Croatia face Czechia Thursday night in their toughest World Cup qualifier on the schedule. A win is ideal in Prague but a draw isn’t the end of the world either as the Vatreni have a game in hand.
Who is under the microscope? Dominik Livaković. He hasn’t played for club or country in over a month! Does Dalić dare start Kotarski?
With one goal it is Liva’s to lose.
I ripped on Liva for years but he has come up big for us especially in shoot outs. He has experience and I’d say has improved in the box. He seems to have great rapport with the guys and that means far more than any of us BS typers on this site can imagine. I say 2-0 for us . Our group is crap at best and we should use ball control and jump on these Czechie Cheeses and take it to North America next year.
Where can we watch? Samo naprijed Hrvatska.
I’ve never been a big Livakovic fan, yes he has great reflexes, but he has always been scared to command and own the box… However with all that being said, of all positions in soccer/football, a goalie not playing is not a big deal… The mechanics of the position really don’t require you to play consistently… Yes it’s better if you do…. But not the end of the world..Liva will be fine and we will win 1-0.
Livakovic should start in this crucial match because of his experience and Dalic has indicated this in a couple of interviews already, unless there is a change of mind in the next 2 days.
Barring any late injuries at training the team should be the same as in Osijek when we won 5 – 1 apart from Jakic replacing injured Stanisic at RB.
I thought he was playing in Spain , am I wrong ? Or was he benched there too. If he is not in form he should sit ,
Won’t be decided in isolation
If he wants to start Luka V vs Czech
💯 Liva starts
If he doesn’t start Luka
More latitude to give Kotarski a start
He won’t make both changes vs Czech
Gut is Liva starts –
as all the defenders know how to communicate w Liva
Also less risk for Dalic personally – if Liva makes mistake – Dalic says well we knew he hasn’t played a lot but need to support him – if Kotarski starts and makes mistakes – Dalic has nowhere to hide (nevermind people will say Dalic folded to Kotarski demands)
Kotarski more likely gets nod vs Gibraltar
Where is Ivusic in all this? Everyone has forgotten about him lol
The good news in this is that Kotarski is in form, so if Livaković is not deemed ready for the match, then at least we have a different good keeper. It worked out for us once before when Grbić and Ivušić played in place of Livaković back in the qualifying for 2022
If he is practicing daily, he has been doing it for so long, would hope it would not be an issue.
It would be a novelty to have Croatia qualify like an unquestionable top 10 dominant team and remove all the normal drama. I’ll believe it when I see it.
We are not used to not having the urgency or not having our backs up against the wall.
Livaković should still start.
He’s been very good for us since World Cup 2022.
However, you have to see if his lack of playing time at club level affects his form in these qualifiers.
Goalkeepers are a little different, so I would think the impact is far less than an actual player playing in any other position.
As a Goalie.. reflexes are there, you don’t lose those that quickly. What you do lose is the timing with the flight of the ball, When to leave the line and challenge a striker etc.. and above all, mentally you are not as sharp with your decisions.. might be a half second delay, leaving the line or going for a crossed ball etc..
If he is not playing he should be practicing with his club , what that not keep him in some type of form