The dust has now officially settled from Croatia’s 0-0 draw vs. Morocco. Croatians across the globe are disappointed, confused, and flat out embarrassed by the result. Although a draw in your World Cup opening match is not the end of the world, it’s the way our beloved Vatreni played that’s most puzzling. Zlatko Dalić and Croatia played right into Morocco’s “bunker first/counter later” strategy and had no answer for 90 minutes. There’s plenty of UGLY to discuss, but let’s uncover some silver lining as well. (Because that’s the only thing that will make me feel better today)
THE GOOD
-Luka Modrić still has the goods at 37 years old. He bossed the midfield and was Croatia’s best player by far, running across the pitch offensively, defensively, while pressing the Moroccans on multiple occasions. He should have done better with the shot before halftime but missed the mark by a small margin. Modrić will surely rebound and rally the team after a disappointing performance for the Canada match on Sunday.
-Dominik Livaković looked decent in goal. He still scares the living shit out of me but a clean sheet in a World Cup match – no matter how you get it – can only boost your confidence for the next game. He did well punching out the rocket which was heading right at his face.
-Croatia did not pick up any yellow cards or major injuries during the Morocco match. Nikola Vlašić looked to have picked up a minor knock but was not subbed out immediately. He is also expendable on the right wing or CAM with Majer, Oršić, Pašalić. Not the end of the world if he can’t play against Canada but it’s always a good thing to keep your yellow card count low early in the tournament.
THE BAD
-CroatianSports has debated this topic for the past four years: Croatia does not have a World Cup-ready striker at the moment. Dalić opted to start Kramarić up top when he knows Krama is not a point-man like Mandžukić was. He’s never going to climb the ladder in the box for a header and plays more like a False 9 than anything else. Krama received very few touches against Morocco and should have been subbed out for Petković at halftime. At least Petković could have supplied a physical presence in the box. Either way, Dalić made the sub for Krama way too late in the match. (71′)
-This will go against popular opinion, but I’ve always hated playing Modrić/Kovačić together in the same midfield; especially with Broz sitting behind them both defensively. There’s nothing Kova can do that Modrić doesn’t already do for Croatia. Kova was invisible during the Morocco match. Add in a CAM like Majer or Oršić instead of Kova. Or add Vlašić in the middle which allows you to put Pašalić on the right wing. I’ve been saying this for years, Kova always plays in Modrić’s shadow in the Croatian midfield.
-Dalić needs to read the game better and make subs earlier, unless of course, he was happy with a draw, which would shock me. He made the Vlašić substitution at halftime (due to injury) but did not make his next one after that until the 71st minute. Kramarić and Kovačić should have been subbed out 15 minutes earlier.
THE UGLY
-Where was the intensity? Where was the drive? Where was the attitude? It looked like Croatia was playing a chess match with Morocco compared to a World Cup opener. Sure, the Vatreni had 64% ball possession, but what did they do with it? How many passes went backwards in this match? How many times did Modrić play back pass with Gvardiol/Lovren? It was boring and unimaginative football. Croatia played without any urgency and as if they were winning by two goals the entire match.
-Where was the movement?! Absolutely NO ONE moved for each other. Absolutely NO ONE moved without the ball. No one created space for their teammates on the pitch and it played perfectly into Morocco’s strategy of bunkering and hitting Croatia on the counter. We literally played into Morocco’s game plan for them and made zero adjustments.
-Where do I begin with Sosa and Juranović on the defensive wings? Neither during the entire game made overlap runs up field to try and attack down the flanks. You can’t beat a bunker by going straight up the middle. That’s BUNKER 101. I watch Sosa on the regular for Stuttgart and half the match he is in the offensive third sending in perfect crosses into the box. With no wing play from the back, Croatia really didn’t have any options without a true striker. It was absolutely God awful watching Croatia play without any urgency from the back. If Dalić can’t fix that tactic, we’re in for a rude awakening against the Canucks.
Look, Croatia could have easily won that game, lost or drawn. A point after the first game will not end your tournament but Croatia WILL need to grab all three points against Canada on Sunday. If you can’t take four points from Morocco and Canada in World Cup matches, you don’t deserve to be there…simple as that! If Canada lose to Belgium today, they will have to go for the win against Croatia which means they will play open. We will be able to hit them down the flanks with speed…God willing.
The Morocco match was awful to watch. I will be the first one to say that. But this is what tournaments are all about. How will the team rebound and how will Dalić respond tactically?
I was surprised at how ineffective Perisic was – especially the second half – I would have brought on Orsic a lot sooner – felt sorry for Livaja as they did not give him any service – overall I couldn’t give any player more than a 6 in the match for Croatia – Never seen us pass so badly
Serbia playing v well – very organize
Reminds of them vs. Germany 2010
It will not be an open game for Canada, they will barely touch the ball
Possession 65% Croatia
Yet another example of an Englishman underestimating and disrespecting Croatia.
Don’t these chirpers ever learn?
Bože daj da mi njima napumpamo 7 komada!!!
Ajmo!!!
Bog i Hrvati
Does anyone have a clip of that Argentine guy announcing the Russian own goal?
One thing that is apparent at this WC is the fact that matches starting at 11 am local time are slow tempo and not entertaining due to heat. This was also the case today with Swiss v Cameroon which the Swiss won 1 – 0. I was expecting Cameroon to put a lot of pressure on the Swiss in the last 15/20 minutes to try and grab an equalizer, however they were spent physically and had nothing left in the tank.
Historically we have never played well at the Euros and WC’s when playing in the heat of the day and the sun blazing. The match against Canada is at 4 pm local time so the playing conditions should be better? I hope that this will help because we need to do a lot more running than what was on display against Morocco, especially our wing backs and forwards.
I think most of us would be good with starting majer over kova but we know dalic ain’t gonna do that either
Do you guys think livaja is only for a sub right now or could be implemented in a start vs Canada?
I feel he is the type who would literally take the we will f Croatia personally and use it for fuel
I’m not saying he is the tactical choice but I could see him and that Chetnik goalie really battling and that could rattle the keeper
I think the consensus is most of us even tho it’s a risk would give orsic a try to rw
Hmm and Perisic could swap back and forth if need be…
No way dalic doesn’t start lovren
He played well enough
I was personally so pleased with gvardiol.
Not many defenders at 20 look that poised. Ya he looks like he takes some risky challenges to regain possession but I’m down with it if 9/10 times they work
He really does have that extra bit to be on a super star level one day
Herdman is a cartoon clown. Surprised he didn’t wear an XXXXXS jacket yesterday like usual. Real nice post-game comment. So much for the ballyhooed Canadian humility.
He is British.
This is how they perceive nations like Croatia. It’s their usual belittling behavior, unlike Canadian hospitality.
He’s been coaching here (Canada) for more than a decade, women’s team included. He shouldn’t (still) be that dense. It’s a rookie, bush league comment to say that on camera.
I think you guys are reading too much into this.
A loss to Belgium by a score of only 1-0 (while creating more chances) is considered HUGE for Canadians.
It wasn’t belittling. It was being overjoyed for something that Herdman himself was obviously surprised about.
Unfortunately, both Canada and Herman have the same ‘small country’ mentality that a lot of Croats had when they were overjoyed to finish with a silver or a bronze at the World Cup saying things like “a bronze medal is our gold”. Barf.
Losing 1-0 to a very weak and out-of-form looking Belgian side is not a good result.
It does show that Canada can create chances and won’t be a punching bag, but at the same time, there is a BIG gap between “playing well” in a game and actually WINNING a game.
The game against Croatia and Morocco are completely new ones, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Canada ended up playing well in those, but still ended up losing both.
Dalic, via sportsnet.ca:
“I’m not sure how nice it is to say something like that but it’s his right,” he added through an interpreter. “I think we need to show on the pitch that we’re better.”
I think the Canadian coach is from a communist family so he has more in common with globalist serving stooges like Frank Tudjman than Croats who are percieved to be a more nationalist type of people, so of course he would like to “F” Croats over just like anti-nationalist Tudjman did.
I must admit I was surprised how well Canada played against Belgium and they were extremely unlucky to lose the match. Against us it will be an open game and as such Dalic will need to change tactics and bring in some fresh players.
Lovren had a good match against Morocco but against Canada, I would bring in Sutalo who is faster and more comfortable on the ball. Kovacic is not in the best of form, and I would replace him with Majer. Up front I would start with Budimir and in the second half when the Canadian defenders tire a bit replace him with Petkovic. RW is a problem for us, but I would give Orsic a go, at least the guy can run and is quicker than Vlasic and Pasalic.
Formation 4 – 2 – 3 -1
Liva – Jura, Sutalo, Gvardiol, Sosa – Broz, Modric – Perisic, Majer, Orsic – Budimir
Yea the lineup makes a lot of sense.
Majer isn’t fast, but it might not matter. He has glue on his feet, and he may nutmeg a few Canadians and they will hesitate to press him. If he stinks it up, you can always bring in Kovacic or Pasalic off the bench.
Stanisic is pretty quick and defensively ept, so I would look to use him if Juranovic struggles defensively against Canada’s wingers.
If the Canadians play as chaotic in our box as they did against Belgium, then I would definitely opt for Sutalo over Lovren. I can’t see Lovren doing well in that scenario.
I’ve always wanted to see what Orsic could do at RW. I really wish we tried this in Nations League instead of just defaulting to Vlasic/Pasalic all the time. If Orsic is successful there, it makes us less reliant on Juranovic making those runs.
Up top, it’s really anybody but Krama right now. In an open game like this, we’ll probably need pressing. If we manage to dominate possession and send in crosses via the wing, then Budimir or Petkovic makes sense.
K.I.S.S. Wear our away blues, and play skalina champ Marko Livaja. The rest is just lounge chairs on a seaworthy sailboat built in dubrovnik, before the invention of the steam engine. Billy Beane Soccer Analytics.
Like others have said
If those words from the Canadian coach and that Chetnik “Chetniking” is not enough to inspire then I don’t know what would be
So thank you to their coach
They are playing with house money
More pressure on us but maybe that’s a good thing
Don’t mind Cigans lineup
I’m good with orsic on the right with stanisic behind him to let orsic run more
I don’t feel stanisic is slow and we need him to help out on defence to contain Davies. Even tho Davies is playing in the middle of the pitch now?
No way krama can start
Maybe start with petko then swap out for livaja
Or start budimir to run his ass off for 25 mins and see how it goes
We have 5 subs
There is no excuses for guys not to run their asses off
We have more skill yes but we need to match their intensity or close to it if we want to take this
Yea we used 4 subs in the Morocco game, but one of them was in injury time. Another two we after the 70 minute mark.
We have more depth than anyone in this group, and if Canada wants to go full steam on us, then subbing in several players at the 55-60′ mark would be good to reload and go at them hard (with backups who are just as skilled as our starting eleven).
This is an example of a balanced lineup:
………………………………Petkovic……………………………
Perisic……………………………………………………..Orsic
……………………………….Majer………………………………
………………….Brozo………………….Modric……………..
Sosa……………………………………………………………JJ
…………………….Gvardiol………..Erlic…………………….
……………………………………………………………………….
………………………………Livakovic…………………………
This is NOT an example of a balanced lineup (dalics signature lineup):
……………………………………………………………………….
Perisic………………..Kramaric…….Vlasic………………
…………………Kovacic………………………………………..
……………………………….Brozovic…………………….JJ
Sosa………………………………………Mordic…………….
…………….Gvardiol…………..Lovren……………………..
………………………………………………………………………
………………………………Livakovic…………………………
Canada will play more open and attacking, but at the same time, I think they will try to learn from their mistakes against Belgium and try not to leave themselves so open in the back.
I was surprised Belgium managed to score off that long ball pass. I think Canada will be a bit more disciplined defensively this time, and not get too confident with their CBs pushing forward.
I think Canada may not come out as strong, and try to pace themselves to leave enough in the tank for the entire game.
Lovren is a concern for me, if he’s going to get constantly bombarded by quick 22 year-old speedsters.
He’s slow and he’s not afraid to mis-time a challenge in the box.
Canada managed to get a PK against Belgium, and were close on a couple of others.
Sosa and Juranovic should have good games. Juranovic may get subbed out for Stanisic if we need more defense back there.
Not sure what to do up top.
I originally thought Petkovic would be good against Canada (assuming we slow down the pace and dominate possession) and Petkovic would outmuscle and nutmeg Canada’s entire backline…but only if possession is completely one sided in our favor.
We definitely need to change something up top. Not sure if Vlasic and Krama are the answer, but I’m not to keen on Pasalic being placed there instead (and we all know that Pasalic would be the go-to option at RW for Dalic if he is to make a change).
Good news is that we’ve never lost our second game in any tournament, and all our best performances have been in that game.
Bad news is that this tournament is starting to feel like the last one, where we started off poorly and then relied on changes to the lineup to jumpstart things (and we came out just as flat versus the Czechs).
If we come out flat again on Sunday, Dalic needs to be fired.
Unfortunately, he’s one of the highest paid NT coaches and the HNS extended him until 2024.
I think our only real options up front are Orsic at wing, and Livaja up front. Possibly Budimir if only to press the Canadian central defenders who are mediocre at best. Petkovic offers great hold up play and technical play but not sure if that would bode well for this game as he’s a little too slow.
I too wouldn’t be surprised to see Stanisic in to mark Davies who plays on the left side more. If he can stop Mbappe he probably would be able to stop a Bayern teammate.
One thing is for sure, changes must be made.
Let’s all calm down and relax. Upsets tend to happen. We played it safe and didn’t initiate any give and gos or create dangerous chances. Morocco played it safe and were aiming for a draw. They blocked shots, created some dangerous chances and had great ball clearance. They’re goaltending was on point too. We couldn’t produce anything up the middle. I think Lovren shouldn’t start. Perhaps Vida or Erlic? Petkovic, Orsic, Sucic should all be given chances. Maybe put a half dinamo zagreb team as half lineup. I mean, Dinamo didn’t advance but managed to beat Chelsea and draw Salzburg. Petkovic had a couple goals and Orsic played really well. I’m just throwing it out there. Give the HNL guys a chance. Dalic should try new tactics to throw off Canada. All considerations are on the table. I’m confident our boys will pull it off. Sunday will be nerve racking. Idemo decki
I’m still fuming after that loss. No excuses next game. It’s a do or die game. That England manager is arrogant as they come. There are hardly any positive takeaways. Modric, Vlasic, Gvardiol and Livakovic were the only player’s that stood out. Modric carried the mid…as always and created a few chances. Vlasic being subbed off was smart to rest him just before half time. Gvardiol looks much more comfortable and has gained experience and confidence given more responsibilities and playing time. Livakovic look decent. All I have to say is Dalic must change the starting 11. Brozovic the bozo looks lost and didn’t have any urgency. Sosa looks shaky and can’t play wing. He’s too young and doesn’t look like a secure left back yet. Vida should take his place. Lovren should play. That Bosnian blood will make him boil playing against Borjan. Kramaric the karma should never play again. The effort was sickening and disgraceful. He already said Brazil was winning which should’ve been enough to leave him out of the squad like Rebic. Perisic has no more speed and will be covered by Davies. I’d go with Orsic in the middle. Vlasic and Pasalic on the wing. Kovacic didn’t look either. Replace Kova and Brozovic for Majer and Sucic. Enough is enough. Dalic needs to come to his senses. Give the hungry guys the minutes. The older generation with the likes of Brozovic, Kramaric etc don’t have the heart. You don’t wanna show pride? Fine, give Majer, Sucic, Erlic that are eager. Canada will come out like foaming dogs. A 1-0 loss with a penalty miss will give them hope. We must diminish it. A draw is a loss. End of story. Then we depend on the last game to be a win against Belgium. All the players should hear Borjan talk saying Knin is Serbian territory. That should light a fire underneath they’re ass. Croatian football will be finished if we can’t can’t beat a concacaf team. Canada only beats Costa Rica 1-0 and then draws losses to them. Then Spain spanks Costa Rica 7-0. (Wished Olmo choose us). Canada has players and decent. We beat France and Denmark not too long ago. Let’s not forget, look at the European teams and other teams that have been shocked. We’re playing a team that has half MLS players….just dwell on that. If we can’t win or we draw, go the fuck home and pack up. All of our chances came at the end of the first half. Come running out the gates immediately, go down by a goal, we are done. Then we will chase the game. Dalic..wake the fuck up. Bilic or Kovac should step in.
ZA DOM SPREMNI
TI SI CHETNIK BORJAN
By the way. Look at the results that were upsets.
Denmark drew Tunisia
Germany lost to Japan
Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia
England conceded two goals against Iran
terrible footballing takes, ur lost
I’m lost? You think that same lineup can take Canada on. Canada gave Belgium a run for they’re money. Get your hawed out of the sand. Be realistic and unbiased. Tell me though what terrible takes do I have?
“Tell me though what terrible takes do I have?”
“Sosa looks shaky and can’t play wing. He’s too young and doesn’t look like a secure left back yet. Vida should take his place.”
Sosa has been playing in the bundesliga for 3 years now as a LWB/LB. He always has one of the most assists at the end of the season and is known for his crosses. Dalic told him and JJ to play defensive against morocco. Vida should never play for us ever again.
“Lovren should play.”
Lovren is not so good when getting pressed, sutalo or erlic is the smarter choice against canada.
“Perisic has no more speed and will be covered by Davies.”
You realize both perisic and davies play on the left? Also perisic does have “speed”, hes just not as fast as he was before. Did you see the offsides goal he scored against the saudis? Still one of the fastest on our team among orsic, jj, gvardiol.
“I’d go with Orsic in the middle.”
Orsic is a fast winger with a bad first touch like rebic, why on earth would you put him centrally??
“Vlasic and Pasalic on the wing.”
No, just no.
Sosa is playing in the bundesliga…not the toughest league lol. He’s offensively gifted and should be playing left mid. Not as a right left back. Vida is better than Loven. Vida has better football IQ and ball clearance. Well yes, what big runs did you see him have today? He’s 33..not 28 and in his prime. Davies is his former teammate and will cover him if Perisic starts and in wing. Tell me again what happened in the Spain match? Pasalic scored the equalizer and can get good height in the middle. So put him attacking. He got subbed on the wing for vlasic. Orsic on the wing then.
Canada’s starting lineup only has 3 MLS players you dimwit.
I’m lost? You think that same lineup can take Canada on. Canada gave Belgium a run for they’re money. Get your hawed out of the sand. Be realistic and unbiased. Tell me though what terrible takes do I have? Cmon lol
this guy really gives a delusional tactic :{
you have to know that –> Lovren is shit!
Herdman is actually a good coach. He might have ‘F’d himself with that comment. It’s actually shocking. I’m sure he didn’t want the world to hear that.
If we r hrow that up on the locker room wall along with the Cetnik wearing his Tshirt, it should fire up the boys. If it doesn’t then they should go home and not bother playing the third game.
Canada plays open and will play that way needing a win. It should make for an entertaining game. We will need to hit them with speed.
Seeing Perisic play a bit on the RW makes me think they should try Orsic to start on wing. How much worse can it get? Up top, Krama has to go out and be replaced with Livaja or Budimir.
I think this formation needs to change. We had good success with our 4-2–3-1. Freeing Luka to play behind the spica or dropping Kova and having one of our other many players who can fill that role – namely Majer.
Our D is much better with Gvardiol. He was solid today and will be an anchor for us for years to come.
Our players took exception to some of the English ‘it’s coming home’ chants (which weren’t necessarily directed at Hrvatska) prior to the semifinals at WC2018.
This Herdman comment was a little more direct. Hopefully they respond accordingly like they have in the past.
You and me both. If that can’t get you up for the game nothing will. I’d hate to see Lovren play in this game. He’s too hot headed and I can see him doing something stupid. Although I have to say he was decent today.
He was ‘safe’ today. He didn’t take any risks.
However, he won’t be able to play it safe against Davies and David when they’re gunning at you. He’ll have to make timely tackles, accurate passes, and good decisions in our box.
Too risky with him.
LOL!
https://www.news.com.au/sport/football/world-cup/ivana-knoll-regarded-as-world-cups-hottest-fan-calls-out-qatar-disaster/news-story/066929389bf8e88c04de2d5cf711e361
Promise this is my last tennis related post in this thread, lol.
Current world rankings for Davis Cup !!
https://www.daviscup.com/en/rankings/current-rankings.aspx
We’ve been first place for a while now
In other cro sport news
Miocic father passed away
I know he is fighting sometime soon
Don’t know how it will play on him
RIP
I can’t believe this, very un Dalić like, but Dalić just responded to the Candian coach with: “jebat ću ti majku!”
How come I cannot find any of these quotes everyone is referencing? Did Dalić really say that in response to Herdman? Also what was it that Borjan said about Croatia? I cannot find any references in our politically correct censored media.
https://twitter.com/MenInBlazers/status/1595530413182705665?s=20&t=ACLXQdtmA1gm6TpYQqy0zQ
Sunday will be wide open.. Canada will get exposed at the back and we need to take advantage with the right players…Hope Dalic doesn’t mess this up or it will be a disaster for Croatian soccer if we lose…
I think you need speed to beat Canada or they will just shut you down quickly, as they almost did against Belgium…
Perhaps Orsic and Majer should be starting.. For sure sit Kramaric, he is just not in any form…and Kovacic is not showing much…
Looks like it will be an entertaining match, just hoping we win…
I didn’t believe it when I read it but the midget limey Canada coach did indeed just say. “We are going to go F Croatia” Didnt say the word F*ck but definitely said “F Croatia. LOL. Quite the comments after a world cup loss and zero goals scored. And in today’s Canada woke world that was such an agressive alpha statement by a country that loves rainbow flags. Not nice language from the weeee man haha.
100% fact – Croatia wins the next 2 and they will advance – most likely in first spot
Well if they win the next two they MUST finish first because Belgium could only get 6 points and we would be on 7.
Rocco could also get 7
One of the more intense friendly games I’ve seen. Our guys just seemed off a bit which happens, including Modric. 90% of our play came up the left side which Morocco sat back and was waiting for. The one or two times we actually switched fields and swung the ball right opened things up. Not the end of the world, but just a huge let down after the Nations League high which feels so long ago.
The Nations League is in the past, just like 2018 is in the past . We will not advance . We don’t have the talent to win yet. Luka is old and cannot win on his own.
all over Canadian news is the coach saying their “going F Croatia” -made this up coming game far more interesting , i’d say.
Perisic. Livaja/petkovic orsic
Luka. Majer
Broz
Sosa Gvardiol/lovren(I guess) stanisic
Seems like he’s a real class act. I hope this overconfidence comes back to bite him.
https://www.daviscup.com/en/news/328326.aspx
Article on the davis cup win. Man im getting sick of playing against Spain in all sports all the time. Nice to get a win over them.
The way we played today had the feeling of 2002 and hopefully we do pick things up against Canada on Sunday. Canada will go after you but their back line is weak and we need to exploit that and put a few past their keeper.
Not as bad as 2002 Stevie. That team was completely washed up and we had some dark years after that . Canada is young and fast . They were the top team at Concaf. Their back line was pretty good today and Belgium was lucky to get that win. To beat this Canadian team we need speed and a midfielder that can lead. I don’t know how our goalie is going to hold up. I am hoping for the best . And praying we don’t have another loss like Mexico . Thats was an embarrassment. credit and respect to Mexico. They fought for their dress . I don’t see that in our boys. See those saudis ? they fought for their dress . They came out swinging . Played hard and physical and gave it everything they had . We need to do the same . Our guys get their act together we may have a chance . lets hope for the best
It wasn’t that bad, it was a conservative approach and Cro had the better chances. Morocco had nothing all game. Look at what Cro did well, not Concede, not let them dictate play. Both teams were playing for a tie and looking at the games played today, a tie is not what see expected but it isnt bad.
Losing or tying to Canada will be the end of Croatian soccer so the pressure is now on. Canada plays attacking football so a 3 to 2 game might be in the cards
No sure if we watched the same game. We played into their hands and their bunker system. Needed to attack the flanks nt try and go through the middle. Basic coaching. That is the worst Croatian performance in years. From finlists to that? Absolute rubbish and embarrassing.
When have Croatia ever looked good when teams set up to play defensively against us?
People got to understand that in sport the other team does have a say in proceedings also, it’s up to Croatia to do better in these type of games. In hindsight it seems like the type of game Budimir shoulda played in.
I agree 100 percent. On a side note , I thought the referee allowed Morocco to get away with too much . There was way too much holding and not enough cards were given out.
” We’re going to go and ‘F’ Croatia “- John Herdman Canada 🇨🇦 Coach post match interview after Belgium 🇧🇪 defeat
Croatia will fuck our selves before he fucks croatia hahah.
They have a right to be optimistic now its on dalcic to be a coach and motivate his men.
Croatian translation please
saw it on CBC- maybe this is the tide turner for our guys to wake the hell up- if this was 1998 – it would have been guns going off in that Canada game- did we just become soft Western Europeans- God help us.!!!
Dalic caved in and lost credibility for LN put krama back in put Lovren back at cb. Told the wings back dont push forward and perisic had a bad game because sosa never pushed foward. The right side was a disasster juranovic and vlasic then pasalic.
Need big change imo this reminds me of 2002 2006 all over again.
V canada start erlic or sutalo livaja or Petko up top orsic on the right or left.
Without a number nine its hard why did we do good 98 18 we had a number 9 plain and simple for me
So far worst game of tournament croatia moroko.
Why is Dalic scared to make change i dont get it. Starts with krama today instead of petko or livaja even budimir coukd have played
Im scared we will waste another tournament lik 2014 and 2006
After this run Dalic needs to go . Karma time has past and so has Lovern. It time to pass the torch . This is Luka last rodeo. We should also consider a foreign coach and do better in developing young talent. Croatian youth program is the key to building new generations. We bouts of success followed by years of failure . It needs to change
” We’re going to go and F Croatia “- John Herdman Canada 🇨🇦 Coach post match interview after Belgium 🇧🇪 defeat
This is not the result I predicted. But the one thing I am certain of is that this result doesn’t bode well for Canada and Belgium, they’re sitting ducks now.
But not much has changed with this Croatian team over the years really, we’ve always had our issues when teams play defensively and pressure us when we have the ball. What I observed was whenever we strated to pressure them we looked good. We did dominate the second half yeah, or was that just my imagination?
This is what Dalic has to do now, unfortunately he has to drop Kramaric if Budimir isn’t starting with him, because a grandmother from the selo can see Kramaric can’t play as a striker, so unless Budimir starts Kramaric is done.
From the Belgium vs Canada game:
-Canada is fast
– Our defenders need to watch out for any counters and loose balls
-Canada seems to have a tough time finishing.
– They seem to play open
If they play like this against us on Sunday, it would be a good match for players such as Perisic, players who can run at the defence
It will be a great showcase of Gvardiol’s skills.
Not so much Lovren.
Well, some good news. Croatia just defeated Spain in the quarter finals of the Davis Cup, in Spain, with Cilic and Coric both winning their singles against higher ranked opponents.
Croatia will now play a semi final against Australia in a few days for a chance to yet again reach the final, as we did last year!
Insane that we’re consistently showing up in the Finals. This would be our fourth final appearance since 2016.
Gotta win another one and add to the tally.
The Canadian keeper definitely looks like a Chetnik 😂
Hard to assess the individual players because a lot of what they did was influenced by Dalic.
Our overall strategy was to progress the ball forward as safely as possible (which in most cases just ended up with us sending in a longball) and make sure we’re not caught on the counter.
We saved our energy, sat back of defense, and didn’t apply any pressure on their defenders.
We played for the narrow 1-0 victory.
It almost worked (if Vlasic’s poke went in) but I hate that we played this safe.
It may work out for us as a result (if Morocco ends up taking out Canada or Belgium) but still, we were the much better team and we probably could have broken their team wide open if we applied constant pressure on defense, sent balls in via the flank, and not be so scared of their counter.
What happened?
Our boys have been playing with much urgency most of the time since the Euros.
Looks like these guys have no passion for Croatia anymore. Gonna be a long time before Croatia goes far in a tournament once Modric and Perisic retire.
Very underwhelming performance
Not what you want for an opening game
No one performed other than modric and gvardiol
The rest were rubbish and should take a long look in the mirror and be embarrassed that a 37 year old outran the rest of the team
We simply have nobody up front
No press
I am really pissed off the way our players kept passing ball back to golly , golly to backs , back to golly .
Guys you can’t score a goal like that you need to attack the goal mouth of the other team to win the game , you can’t win the game when you are playing in your own half.
Wake up for the game against Canada or we will be out of this world Cup.
It was awful and betrays just the wrong attitude on this team. We should have gone with youth years ago. A question, there was a clear hand ball by Morocco on a deflection after a goalie save. Why has no one commented on this?
I fell asleep during the match.
hahahaha i wanted to….it was bad…The Melatonin Match