21 year-old Franjo Ivanović scored his first Portuguese goal Saturday in a 3-0 Benfica victory over Tondela. In 31st minute, Ivanović connected with a perfect through-ball on the right side of the box and slotted home inside the far post to make it 1-0. So far in Portugal this year, the young striker has a goal and an assist in only two matches. He scored 16 league goals last season in Belgium. All eyes on Ivanović this season to see what he does in Portugal versus Budimir in Spain.
Ante Budimir scored his first La Liga goal of the season as Osasuna skimmed by 10-man Valencia 1-0 on Sunday. He headed home a looping cross from the right side to beat defender plus goalie on the Valencia side. He’s off to a great start in La Liga this season with his patented header with already one goal in the first two matches. Osasuna lost their first match to Real Madrid after being shut out at the Bernabeu. Let’s see what Budimir does in a World Cup season after scoring 21 La Liga goals in 2024-25.
Luka Modrić made his Serie A debut Saturday in a shock 2-1 Cremonese victory over AC Milan at San Siro. In 74 minutes on the pitch, Modrić looked comfortable and had a decent shot on goal from outside the box. He was given a 7/10 grade for his efforts from SempreMilan as “It wasn’t the debut he had hoped for result-wise, but his actual performance was very good. From his passing to the distance covered, it was all very impressive from him tonight, and Milan relied on him a lot. He came somewhat close to a goal as well with a thumping effort on the edge of the box.”
Ivan Perišić had an assist in PSV’s 4-2 win over Groningen
Mario Pašalić had an assist in Atalanta’s 1-1 draw vs. Pisa
Martin Baturina was left on the bench in Como’s 2-0 win over Lazio
Franjo’s gamble paid off
He’s in the Champions League with Benfica (which is a better proposition than USG)
Nice to see he got 20-ish minutes
Pavlidis not scoring is also good news.
I want to see Franjo start every game. Both league and CL games.
He played well too. Great “hold-up play” to make sure Benfica kept the ball in their possession to close out the game. Had a shot on target that he could have done better with, but an overall good performance.
Livakovic with a HUGE save in the opening minutes!
Livakovic gets the start!!!
Franjo on bench (some Benfica fans have complained that new formation to accommodate Franjo has made Pavlidis look bad – so they return to old formation)
Also Kotarski vs Barisic (both start)
That Barišić is Bosnian and represents BiH. The Croatian Borna Barišić is injured and doesn’t play for Basel. Is that the famous Anonymous Eye Test on display? More importantly, Basel had Martin Šotiček in the starting lineup
While Jagusic threw up yet another selfie of him and his girlfriend yesterday (which has Anonymous concerned that he seems more focused on her, than football, which may explain why we haven’t seen him stand out this year) – this is what Petar Sucic says
“I don’t like wasting my time on social media, they are a very valid medium, but at the same time you can also throw five hours into them and I prefer to live my real life more. We are always under the media spotlight. I just need, after a game or a training session, to disconnect my mind and think about relaxing. Spending my time with my family: this is one of the reasons why I don’t use social media”.
But you said that he would flop at Inter 🙂
Under-promise, over-deliver 🙂
Better than over-promise, under-deliver on Bati and Luka Sucic 😉
Real Sociedad just signed a midfielder from PSG
Further down the pecking order you go Luka Sucic
x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1960701861360529411
Yo Dalic –
You see Zuti’s squad announcement?
Andrija Bulatović 18 yo @ Lens (just moved from Montenegro league)
Vasilije Adžić 19 yo @ Juventus (only 70-ish minutes for Juventus 1st team across 8 matches last year – 0 minutes this year)
This is what a manager who recognizes youth talent does – calls them up to the senior NT, while Montenegro U21s have TWO important matches in September (vs. Italy and vs. Sweden)
But you do you – thanks for shipping Luka V to the U21s – moron
To be fair, Montenegro doesn’t stand a chance to qualify with their veterans.
May as well build toward the future. Go through the growing pains and who knows, maybe they can pull something off 8-10 years down the road with some of these teenagers.
Here you
But that doesn’t matter
Press today Gattuso is calling up 18 yo CB Leoni for Italy
Leoni jumping from Italy U19 right to the senior team (passing U21)
Only 1200 minutes Parma last year and jumped right into Liverpool first team with zero pre-season with them (they have no idea how he trains, etc)
There is a game with these call ups – Dalic played it in June with Luka – but completely fumbled it with this September
If Dalic called Luka up now – T might have kept him this year
No call up – he’s shipped on loan
That’s the game
……………..Krama…Budimir……………..
Perisic………………………………MarcoP
……………..Modric…..PetarS…………….
JJ………………………………………….Stan
…………….Sutalo………DCC……………..
………………….Kotarski……………………
-In the 2nd half Ivanovic and Fruk uptop.
-I think Liva is still better but gotta play the Gk getting playtime. Time to start really paying attention to Semper.
-Kova out is a blessing in disguise all these games against these minnows. At this point does anyone really think we would have scored anywhere near 13 goals if kova played the full 180 mins?
🥲
Looks like Luka Vuskovic en route to Hamburg
Anonymous is disappointed
While Croats can understand decisions made by heart over head – if HSV kills his career, like it did his brother’s, it will be his own fault (he’s been duly advised, but is stubborn and has ignored the advice)
Also, the German journalist saying he’s travelling to German, getting medical, etc., says he won’t even be a starter for Hamburg in the next game given they got a clean-sheet last weekend. So he’s going their to be a back-up?
Sad day for Croatian football, but it is what it is, his life, his choice. Hopefully we’re just cynical and it goes perfectly for him and he proves our suspicions around the DFB wrong.
you think he was going to start this weekend? How much football do you follow? Hamburg likely to be in a fight to stay in the league which means they wont play him too much.
That’s my point. He’s going to Hamburg to be a back-up
And back-up to 3 CBs have a cap or two for Comoros and Libya and 3rd not even an international lol
Why not go to Inter – who are looking for young CB – and be back-up to and learn from Acerbi (37 yo) and de Vrij (33 yo) – until they leave in a year or two – and learn from Bastoni, Pavard, Dumfries, Dimarco, etc
There were many better options than Hamburg (7 years 2nd division riff-raff)
Anonymous is also dissapointed at T (but not shocked)
In particular, Thomas Frank’s handling of Luka
In the pre-season friendly vs. Bayern – Bayern brought on 10 kids at once with 25 minutes to go (some as young as 16) and he still didn’t bring on Luka
Anonymous did highlight that manager change was a massive risk – Ange was keeping a path clear for Luka to integrate this year – different manager different vision – only wants experienced players
As such, T are also still looking to sign an experienced CB
Not sure what decent experienced CB who is starting in a top 5 league is going to join T to be a back-up of the back-ups in World Cup year. Seems fanciful.
Current CB line-up:
Romero (signed 2-year contract extension and made captain)
VdV
Danso
Dragusin (injured, but recovering)
Ben Davies
<<>>
Mr. Small Feet (token – for Japan market/fan base, post Son)
Archie Gray (midfielder – but emergency CB cover)
<>
=
New Experienced CB Signing Slots in Here lol
It looks as if Vusković is going to Hamburg, in Germany. Jutarnji just put out an article and a few different sources suggest as much. It’s an agreement in principle.
Watched Orsic play for Pafos against Crvena Zvezda in a 1 – 1 draw.
He did not do much and was subbed around the 60th minute and the Brazilian player that came on for him scored the stunning equalizer in the 89th minute.
Some folks on here were mocking the Cyprus league and their clubs. This Pafos side is loaded with foreigners mostly Brazilians and from what I could tell it had one Greek Cypriot in the starting 11. Not sure where they get the money? good for their clubs, but not so good for the development of their own players and the national team.
he’s garbage and yesterday’s hero
lfg
Zvezda’s entire team is pretty much foreigners too. Only two starters were Serbs…and the two Serbs that came off the bench were really old.
You can criticize HNL teams for bringing in foreigners, but the majority of each team’s lineup are still Croats with a sizeable chunk of them being youngsters who are developing.
Pafos dump Ivusic
Pafos qualify for CL for first time ever
Causation
Club teams that want to compete are not designed to develop national teams.
Ours are.
…and it has resulted in multiple tournament medals despite the low population and lack of infrastructure.
Leon Grgic played c.30 minutes today and got an assist
Shhh
Agree with Cro911 and Eric that Petar Sucic played great.
He is earning rave reviews from Inter fans and all kinds of positive press coverage post-game.
Getting the start from Chivu and then responding with such a solid opening game has to be good for his confidence. We couldn’t have asked for a better beginning to his first Serie A season at Inter.
x.com/1ntercomps/status/1960117520628633677?s=46
Of course he was outstanding – Anonymous told you he was after 13’ Portugal sub – that’s sufficient time to judge (when you know what you’re looking at/for)
Some Inter fans saying he’s the best player ever to play for Inter (after 45’)
Some AC Milan fans saying why they get stuck w old Modric while Inter get the new Modric
Context, average age of Inter starting 11 was 29.6 years – Pero at 21 was the youngest – the next youngest was 26 years
Also named to Serie A team of the week
We couldn’t ask for anything more from him – thank god we have him – hopefully his younger brother 17 yo Ivan ends up being similar
Things are lining up nicely with our youth.
Aside from Petar Sucic, who many of us knew would always have an immediate impact at Inter Milan and further cement his position with us…
Franjo Ivanovic is starting AND scoring at Benfica.
This is huge for us. Budimir continuing to score at Osasuna was expected, but Ivanovic is less of a niche player, is younger, and his career is on the upswing (and he will get much better). Having him as an option works better if we’re going to continue to stick with non-wingers on the flanks, but also we could try a two-striker formation as well.
We have a great young RB in Moris Valincic who is playing extremely well at Dinamo. He’s likely better than Juranovic already, and gives us something different than Stanisic (who is purely a defensive player). Marco Pasalic (despite playing in MLS) is in full form and gives us something on that right side as well.
If Vuskovic gets loaned out, then it will be impossible to ignore him as a starting CB. We’ll see how that goes. Hopefully he can get loaned out soon and get his first-team football somewhere (but not HSV).
My only concern is Dalic and the ‘senatori’ and how they think this will affect Modric, Kovacic, Perisic, and Krama’s positions on the team.
Kovacic shouldn’t be considered a guaranteed starter for us especially with Sucic’s growth along with the Krama/Budimir chemistry continuing to result in goals for us. We don’t really need him in there for 90 minutes every game. I would also prefer if Modric didn’t play 90 minutes every game. Perisic is less of a concern, but also should be ‘load managed’…especially with guys like Pasalic and Valincic available on that right side to provide Budimir with headers.
I don’t understand where Dalic is getting it wrong aside from one position.
1- P. Sucic has started a lot lately and i believe is going to continue to start. He’s already been given many opportunities. In the last three meaningful games he started 2 out of 3. And the one game he didn’t Baturina did so again another young player.
2- Ivanovic is great and i think could be a great player for us now and future however i don’t know if he can play as a lone striker. Budimir has done enough to keep his place. Still Dalic is giving Ivanovic minutes recently and is in the mix, so i don’t see there being an issue. If he continues i believe he will be given many opportunities.
3- I agree with a lot you say about the defense however, i cant argue too much with what Dalic is doing with the backline. Sutalo, stanisic and gvardiol are guarantee starters and will continue to be. And he’s gone with the more in form player to round out the back line. you wanna argue a 18 year old ” Vuskovic” who’s been playing in Belgium isn’t getting minutes that’s not much run on. If he goes to a better league and plays well i have no doubt he will be given chances. Vuskovic speed needs to be tested before i crown him to the starting 11.
Too me its not even close recently Sutalo after Gvardiol is our 2nd best defender.
4- Perisic has played to well not to be starting. Should he have started last euros def not. However that’s in the past, and i don’t see anyone on the left before WC taking his spot.
5- Who’s gonna force modric and kova to bench? L.sucic and baturina both are not in form and not doing anything special currently at their clubs. Very disappointing.
6- Only position where i believe Dalic is getting it wrong is the right wing. I think he needs to play whoever. There’s enough options to start trying anyone i don’t like Kramaric on wing. That to me, this is the only position he is def getting it wrong. Everywhere else i don’t see any other options.
I think what Maminjo meant about Kova is that he’s the odd man out when you put Petar Sučić and Modrić on the field and maybe need to use Kramarić as the third midfielder because he creates so many scoring chances, finishes well, AND defends with every last drop of energy. Kova is a great player, but not necessarily as useful to the team as any of those three, and probably not as good for the chemistry as that combination of three midfielders. The ultimate goal is to win matches, so Dalić should put out the combination of players that will get the win, regardless of individual merits or how they operate at their clubs.
On a related note, good to see Oršić healthy again and now headed to the Champions League. I don’t think we’ve heard the last from him just yet. Having depth of at least three qualified players at every position is a good thing, so it’s always good to see Croatian players succeeding.
I have no doubt that if all three are healthy and in form, Modric, Kova, P.Sucic will all be starting.
Dalic will put kramaric on wing. Unless we are playing the Costa Rica’s of the world Dalic won’t be so weak in the middle and only put out two CM.
If fit and playing Kovacic is the first player that I would pick in our starting 11. He is our best midfielder and has proven this in the last couple of tournaments. He will be our future captain when Modric retires.
Vlad agree totally with the 6 points that you make above.
Luka Vuskovic is 18 and has a long way to go before he makes the starting 11. We have DCC, Sutalo, Erlic and Pongracic that are ahead of him as CB’s. You also have Gvardiol and Stanisic that can play as CB’s.
I’m of the opinion, that you should always start WC and Euro qualifying matches with your strongest 11 and this includes the upcoming matches against the Faroes and Montenegro.
For sure if you are playing some minnows like San Marino, Andorra and Gibraltar you can experiment a bit and give younger players a go from the start.
#1: Petar Sucic only plays because Broz retired. Sucic had a great season in 2024, and didn’t receive a cap until Broz retired (and forced a Petar Sucic callup). If Broz did not retire, then Sucic does not receive any National Team starts (and would likely still be at Dinamo).
#2: I also see Ivanovic as playing alongside Budimir with Krama in the middle behind them…however, this means no Kovacic if we plan on starting Sucic and Modric behind Krama.
#3: Vuskovic is one of the best players in a top-8 league last season…and he’s being given to Ivica Olic for the U21s as “he won’t get as many minutes on the senior team”. This, despite the senior team playing two games (instead of the U21 team’s single game) and it being against inferior opponents where Vuskovic can be trial-runned with little risk.
It just sounds like a lot like Dalic favoring players with seniority like Duje, Erlic and Pongracic. Vuskovic is far better than all three of them, and he could be a huge piece for us at the World Cup next year.
I just hate the lack of vision, planning, and foresight from Dalic here.
#4: I’m not saying we shouldn’t start Perisic. I’m saying we need to “load manage” him. I see no point in playing him full 90-minute games against the likes of Gibraltar and Faroe Islands…but I’ll bet we’ll continue to do so until he gets injured. It’s also stupid not to try out some youngster in these less risky opponents to see if we can drum up a solid backup for him (instead of defaulting to a player out of position all the time).
#5: Kovacic should already be benched due to Petar Sucic and Luka Modric starting behind Kramaric (who has great chemistry with Budimir). Kramaric had the game of his life in our 5-1 victory over the Czech in his natural position behind the striker. I know that once Kova comes back, Dalic will consider him to be too much of a ‘senator’ to not start…so he’ll push Krama to the wing, just to ensure that Kova starts. This will hurt us badly, and I expect this to be our biggest issue next year at the World Cup.
Mark my words.
#6: I agree with this and I think we have a lot of intriguing options in Moris Valincic, Marco Pasalic, Luka Stojkovic (and others) who would do well there. I don’t have faith that Dalic will call these guys up and actually try them. He will sadly just default to Krama or Mario Pasalic when needed.
There you have it
Sosa plays 0 for Crystal Palace at the weekend
And due to his impressive sitting on the bench
Dalic calls him up today
You can’t make this up
Does Dalic not know Stanisic is playing 90′ every game for Bayern at LB?
Hell Bradaric is starting every game for Verona in Serie A if he wants another LB
And of course, outrageous, Luka Vuskovic isn’t being called to play the entire game against Faroe before joining the U21s
Sucic with a nice assist playing really well.
Great game for Sucic! He was one of Inter’s best players on the pitch. I think he may have just secured a starting spot after that performance.
Well, we know Baturina will be on the bench even vs Faroe Islands, if he can’t get can’t even get off the bench for his new club team.
I’m a huge Marco Pašalić fan. Let’s please start him for the next 2 games.
2:45pm EDT
Pero vs Captain Pickles
Both starting
Also, someone might want to tell Dalic that Bradaric is starting every game for Verona (playing now) in case he wants to call up defenders in top 5 leagues that start every game
Dalic / nose pickers –
Fabulous job on defence call-ups
Below is minutes your 8 defenders played over the weekend.
Only 2 names played 90
While 4 played 0
Not positive – but Anonymous thinks the starting point of the NT is to call up players that are regulars for their club not players sitting on the bench ?
Erlic 0
DCC 0
Sosa 0
Gvardiol 0
JJ 6
Sutalo 12
Pong 90
Stanisic 90
Trust your well not deserved vacation from your vacation. I know the commitment of 30 days per year is taxing on you guys – so take it easy please don’t burn out
And today
Dalic calls up Sosa
lol
Secret to getting call up to the NT is to not play for your club and sit on the bench every game
Anonymous finally understands
There must be some doubt about Gvardiols fitness, hence call up for Sosa to possibly play as Left back.
Problems with Gvardiol’s ligaments on one of his knees is what I’ve read. Would be costly for us if he can’t start for us and all that.
Maybe
He missed the game vs T and Pep very vague with explanations
Was hoping it’s just Pep giving him an extended break after 60-70 games he played last year – as he’ll need him for
another long season
Stanisic has played every single game pre-season (he was great vs Kudus) and regular season at LB for Bayern so he can do that for NT while Jakic or whoever plays RB if JJ not fit either (he came off bench at the weekend after recovering from a knock)
For all I know and feel, I’d rather start one of Stanisic, Perisic or even Juranovic on left-back over Sosa, since Sosa himself is something of a liability for us in the defense. But let’s see what Dalic will do and all that.
Petar Sucic and Inter versus Nikola Vlasic and Torino at 11:45 am today (that is pacific time. . . 2:45 pm for the crew on eastern time).
Let’s hope Petar gets the start, and we have at least one young midfielder going well early in the season.
Baturina has some strong competition in his position. I don’t think he will be starting to many games this year unless they sell Nico Paz. To bad in a WC year he will be on the bench mostly.
Luka sucic was subbed out early and they were down 2-0 when he got subbed.
No wonder dalic has to play the old guys they young ones are bums.
And they came back 2-2 as soon as he got pulled – he’ll be back to the bench next game
Keep in mind they sold Zubimendi so he was supposed to take over – but not working out that way
Sad
Currently, our best striker, midfielder and defender are 21-23 years old (Ivanović, Sučić, and Gvardiol).
If Vušković was loaned out, he’d probably be our 2nd best defender at only 18 years of age.
Dalić plays the old guys because he’s a “veterans coach” and relies on players to coach themselves while he focuses on creating a good atmosphere and allowing consensus.
The old guys play because it’s not just Dalić making the decisions.
Monday 2:45pm EDT
Pero due to start
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Cristian #Chivu dovrebbe affidarsi al 3-5-2 nella sua prima da allenatore dell’#Inter in #SerieA.
Data la squalifica di #Calhanoglu, il ruolo di play dovrebbe essere ricoperto da Nicolò #Barella, con Petar #Sucic ed Henrikh #Mkhitaryan chiamati ad agire al suo fianco.
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Ma qual è il suo vero ruolo? La risposta non è semplice, perché Sucic sembra poter interpretare (quasi) tutte le posizioni della mediana.
Sucic, un jolly per l’Inter
Mezzala destra, mezzala sinistra, persino regista: nelle amichevoli e nel Mondiale per Club, Chivu lo ha provato in più posizioni, ricevendo sempre risposte convincenti. Una duttilità che si è rivelata fondamentale per inserirsi subito nella nuova filosofia nerazzurra. Il tecnico romeno, alla ricerca di un centrocampo fluido e capace di adattarsi alle diverse situazioni, ha trovato in lui un elemento prezioso.
Il debutto assoluto è arrivato negli Stati Uniti, nella sfida di Pasadena contro i messicani del Monterrey. Da lì in poi, minuti crescenti: un assaggio con l’Urawa, un ingresso decisivo nella sfida con il River Plate (dove ha servito l’assist – seppur un po’ casuale – a Pio Esposito per il gol che ha sbloccato il match) e le amichevoli disputate da protagonista. Anche nell’eliminazione con il Fluminense, nonostante la prestazione collettiva negativa, il croato si è distinto per impegno e adattabilità.
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