Photo: Sportske Novosti
Written by Ante Ražov
Croatia took an early advantage in Brussels. Ivan Perišić finished off a cross from Mandžukić that was partially deflected and unable to be cleared by Belgium. Perišić calmly tucked the failed clearance away to give the Vatreni a 1-0 lead only six minutes into the game.
With Hrvatska leading away in a World Cup qualifier, it was hard to understand their tactics as they attempted to bomb forward so quickly after regaining possession. The two-horse forward tandem of Mandžukić and Jelavić is bizarre to say the least, looking more English than anything. Rather than moving the ball around, Croatia rushed every ball down the field in a panicked state. Modrić gave too many balls away for a player of his class. However, I must say that many times players seem to be running forward in such haste rather than slow down and simply make the next pass. The pressure was on Belgium to react and chase the game.
Instead, Croatia were content to be drawn into a frenetic open match in the 1st half rather than make the simple pass. Ivan Strinić’s shocking clearance from a far post corner back into the top of the defense was a brilliant assist for the Belgian equalizer. A fantastic and well taken volley-strike from a surely surprised Gillet. Still, 1-1 at the half against a young and talented Belgium side on the road is not the worst scenario. However, the second half offered very little about Croatian ideas toward a second goal. Jelavić and Mandžukić are essentially the same type of player.
During EURO 2012, Hrvatska became a team that was content with throwing crosses in the box and hoping one of these guys got on the end of it. It is to predictable and static. I would rather see a different type of formation with one target type (either of those 2) and two much more mobile and technical types around. 4-4-2 is not going to cut it. The introduction of Olić brought in more hustle and bustle, but led to very few clear cut opportunities for the Repka. The Croatian defense, including whipping boy Josip Šimunic (who played excellent in my opinion) withstood most of what Belgium threw at them. There were very few chances for Croatia in the second half until Vida missed a wide open header from four yards out in injury time that would have sealed the victory and all three points.
Now taking a point on the road from a talented Belgian squad is not a terrible result. My issue with the team (without knowing what goes on a daily basis within the group) is who is the on-field general? What are Croatia’s tactics? I think the formation leaves plenty to be desired. It’s hard to differentiate from the outside what goes on behind closed doors, but there are other seemingly better ways for the team to get the best out of their talent pool. I thought the effort was decent and the guys put in the work. However, that alone will not be enough to win big tournaments.
**Ante Ražov is the current head coach of the U-14 Los Angeles Galaxy acadamy squad and is the MLS’ fourth all-time leading scorer, with 114 goals through 12 seasons.
@Nije Bitno
Yea man, thanksgiving day is the concert, you’re more than welcome to come out and party, it would be awesome…and I know Joe really well, his brother Mario better, but yea I know Joe
I’ve been around the way in San Pedro too, I have cousins in LA county, temple city / pasadena mostly
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082770/
I have met a number of people from Kotor that identify themselves as Croats.
All the prominent Montenegrins could have chosen to play for Serbia, much in the same fashion that Croats from BiH choose to play for Croatia. The Montenegrins did not. And that’s a positive thing. 🙂
Montenegro, historically “Red Croatia,” is also, paradoxically, Serbian “Sparta.” Many prominent and ardent Serbs hail from Montenegro. At the same time, the Montenegrins are a mixed bunch. Many of them have a strong sense of their own identity. The fact that the lands (and stock) that currently make up Montenegro were once Croatian doesn’t lend them peace till this day.
Stankovic is also a Montenegrin. 🙂
@IvicA
Awesome post!
“Man, the loss of Montenegro really hurt the Serbs soccer-wise at least, lol. They could have had Vucinic and Jovetic right now.”
Did it ever! They have produced some really good striking talent over the years! In regards to the laying down part, I still think that it will happen but I hope that I am wrong.
The only true Serb would have been Stojković/Piksi??? Correct me if I am wrong on that one.
“I just don’t get it.”
Oh I get it alright, and the proof is in everything you just wrote!!!!!!
🙂
@ Mihovil
– “The Serbs will beat Macedonia as they have their number and the Macos will lay down for them regardless. ”
I wouldn’t say that.
Serbia beat Macedonia three times but that was when they were still technically “Yugoslavia” and had all those offensively talented Montenegrins (Savicevic, Mijatovic) on the squad. It won’t be so easy for them to score on this veteran Macedonian squad.
Man, the loss of Montenegro really hurt the Serbs soccer-wise at least, lol. They could have had Vucinic and Jovetic right now.
What’s funny is that this lack of Serbian offensive firepower is consistent throughout Yugo’s history. All the offensive stars in the former Yugo were all Hrvati, Crnogorci, and Bosnanci. None would ever come from Serbia.
Even the greatest all-time player for both Partizan and Crvena Zvezda were Croats (Stjepan Bobek and Prosinecki). The fact that Crna Gora has had Mijatovic, Savicevic, Jovetic, and Vucinic in these past 15 years is remarkable. Serbia nothing really other than Stankovic.
I just don’t get it.
@ Mate Cleveland – I’m from San Pedro. Please find out what day and let me know. I have Vegas booked for that weekend but i’ll cancel to go hangout with a bunch of CRO’s from Cleveland. A buddy of mine that lives in San Pedro is from Cleveland, you might know him his name is Joe Marusic. Anyhow, he was telling me that he was thinking of going home for thanksgiving weekend so i figured i can flight out with him and catch a concert with you crazies…
good stuff.
I saw extended highlights of the Serbia-Wales game and while a 6-1 scoreline looks impressive, most of the goals by the serbs were a direct result of idiotic defending by Wales.
The serbs are ayoung team, so you would expect them to paly much better at home. A win in BG over Belgium leaves the serbs in very good shape, but I think they will drop points on the road. Every team can, but for some reason I think the serbs will have distinct difference home vs. road matches.
@IvicA
Good job!
That was not an unimpressive game overall between Scotland and the Serbs. The Scots did not impress either and during patches of the game I thought I was watching rugby.
Serbia Wales – Wales were missing a lot of players and by no means am I suggesting that they would have won the game but it surely would not have been 6-1. Good example with the Otto Baric and Mirko Jozic days to show scoring patterns and the variances of levels of play. I do remember those games and days and in retrospection it puts into perspective the quality unit we have today and have had for quite some time. I love the fact that we can compete with anyone and it makes me very proud. I will also say that I will follow these guys until the end. Please don’t get me wrong here; I prefer the quality side of our team versus the lesser quality sides.
“Serbia is still a team that has very few creative midfielders. Guys like Tosic and Tadic aren’t going to cut it against guys like Modric and Srna. Serbia’s defense is good, but that doesn’t matter when you are trying to determine which team will dominate possession and outchance the other. I still believe that we’ll dominate the Serbs in both games based on our players alone. I would be very surprised if we lost either of those games, though a draw in both wouldn’t surprise me if the Serbs decide to just go physical and dirty. The Serbian national football team has lost its heart a long time ago. They lose to teams like Estonia, Slovenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan like it’s nothing. Vidic pretty much retired at age 29 without a care that Serbia drew Croatia in the next round. Croatia loses to a stubborn Georgia team once (yet still qualified), and the world almost ended for us. I think the pride in our national team amongst our fans and players is higher, though I’m sure Mihajlovic is working hard to restore it in Serbia’s.”
Nice paragraph.
Serb Team – Defensively they are fine. The goalie is hot and cold and usually both on the same day. We are going to see what their midfield is made out of when they play Belgium in Beograd. Tosic and Tadic do not cut it and their strikers are nothing to write home about. Ljajic is a good striker but I think he is done with the team? Sulejmani is a talented striker as well.
Kolarov is an excellent free kick specialist and a good offensive LB. His defense leaves a lot to be desired but offensively he is very good. He does not get the starts with Man City because Clichy is there. Ivanovic, hmmmmmmmmmmmm…. I find he is Frankensteinish in his maneuverability and play. If that makes any sense? Strong as a bull and extremely tough to push around. In watching him over the years he seems to drift out of play at times and is burned as a result. Quality player for sure. From what I have heard he has won all the weight lifting competions in the EPL for both legs and arms power lifting.
There is still a lot of turmoil and strife within the Serb FC and Mihajlovic is trying to restore pride in their team and system. Our pride is higher and comparatively speaking it should be. A good result against Belgium could do wonders for the Serbs. When we finally do arrive to play them in March we need to be overly careful of the set pieces. They do not compete/compare with our mids or strikers and we “should” be able to control possession. The game is still half a year away and many factors can come into play prior to the game.
“Anyway, it’s still too small a sample to determine anything. We’ll have to see what happens next month. If Serbia manages to play Belgium well in Beograd and pulls out the win in Skopje, then I’ll be impressed. We’re still in the best position of all teams in the group with an away draw to Belgium and a win at home. I’ll start to worry if we lose points in the next month to Scotland and Macedonia.”
The Serb Belgium game will be interesting. However, and I have said this before, where are the Belgian strkers? They will be playing in a very hostile environment against a team that has a really good defense with strikers that are not elite in quality at this point in time. The final third of the field this Belgian team has is not upper echelon. Their defense is great, and is where they have the “most” talent, their mid is very good, but the strike force is not great and it shows. Another potentially good thing is this game lends itself to yellow card city for the Serbs and then they travel to Macedonia for hopefully some more yellows with the potential of losing some players when they face us in March. The Serbs will beat Macedonia as they have their number and the Macos will lay down for them regardless. I say all of this knowing that what I have witnessed from Macedonia’s play so far they have impressed.
Side note:
You mentioned on another post that most of the Belgian star players are defenders and personally I agree with that. Their strikers are nonexistent at this point and the midfield is very good I would say but not as good or on the same level as the quality in their defenders.
@Denis Svirčić
“Serbia has a slight advantage since they are at home and in front of a full Red Star Stadium.”
It will be tough for Belgium as it is a very hostile environment and the stadiums architecture/infrastructure lends itself to intimidation.
“Dont be fooled by Tuesday’s 6-1 bombing of Wales. The Welsh suck and will finish last in the group.”
They are certainly not a great team by any means but Wales were missing a long list of players most notably Swansea full-back Neil Taylor, Cardiff City striker Craig Bellamy and key midfielder Joe Allen who was suffering with injury and illness and James Collins was out of the Serb game due to a red card against Belgium. All the players that were hurt will of course be ready for when we play them. I can see us dropping points to them in Wales if they have a full lineup and if we are missing key players. I hope I am wrong!
“Serbia-Belgium has nil-nil written all over it.”
It surely does and that is fine! As long as we take care of business.
“Macedonia will not be easy, especially if we are missing key players. Pandev wont miss this time.”
We should be able to do this but you’re absolutely right in that it will be tough and Pandev is quality. That strike he delivers against us in the first match was quite nice and very close to being a goal. The save was made by Plet’s best friend.
Denis, could you please ask Ante what his thoughts are on Vukojevic as a player and could you please ask him what his thoughts are for the potentiality of Vida being groomed for the CDM job down the road.
You had mentioned somewhere earlier in this thread that Vida’s lack of passing skills could be holding him back from the CDM spot. He is not the greatest passer in the world, and I know you know what is coming, but how can he be any worse than Vukojevic in the passing game? To be honest Denis I cannot believe how patient or should I say how fooled the HNS have been with Vuko’s play. Unless I am missing something?
Thank you.
Jos jedan lumen komentira ono sto ne razumije.
@Mate Cleveland,
I dont have Razov’ contact info. I can tell you that he’s an alright dude. A few years back, I played against him in the San Pedro small goals tournament and he was called for shirt pulling against me. That was the highlight of my football career. I made it all dramatic too by stopping my dribble and raising my arms to the sky in the “wtf” motion.
Ante follows the site, so he might get back to you. We will try to get him on a live show after the Macedonia or Wales match in October.
@Mihovil,
“who wins next month between Belgium and Serbia?”
Serbia has a slight advantage since they are at home and in front of a full Red Star Stadium. Dont be fooled by Tuesday’s 6-1 bombing of Wales. The Welsh suck and will finish last in the group. Serbia-Belgium has nil-nil written all over it.
Macedonia will not be easy, especially if we are missing key players. Pandev wont miss this time.
Wow, Ziva Istina vs the Doktor. Two asshats. Why don’t you both make like a tree and fuck off. After reading the exchanges above, I’m more bored than a midget at a theme park.
Sulejmani is coming off an injury, hence a limited amount of playing time. Serbia is basically playing with their u-23 squad plus Ivanovic and Kolorov. If you haven’t seen them play in the past year or so, you won’t recognize any of them.
@ Nije Bitno
That was fast….yea, thanksgiving day is the concert
@ Ziva
Don’t worry about Rozga, someone always has some Bam Bam no matter where you go
@ Denis
I’m asking directly to Ante, what formation would he play and with which players where
That’s my question, you can give me his cell number, home phone or email address…postage could work as well
@ Nije bitno
I just posted on my facebook what day is she coming specifically, but I’m 90% sure it’s on Thanksgiving, if not that day, then the following Friday or Saturday….what city are you from anyway? NYC, Chicago or TO?
@ Mihovil
Not sure if I can comment too much on the Serbs’ win. I only watched the game they had against Scotland, where Serbia looked unimpressive…but I did watch their highlights of the Wales win though.
The first goal was a very nicely taken free kick by Kolarov. Dead ball play, and Serbia has a couple of players capable of taking a free kick (much like us). Their next two goals however, were just due to flat out comical defending by Wales. You actually have to watch the replay like three or fours times to figure out what exactly happened. The 4th and 5th goals were standard counterattack goals that came about, due to a couple of terrible turnovers by the Welsh midfield just outside the center of their own box. The final goal, by Sulejmani, was a looping Eurogol from outside the box.
I’ve always maintained that the two most talented players on that Serbia team are the two non-Serbs in Miralem Sulejmani and Adem Ljajic. Adem Ljajic for some reason, is not playing (probably due to not wanting to learn or sing the Serbian anthem). Sulejmani is still playing off the bench for some reason, and I hope it stays like that.
Sure, it’s not good for us that Serbia (a team that can never score) suddenly scores six goals in a game…but only for the reason that it boosts their confidence, and not that this team is suddenly proving they are an offensive juggernaut. I remember back in the Otto Baric and Mirko Jozic days (when Cro was offensively challenged) we still managed to have those games where everything came together. Remember that 4-0 beatdown we gave Belgium? We ended up losing the return leg 2-1 anyway.
Serbia is still a team that has very few creative midfielders. Guys like Tosic and Tadic aren’t going to cut it against guys like Modric and Srna. Serbia’s defense is good, but that doesn’t matter when you are trying to determine which team will dominate possession and outchance the other. I still believe that we’ll dominate the Serbs in both games based on our players alone. I would be very surprised if we lost either of those games, though a draw in both wouldn’t surprise me if the Serbs decide to just go physical and dirty. The Serbian national football team has lost its heart a long time ago. They lose to teams like Estonia, Slovenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan like it’s nothing. Vidic pretty much retired at age 29 without a care that Serbia drew Croatia in the next round. Croatia loses to a stubborn Georgia team once (yet still qualified), and the world almost ended for us. I think the pride in our national team amongst our fans and players is higher, though I’m sure Mihajlovic is working hard to restore it in Serbia’s.
Anyway, it’s still too small a sample to determine anything. We’ll have to see what happens next month. If Serbia manages to play Belgium well in Beograd and pulls out the win in Skopje, then I’ll be impressed. We’re still in the best position of all teams in the group with an away draw to Belgium and a win at home. I’ll start to worry if we lose points in the next month to Scotland and Macedonia.
@IvicA
Agreed!
The role/job Vukojevic is asked to do I get but his performance in that role I don’t get. Nothing against the guy but I really don’t get it??????
Niko Kovac gets mentioned frequently on this site and deservedly so and as much as I could go over how many great assets he brought to the table the one that is always with me from a performance perspective is that when Niko was on the field and honing his craft very rarely would someone come straight down the middle on us. He had that covered like a blanket!
IvicA, sorry to get off topic once again but I have not shot the breeze with you in quite some time.
What did you think of the Serbia thrashing of Wales and who wins next month between Belgium and Serbia?
Not to worry as I do realize that us beating Macedonia next month takes precedent over the questions I am asking…..
🙂
“Radošević oduzme 7 lopti uz jedan prekršaj. A Vukojević? Nula uzetih lopti, ali 8 faulova”
This stat alone is the reason I would continue to start Radosevic.
I said it before the Belgium game, and I’ll say it again…You’ve got nothing to lose by replacing the worst starter in our lineup (Vukojevic) with a young up and comer.
cujo sam da je on dobar covik.
Istino, krhko je znanje.
Prava je istina da sam dosao Zivu Istinu regrutirati. Hocu li ga moci zavrbovat, sto mislite? Ili ce UNS-i ili UDB-i, neka bira….
@Svircic,
Ziva can have his sand-box back only if he admits he’s Mate Loncar – Pendo. 🙂 🙂
Prgav si Doktore…PRGAV!
nisam ja neki “insider”. Ali znam ja puno vise nego ti mislis.
nema veze, svidja mi se tvoj stil.
Doktor Prle on the board. I think we finally have someone to counter Ziva Istina. This should be interesting. Someone has cloned the great Ziva Istina. Hopefully, doktor doesnt have internet problems commenting from sremska mitrovica.
Someone set me up with Rozga, I will interview the shit out of her. I will just say one thing about Rozga. My 18-year-old cousin in Croatia told my/our grandma that he was going to marry Rozga. She replied with: “tako si moga mater ozenit”
.
Ja sam za Zivu Istinu – doktor. Doktor Prle. Dosao sam ga malo “lijeciti.” Dosta je bilo njegove bahatosti i pametovanja. Covjek, iako po mojoj slobodnoj obavijestajnoj procjeni nije los, prodaje vam muda pod bubrege. Cita hrvatsku “stampu” malo bolje (analizira) od vas ovdje, i onda vam dolazi soliti pamet kao nekakav “insider.” Moras mu priznati, dobar je folerant. Skoro vas je sve prevario. Ali svakoj predstavi dodje kraj. Pa tako i njegovoj.
Bolje je zivjeti u vlastitom podrumu nego biti podstanar. To vrijedi i za mene i za njega. Kao i za sve vas.
Otkad vjerujes u Stimca?
Doktor Prle is here to mess with Ziva, live from some podrum in lijepa nasa hahahaha the two basement buddies found each other.
Doktor prle= the new Ziva istina
Inace, tvoje “rigidno” hrvatstvo je za svaku pohvalu.
Jutros si citao Kruselja… mogao bi i popodne. Otidji i pogledaj kako se cijela prica, koju si ti zdusno prihvatio i sirio, promijenila. Ajde, znam da znas citat. I to izmedju redova. 😉
is she still alive?
honestly, I would not attend a Rozga concert for one simple reason: she has performed in Srbija. I would not attend any concert of a cro singer who has performed for the serbs.
@Ziva
How about Lepa Brena?
@Toni…….hell no. God only knows what type of STDs she has.
Štimac otkrio istinu o ‘sukobu s Ćorlukom’
http://sportski.net.hr/nogomet/reprezentacija/igor-stimac-otkrio-istinu-o-sukobu-s-vedranom-corlukom
Basketball star Dwyane Wade admits soccer is the ‘No. 1 sport’ in the world
http://www.goal.com/en-ca/news/4176/united-states/2012/09/13/3374383/basketball-star-dwyane-wade-admits-soccer-is-the-no-1-sport?source=breakingnews
@Ziva
Are you telling me you would not snort coke off her ass? Am I to believe that?
hatred for women?????? What are you talking about.
I only mentioned Rozga because of her history. If you like croatian youth attending such events with a person like her, than I should be the one asking questions.
I guess its really up to me to be the role model for our youth and lucky for some of you I accept that position.
Ziva what is up with your hatred for women? Especially Croatian ones. You sound like a Turk!!
Šifo je osvojio čak deset lopti, Hazarda smo posve zaustavili
http://www.vecernji.hr/sport/vijesti/sifo-je-osvojio-cak-deset-lopti-hazarda-smo-posve-zaustavili-clanak-452844
mmmm with such a yummy name like booger sugar how can anyone resist – sounds about as appetizing as a sranje sundae
It must be a west coast thing then
booger sugar????? I have never heard that term.
@Doktor Prle……pa citam sve i svasta.
@nije bitno……could be; never thought about that.
or booger sugar however you wanna call the shit!
@ Ziva – I don’t know…… I think she didn’t like your basement or your bijelo.
Stimac is a delusional fool, i cannot stand watching him talk…has more ego than Axle Rose from the Guns-n-roses!! Ciro has an ego but he put out positive energy. Stimac doesn’t even respect Corluka becuase he is injured!! Boze Moj!!!
Sto sad citas – 24 sata?
break my heart??????? only my mama can do that.
I saw her in action and I am familiar with the crowd she hangs out with back home.
I’m assuming you had personal experience with her? Did she break your heart Ziva?
Ok, but in case anyone else has thoughts of attending her tour in North America, she enjoys the white powder.
@ Ziva – i’m not trying to get at that KURBACA! just trying to have a good time hanging out with fellow Croats.
@NIJE BITNO……..If you are going to a Jelena Rozga concert you must bring some drugs. I can’t stress this enough. Bringing some coke with you will do wonders if you wish to meet Rozga.
Jelena Bez Mozga. Rekao sam ja… a ne Goran Bare. Jos cu ga sudit zbog kradje mojih intelektualnih dosjetki haha…. ali, jebo narkomana! Nek’ krepa smece komunisticko.
@ Mate Cleveland – When did you say Rozga was coming to Cleveland? Thanksgiving weekend? Tell me what day and I’ll be there.
svi su dobrodosli
Zato imamo Doktora Prlu i Cistu Ozalj da nam prevodu. Bogu hvala.
u redu, ali samo 20% znaju. Idemo dalje!!!
@Ziva – you’re gonna break the hearts of your many followers by acknowledging the zajebancije (ali samo ako znaju citati)
i meni.
Samo ti i dalje zajebavaj ove ljude… meni je zabavno to gledati.
Doktore….i meant what i said
Olic and Eduardo > Jelavic and Mandzukic.
http://www.croatiantimes.com/news/Sports/2012-09-13/29629/Corluka_may_need_surgery
Oh No
What you wrote matches Kruselj’s fabricated story. Almost word for word.
You meant to say what you dreamt… not what you heard.
So, what did I get wrong???? I read the story and it matched what I heard last night. I don’t have to cite anything. I’m no journalist.
Corluka did not play and he has a messed up achilles.
And you got all that from that fabricated story in Jutarnji list by “novinar” Drazen Kruselj. The very least you could have done was cite your “source.”
Keep on out for the relationship between Corluka and Stimac. They got into a very heated conversation a few hours before the Belgium game. Stimac thought Corluka would play and had him in the starting 11, but a few hours before the game Corluka told Stimac his achilles was not in good shape to play. Stimac exploded and said that Corluka looked fine in training the night before. Corluka said he couldn’t play and they continued to go back and forth.
Good for Corluka putting his long-term career first. He knows he where he gets paid and that is with the club team.
Matija…….the serb game wont decide Stimac’s future. This qualifying cycle will determine his future. He can lose to the serbs and we can still advance to the WC; that would keep him on the job if he still wanted it.
Problemi za Bilića i Štimca: Ovako više ne ide, Ćorluka mora na operaciju!
http://www.nogometni-magazin.com/newspro/coranto/viewnews.cgi?id=EFuZVkAFlAMrCWmwbM&tmpl=ostalelige
My above post was in regards to finding a replacement for vukojevic, otherwise my later sugestion shld work ok
Im sure if we look hard enough we can find an ex pat somewhere in the world whos on the brink of breaking into his birth countries NT team then convince him to play for cro. FUK our whole teams made up of foreign croatians, anothers not gonna hurt ??
As for Stimac the serbia game will decide his future.
As for radosevic, put him on a body building program, shave his head, tattoo his neck and arms and hey presto, Sick K…t
holding midfielder is made.
@Mate Cleveland,
Yes, feel free to ask questions. Ante Razov is a regular now at Alpine Village. Looking forward to having him part of the CroatianSports.com family.
yes, this must be end soon for the type of Croatian non effective strategy ,l i dont agree for croatian defense stance. looks like fucking dumb shitty. to slow for our defense / we have absolutly energic midfielder. and spartan forward.
I love how so many on here are just willing Niko Kovac to eventually become our manager.
Drawing attention to all of his RedBull experiences that indicate he’s going to be such a great coach.
I loved the guy as much as most but I’m not that delusional.
I remember loving Stimac as a player too.
Does that mean he can manage a team? I dont know.
Why don’t you jaded Dalmatinci just relax for a minute and give a Igor a chance.
Get rid of Stimac before its too late…i honestly believe he has no fucking clue what he’s doing…
I remember watching the game, we almost got scored on…and stimac is like ” To!! To!! Super!!” He was praising the team while we clearly looked like headless chickens on the field.
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/ID/2278534567/
@ Denis Svircic
We have one of the diaspora, and all-time American greats on the line and no one is asking him any questions
Please, Denis, see to it that this is at least partially gets answered: Ante, with the talent we have, what formation would you choose and which players to play?
Please go as deep and get as technical as you want with it
Clear evidence against players on the team, but nothing will happen with this. Canada doesnt care, they will blame european countries and there love for gambling on anything. Fucking enough ppl ive met.in cro love to bet on baseball anf have never seen a bat, let alone the game played lol
They name dropped antonio zupan
and they have been fixed for years
CSL has always been considered a joke. Anyone who followed that league or knew people playing in it was aware that games were fixed during the regular season.
Well the community know what type of scum run the team, i hope it forces the league to clean house and bring in some legit people, but knows croatians some other scum will “take over”
Report is on next, csl is a joke anyways
Lots of fixing in the CSL, speculation Serbian White Eagles paid off their entire season in one game.
Last place team heard them celebrating in the change room after they lost to them.
@Jack…..i think Dnipro played a 4-2-3-1 last year. not sure about this season.
these match fixing allegations are funny. I have never heard anything good about Toronto Croatia from the croatian community up in Toronto. So, i doubt there is any outrage over this. In fact i think most people are laughing at them.
Toronto croatia story on cbc at 10pm. sadly doesnt surprise me, i bet half the team bets on the games let alone match fixing. I see bet365 with odds all the time and usually live in bet plays, very easy and simple to match fix in the csl.
Toronto Croatia caught match fixing….Is anything on the level?
http://www.croatiantimes.com/news/Sports/2012-09-12/29606/Toronto_Croatia_in_match_fixing_scandal_revealed_by_CBC
@Ziva:
Given the HNS budget, who would you like to see as coach?
What formation do you think we should use against the lesser teams(Wales/Scotland)?
It seems that Olic and SMM are flexible enough to play wide left and right in a 4-3-3. Jelavic seems to be a one note horn.
@Everyone:
Does anyone know what formation Dnipro uses?
The problem with that is Stimac is no task master.
I hope it works for him and the repka, but if it does not I will sure enjoy the fall
Furthermore, about stimac. Yes he is a prick. But that is a good thing. Public critisizing rakitic is a good thing. raki has been playing below par now for too long. If that doesnt motivate the guy, then he shouldnt play. Too many times our players look complacent on the pitch. maybe they believe they can give less and still be guaranteed a place on the pitch. He sends a clear message to the players to pull your socks up or get out. Our team needs a hard task master. As for the belguim match, our play wasn’t the best, Stimac acknowledged that, but we werent far off from winning either.
@tj – Spot on about players in the English league being overrated. “Oh, we don’t need Modric and VanDerVaart anymore, we have Dembele and Dempsey” What the fuck are Tottenham fans willing to believe?…and this goes on whenever a true star leaves any of their clubs and is replaced with govno.
Like I stated earlier, no way Belgium finishes in the top 2 in our group without any forwards.
…and I like bringing in new players – keeps everyone from getting to complacent. Rakitic was the first to be sent that message……now bring in Kovacic.
A lot of comments on this website belong on belgium sports dot com. Belguim so talented, blah, blah, blah. WTF has belguim done in world football? Who the fuck are they. A lot of them play in the EPL which according to the poms is the best league in the world. Bullshit. Its probably the best marketed. But quality no. The epl has a long history of overpaying for players. Their media just praises any player that plays there. Its the english way of just talking up their own shit. A lot of our players are playing in eastern europe so natuarally the poms dont regard them highly. Repka has stayed in the top 10 since independence. Not belguim. Croatia has consistently proven to be a hard team to beat. This is a fact. The comments on this site about belguim are are tiring and show lack of insight. Many people just swallow pommy media hype.
As for stimac, what has he done to be so critisized. With limited time with the team its going ok and should go better. Experimenting with players is a breath of fresh air, its something that bilic did’nt do. Its shows that he’s pro-ac tive and willing to experiment.
In zagreb belguim will get it.
As for the parrots on this site stop repeating the same shit!!!
Joj, I get a crack out of all the “media reports” of whose interested in signing our players – gotta love reporters – the whole Repka (past and present) would be or would’ve been playing at some point with the Top 5 clubs in the world – I know we produce good players but ka’maan
Juventus is now interested in Radosevic?
I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually does get sold by the end of next summer. Split just needs to sell Hajduk already. Where’s the Luksic family at?
Ivan Martic should be considered up and coming RB
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDNM7ON0ct4
I believe if Manuel Pamic, given a chance, would be better than Strinic.
Here is a potential quality CB HNS needs to look into. I scouted Schildenfeld and he came up big. Take a look
Kaja Rogulj
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8xn05WA4CQ
Stellar commentary.
Man do i miss Robert Kovac! I miss not only his skills as an elite defender while playing for the repka but his pride and leadership. If you guys can read and understand Croatian check out his thoughts on our 2 WC Qualifying matches. For all of you pushing Sammir read the end of the article!
http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/r-kovac-za-index-stimac-se-odvec-kockao-s-radosevicem-da-je-izgubio-nastetio-bi-sebi-i-mladom-veznjaku/636695.aspx
@ Fisto – You’ll see
Quote of the day: Toni – why can’t we use EU funds for a coach. Brilliant!
@ Ante Razov:
Good luck with your coaching career and freelance sports journalism.
@Nije Bitno
One key point that you are omitting. Schildenfeld has actually had success on the national team. The guys that you mention have not. If Lovren showed stability on the nat team, I’d have no problem having him start. A defender does not need to be spectacular, he just needs to be solid and thats all you can ask for. Schildenfeld has done that time and time again. He helped shut out SPAIN for crying outloud for 88 minutes. NUFF SAID
I will give you Lovren’s youth as an excuse. He will have an opportunity in the future. But at this point, you don’t mess with what works. We all had been worrying about our defense recently before the emergence of Schildy. Don’t fix what aint broke.
Your IP finder is correct. Except S. Mitrovica is Serbian-occupied Croatian territory, buddy.
Eduardo da silva Titular! pletikosa, srna, schidenfeld, corluka, strinic, vuckojevic, perisic, rakitic, modric, olic e Eduardo.
modric capitain
Thank you Ante Razov.
@Doktor Prle,
my ip address finder says that you are writing us from Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia 🙂
@JerseyCro,
Yes, I know that Niko worked for the Red bulls. I just never took that job seriously. Niko played for the Red Bulls too so this was just a minor role for him because of his prior experience.
I wonder if this taste in coaching was enough to tell Niko to stay away. N. Kovac reminds me a lot of Boban. I could see Kovac stay away from coaching just like Boban.
I was at the Croatia-Ukraine world cup qualifier in Zagreb a few years back and I remember N. Kovac venting about how coaches, media and fans took him for granted and didnt treat him right. I think I have this on video. 10 minutes later, one of the guys caught on and asked me to leave since the 30 minute media session had concluded.
@Ante Razov:
Thanks for the great write up.
@ Denis
Kovac managed the Red Bull Salzburg junior team and was the assistant manager of the first time until the summer when Red Bull changed their entire coaching staff and football organization (hiring guys like Ragnick and Houllier)
Thank you ante for writing a great article and comment. nice that somebody from the top level explaining stuff instead if these know it alls.
bravo sovarac!
Hi Denis!
Langley, VA
You have my IP, why you asking? 🙂
gents, just a final word or two here from me. normally not one who posts or comments. Appreciate the chance to put out some thoughts. The first goal is to qualify (obviously) the 2nd goal is a process to build a group that can make a deep run in Brazil. The coach has a difficult task. Highly passionate and demanding fan base (which is awesome and gives me goose bumps when i watch) does not make it easier. Its all a part of it. Taking a point from a good Belgium team is fine. Sorting out the team to maximize our talent is the coach’s biggest challenge. My hopes are that politics don’t dictate how or who plays. I know that is easier said than done. We all have ideas on who should and shouldn’t play. however as a reminder, unless you are there and involved on a daily basis then we really don’t know what the thoughts, tactics, ideas and what state of mind a particular player might be in, injuries etc. As a fan i would like to see them get better as the qualifiers progress. That they build a group that has ideas about exactly how they want to play and the players that will execute those ideas. If its an easy on the eyes type of passing/attacking style or a grind out results type, doesn’t really matter as long as the team moves forward. I think it usually takes a bit of both to get to where they want to be. Hvala
Ziva,
You are right, the HNS could care less about the U-21 team. However, any experience is good experience for Niko. Bilic started as a U-21 coach. I wonder if Kovac would even like to get into coaching.
@CroatHrvat,
I really do think that a back line of Vida-Corluka-Scifo(Simunic)-Strinic will have no problems with any of the strikers in our group. Hell, Goran Pandev is the most dangerous striker in our group and we have to visit Skopje. we are fine in defense even without Lovren. However, I would like to get Lovren some games at some point.
Scifo had an awesome Euro 2012 and then Stimac benched him. Scifo gets the start and continues from where he left off in 2012.
I like where you are going with Vida. I have been a fan of his since the Osijek days, even though it pains me to root for him on Dinamo. I envisioned him as a DM, however, his passing skills are not that great. RB is the right position for him. I could see him captaining our team in 2 years.
@JerseyCro,
This is great news. Hopefully, Kovac takes the job.
If I were Niko I would say no.
The HNS doesn’t give a shit about the youth teams, so why should Kovac.
They could have Niko Kovac, Sir Alex, Jose Mourinho and Tomosilav Ivic’s casket as the coach of the U-21 sqaud. they still would have lost 6-0 to Spain. Once the HNS cares about the youth teams and forces the clubs to make their players available then things will begin to make sense.
@Doktor Prle,
Where are you writing us from. Welcome!
@Nije Bitno,
Yes, I was skeptical about Jelavic going from Rangers to Everton. Jumping from a C league to an A league isnt an easy transition. Dude knows how to finish, I will give him that. Jelavic has a nose for the goal. However, he’s not a creative striker. Just like Mandzukic and Klasnic, if you use him correctly in the right system he can be dangerous.
Lovren is still young and the dude has so much potential. As of right now, I’m happy with Scifo starting. But you are right, the only way for Lovren to get better is with games. Hopefully, he continues to start at Lyon.
Niko Kovac has been contacted by the HNS is he wants to coach the U21s. He will pretty much be given the job, only he has to accept it
Anyone who doesn’t want to see Lovren return is mad, plain and simple, mad. The guy is a good solid old fashioned centre back who, I don’t care about his performances against Georgia or whoever we played a year or two ago when he wasn’t up to par, he’s 23, same age as Vida, I think the two of them could have a wonderful partnership in centre back for another decade. Vrsaljko coming in too, Corluka and Strinic have a few years in them too, the defence is fine. Having said that, my man Simunic was class last night, I love it when Simunic has a good game.
Regarding captaincy, Srna is a weak leader, Modric would only be able to lead with his feet, Corluka can’t captain the team. Ideally, call me insane, but I want Vida to play for a couple more years, transfer out of Dinamo into a decent European team and eventually captain Croatia. I like his hunger and his fight. Relatively inexperienced at international level, the young man has played excellently against Turkey, Spain and Belgium. I like his attitude and I like his future, for now it’s either keep it simple with Srna or maybe hand it to Modric to lead with his feet, but I don’t like either, I want an aggressive player that gets stuck in.
Kvartuc & Svircic should hire Pendo, if they haven’t already. Professional analysis. The guy is like the Library of Alexandria. I think he is UDB-a. I’m UNS, and Pendo could definitely be UDB.
Fisto was there too that night.
@Denis – You were one of those that were sceptical about Jelavic too. I remember having a conversation with you in your back yard before he made the move from Rangers to Everton.
@ Fisto – your one of those guys that said just because Jelavic plays great in the Scottish premiere league doesn’t mean he will play good in the EPL. I was always the one that said he would succeed and so far he has. Its called understanding the game and skill. I saw it in Jelavic i see it in Lovren! When or if he ever gets healthy I would rather have him there at 23 and doing more than “just getting the job done” like what Schildenfeld does at the age of 27. I want to see a dominate Croatia not a Croatia that just gets the job done. Its Like in 96 or 98 would you rather Have Nikola Jerkan start in defense where he was a decent defender and got the job done or have stimac or bilic on the field, that were at about the same age differance with jerkan as lovren is with Schildenfeld, but also were able to give MORE than “just get the job done”? I want to dominate and i see him being dominate. He goofed a couple of times but he was 21 year olds. Look at what everybody else on the site say about kovacic, hes too young give him time he will be good. Well Lovren is 23 now if he gets healthy and performs like he did at 21 then shit can him. I just dont see it happening though he will be fine for our repka when healthy.
Au contraire! Stimac is extremely charismatic. Some people don’t like “rockers” like Bilic. Some people like Mafia-boss archetypes that Stimac certainly is.
Problem is, he’s not a coach. EOD
Adame and Andrej,
Well said. I agree with both of you.
Yes, the game is not played on paper and even though Belgium was favored because they are slightly a better team and playing at home, we come away with three points if that Vida header goes in. Even though we were outplayed much of the game, a little luck and sneak out of Brussels with 3 points.
Looking at our offense on paper, only Modric is world class. If we can get it together as a team, then “Modric-to-Mandza-header to-Jelavic-goal” happens. Mandza and Jelavic can not create on their own. We have TALENT, but talent good enough to take us to the world cup with a little bit of luck. A little bit of bad luck, and we are watching tournaments from a beach chair in Dalmacija. This is reality.
Belgium is better on paper, a better overall team and were playing at home. We defended ourselves well for the most part and came away with a valuable point. Still early in the qualifying campaign. Lets give Stimac some time.
I am happy that no one mentioned “lack of effort” and “no heart” as clearly this was not the case.
For all of you mandza lovers, how well did he pass and dribble against a solid Belgian squad?
@Mihovil,
As much as I dont like Srna as captain, there must be something that he’s doing right. Dude is captain at Shakhtar as well.
Carli has really developed and blossomed this past year and wouldn’t be a bad choice for captain. For the most part, I think our defense has always been very well disciplined and I would like our captain to be a midfielder. Yes, Carli does get involved in the offense with some great runs up and down, but I dont see him as our dude to get our offense up and running. At the same time, I wouldnt object to Carli wearing the armband.
@Fisto,
I agree with you on the DM position. Even though I was shocked that Radosevic got the start at 18-years old, the kid was pretty solid. I’m not sure if he was out of position(ala Jerko Leko after coming on for an injured Niko Kovac and allowing Kaka to score the lone goal at WC2006) for the lone goal, however, the blame for that goal has to be on Strinic.
@Nije Bitno,
I dont miss Lovren at all. I was never big on him and at the same time, Scifo has done wonders in defense. I’m more worried about our strikers and our unorganized midfield.
@JM,
“lets face it. unless croatia is winning every game, we’ll probably complain about the coach.”
Thats how it usually goes. I was bashing Bilic throughout qualifiers and then all of a sudden Bilic turned into a world class manager overnight at the Euro. Who would have thought.
Stimac is like Bilic and will be a work in progress.
@Cista Ozalj,
well said!
@Barbic,
I agree, but at the same time, I dont remember a time when our strikers or midfielders had a chance to rip a shot from distance. The Belgians suffocated us in midfield.
@TheGoldenChild,
“We have the talent, but our attack is consistently anemic because of the way we go about the game.”
Yes, we have the talent, but we are not as talented as Belgium. This is without a doubt, Belgians golden generation. They havent had a squad like this since the 80’s when they took the nickname “red devils” making a quarterfinal appearance at WC 86 I believe. Belgium show up every 10 years or so. I know that they qualified for WC2002 in Japan and came out of group stage. On paper, Belgium is more talented.
I’m not sure if our attack “is consistently anemic because of the way we go about the game.” I would have played 4-5-1 instead of the mandza-jelavic combination. We dont have a hiddink behind the bench. At the same time, we bombed on Hiddink in Istanbul with the same squad and pretty much the same “way we go about the game.”
I can only speak for myself. I support the team and I think qualifying for any major tournament is a major accomplishment and anything more than that is a bonus. I have said that numerous times.
But, for those of you asking why there is a lack of support for Stimac. The answer is easy. He does not deserve the job. Their is nothing in his resume/CV that suggest he was qualified for the job. Plus he hired a very inexperienced staff that has no credibility as coaches. He got the job for one reason: as a compromise between Mamic and Puppet Suker. Hell, Puppet Suker does not deserve to be the president of the savez, but that is another story.
I can get around the issue that Stimac does not deserve to be the coach and still comment fairly on him…… I don’t care what he did against the Swiss. He tried a new tactic and it didn’t work. That is what meaningless friendlies are for.
He didn’t do anythign differently in the Macedonia game that other coaches like Bilic and Cico would have done. Only problem I have with him from yesterday is not brining in a 5th MF instead of brining in Olic, which is fine because he got the result we needed. I think a 1-1 tie was a good result against a team who I think has better individual talent than we do.
Why wont people back Stimac….because of his past actions and reputation. He’s not a likeable figure so for him to win over the fans he has to deliver the results. Bilic on the other hand was a very likeable person and got the benefit of the doubt with the fans.
Now, there are plenty of blind homers on this site who bitch and complain and think Cro should win every game 2-0. There are people who think we should win 8 or 9 of the 10 group games. You can’t argue and have a debate with those type of jersey-sniffing homers.
@Nije Bitno
Lovren hasn’t shown anything up to this point to be considered a solid defender. He has a lot of potential, I’ll give you that, but he hasn’t done anything on the field for club or country to be worthy of a starting spot. He consistently has blunders for both Croatia and Lyon, I don’t know what he has done in your eyes to warrant a starting spot. Schildenfeld has been solid for us for the past year or so including the Euros and everyone wants to continue to knock on him. He’s not a glamorous defender, but he gets the damn job done.
Where’s Pendo?
All roads lead to Skoplje.
Toni, Toni… what’s with the name-calling? I can handle a little (a lot) of that. Game. Yes, Stimac has qualifications. He’s qualified to destroy the HNL (16 teams) and run NK Zagreb into the ground. Not to mention the shenanigans he pulled at Hajduk Split. And qualified to bitch-slap Alka Vuica, something he deserves credit for.
Sh*t for brains.
As far as our play is concerned, I’m quite content with it. I like catenacchio, you? Or the bastardized Croatian version of it.
Mourinho could be the Croatia coach and the media and people would still not be happy. Every fan knows better but being 9th in the world isn’t good enough. Qualifying for all but 2 tournaments in the last 16 years isn’t good enough.
Get over yourselves already and just get behind the team. Serbia, Bosnia, and the rest could only dream of the success we have had.
Corruption or not it would make no difference in the national teams success or us maintaining a team this solid in the future. We only have 4.5m people and eventually we won’t be riding this high so enjoy it while it lasts. If you do choose to be crybaby know-it-all’s well I don’t feel bad for you because you will never get a joy out watching a single game.
You think results always go to the better team you are crazy! Just in the start of qualifying Spain barely beat Georgia 1-0. Italy tied Bulgaria 2-2. England tied Ukraine 1-1. Luxenburg tied N. Ireland 1-1! Ireland came back to beat Kazakhstan 2-1.
It really bothers me alot when i come onto this forum and I see the majority of you guys critizing our repka. They are what represents us and with out support from us, they will never be anything. We need to get off of Stimac’s back and let him settle into the coaching role of this team. We have talent that we cant deny and sooner or later we will show what we are made of. I agree there are some tactics and things that can be reformed to help this team win more but give stimac a chance
For the Canadians on here …
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/09/10/soccer-canada-match-fixing.html
Looks like they will be having a little news feature on this tonight. Curious to hear and see what they have to say about it.
I believe if we get through October with decent results we should be okay for the remainder of our games and qualify for the WC. As much as many people dont like him, we need Lovren back! it will open up so much more for us. imagine corluka and lovren as CB’s, srna rb and strinic at lb! sounds pretty solid to me if they are all healthy. Then you can bring Vida/vukojevic/dujmovic in at the CDM role and stack the midfield with 4 more midfielder (perisic,modric,rakitic,ilicevic) or throw in kranjcar for one of them other than modric. With Jelavic up top as a starter if hes not getting it done throw in one of our other attackers. I feel that kind of mid would be able to create for players like Jelavic or Mandzukic.
lets face it. unless croatia is winning every game, we’ll probably complain about the coach. bilic is now moving into a nice area, where he is going to slowly start being elevated in the eyes of everyone as a coach whereas only a few months ago nearly everyone wanted him gone
We have zero losses in the qualifications and we’re knocking Stimac? Why?? Sure he could’ve made a few different changes but so what, we didn’t lose – would we have won if he put a midfielder in instead of Olic? your crystal ball is as good as mine –
Now I’m still a little skeptical about Stimac but as for now he hasn’t done that bad of a job – I wonder if people would’ve been this hard on him if he wasn’t coming in filling in Bilic’s shoes, rather had he come in after one of the previous budale – again, your crystal ball is as good as mine
Seems like he’s done a pretty good job with picking Simunic as he was arguably our best player yesterday –
Simunic, najbolji igrac. Hvala ti Boze za dijasporu 😛
Please refer to my article a year and a half ago regarding the captaincy debate, minus the recomendation of Runje (time sensitive).
https://croatiansports.com/?p=1227
Regarding the pecking order at defensive midfield, anyone but Vukojevic should be at the top. I realize Dujmovic hasn’t been playing lately, so I have no problem playing Radosevic. He can’t possibly do any worse than Vukojevic, so its a safe bet. He didn’t do anything really impressive, but he didn’t screw anytthing up. For an 18 year old in his first game, thats definitely a plus and far more than what Vukojevic has ever done. I think though, however, part of the decision was the Mafijo side of Stimac. His Hajduk connections told Stimac to start Radosevic for the same reason why Mamic wants Sammir on the nat team. More exposure to sell him at a higher price later on. Atleast they’re doing it this time at a position on the field of need.
1. Radosevic
2. Dujmovic
3. Vukojevic
People will say why have Dujmovic ahead of Vukojevic with the lack of playing time. Sometimes, even if a player isn’t in form, he’s still better at a position. Pletikosa, playing probably the most important position to be sharp at, didn’t play for his club for a while and was still our best goalkeeper handsdown.
has anyone noticed that our guys are to scared to rip shots left and right theyre they wont try to beat their marker and try to shoot the only person that will do that is kranjcar and even he rides the bench
@CroatHrvat
The negativity is always there. I think it was you that mentioned a couple posts back that we always rise from the muck and support the team when we finally make the competition.
Like Ante said though, it’s a frustrating display to watch. We have the talent, but our attack is consistently anemic because of the way we go about the game. Yesterday Modric received the ball in the middle of the field and played a 1 2 with Jelavic that could have progressed further for a clear goal scoring opportunity. Jelavic just need to quickly one touch the ball back to Modric who would have been through, but the problem is that our forwards aren’t adept to that style of the game. Mandzukic and Jelavic are both high fliers with a lot of body, but not as much finesse to compliment our fast moving midfielders. Because of that we have to resort to a more brutish style of play like the English usually display.
I don’t know if you also noticed that Perisic made a lot of runs down the line on his own. The problem is, once we go to the middle of the pitch there is not much creativity in going forward. Modric comes to the ball, but he’s usually shadowed by two opponents, and the team doesn’t really know where to go from there. Frustration sets in, and balls are shot up the field in hopes that Jelavic or Mandzukic come down with something. Once they receive the ball though, it’s just them two on top with no support from the midfield.
I love our team and I wish them all the best, but there is a lot more to be desired when watching the games.
Repost from previous entry:
I’m happy with the draw, I called a 2-2 result… close enough.
A lot of people are forgetting that Vertongen (sic?) missed an insta-goal shortly after Perisic’s opener. If he put that point blank free header in the game becomes a lot tougher.
Overall Cro played well, incredible individual defensive efforts. Strinic, Vida, Simunic, and Schifo all looked world class. At one point Strinic schooled two waffles in a deft dribble sprint combo move that almost lead to a late Mandzukic headed goal. As well, Vida was running rings around attacking Belgians meeting balls at the touchline after dribbling around them. A few months before Euro 2012 Cro’s D was its biggest failing today I saw proof that we have a solid “D” that can hold its own against any attacking threats in world football. I wa sslightly disappointed in some of Srna’s delivery which seems to be occuring more frequently and Jelavic was improperly utilized but overall Stimac used the correct tactics and Croatia is looking on course for Brazil. The key is not to drop points to Macedonia which is always a possbility and to gain maximum points from Wales/Scotland. I think we’ll beat the Macedons away, take 6 from Wales, 4 from Scotland, 3 from the Serbs and win at home against Belgium which should be enough to secure first place, correct me if I’m wrong.
@ Doktore Prle
I think Stimac has some qualifications… dummy. I saw nothing wrong with putting Olic in. Strikers will get you goals and Jelavic was pretty much run ragged warranting his substituiton.
It’s actually funny hearing how so many people on this board criticize Croatia to the point of absurdity. It makes me think are you all Jugoslavs at heart? lol
I find it also incredible that people who watch a lot of soccer have a strong cae of myopia when it comes to assessing a teams performance on the field. In today’s game there is not too much that separates the top teams especially in Europe.
Yesterday Georgia narrowly lost to Spain 1-0 and this was seen as a surprise to many. Not to me. Teams that are physically capable and resolute can hold out against teams of higher technical quality. What I’m getting at is in soccer sometimes there is only one or two ways to play an opponent to try to get a result. Croatia did the same with Spain losing 1-0 late as did Portugal albeit on PK’s. Does that mean Georgia and Croatia are of similar quality? Not neccessarily but it shows that on their day Georgia could have bagged a late goal and beaten Spain just as they did against Croatia in Euro qualifying.
@ Ante Razov I’m not sure what midfield player you are referring to when you mentioned they would have been better suited to be subbed in instead of Olic?
Wait, I do know what he was thinking. He told me:
“THIS is where the ranked 9th team plays its home-games?!? Monte de merda!”
Suker’s kum Mijatovic acquired Modric. Well, that’s evident. Clear as day.
As for atmosphere:
Croatia should play anywhere but Zagreb. That stadium is a travesty. Zagreb is the reddest city in Europe. Communist hot-bed.
God only knows what Mourinho was thinking when he saw that “stadium.” Pathetic.
“I’m not saying we should praise Stimac just yet, but there is NO REASON to criticise his performance to date.”
Really? What do you think about that brilliant substitution he made; putting in Olic while the mid-field was asking for anybody to help… even the guy from section 117, row B??
You’re right. Stimac doesn’t warrant criticism. He’s got NO qualifications; shouldn’t be at the helm and therefore shouldn’t be criticized at all.
I’m fed up with the English speaking Croatian community. Croatia lacked identity? Stimac is useless? Belgium all of a sudden are a better team than Croatia? People have lost all senses of passion and optimist and replaced it with pessimism and what they would call ‘being realistic’. First of all, not one player had a bad game for Croatia last night, not one, sure Strinic’s header could’ve been better but that’s just the way it goes, same for Vida in the last minute, Vida was beaten once or twice in the match but he had an excellent game full of aggression and no-nonsense defending. Bilic was blasted and ridiculed after losing 2-0 to Greece but yet has a good EURO’s and he resigns a hero, Stimac gets a 1-1 draw in Belgium and we are already criticising him? I’m not saying we should praise Stimac just yet, but there is NO REASON to criticise his performance to date. I couldn’t give a monkeys about the Switzerland game, if we played them in a competitive game we would beat them home and away, I couldn’t care less about friendlies. 4 points from the opening two games is good, very good, not perfect but very good. Macedonia away will be tough, but Croatia are capable of picking up a win in EVERY game until this time next year, that’s 15 more points. Let’s get behind the players, Stimac, the coaches, etc. The Belgians were talking about how atmospheric it would be last night and Croatia would be nervous playing in such atmospheres, do the Belgians have any idea what kind of atmosphere they are going to experience when they arrive in Croatia in a years time? Good luck to them. This time next year there will be no pessimism, we will be in the thick of things, competing for a world cup space, our stadiums will be packed once more, the boards on CroatianSports will be busier than ever and we will once more know what it means to support our beloved Vatreni.
By the way, folks… I’ve arrived to reveal Ziva Istina’s identity. I don’t know why you people actually give a sh*t (I’m a long-time reader of the boards, so I know you do), but here goes:
Professional Billiards Champion, Globetrotter and Croatian National Team mascot: Mate Loncar – PENDO.
Shown below with Mila Horvat
http://www.jutarnji.hr/template/article/article-print.jsp?id=184685
Stimac kicks Mihajlovic’s ass no problema dude.
We can funnel the EU funds into the NT. Better there then where those funds will be wasted.
Top theory in Croatia is that the old regime from Rusanova was strategically removed so to destroy the HNS.
To boot, Stimac was installed to bring forth the demise of the team (in cahoots with minister Jovanovic and the Serbian ZG gov’t) so to ensure Serbia’s qualifying for Brazil ’14.
Just a theory, not a subscriber.
@Zeljko @Denis Svirčić
“The guys a commanding figure with an aura of authority about him and a natural leader. Anyone see when we scored against Macedonia he immediately ran over to stimac and started discussing tactics.
Carli for captain!”
Great post and it is quite evident that he has all the characteristics of a captain. On top of that he does not let anyone push him around. We don’t have too many players like this anymore.
“Dude is pretty quiet and reserved. Its kind of Srna by default.”
He is not quiet and reserved. Someone that has reservation does not run over to Stimac after we score against Macedonia to let him know that he does not like what he is seeing on the field. Upon further inspection Stimac is repeatedly telling Carli that everything is alright but Carlie is trying to drill something into him. That is not reservation in the least and if he is quiet and reserved it is during the interview process which is not the same thing.
I still remember the Euro 2008 game with Germany and Podolski was being an idiot towards Carli and when Carli had enough he just turned, glared and walked right at him to let him know that I can hurt you if I really want to. Podolski dropped a load in his pants and did a double skip backwards. It was beautiful!
He makes people feel at ease as he is constantly chatting and joking with everyone when in training and I can only imagine that translating very well in the locker room as everyone seems to like him. He is also one of the first to get his nose dirty and standup for someone else on our team and as Zeljko said Carli displays quite the aura of authority and is a presence.
He was given the armband in our last friendly with Estonia prior to Euro 2012 because the coaching staff could see that he is captain pedigree. Srna sat for that game admittedly but the armband could have easily gone to someone else.
If it was my choice he would be our captain. However, the choice falls to Stimac and therefore through nepotism Srna does not lose the armband. Unfortunately.
Thoughts on the game
Strinic – Fantastic job on that clearance! And if you believe that statement than something is seriously wrong with you.
Once I saw the ball leave his head and go back towards the middle of the field I knew we were F#*&%$! He clears that ball anywhere else and the half is over as the time expired and the ref was going to blow the whistle for the end of the half but he could not as the ball went right to Gillet and he scores. He puts that ball anywhere else as he should have and we go into the dressing room with a 0 – 1 lead. Defensively Strinic played well as he usually does and made a very nice cross to Mandzukic in the second half.
Vida – People are picking on Vida but the guy played great as he made Hazard look useless most of the game. He should have scored but he played solidly on defense throughout the game. He is not a true RB in the sense of ball movement and distribution and he lacks that certain offensive skill and flair but when depth is an issue with our D or if we need to tighten up the defense depending on the opponent he is fine at the RB spot as he has shown against Belgium yesterday, Spain during Euro 2012 and the Turks during our playoff for Euro 2012.
Srna – Against quality opposition he is not a good option at the RM spot. Leave him at the RB spot please. I understand the logic of playing him in that position yesterday but I will say it again that he is our RB and is ineffective at the RM against quality opposition.
Pleti – Played solid as usual and cannot be blamed on the goal at all. He is our starter until someone takes the job. I would just like to point something out though. In the 89th minute when the free kick comes at him he really shows his true butter fingers and cannot catch a ball effectively. People are going to say that he was interfered with and he was somewhat but that happens way too often to be a coincidence. There is a play in the Spain game during Euro 2012 when the ball rolls to him and he jumps on it and it pops right out and because Torres was offside nothing became of it. I bring this up to explain how and why he is not at a big club and could never crack a big club as scouts have mentioned issues with his poor ball catching skills over the years.
Radosevic – What this guy was thrown into and how he performed you gotta gim him credit! Although there were some issues he did look exemplary in some situations and you have to come back to the fact that the kid is 18 years old and really has very little experience to be thrown into a situation like this. With one more step he might have even been able to block Gillet’s shot and prevent the goal but that is someone else’s fault entirely.
Simunic – As Denis said probably MOTM. I know people do not like him and that is their choice and I applaud them for that but he was just solid! He was playing against quite the talented side in a very tough position and situation and he stood up very well and should be applauded for his performance. Mind you, if Belgium had a top notch striker we might have paid dearly but give credit where credit is due.
Schildenfeld – Solid back there. Made some timely stops and since the Turkey playoffs his play in my opinion can only be described as solid. I don’t know what more we can ask of the guy? Maybe change his last name to Schildenovic?
Modric – Awesome as usual but had no help. I don’t think he is in top form yet either?
Perisic – Did a great job on the goal but due to Belgium owning the midfield and us giving up the ball too easily he was quite through much of the game. Great finish and really nice to see him get his first goal for the Vatreni!
Mandzukic – Great play to get the cross in for the Perisic goal but without distribution from our mids he was quiet and ineffective. A very nice try on the header from the Strinic cross. Kompany kept him in check as well.
Jelavic – Kompany kept him in check but he showed signs here and there. Once again without proper feeding from our mids he was kept quiet.
Subs
Vukojevic – I never really know how to express his play? His pass distribution is laughable and he really does not know how to fill the lanes like a CDM should. I still think Vida is the guy for CDM but it does not look like they are going to go down that road and experiment.
Olic – Did not do much but made a nice play to win the corner for what should have been our game winner. He is still good off the bench for some tired defensive opposition legs and we really could have used him off the bench against Italy and Spain for Euro 2012.
Kalinic – Was not on long enough to really give a proper critique.
Illicevic
You could see that once Dembélé was taken out of the game we had better time pocession and Belgium was pressing less. It would have been nice to see some speed thrown into the equation and fresh legs from a midfield perspective. A double switch with Olic and Illicevic would have been nice or just the latter.
Happy with the tie but it would have been really nice to get the full points considering the events that transpired. We must take 6 points in our next two games!!!!!! Anything else will not do.
I apologize for the long write up as it has been awhile.
It was a good game. We did not have our two best D guys Corluka and Lovern. Victory was so close.
What is the situation with the stoppage time of one minute and their goal in the 47 minute?
Everyone also slating Simunic and Schildenfeld can you remind me how many goals they allowed? 1! In which it was not even their fault.
Corluka isn’t a CB! Look at his dominance in Russia at that position and you will see he is hardly proven. Lovren has improved and is our ideal player for the future but you cannot do much better than those two did yesterday. Corluka was always a disaster waiting to happen in the PL in CB. His is a RB/LB and that is pretty much only solid position he has.
I know 90% don’t watch any of these players play outside of 4 or 5 matches a year for Croatia so its beyond comedic what your expectations are from them.
Hazard? Remind me of how dominating he was yesterday…I dont recall him doing that much.
Anyone who thought it was going to be a walk in the park with this group needs a reality check. Look at what this team has done compared to all of the ex-yugo countries. You should just be thankful that we are still able to keep it up on such a high level. It’s getting pretty embarrassing listening to some of the comments abusing the team. Just STFU and get behind them nobody is saying we have to love the HNS or Stimac but enjoy this ride of having a solid team while it lasts because it’s impossible to sustain the level we are playing on forever with or without corruption.
EU funds are being spent to conceal Ziva Istina’s identity.
@Toni….not sure if you are being serious with your question, but if you are, EU funds should never be used to pay a salary for a soccer coach.
@jerseyCro…….well said. This is what you get with Stimac and his lack of experience. Those of you ripping on Stimac should also be ripping into Mamic and Puppet Suker for agreeing to this alliance with Stimac in the first place.
Stimac’s suits are tailored too tight. He looks menacing. He might actually kill Mihajlovic.
We need to clone Niko Kovac. Or have his kids grow up really quickly. So one of them can captain the team.
I like Srna, but giving him the captaincy was the problem. Shoulda neva happened.
Pletikosa is a cult figure. Deservedly so.
Duge noge, kratka kosa,
To je Stipe Pletikosa.
I rewatched the game with a normal outlook and to be honest we were hardly as bad as some make it out to be. In fact if Belgium didn’t score that blast of a goal even with the chances they created the only real scary one was where Simunic had to cover the goal line.
We gave the ball up easily and we didn’t take advantage of every counter but for the 2nd game under Stimac belt it was hardly a bad result. Most people were upset at the thought of Radosevic but I’ve never been sad about anyone who is put in there and given a chance to prove themselves. We have gone over this position for years and not a single player has taken it for there own. Radosevic did no worse than Vukojevic or Dujmovic have done and to be honest at 18 there is at least an outlook into the future.
It’s simple sport and we were on the road and organized for 60 minutes. We took the lead and never had to open up until we pushed a little more in the end of the 2nd half. Belgium had possession but outside of the nice goal didn’t create that many clear cut chances. In the end we probably should have won on the Vida goal.
I’m not anywhere of a fan of Stimac but it took guts to put in Radosevic because if that kid failed he would have never heard the end of it. I’m not jumping on the train but it should be his spot to lose because over the last 4 years Vukojevic and Dujmovic have never taken their chance of securing that spot.
I actually prefer Dujmovic to Vukojevic…..Ognjen must have some pics of someone in a compromising position.
Why no Dujmovic?
We looked good against Turkey with him as the #5…
@ Ante,
You pretty much hit the nail on the head with your analysis.
@ Denis, you are right about us mising Niko Kovac. That was a problem for Bilic when Kovac retired and it will continue to be a problem for the Repka until we find someone who could replace his leadership…
Ferencina is an interesting coaching prospect, Belupo play a modern style (pressing high, solid defensively) but he needs to prove himself eventually at Dinamo or abroad. I also like what I saw from U19 coach Jelicic.
The problem in Croatia is managers are recycled every 2-3 months and the more experienced ones decide to go to the Middle East or Asia to collect a nice paycheck and where there is little pressure
Roy Ferencina Slaven Belupo?
Stimac was a political hire, which is why most fans hate the hire. Also he is not a good person (criminal record, shady past)
I know Croatia don’t have many options at this moment, but in an ideal situation, Stimac wouldn’t even be a top 5 candidate on shortlist if a serious criteria was set in place.
Kovac, if interested, should take over the U21 national team who will probably sack Susak after losing 6:0 to Spain.
I honestly would have nothing against Kranjcar, he has a very good record at international management, look at what he did with Montenegro. I still think he only has one official loss in international play (Brazil at 2006). Sure, he messed up the World Cup in Germany, but his qualifying campaign went relatively smoothly and the team today is better than the 2006 team which was still in a slight transition
I don’t think Stimac is the ideal coach, but Cro doesn’t have good coaches like many other counties.
I’d rather give Stimac and the gang a shot before hiring most other Croatian Coaches. I’d rather give this coaching staff a chance befor hiring someone like Ciro Blazevic or Zlatko Kranjcar again.
Niko Kovac would be another possibilty, but again inexperienced and unproven.
to be honest, this is Stimac’s real tactics, at least when he coached in the HNL. This “tiki-taka” is tough guy talk from him. His teams in the HNL were usually very defensive and aggressive.
Of course he has better players in the national team than what he had at Cibalia, NK Zagreb…but expect this type of performance most of the time. He is such a bad coach, still angry they hired him
You can’t complain much about 4 points from 2, but the performances have been bad, all three matches under Stimac
See Belgium has a Hazard we dont unfortunately. If we had someone like that we would be incredibly dangerous but jebiga what can u do.. hopefully this haliliovic kid shines in the champs league and stimac puts him in haha .. nah but we seriously need to sort this shit out before next month. i’m hoping Carli and Lovren are ready and they are played just to see how it goes with strinic and that ludi Vida.
why can’t we use EU funds for a coach?
Hahaha Poppycock!!
Exactly what Ziva said the money isn’t there for high profile coaches.
I can only comment on the first half. I thought Radosevic looked good. He made some nice tackles and was patient in his passing and possession. I had to laugh at his first attempt on goal and how much he got under the ball. I noticed one clear man marking error on his part near the later part of the first half at the top of the box when a low pass came through but don’t recall the details of it. Still not a bad performance at all seeing how our other options at DM is limited. I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts more often. I do like how Stimac is giving the prospects playing time and at the very least just including them in the squad. Depth was never something the repka had, an integral part of being manager is to help build the team for the future. I do like how he’s doing that more than Bilic did.
@DinamoDenis………Pletikosa gone for who???????? Nobody is even close to him.
@Mc…….do you honestly think a Hiddick or Redknapp will take this job for 250,000 euros. Hiddink you can get for at least 4 million euros. No way we will ever pay that for a coach. Try explaining that to the public. Average salary is less than 1,000 euros per month and you want to pay a coach at least 4 million per year.
Radosevic is just a kid, Cant understand how stimac can blood an unproven player in such an important role without him showing anything special in european club football. I noticed he didnt link well at all with modric, almost ignoring him sometimes, on top of that he cant win any headers. Thats a must for that holding role ! This might sound ridiculous but i think this team would play A WHOLE LOT BETTER IF WE HAD A PROVEN COACH, SAY A HIDDINK OR REDKNAPP. I CANT SEE WHY WE DONT LOOK AT THAT OPTION. WHATS THE REASON ??? THINK BEFORE YOU WRITE ALSO
any thoughts by the way on how radosevic did? i watched the whole game, but pretty much couldn’t notice him. i would still guess vukojevic is back starting in the next game
I cant see why we dont pack the midfield with 5 , with have abundant talent there, its a waste letting them sit on the bench
Would like to see Ilicevic starting in mid instead of srna
Jelavic paired up front with someone that is not MandzoModric subbed out when he’s not performing
Pletikosa gone
I agree with the comments on Srna, but he is not going anywhere as captain. Don’t forget the relationship he has with Stimac and his brother. I just dont see Stimac making a change unless their is a long-term injury to Srna.
Mandza and Jelavic can play together against lesser opponents and create chances (example: Ireland, Macedonia), but those two wont work together against teams that are better.
Rubbish!!!
Belgium has better talent. Young and fast and hungry.
Our tactics were on spot. We came so so so close to winning.
Good result!!
i think its a positive also that we managed to escpae with both corluka and lovren still injured. i actually think strinic and vida have a decent future. both actually seem to have decent enough pace on the wings. strinic is much better with the ball and vida seems overly frantic. vida also seems like a psycho. i think thats good and the team needs a little of that mentality. he probably just needs to figure out how to control it
@ ante . nice write up. i walk away fairly content with the match though. i think the lack of chances created was more worrisome against macedonia than in this game. it seemed once croatia got up early, they had every intention to bunker and give up possession and i can’t fault them for the strategy. even in the second half, it looked like they were content enough to walk away with the tie. without an unfortunate bounce to the top of the box and an incredible one timer shot by belgium or if vida and rakitic hadn’t been discusisng header tactics before the game, we would’ve walked away with an away win against the “favorite” and we likely all would’ve sung the praises of the team and how they are all finally coming together.
Thank you Coach Razov for offering your perspective. You have articulated clearly what most of us have been experiencing but do not really have the mastery in soccer to distinguish.
Modric is captain to symbolize how we are going to play: intelligent, quick and creative. Mourinho and Madrid will take his game to a new level and the Repka will benefit.
Hopefully Boksic can create something with Stimac this month to get us 6 points in October. Boksic was a BEAST!
!am affraid about shitty Simunic.; and the fucking goal keeper
vise nego dobro na nerjesenom rezultatu protiv jako dobrog tima belgije u belgiji nije bio nas dan srice samo malo srice i bilibi sva tri boda zadovolni smo cestitam igracima i trenerima ivo santic zv. pistula iz postira ot. brac a zive vankuver kanada
@Zeljko,
Croatia hasnt had a captain since Niko Kovac retired. I still dont see anyone coming close to replacing Niko. Carli was certainly missed today, but he’s not captain material. Dude is pretty quiet and reserved. Its kind of Srna by default.
Well done Mr. Ante Razov!
Nice to see you once again at Alpine Village.
I pretty much agree with your analysis on today’s match. Besides our defense, there wasn’t much to cheer about.(Obviously, Strinic totally f…ed up with that header).
I also thought that Simunic played well and might have been the player of the match for Croatia. Vida and Scifo did their part in defense as well.
Our midfield and offense is out of sync. Like you said, “too predictable. Everyone is still on the Super Mario band wagon here and we dont have a quality striker. Olic is well past his prime, Eduardo hasn’t fully recovered and Jelavic needs service to be effective.
Before the game, I would have been content with a draw, so I’m not disappointed. Defensively, the repka continues to impress me. However, the one thing the Belgians do lack is a quality striker. Luckily for us, so does Serbia. We should be ok defensively.
In midfield, we have Perisic, rakitic, modric, srna, and kranjcar. You would think that with that cast, there would be goals left and right. For some reason, neither Bilic nor Stimac could figure it out.
On paper, this was the most difficult game in our group and we escaped with a draw. No complaints from me.
As much as I respect what srna has done for the repka, it’s quite evident that he is not captain material. Srna using a natural and commanding leader and the fact that he spends most of the game rolling around on the floor dosent help his cause. I truly think that corluka should be repka captain. The guys a commanding figure with an aura of authority about him and a natural leader. Anyone see when we scored against Macedonia he immediately ran over to stimac and started discussing tactics.
Carli for captain!