if all Pot 1 and Pot 2 teams finish top 2 in their WC groups – one of the WC play-off spots would go to San Marino even if they lost every game in WC qualifying and were bottom of their group (bc they won their UNL group) lol
Oct 9, 2010
Rakitic (22.5 y.o.) plays 77′ Euro qualifier vs. ISR [while U21 play 1st leg vs. Spain]
Oct 12, 2010
Rakitic captains U21 2nd leg vs. Spain [while Senior NT play]
Nov 15, 2024
Petar Sucic (just 21 y.o.) plays 43′ NL vs. Scotland [while U21 play]
Nov 19, 2024
Petar Sucic hangs out in Split in and around the Senior NT cuz Dalic said it’s good for him to stay w/ them instead of going back to Dinamo
lol
Why didn’t Petar Sucic join the U21 for their 2nd leg ? When Rakitic was 1.5 years older than him that’s what he did
Olic asked Kustic who said no ?
Olic asked Kustic who said ask Dalic who said no ?
Olic asked Dalic who said no ?
Olic didn’t ask ???
btw the 2010 U21s was stacked
Rakitic
Perisic
Lovren
Vida
Vrsaljko
Badelj
Possibly two reasons?
Petar Sucic was suspended for one match and that means that he could not play for the U21.
Also, he had already represented BiH at U21 level.
On second thought he would have served his suspension against Portugal a day earlier.
Good point maybe he could have played against Georgia ?
Both good reasons / thinking (neither crossed my mind)
Rakitic represented both Switzerland and Croatia at U21 level, right ?
So unless things changed don’t think that could be the reason
The red card carrying over could have been a reason (if the games were both the same day) – sometimes they are finicky like that, but would assume they don’t carry over from one competition to another (especially across age brackets – but who knows) – but as you point out the Portugal game was the day before the Georgia one – so if that could be a reason the suspension was served Monday
Maybe it has to do with submitting the squad list / size before the first leg ?
Olic announced 23 squad size Oct 28th (was the max 23 ? could he have submitted 25 like the Senior team ?) – and y’day both Croatia and Georgia had 20 players (11 starters + 9 subs) – so there are 3 out of the 23 submitted – sitting in the stands
Would have made more sense as a contingency / upside that those 3 stands sitting spots be taken by 3 of of the 4 of P Sucic, Igor, L Sucic, Baturina in case one of them got a red card in the first game [ranked by mostly likely red card to least (based on aggressiveness) – although Igor and Luka could interchange – based on playing time, etc]
Even worst would be if Olic could have submitted 25 squad players like Senior team (i.e. just didn’t take up the additional 2 spots) – bc those spots could have easily gone to two of the players w/ the Senior Team
I hope the squad size max wasn’t 25 and we only submitted 23 – and they didn’t think about the possibility that one or more of the 4 U21 players with Senior team could get a red in the Scotland game – that would be embarrassing, lol
Someone should ask Kustic / Dalic / Olic at the next press conference 🙂
In Oct 2010 (Rakitic was 22.5 years)
Oct 9, 2010 Rakitic played 77 min for NT Euro qualifier
Oct 12, 2010 NT played a friendly vs. Norway
Also Oct 9, 2010 our U21 played first leg in play-off vs. Spain and lost 2-1 (Rakitic played w/ the NT that team that day, per above)
Oct 12, 2010 Rakitic started w/ our U21 in 2nd leg as captain – but was taken off after 14 min bc of a head injury (team included Perisic, Lovren, Vida, Sime, Badelj) and we lost 3-0
So
Anonymous observation – given Petar Sucic couldn’t play vs. Portugal – why wasn’t he sent to U21 to help them qualify in the 2nd leg – Dalic said he’s staying w/ the NT to train in Split not going back to Dinamo blah blah blah – but reality must be Dalic didn’t want to help Olic (and hence put his own job at risk) – Olic for his part should have called Kustic and insisted he gets Petar to help them qualify (maybe he tried and Kustic said no or said he defers to Dalic) – but there is no rationale explanation why Petar couldn’t have in theory helped our U21 team
Again Rakitic was 22.5 years when he played w/ the U21 team (vs. Petar just turned 21)
In Oct 2010 (Rakitic was 22.5 years)
Oct 9, 2010 Rakitic played 77 min for NT Euro qualifier
Oct 12, 2010 NT played a friendly vs. Norway
Also Oct 9, 2010 our U21 played first leg in play-off vs. Spain and lost 2-1 (Rakitic played w/ the NT that team that day, per above)
Oct 12, 2010 Rakitic started w/ our U21 in 2nd leg as captain – but was taken off after 14 min bc of a head injury (team included Perisic, Lovren, Vida, Sime, Badelj) and we lost 3-0
So
Anonymous observation – given Petar Sucic couldn’t play vs. Portugal – why wasn’t he sent to U21 to help them qualify in the 2nd leg – Dalic said he’s staying w/ the NT u know blah blah blah – but reality must be Dalic didn’t want to help Olic (and hence put his own job at risk) – Olic for his part should have called Kustic and insisted he gets Petar to help them qualify (maybe he tried and Kustic said no or said he defers to Dalic) – but there is no rationale explanation why Petar couldn’t have in theory helped our U21 team
Again – Rakitic was 22.5 years when he played w/ the U21 team (vs. Petar just turned 21)
Fun fact Oct 2010 (Rakitic was 22.5 years)
Oct 9, 2010 Rakitic played 77 min for NT Euro qualifier vs. Israel
Oct 12, 2010 NT played a friendly vs. Norway
Also Oct 9, 2010 our U21 played first leg in play-off vs. Spain and lost 2-1 (Rakitic played w/ the NT that team, per above)
Oct 12, 2010 Rakitic started w/ our U21 in 2nd leg as captain – but was taken off after 14 min bc of a head injury (team included Perisic, Lovren, Vida, Sime, Badelj) and we lost 3-0 (Spain scored in 67 min – Lovren yellow, another Lovren yellow 3 min later (lol Lovren) – Spain scored 2 more in extra time)
So
Anonymous observation – given Petar Sucic couldn’t play vs. Portugal – why wasn’t he sent to U21 to help them qualify in the 2nd leg – Dalic said he’s staying w/ the NT u know under the guise of training / being w/ the squad blah blah blah – but reality is Dalic didn’t want to help Olic (and hence put his own job at risk) – Olic for his part should have called Kustic and insisted he gets Petar to help them qualify (maybe he tried and Kustic said Dalic said no) – but there is no rationale explanation why Petar couldn’t have in theory helped our U21 team
Again – Rakitic was 22.5 years when he played w/ the U21 team (vs. Petar just turned 21)
Nobody mentioning Jakic? Dude was unbelievable in the second half. We have depth just have to put it all together properly.
Some people below are asking why was Kovacic subbed at half time? He was injured according to some media reports.
I remember one of the comments Maminjo has made in the past that went along the lines of “Dalic constantly relying on the old bones/bodies of Modric, Perišić, Krama and Co. Something of that nature.
I don’t know that I felt this way a year ago, but I’m going ot say this. I think Modric, Perišić, and a lot these guys need to hang up their boots. I don’t think that things will change until they do. Especially the first two mentioned.
Do not get me wrong, Modric is still an incredible player and a hero for all Croatian’s concerned.
However, with the comments Maminjo had made below, I am starting to think differently about this.
If is true that everything is going through Modric/Perišić all the time…I don’t know that I ever caught on to that. Moreover, that it would have been an expectation from Dalic. If this is the case than it’s just stupid. Play should be open to everyone who has an opportunity to make things happen. Luka Sučić looks like a player that is not just hungry, but is capable I think of the taking up that mantle. He has an incredible touch on the ball.
Ever notice we start off flat, Dalic usually brings subs on in the 60-70 minute range (subbing out one or both of the names mentioned above) and we look different? More pace? Taking it to the opposition more?
Connect the dots.
We always look much better/eager/hungry to go forward after we go down 1-0 … even in the first half with the starting 11. Yesterday, too.
…..Which might go without saying, but it’s almost like the team waits. That said, they were going at Scotland pretty good early on.
…..Which might go without saying, but it’s almost like the team waits. That said, they were going at Scotland pretty good early on.
Yeah I was exaggerating a bit below, but it still holds some merit.
I actually think we played well in that first half against Scotland, and the game was largely lost due the red card… HOWEVER, coaching still played a negative factor in that first half by having Krama play as the lone striker (which cost us the Italy game at the Euros and never works).
We still continually play through Krama too, and he wasted quite a few chances as we should have gone ahead before that red card. I hate to harp on Krama, as he’s usually pretty clinical, but he costs us too much as a lone striker.
Yesterday’s game, we sucked in the first hskf and were likely motivated by the fact that Scotland were temporarily ahead of us in the standings… But we still played very conservatively and refused to advance the ball (with the ball constantly being back passed). That was very likely a Dalić call, who probably would have been fine with the 0-0 result.
This is why I love the two Sučić guys. They seem unable to never play “loser” ball, which is why I like seeing them out there (but neither were out there in that first half). I never want to see Sosa or Perišić starting again. Neither doing anything defensively, and Sosa backpassing to Modrić every single play (even though we actually have a tall striker waiting for a cross in the middle). Then Kovačić, of all people, is the one to get subbed off (wtf?!).
We don’t have a talent issue.
Each of our 21 year old central midfielders are worth at least 25 million Euro and we have a 100 million Euro defender (who was one of the best defenders at the 2022 World Cup).
This is a Dalić issue and he’s taking his time trying to piece things together, while still trying to accommodate his veterans.
It looks like Luka Sučić and Budimir made a very good impact last game, and Petar Sučić will likely continue to start.
Dalić will still resort to playing Luka Sučić and Baturina out of position, but hey, I’ll take that over that slow and dreadful Sosa/Perišić combo.
We still need to figure out the Gvardiol and Šutalo defensive gaffes, but baby steps i guess.
I was shocked Kovacic came off at the half too — he had some nice “slalom” runs — but apparently there was an injury scare/issue?
I don’t see Baturina as much as some people here do — only the odd time for Dimano, and always for Croatia — but I thought he was poor yet again yesterday.
Budimir was unlucky.
Baturina was absolutely shit in the 1st half, but actually played a lot better in the 2nd. Jury is still out on him. He shows signs of a good player but equal signs that he’s not up to the task.
He consistently plays well for Dinamo, and was great when he started against Poland and in the first Scotland game (while mediocre in the second Scotland game and this Portugal game).
He’ll be fine. It’s a small sample and he will likely be our best, or one of our best, midfielders.
He also hasn’t been given a chance in the central midfield yet (always playing on the wing) so let’s see how he does when he finally gets his chance to play behind the striker.
We simply do not do well at youth level because our talent pool is not that great and that is despite getting many players from diaspora choosing to play for Croatia. Coaching is also a problem with HNS in most instances appointing former players with no coaching experience. The other problem is that many of the players do not play for their clubs regularly in HNL or overseas.
You look at our current U21 squad stacked with players like Vuskovic, Beljo, Zvonarek, Biuk, Ivanovic, Frigan , Stojkovic , Soticek and so on and you say how come we cannot qualify for EURO. Reading Croatian media, they are all made up to be superstars, however for those of us that watch them play regularly they are not that good.
On paper it looks like we are superior to Georgia, however as the legendary English coach Brian Clough said once after losing a match ” YES ON PAPER WE LOOKED A BETTER TEAM, BUT UNFORTUNATELY FOR US THE MATCH WAS PLAYED ON GRASS”.
I think people read too much into U21 results.
You’ve got bum teams like Serbia, Ukraine, Israel regularly going far in these tournaments but never doing anything at senior level.
I believe Nigeria has the most junior World Cups won, even more than Brazil.
U21 results mean nothing.
I haven’t been following our national team recently since the devastating Euro Cup. That is still difficult to get over. From a realistic standpoint it’s only going downhill at this rate. I’ve lost faith in this team the last few years. We’ve blown numerous leads in essential games, won only two games since our last major tournament, our youth teams aren’t progressing far in World Cups or Euros. Once Modric leaves it will make matters worse. Our best player as of now us Gvardiol and only player I’ve been impressed by. Let’s just have faith our qualifying group for the 2026 World Cup isn’t threatening. At this rate I’m concerned with us making a playoff spot. At least for qualifying we will avoid teams such as France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal. Our toughest group by the looks of it would contain either England, Ukraine, Switzerland, Serbia or Belgium. The draw happens less than a month so I’m eager to see what our circumstances are like. Kovacic and Gvardiol are having fanstsnic seasons. Besides that, is there any faith in anyone or youth? Do we need new management or a head coach? I believe it’s just a lack of talent at this point and holding leads. My God…also defending. We are relying on a 22 year old to hold our back line together.
It’s just coaching, and failing to let go of a few deadweights.
Modric leaving has no bearing on this team. We scored that game tying goal yesterday, and created all those second half chances without Modric. Yes, he’s still great for us…but his role is too big for this team. He needs to take a lesser role for us.
The problem with Dalic is that he plays our entire offense through Modric and Kramaric (and Perisic when he comes in).
Whenever our other ‘beta’ players (like Sosa, Pasalic, or whoever) get the ball…the immediately stop moving forward, and pass it back to Modric to initiate the play. It’s so damn predictable, and every opponent knows this is going to happen. Now it’s all on Modric to make something happen.
This has to stop.
We need to give our talented youngsters bigger roles on this team. Luka Sucic is a CHAD, and doesn’t care about the vets. You can tell that he’s going to be an alpha and is counting the days for Modric to step aside so he can take over. It’s probably the reason why Dalic keeps giving him the short end of the stick, and regularly benches him. He probably doesn’t listen to Dalic when he yells “pass it to ‘Modric” from the sidelines.
When Luka Sucic comes into the game, you will immediately notice that there are no more pathetic short corners. There is no more hesitation to shoot on goal. There are no more cowardly blasts over the crossbar with your eyes closed.
He comes in, and there are crisp crosses into box to our striker…there are beautiful corners swung right in front of goal…and there are EXTREMELY accurate shots on goal (at least 2-3 per game) that either go in, or are barely saved by the keeper or deflected by a desperate defender.
THIS, my friend…THIS is how you play football.
Instead, we play our most talented and impactful central midfielder (Luka Sucic) play out of position…and make him continually defer to Modric, Perisic and Kramaric.
When he doesn’t, he’s benched the next game (like he was against Portugal). Then he comes back in, and makes magic happen again.
This has been happening since the Euros (where he was responsible for ALLLLL of our chances and goals) and yet he has yet to start a game for us in his favored position (constantly being throw in wherever, and asked to play subserviently it to Perisic or Krama).
Something similar is also currently happening to Martin Baturina as well (constantly being played out of position)…but this will eventually end and these youngsters (the two Sucic cousins and Baturina) will take over, and we will be fine.
I still think Krama and Modric are great assets to this team…but they need to take a backseat, and become efficient contributors to this team.
Terrific piece @maminjo. Spot on
I really thought Pasalic played well before and after Modric went off. Relief not seeing him try to play wing
Can the geniuses pls stop posting that Portugal played a “B” team
The “B” team play for Chelsea, Barcelona, Man City, AC Milan, PSG plus one Benfica 22 defender first cap
It’s just silly
Beljo has been decently scoring as of late no?
A few mentioned considering reintegrating Musa in the senior team but I feel like if Beljo continues doing well then maybe he would make more sense. Idk.
Definitely feels like Dalic should try more new/young players while letting Matanovic get more time in his club and work on his finish
Of our U21s, Beljo, Frigan and Ljubicic are scoring pretty decently in mid-tier leagues. Ivanovic has a couple as well.
Kulenovic might be a good option to try, since he is literally averaging a goal per game in HNL and Champions League (12 goals in 12 starts).
Musa would be good if he transferred to Europe.
Does Georgia even play football
Sramota
They play a little better than Olic can coach.