So far, so good for Croatia in 2009. The ‘Vatreni’ went down early to Romania in Bucharest but managed a 2-1 victory in the end with some new faces, some old ones and most importantly that one returning face.
Yes, Eduardo is officially back! He was subbed into the game at the 60′ mark for Ivica Olić. Although he only had a few touches on the ball, Eduardo managed to squeak a ball to Niko Kranjčar for the game-winning goal. Now it’s time to see what he can do for an injury-plagued Arsenal team before the Croatians get together for their next quaulifier against Andorra on April 1st.
The friendly with Romania was a bit of a bore to watch. The pace was slow and many little technical mistakes were made by both teams. If you didn’t catch the game, don’t worry because you didn’t miss much.
Romania opened up the scoring midway through the first when Ivica Križanac broke up a threw-ball in the box with a slide tackle. The result left Romanian striker, Ciprian Marica, with an easy 10-yard shot on goal. There was nothing Pletikosa could have done to block the shot. However, Danijel Pranjić or newly capped Croat, Ivan Jurić, should have picked up the wandering striker. Plain English: our defense was lazy on the play.
If you missed the match, this 4-minute video does justice.
Minutes later, Ivan Rakitić put a beautiful free-kick into the box which ultimately made it into the back of the net with the help of an accidental ‘dummy’ by Ivica Olić. As Olić tried to head the bending ball into the goal, he missed which froze the Romanian keeper from attempting the save.
Stipe Pletikosa made a beautiful save on Răzvan Cociş in the second half to keep the game at 1-1. Cociş was one-on-one with the Croatian goalie and should have easily put Romania up a goal but Pletikosa found a way to get a finger on the ball to deflect it out of bounds.
THE BOYS ARE BACK TOGETHER AFTER A 3-MONTH BREAK!
With 15 minutes left in the game, Eduardo squeaked a baby pass to an on-side Niko Kranjčar who ripped the ball into the net from five yards away. After an unsuccessful Croatian corner kick and Romania unable to clear the ball with 15 players in the box, Eduardo managed to retain possession and find the open Kranjčar amidst all the mayhem in the box.
Like I said before, it was a boring game. You could have even called it a scrimmage if you wanted to. Sure, there were a couple ticky-tack slide tackles here and there but nothing to cause alarm.
Vukojević came in late but only played 22 minutes as he was elbowed in the face. He was not on the pitch long enough to make an impact nor for me to have an opinion on him for this match. The same goes for Hrvoje Čale, who in his first game for Croatia only got 20 minutes to impress.
IVAN JURIĆ SPORTING THE CHECKERS FOR THE FIRST TIME
On the other hand, Ivan Jurić played the full 90 at an aggressive pace to say the least for the match being a friendly. He will fit in nicely for the remainder of qualifiers.
Captain Srna and Mladen Petrić were nowhere to be seen during the match as they didn’t do much. Petrić had a good look at goal but ended up putting the ball well over the crossbar. We should ask FIFA if Petrić could play in a Hamburg shirt- he might actually score!
And finally, Pranjić needs to be moved out of defense and up to the midfield. He is getting lazy in the back and needs to play at his natural position. Hopefully Čale can fill that void soon, because we need it.
~Ante Kvartuč, reporting from Bucharest, Romania~ (no, not really)
Denis, you need to spend a bit more time writing facts in your reports than using the news to make points to readers. You trying to lose them or something.. 🙂 If you want to do it do it here, not on the news.
Regards Ukraine and Romania they are similar in damage they can do, except Ukraine are a more enterprising side and don’t go through one player. Romania are quite solid, very boring – but if that helps them reach a Euro good luck to them (we did it under Jozic as we didn’t have much else) as they not qualified for a while before and are far from what they were. ANY Romanian will tell you that! Ukraine is the country of Dinamo Kiev and Shaktar Donestsk and i think Ukrainian football is on a different planet from Romanian with its system and money it has. Kiev and Donetsk are in Champions League and Kiev particularly are loaded with talented Ukrainian players. Please don’t mention Romania had two qualifiers as it is only on the up in the way Belarus and Cyprus had qualifiers or like when Partizan got in. Romanian has a mediocre generation in comparison to its past and Mutu has been around for some time and missed major tournaments.
Ukraine are a far more creative team and thus a bigger threat to Croatia than Romania who have some fine defensive minded players and Mutu who you seem to think is Maradona. Plus Marica is okay, but their midfield that is where they are dull! Also Romania was just a friendly match. We were going all out to beat Ukraine and didn’t manage it. I think we’ll see a stronger Ukraine in the second game with the players they have back. Was not their full squad – don’t talk crap. Your lack of knowledge about Ukrainian and Romania football i guess is forgivable living out their in North America. Hardly a football area. Maybe you just rate a countrys footballing talent by the economy:) Basically i say Romania are not way better than Ukraine – they are similar standard. Belarus are also not minnows like Estonia but talented and are to be watched out for. If you don’t think so that’s up to you, but we’ll see won’t we.
oh by the way did you see Romania – Lithuania match lol! Try watching it and then come back to me.
You type slow and you still can’t think straight:)
I Don’t need to watch the Romania game as seen Romania many times before. i know what they are like and know what Ukraine are like. One player doesn’t make a team and Romania are particularly going through Mutu purely. If Ukraine have more dynamic attacking players i personally think that makes them a bigger threat. This is a pointless chat anyway. I’m not wasting my time on this.
So by your theory therefore Belarus have Alexander Hleb. Hleb is better than Mutu which makes Belarus better than Romania. Brilliant arguement i must say. One player don’t make a team. They can make the difference, but if a team like Ukraine has multiple threats they don’t have issues like Romania who lose one player and fall to peices. Also you’d find that Eduardo did not score against Romania. He also did not bring the ball down in the box Corluka did and Dudu took it off him and snuffled it out to Kranjcar – but anyone could have done that to be honest. We could easily have beaten Romania without Eduardo just like we beat Germany, Poland, Austria and should have beat Turkey. If Eduardo was playing with a load of Marsonia players against Ukraine do you think we would have done better. Its the group which makes a team not one player.
Croatiafan:)
I think you type a lot faster than you are thinking. Your fingers are too fast for your brain. take a second to look over your thoughts.
“Also we beat Romania away whereas we didn’t beat Ukraine.”
Ukraine had a full squad. Croatia was minus Eduardo. Romania was minus Mutu and Chivu.
“In the Euro’s they had Mutu as their only goalscoring threat.”
This is what I wrote 1000 times already! Romania did not have Mutu. Mutu returns a few days later for Fiorentina and scores 3 goals in 30 minutes. Would Mutu have changed the Croatia-Romania result? You can answer this one.
Question? Did you watch the Romania-Croatia game?
Your picking out one class act here amongst a group of limited players – their current squad is like we were under Mirko Jozic. They have players similar to that of Vranjes and Zivkovic. Solid, but limited. In the Euro’s they had Mutu as their only goalscoring threat. I think Marica is also alright – but then you got Daniel Nicalue who is bog standard, but after that there was players from Iverness Caledonian Thistle on there bench. Romania are a compact solid unit. There team is very workmanlike plus Mutu, but i think Ukraine are far more classy than Romania. Nezmedzny/Voronin/Milevsky/Nazarenko. It just seems like a side full of more talented skillful players to me. We’ll see what they are like in a few months anyway. Also we beat Romania away whereas we didn’t beat Ukraine. I am open minded to your opinion. Will refrain from the long winded arguements on this occasion 🙂
Croatiafan:)
” Saying Romania are a much better side is crazy….Lets not make any daft comments about Romania being much better than Ukraine. ”
~Croatiafan
“Romania is much much better than Ukraine, however, they were without Mutu and Chivu.”
~Denis
Yesterday Mutu scored 3 goals in 30 minutes against a great defending Genoa….in Genoa…
For me i’d make Galinovic first choice. I seen him a few times now and he looks a lot better than Pletikosa. Pletikosa can have good games – but when he is bad he looks like the worst keeper in the world. My opinion on Rukavina is that he prob got left out due to being a sub player at Panathanaikos, but i think he is becoming more important than that to them now and i think he will make the next squad if he produces the same goal return in next weeks. As for Klasnic if he scores more i’d have no problem if our strikers was Eduardo, Olic, Petric, Klasnic, Rukavina in next squad. Yes we know that doesn’t help youth progression, but Under 21’s badly need Kalinic back at the moment and he played hardly at all in first team. My theory is that he would develop better in the Under 21’s. Fast tracked too soon in my opinion for Kalinic.
Croatiafan:)
“Lets face it nobody really plays their heart out in friendlies so in the circumstance 2-1 away against a decent side is a good win. “
This is true. “against a decent side” only because Mutu and Chivu were out.
Yes, there were changes, however, not enough changes in my opinion. No changes in Olic/Petric… Pranjic stayed the same… Galinovic could have at least got a call up..
All in all I was satisfied. From an optimistic perspective, it could have been a lot worse:
1) Cale could have been left on the bench
2) Juric could have came off the bench in late second half.
3) Kovac could have started
4) We could have lost
Still, I would rather face a full strength Ukraine squad then a full strength Romania side. Dinamo Kiev is doing well, and Ukraine is very organized side because everyone besides the two stars play in Ukraine. I’m not scared of Ukraine, and Belarus could only get a result against us with a fluke goal.
It is clear that Galinovic and Rukavina are not in Bilic plans. With Rukavina, Runje and now the young goalie from Split, there will be no changes. I ask you this, What if Panathinakos goes a round further, then a round further in champions league?
Rukavina is still young. He will get his shot if he continues to progress.
Regards Galinovic and Rukavina lol! i may be cynical but something tells me HNS didn’t want to pay for the extra plain ticket to send them to Bucharest 🙂 I’m sure HNS pays players expenses. Its actually normally a HNL player that gets a call when a player gets injured and maybe they get sent by bus:). They are just being tight 🙂
Just a note on Ukraine, sorry but this is a serious match. Saying Romania are a much better side is crazy. Has nobody seen Dinamo Kiev this season. Of course they have more than the over the hill Shevchenko and Voronin. Ukraine also just beat SERBIA last game and others in a mini tournament. I’m sorry but Serbia are no bad side at the moment. This is a Serbia with Vidic, Jankovic, Ivanovic, Sulijmani, Jovanovic, Pantelic, Zigic etc available to them. If they can brush them aside then they are a team to be taken seriously. Lets not make any daft comments about Romania being much better than Ukraine. Ukraine and Belarus are serious sides. But am certain Croatia will take the game seriously and hopefully it will give fans more confidence in the squad as if we get second we’d have done well. The only thing i’d say about Belarus.. England spent all game watching the ball being played around them, but England just needed 10 minutes of their scruffy up and at em football to win the match. So the lesson is that we will be in for a game against Belarus technically, but we have to have a killer instinct and that will win us through. This is not going to come from the defensive formation we played against Ukraine (which i thought was poor result) with 1 up front, but from a front two. Modric is not a goalscorer – Kranjcar .. only well he feels like shooting on goal which isn’t often and Rakitic can have Petric type games too. I say we go with Eduardo and Olic and bring Petric on. Maybe then we’d see a better Petric.
Yes the reason we dropped Klasnic is cos the guy clearly responds to being kicked up the r’s by his coach. You always hear him squarking once he’s heard news of being dropped and then he gives suddenly great effort next game. When nobody does anything and leaves him he descends into doesn’t care mode, so yeah we should have dropped him, but NOT discount him. We want to see an improvement at Nantes. He has no excuse. The fact they are small.. no sorry, but other players in that team play harder than him. Everyone wants to see him score and come back stronger. Croatia had every right to drop him. As for Petric he deserved his call up. He played really hard at HSV this last few months, but it didn’t work out this game. As for Mate Bilic as me and Ante said about 10 times the guy is in goalscoring crisis.
Definitely don’t agree with 4-5-1. Most of the matches we play are against opposition where we don’t need to adopt 4-5-1 and Petric and Olic have goals in them.
Even that shot he hit would have beat the keeper if aimed it lower. I’ll definitely take Petric in the squad every time with the ferosity he has in the left foot. Type of player where all he needs is one accurate hard shot and its going in. I think he should drop down to the bench next match. As for Olic he was 1 millimetre away from making that Rakitic goal his so the guy is always in the right spots. Eduardo-Olic or Eduardo-Petric either of them will work. Don’t panic.
Lets face it nobody really plays their heart out in friendlies so in the circumstance 2-1 away against a decent side is a good win. They just got the job done. As for Rakitic, Petar cmon mate surely you no something about this guy. He plays normally on the right. He is fit footed. He only plays left as Srna is favoured on the right. Bilic tried to drop Srna against Macedonia and was apologising to the player after the match. That is why Rakitic plays left for Croatia. Normally he is right sided. And how can anyone say we never make changes. We dropped Robert Kovac to the bench. We dropped Klasnic from squad and think Petric is heading out team next match. Bilic said Eduardo makes the difference in the team so that tells me either Olic or Petric are on bench next match.
After a long 10 hour shift at work on Wednesday, I was looking forward to a delayed tape version of Croatia-Romania on “Slike Hrvatske” on Croatian satellite TV offered in the United States.
After watching bits and pieces of USA-Mexico (Live) hours before the match, I was expecting a more entertaining match. I should have remembered Alexander Pope and his infamous quote:
‘Blessed is the man who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed’
Croatia-Romania through my eyes
Disappointed is only one of the words that describes this match. Maybe, its just Croatian mentality, as I chose a C grade for our performance on Wednesday.
Positives:
1) We won the game
2) Eduardo returns and immediately made an impact
3) Juric started, played the full 90, and said “this squad can do much much better” in his first start. No sugar coating anything from this “Croatian Gattuso replacement.”
4) Cale returns to the national team and might solve our left back problems.
5) Pletikosa made some nice saves
Negatives:
1) Petric failed to show up(talks about injury, etc) However, if he was injured, why would he play all half? It’s only a meaningless friendly.
2) Olic tried and tried and tried it just doesn’t work. Kind of like Oprah going on a diet. As much weight as she loses, she gains double within a month.
3) Bilic should have called Rukavina and/or Bilic and started them.
4) The lack of effort/interest from almost everyone.
5) We scored twice and both goals were flukes
6) Watching Pranjic play defense is like watching Michael Jordan playing baseball. Pranjic looks like Steve Nash guarding Koe Bryant. Also, for those of you that watched the game, Have you noticed how often Romania was attaching on Pranjic’ side of the field. They obviously, got the memo. Carli had alight light day.
7) Croatia played like a bunch of “high class” players, playing against an “inferior team” without Mutu and Chivu.
Overall, a “C” grade. Our hopes once again rest on Eduardo’s shoulders. Without bringing in new strikeforce, Olic and Petric will be forever starters.
For those of you Vukojevic fans, looks like you will have to wait until Euro2012. As much as I like Vuki, he needs time. Juric has the experience, patience, and wisdom to lead us to the next level. In my opinion, he is a grade lower than Niko Kovac.
9Arsenal
Not a terrible idea. However, after Eduardo’s performance in Romania, this kid looks a hair short of where he used to be. Again, I don’t want to “jinx” him.
I would bring him off the bench the next 2 matches. Then reevaluate him and his performance.
croatiafan:)
Great call on Cale!
Romania is much much better than Ukraine, however, they were without Mutu and Chivu. Why don’t you take out Shevchenko and Andriy Voronin what do you have left?
“fine away result”. If you saw the game you wouldn’t be saying this. Also, the stadium looked like a match at Subicevac between Sibenik and Vinkovci… 200 Croatia fans, and 1000 or so Romanians. This was a neutral site at most, maybe even close to a home match as all you could here was “moja domovia” over and over.
Adrien
“We haven’t given Pranjic the opportunity to prove himself in midfield and I think that this friendly would have been the perfect opportunity to do that.”
That’s what I’m talking about!
Also, remember, this was no test for Croatia.
I have faith in Cale. I wouldnt have Corluka on the left. Romania didn’t go left all match. Corluka could have signed autographs for the fans while the game was still going on. Corluka is a beast. Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships. Corluka will never get as much recognition as Olic, Eduardo, Petric and Modric.
I wouldn’t move Carli.
Petar Radman
“We should show them, if you dont preform when given your chance, we try someone else.”
This should be our philosophy. However, I don’t see this happening as Bilic still plays favorites, like the case with the Kovac brothers. He would start them until they are 80!
Krunoslav Jurcic
Kruno, nice to have you and your reseeding hairline aboard.
Well, you did play three matches at the cup, however, you didn’t play against Germany, France or Argentina. You were right, huge props.
ciganski Bosanac
You shouldn’t be ashamed of Bosna. I watched the highlights. The crowd kept calling Ciro’s name and he waved to the crowd multiple times with a koolaid smile on his face. No one cared about this match. I’m pulling for Bosna for the #2 spot. Hopefully, we don’t meet in the playoff.
also, this was no “grand victory” for us.
VBlad
“4-5-1” might be the answer with Eduardo up front and a quick Olic coming on in the late second half and providing speed against tired legs.
Tt
I agree on #s 1, 2, maybe 3, and 5.
I disagree with 4. All you have to do is watch Klasnic at Nantes to get your answer. Ivan is still in the mix, and will be watched closely by Slaven.
1)Pranjic has to get moved into the midfield.
2)We have so many talented midfielders that we should play most of them and switch to 5 in the midfield or 4-1 midfield.
3)Bilic loves Petric and I just don’t see why. I mean he played him every game during euro 08 hoping he would score but he did nothing. I know he is amazing for his club but not for the national team.
4)Can anyone explain to me why Klasnic got dropped from the team? Did everyone forget that he scored two goals during euro 08?
5)Bilic should definitely experiment more when given the chance. He should try new players, formations and try players in different positions. One thing Croatia needs to do against Andorra is score alot of goals to catch up to England. He should have experimented a little with 3 strikers and 3 defense which I think he tried the last time we played Andorra.
I will say this about pranjic if we continue to use him as a fullback, we have to play 4-5-1, 4-4-2 is to open at least when we have five in the mid i think theres less room to exploit him.
Couldn’t agree with you more Peter. Bilic should have take Galinovic and Rukavina, even if they would’ve just tagged along for the plane ride. They’re both in the Sweet 16 of Champions League for Godsakes. I don’t think Bilic is a big fan of Bilic though. I digress….
Also – I really dont like that when a player is injured, no replacements are called in their place. We missed a few guys due to injury, nobody was called in their place. We have only a few times a year to bring the national team together and see how these guys play, what combinations and tactics work best. Why not make the most of the time and get a look at as many players as possible. I am sure that Bilic has a list of players who just missed the cut, why not call 2 or 3 up. Its a “FRIENDLY” builds confidence, but, no points are lost. He made so many subs anyways, even if these guys werent going to play, just practicing with the first team would do them a world of good.
I am really big on scouting and development, thats why I suggest it. We should never leave any stone unturned to find new talent and encourage it to grow.
To – Croatia Fan – I didnt say it has to be a young player to replace Petric. I just dont like the fact that our strikers always get called up and they never sieze their opportunity. Petric and Klasnic usually always get called up, and its always the same performance, half the time they look like they have no interest in the game. I am not the biggest Olic fan in the world. I know allot of people who hate the guy. However, the one thing you always see from Olic is a strong work ethic. He may not score all the time, he may be clumsy, but the man runs his heart out, leaves it all on the field. When Petric and Klasnic dont score, they dont give much else to the team. They dont hold up play well at all. I really wish Budan was healthy, I like his size, would give us a nice traget man. We should show these guys that if they dont make the most of the opportunity, then work harder or we will find someone else who can play.
Finaly. I am totally against putting Rakitic on the right, if he is not a natural right sided midfielder, I would never do it. I am not familar with his role during his days in Basel, but, if he isnt naturally a right sided player, I would never do it. The English tried that for the last 4 years with Joe Cole, wasnt a fan as well. I love Pranjic, love his game, just not sure where I would place him in the order of the overloaded left midfield slot. We switched to a 4-5-1 or a 4-4-1-1 after the break, I think thats a great formation for us. I love our options at Midfield, I think we should throw them all out there.
We used the same strategy against the Germans at the Euros, it worked very well, I loved the long posessions and we passed them off the park.
The game against the Germans we used
Pletikosa
Corluka – Simunic – Kovac – Pranjic
Srna – Modric – Kovac – Rakitic
Kranjcar
Olic
I would do the same, just put Eduardo up there on his own.
As for Pranjic leaving Holland. He says himself, that his play is pricing him out of a move. He is play far to well, Herenveen is asking for way to much money, same with Srna in Ukraine.
just to clarify when i said i don’t think Pranjic should go to left wing. I meant really that he shouldn’t have a certfied left wing slot as i’d still consider Niko and Rakitic there on occasions. I’d stay open minded. I think he should be considered though in equal measure to Niko and Rakitic – depends on form, who we are playing etc. Also regards Pranjic playing in Holland that’s not an issue. Pranjic is not just doing well there. He is second top scorer in the league when his position isn’t even striker. When players do things like that they show they are on a another level. The reason he’s not left is as his valuation is too high for high level German sides and Panathanaikos etc. He has a contract with Heerenveen so understandably they’ll sell him in the summer when they can get their maximum for him.
Re: Vlad
Yes for sure agree on Pranjic. have no problem with Pranjic at left wing. The guy is a fine player. Also he gives a different option to Kranjcar and Rakitic. Sometimes we may need a guy who hits the byline and gives us width and not need the type of player who Kranjcar is. Also Pranjic is fit more often than Kranjcar. I think we should though keep an open mind over both Niko and Pranjic to see what best suits for whichever game we are playing. I also think in some games though like the much smaller sides Pranjic is a good guy to have at left back with Niko when nothing is coming at Pranjic. Its just the harder sides he has his problems. Romania are a top 20-30 side in the world in my opinion. This was no easy match. If Mutu and Chivu played it would have been even harder still. We need a game like this cos I just feel Ukraine and Belarus are tough cookies. Not easy to beat. We don’t want to slip up by drawing. Am glad Bilic is preparing properly and identified the weak points in the side and did something about it i.e Juric and Cale. As i say just one more centre back needed now and Rukavina for Kalinic :).
At the end of the day a win is a win. As hard as it is to admit stipe had good game, Juric i think is a upgrade in terms of soccer skills in my opinion than kovac, Rakitic had a solid game in my mind. Defence at times were shaky but i think all defences are shaky in friendles.
As for pranjic he’s not a defender, we all know that and all of europe knows that thats why those balls are always being played behind him he’s targeted.
Croatiafan i agree that if srna and pranjic both played in mid that there would be too many pure wing players, i think srna should drop back and rakitic play the right and pranjic battle it out with crunchie, pranjic is in his best years and in his best form, i know hes playing in holland but he has skill and pace, he deserves a shot at left mid, hes scored to many goals and he has literlly carried his team on his back in holland. Not many players can say that in the current squad. Also he’s proved he has the ability to go forward and pass and cross in euro o8 he was one of our best players offensively against germany and also poland.
I say roll the dice and give him a shot what do u have to lose.
As for 9arsenal what are you thinking of.
If you guys didnt know that game the refree’s were romainan
If your talking about the Croatian soccer highlight video its Igraj samo if your talking about the youtube one im not sure
what was the name of that song palying in the video
Bilic”Eduardo is fully ready”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFb868157tw
ohohohoo grand victory to you all…but my country lost to rijeka!! im ashamed of bosna…
Eduardo is playing for arsenal again 😀
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1712/arsenal/2009/02/12/1106699/arsene-wenger-eduardo-is-fit–ready-to-go-for-arsenal
Sure he might have been capped 21 times, but what’s he doing now? I heard he’s a soccer commentator now for HRT2. Very impressive I have to say.
Still don’t think he played in ’98 though.
check my stats ante….i have over 20 caps for the national team and i played in 3 full games in the 98 world cup! remember the name! KRUNOSLAV JURCIC! hahha
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krunoslav_Jur%C4%8Di%C4%87
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3053/2574487738_9b6eb00183.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/9140637%40N07/2574487738&usg=__6lcVgiQO5q_4lj4yxoLZle6CjGc=&h=306&w=500&sz=133&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=Yj2yX2uCARm76M:&tbnh=80&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkrunoslav%2Bjurcic%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN
http://cache.gettyimages.com/xc/52931519.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=780858ABC91EC2140D663F152C70D796A40A659CEC4C8CB6
9Arsenal,
To bench Eduardo for the rest of the season would be a crime and an absolute shame. The man is ready to play ball again. Arsenal has a plethera of injuries and Croatia can obviously use him as Petric and Olic just can’t cut it.
Remember that the Gunners are fighting for a Champion’s League spot for next season. And it looks like they’re going to have to catch Chelsea to do it, who have now officially hired Guus Hiddnik as manager- and we all know what he can do with 11 guys and a soccer ball.
Re: Peter
Actually Peter i’ll be fair rather than critical. What young players would you put in and who would you take out?
Re:Peter
i don’t mean to argue with you again, but we just dropped Klasnic. I think Ivan far from believes his place is secure not only for Croatia but with Nantes as well. He’s got a lot of work to do. I think Petric feels the heat from Eduardo as well. What basically happened this last few weeks is that with Kranjcar and Dudu returning and Cale and Juric adding themselves to the squad, competition in the squad increased. There isn’t much room anymore for many more young players to join from squad. We have Vejic, Knezevic, Kalinic, Ilicevic and Mandzukic’s position which is uncertain and the rest i don’t even think there places in the squad is even a talking point. You can’t say Modric is the reason we need young players. Luka is a young player and this is one poor game in 20 excellant ones. Him and The rest have been responsible for Croatia’s improvement in the last few years. Its ticking along fine. Would be nice if the young players did something in the Under 21 team first no mind the first team. The Under 21 team’s got issue. One of which by the way is that there number 9 (Kalinic) makes sandwiches for the first team rather than plays any football. also however awkward romania made things we won they lost. romania arent the type of team u just thrash. they showed that at euro’s. they negate the opposition. And without Mutu they are even less audacious.
I think the criticism of Pranjic is a bit much. The 4-3-3 that Romania was playing at times all but eliminated Juric from the match. The ball was played to the wings right off the bat and the pressure was always going to be on the wing backs. I personally dont mind Pranjic back there. I dont mind giving other guys a shot either. I thought Modric was poor on the night, as was Petric. This is one reason why I advocate bringing youth into the squad. They’re hungry, they are willing to fight for their chance to impress. Guys like Petric and Klasnic almost seem to get lazy and just assume they will always get called up, so, there is no reason to worry about their play on the field. We should show them, if you dont preform when given your chance, we try someone else. I would still like to see Petric play with Eduardo, the two had a good combination going before Eduardo was hurt.
I guess that final defender spot we are talking Knezevic V Drpic V Vejic V say Lovren??? I wander if it might be time to be bold and give Lovren a chance in the squad. I think Luka Vucko is not doing too bad in Turkey apparently… sorry guys another Turkish based player. 24 – not a bad age. I’d say he’s got time to get better and become a Croatian international. Did we possibly not experiment enough up front this match. I mean what did we learn from Olic and Petric that we don’t already know. Not sure it’d have done any harm to have Rukavina in the squad. Klasnic and Rukavina for Mandzukic and Kalinic maybe next squad. Even though i support Dinamo. Maybe i’d still take Klasnic’s experience as a sub over Mandzukic at the moment provided Klasnic continues to perform to the level he did on Saturday. Something just tells me Klasnic’s mental state is the problem at present rather than his footballing ability. As a sub i think Klasnic is still a Croatia player.
Re:Adrien
Yes I do possibly, Yes I do possibly, Yes I do possibly 🙂 I think Srna is a better right back than Pranjic is at left back. Pranjic just descends into Corporal Jones whenever he defends. Simunic can play left back though. He did it to great success during last qualifying. He won’t go forward much, but he would stay back and protect Kranjcar/ Pranjic. Maybe Corluka and Krizanac in the centre.
I have no problem with Pranjic being given a chance at left wing by the way before anyone engages me in a long arguement 🙂 i just personally like the playmaker of the left wing idea and feel Pranjic doesn’t have a cross on him like Rakitic does. He sort of hits the byline and crosses whereas Rakitic and Kranjcar play those neat little balls inside and those balls that curve in towards the keep as they are right footed. However to have all three of them as a left wing option is fine depth to have. When you see a bench that has Eduardo, Vukojevic, Cale, R Kovac, Pokrivac, Ilicevic (despite that its too soon is still good player)), Leko, Kranjcar its just nice to know we have options and can change things when it don’t work out. That bodes well for the future. Still room for Rukavina, Galinovic and a new centre back though. Guess next squad if all stay fit will see Knezevic replace Vejic.
Actually, why don’t we have Kranjcar/Pranjic on the left, Rakitic on the right, Srna pushed to right-back and Corluka in left-back?
Think it could work?
Actually, why don’t we have Kranjcar/Pranjic on the left, Rakitic on the right, Srna pushed to right-back and Corluka in left-back?
Think it could work?
I think this is a very good result if you consider that many of our players (Pletikosa, Krizanac, Vukojevic, Srna, Kovac, Eduardo, Kranjcar, Rakitic) weren’t exactly what you’d call match-fit. I’m also glad to see Juric slide into his new role with ease.
I agree with almost all you say croatiafan:) except one thing. We haven’t given Pranjic the opportunity to prove himself in midfield and I think that this friendly would have been the perfect opportunity to do that. Maybe during the Andorra game?
Also, I do like the idea of Rakitic on the right for Srna’s off-days. If he keeps on taking free-kicks like that, he might be able to usurp Srna completely.
The team’s looking strong we just need a quality left-back!!!
I didn’t see this game, but I know Romania are a side that stifle matches and are hard to play against. I think what this shows that we are starting to become a little more than ever like the 98 team where just a couple of moments of class from individuals can win us the game rather than having a great team performance. Its been a while since we had the option of Olic, Petric and Eduardo or Kranjcar and Rakitic. I think the depth in the team is much better. Cale and Juric definitely must stay in the squad. I have nothing against Petric. I think he is a good player, but i think its nice to know we can change him and Eduardo. Obviously it didn’t work out for Petric this game, but to have him or Eduardo on the bench as first sub definitely fills me with more confidence than Kalinic and Mandzukic as first sub. The defence is obviously a problem, but its not like we have a choice in that matter with so few defenders available. Pranjic is no left back, we know that and he knows that. i think they was hoping he’d get forward, but to be honest when he gets pushed back i don’t think he enjoys it. I think this was a productive work out against a team similar to Ukraine if not slightly better. I think its great as well to be able to rotate Kranjcar and Rakitic. I don’t think either of these players at 90 minute guys and we will see the best from them by rotating them. As for Pranjic i don’t really think he should go to left wing. He’s yet to prove he’s better in that position that Rakitic or Kranjcar. Some occasions he may have to sit it out on bench if he loses his left back. I think Srna is out of practice as his season is not on at moment. I think though Srna has been exempt so far from change. I think at times if its not working out for Srna, Rakitic can move over to that side as that’s his normal position. I’m satsified anyway. I knew Romania are stubborn and this is a fine away result.
Just a quick note on Eduardo playing for Arsenal, at this point it would be better if Arsene Wenger benched him for the remainder of the season and used him as a sub for the rest of the season. There is no point in playing him too hard and causing perhaps another injury for either Arsenal or Croatia. Just a though!