Earlier today, Zlatko Dalić named the 34-man preliminary squad that he will choose players from for the 2022 World Cup. The tournament kicks off November 20th with Croatia’s first match on the 23rd versus Morocco.
Official 26-man squads must be named prior to the November 9th deadline. That means Dalić will need to shave eight off this list. But who will they be?
World Cup squads usually only bring three goalies so expect Kotarski and Labrović to go. On the defensive side, Pongračić and Šutalo are still young and untested for this World Cup. I do not see Mišić or Ivanušec making the team as midfielders. But will Dalić bring young gun Luka Sučič? Will he play during the WC? Probably not, but it would be a huge eye opener for the kid to be with Modrić and company for a month straight. If Sučić does not make the squad, that means Dalić would only have to drop one striker from this list, and that would have to be Budimir.
That would mean Čolak makes it after all. He is currently Scotland’s leading scorer with 11 goals, three goals more than the next guy.
Calmo
No need to second guess why this player, why not that player, etc
Team reflects who Modric wants
And Modric wants to win
For e.g. Episode 5
Modric tells Livakovic what his problem is to his face
Modric knows best what/who will work (and who won’t)
Hence why no Rebic, etc
We as fans can’t change who is selected to go to WC .So let’s just hope all players show up 💪🔥⚽️ and go one step further 🏆🥇🇭🇷
——————–——(COLAK)—————————
———————-—-BUDIMIR—————————
PERISIC——————————————SUCIC—
————————–MODRIC——————————
—————KOVACIC—BROZOVIC——————
—SOSA————————————JURANOVIC
————–GVARDIOL—-SUTALO——————
————-———-LIVAKOVIC—————————
Within our preliminary squad this is what I believe is our best lineup…. If Colak can show some she dog light in this position or anyone else they will start here.. Budimir while is no Mandzukic he is the only player who plays somewhat a similar style.. he plays in probably the best league in the world so even he’s not hot I give him the nod…. SUCIC needs to steal that spot from VLASIC period!
Majer>Susic for the time being. Lovro has to play.
Pasalic may have a space but we all know he is not in form like last couple of years
So maybe right now he is more of what we have and don’t really need
We know he has a nose for goal when In form
But whether it’s tactic change or less playing time… he is not on the score sheet this year
We can take some experience and some on merit but we need the hot hands
We have the leading scorer in Croatia
Scotland
And Austria
Sure this isn’t England but that’s more then others have
I haven’t watched any of the Rangers Champions League games.
Finishing with the worst all-time performance in Champions League history, I’m sure, puts a stain on Colak starting for us.
I wonder if this will make Dalic hesitate.
not to mention that Colak didn’t have a goal or an assist in the whole group stage
Really like Pasalic – it’s great to see the young guys starting to press -Sucic, Pasa, Orsic, Majer,Sosa- bloody line up is fantastic – it may be too much for Dalic to handle- he has to think and that will cause crying and thinking and that is way beyond the poor guy-LOL
Agreed CROTOWN, Pasalic is a must. The other dudes you mentioned are slick as well. We gonna be ok
I do like Pasalic but yeah his season hasn’t been amazing.
I am also of the opinion of thin out the barisic(as we have a great replacement in gvardiol and even Perisic if need be on that left side with tactical adjustment)
We have Jakic who played champions league in a 3 manned right side defence
Stanisic who is supposed to be able
To play jack of all trades kind of guy
So these two guys can fit in as a defensive mid/defence as we need
Barisic has value but again nothing we dont already have(but isn’t his dad some mafioso??
I agree orsic could play a huge factor for us potentially
Still really hasn’t but truly has he been given a true fair shake for the repka? Probably not
Can orisic be effective on the right side?
We all know it will mostly be vlasic there
I think vlasic has that bit of grind that maybe we can use to put pressure on defence??
Sosa, majer, gvardiol, orisic
If these dudes can play like they can I think we can go far
I feel we can do this with what we have upfront
Livakovic gonna put himself on suicide watch cause of the pressure and ivusic gonna step up
For a month and go back into just a random hnl keeper and Croatian legend;). This is my hope!
Worried about our goaltending -that won’t change. Going off the board with Orsic. The kid gives HNS something that is so different. We have the best midfield in the world and now a guy who can run fast and finish- it would spread the D of most countries giving our midfield even more space- it’s not a popular sentiment but ajmo Orsic. Colak love to see more but Scotland is barely a league so it’s hard to say what he could do in real soccer.
As I read through the comments I keep going back to the same questions I’ve been asking myself for several months.
“our striker position is the worst problem we have and whats worse is that we really don’t have a good option” – Yeah, I’ve seen the calls for Colak and Musa but Dalic doesn’t seem to trust either of them so we are back to square one.
“will we have a good solution for the right side attack”? – As of right now, we all think Majer will be starting there but somehow I get the feeling Dalic has other ideas and I pray its not Vlasic.
“what happens if Brozo isn’t able to play”? – I really like the idea of Misic filling in, he’s been fantastic for Dinamo but I doubt he will get the call-up…so is it Jakic?
“who will be our right sided centre back”? – In this position, I’m happy with Erlic and/or Sutalo, even though Sutalo has had some kiks lately…I think he’s not used to playing soo many games in a week and he’s probably fatigued but he should get some rest prior to the tournament.
“who will start in goal” – I’m ok with Livakovic or Ivusic or Grbic…to be honest, I’m just happy Kalinic is not available, he’s prone to being scored on a lot!
I don’t necessarily look too deep into our opponents…ie Belgium, Morrocco and Canada. I think if we play our game, we can do well against any of them. This tournament will be about how well we do and not about our opponents!
“will we have a good solution for the right side attack”? – As of right now, we all think Majer will be starting there but somehow I get the feeling Dalic has other ideas and I pray its not Vlasic. ”
Or maybe we can play an actual winger on the right side, the guy who is the fastest on the roster, the guy who is lethal on the counter, the guy who scored multiple hattricks in european competitions, the guy who is actually right footed and can give an accurate cross. Whether orsic beats the line sprinting on the left or right side does it really matter? Ppl act like orsic has cinder blocks tied to his legs if played at RW.
But to entertain the RW dalic agenda between majer/vlasic; Majer is a wayy better player overall, but i would only want to see him playing centrally where he is most effective. When vlasic played RW for us in the past he sucked and was another one of dalics lineup mistakes, but since then hes been getting experience playing winger at everton and currently playing RF for Torino. I believe he improved a bit.
“what happens if Brozo isn’t able to play”? – I really like the idea of Misic filling in, he’s been fantastic for Dinamo but I doubt he will get the call-up…so is it Jakic?”
Jakic is much better defensively while Misic is much better on the ball. But it doesn’t really matter, brozo will play 90mins every match.
“who will be our right sided centre back”?
Gvardiol-Erlic. Even dimwit dalic cant get this wrong.
“who will start in goal”
Dalic will choose livakovic, but ivusic is the most solid overall
From the Captains series on Netflix- it looks like it will be Livakovic and Modric as his psych advisor. Modric was great as the Croatian uncle giving Liva a beat down every chance he could- loved that scene in their interactions- you see what a little kid Livakovic is. It did make for interesting viewing.
“will we have a good solution for the right side attack”? – Or maybe we can play an actual winger on the right side, the guy who is the fastest on the roster, the guy who is lethal on the counter, the guy who scored multiple hattricks in european competitions, the guy who is actually right footed and can give an accurate cross. Whether orsic beats the line sprinting on the left or right side does it really matter? Ppl act like orsic has cinder blocks tied to his legs if played at RW.
Dalic doesn’t rate Orsic and he’s basically on the list because he’s made it impossible for Dalic to omit him
“what happens if Brozo isn’t able to play”? – I really like the idea of Misic filling in, he’s been fantastic for Dinamo but I doubt he will get the call-up…so is it Jakic?”
Jakic is much better defensively while Misic is much better on the ball. But it doesn’t really matter, brozo will play 90mins every match.
-Over playing a player can be disastrous, regardless of if he can play or not. He needs a break.
It’s very strange that Orsic hasn’t been given a single opportunity to play RW.
Considering we’ve tried so many other left sided players there and multiple central midfielders and strikers there too.
I guess Dalic simply doesn’t like Orsic at all.
Re: Vlasic possibly playing there…
Well he did make a run that resulted in the Modric goal in our last game against Austria. So that’s probably all Dalic needs to see in order to start him there. It would satisfy the Hajduk quota too.
Pasalic was the de facto starter at RW in these Nations League, but he stunk in the role. Krama probably starts up top, so it’s probably going to be Vlasic at RW, especially since he’s been playing well this season at Torino.
Vlasic has scored 3 goals this season, 1 against 17th placed Lecce, 1 goal against 20th placed Cremonese and 1 against 2nd place Atalanta in a 3-1 loss…he hasn’t scored in 8 games.
Pasalic has scored 1 goal all season.
Neither of these guys demonstrate any type of “creativity” or threat! I can eat my words and be wrong but Vlasic hasn’t done much…the media keep hyping him and he’s average at best!
@Maminjo
https://croatiansports.com/the-weekend-water-cooler-49/#comments/488118
“I think it’s just a coping mechanism for Dalic that gives him comfort, even though he knows they both suck.”
This made me chuckle, good one!
“Ideally, Antonio Colak can play the Oliver Giroud role for us.
Musa probably would have been a more in-form version of Budimir for us too.
I would have loved to see him (and Musa) get callups for September to see what they could do.”
Yep that’s how I see it as well. I just wish Dalic wouldn’t call up 5 CBs. It’s unnecessary as Jakic and Stanisic can also play there. In the end, he will have to sacrifice one center forward, most likely Colak…
Yea, we’re wasting spots with our backline players.
We have a lot of versatility there with Gvardiol able to play CB and LB and Stanisic able to play CB and RB.
We don’t need to call up Vida and Barisic. Neither are having particularly good years anyway, and are on the decline. We’re never going to go that deep into the bench anyway.
I think the 26 pretty much set in dalics head
Vida is out CC is in and jakic will probaly be the 26th man.
I would go with colak over petkovic imo. Budimir a runnner colak a goal scorer livaja and krama
The goalkeepers are set im not happy with livi as number one dont trust him.
Cb i think lovren gvardiol are number one pairing id go with gvardiol erlic. Sutalo too risky for me atleast.
Id even kick out barisic off the team guy is not a difference manker if sosa gets hurt push gvardiol to LB.
Its an ok squad but with no number 9 we have play some tika taka like spain rely on oerisic and midfield to score goals vlasic Pasalic as jokers off bench
Iff healthy is see Dalic going with
Livi Juranovic Gvardiol Lovren Sosa Modric Broz Kova Pasalic Kramaric Perišić as the starting 11
If Dalic wasn’t intending on calling Lovren and Vida, I think he would’ve told them and they would’ve announced their retirements. Although, it looks like Vida’s injury will keep him out which could be good for DCC.
Can’t believe that Misic has a chance at the WC over guys like Toma Basic and Nikola Moro. Really hope this motivates them.
Looks like it’s an adductor injury for Vida.
Probably out for three weeks at least…but then he would need time to get match fit.
He should be cut for the World Cup squad, but they should bring him for locker room support as a non-playing member of the team.
That would be the earliest transition yet from former player to assistant coach with zero experience. Fits our coaching pipeline to a tee.
Sučić is pure class and plays well with mature players.
I would definitely take him.
Yes, he definitely should go.
Best way to think of it is like this: pick your best formation and team. Pick 1 back up player for each position. Then pick 3 extras at the end. So: 433 (I think 4231 or 352 is better but dalic will go 433)
Ivusic (livakovic, grbic)
Juranovic (stanisic)
Sutalo (erlic)
Gvardiol (lovren)
Sosa (barisic)
Brozovic (jakic)
Modric (vlasic)
Kovacic (pasalic)
Majer (kramaric)
Petkovic (livaja)
Perisic (orsic)
That’s the 23.
Extras:
colak for the chance he comes off the bench, scores, then has a scoring streak for a month.
Sucic for his x factor talent
DCC for defensive cover in case of injuries. He has been criticised but he is very talented, has played some very good games for us, and is now playing in the premier league which is great for his fitness, sharpness and mentality.
Players dropped: kotarski, labrovic, vida, pongracic, ivanusec, misic, brekalo, budimir.
2 other things:
Sucic plays better for Croatia than for his club. His style of play suits Croatian football better. Salzburg play very quick direct counter attacking football using the pace of the strikers. This means sucic has less time on the ball. For the NT he can express himself more. He is close to starting 11 in my opinion..majer is ahead of him but it’s close. He is definitely good enough.
I’m not saying this to be depressing or wind anyway up. Yes I support all the african teams and want them to do well. But not against Croatia. Just so that people realize how good Morocco are and don’t underestimate them. A combined 11 of Croatia/Morocco has 4 maybe 5 moroccans in it. They have World class keeper, both full backs, and striker. Possibly ziyech gets in ahead of majer too. That should tell you what we are up against. As the great anonymous doom has pointed out its absolutely vital we control the game and make sure their full backs are defending not attacking. Sosa and perisic link up vital. I’m looking forward to it..and praying!!
Three Morrocans would start.
(Bonou, Hakimi and Mazraoui)
I’d play Hakimi at RW, with Mazraoui behind him at RB. Bonou is obviously better than Livaković.
Ziyech wouldn’t start for us.
The problem for Morroco is that their best starters aren’t going to be much impact for them.
It’s not like their superior goalkeeper is going to influence the game too much. He’ll make more stops than Livaković, but he’s going to face alot more. There’s only so much he can do.
Out of their two RBs, one of them is probably going to be forced to play out of position at LB (and probably won’t match the impact that our natural LB in Sosa will have for us).
Central midfield is the most impactful area and the dropoff is huge.
saying 3 morrocans would start is generous and would only happen if you switched positions around like you pointed out.
“Central midfield is the most impactful area and the dropoff is huge.”
yeah, their midfield is terrible.
Also, they fired Vaha.
Vaha would have given them insight into Croatia. They chose Ziyech over him.
If Morocco are to go to the next round, they have to surprise us in that first game.
Croatia can sometimes start slow in tournaments and our first game is rarely ever a blowout win. Usually it’s our second win where we hit our stride, and this is why I think poor Canada will suffer against us.
Firing Vaha was a mistake for them because it was the best opportunity to spring a surprise on us, with a strategist who used to coach at Dinamo Zagreb and is very familiar with Croatian football. I’m glad they let him go.
“A combined 11 of Croatia/Morocco has 4 maybe 5 moroccans in it.”
LOL, no it doesn’t.
“They have World class keeper, both full backs, and striker.”
ahhh yes their striker. Which one are you talking about? the one who plays in Hungry and currently has 4 goals? or the guy who plays in turkey? Maybe the guy who scored 5 goals last season for sevilla and currently has 0 this season (even lower than budimir lol).
Plz stop trolling, Morocco lost to the USA 3-0 a few months ago. Also they’re kinda slow team.
Your 23-man squad makes sense.
Maybe I’d go with Mišić over Jakić, but only because he’s been playing more of a Brozović type role for Dinamo in Champions League. Jakić is more versatile, but we don’t really need the versatility over having someone potentially cover for Broz if something terrible happens with him.
Duje does get alot of hate because he’s been mediocre lately for us, but so has Lovren. Duje is more skilled, and both are slow.
I’d start neither, but just have him as a backup. I’d still put Erlić and Stanišić ahead of them in the pecking order anyway.
Čolak is an intriguing unknown for us that I want to try in the next friendly. It will be very hard for Dalić to drop Budimir for him. I wonder if he makes a cut elsewhere in order to take both.
Lol Laknat. Nobody on this site thinks lovren should play. Literally no one. Stop panicking, relax. Also I suspect you have a soft spot for Morocco and want to them do well. Maybe this is testing your faith a little? My advice is dont mix religion/politics with sport. I’m sure god is a football fan and Croatia is for sure one of his favourite teams along with arsenal of course.
I also want morocco to do well, but this is because of my love for Africa and it’s people 95%, religion 5%. I hope morocco beat canada and belgium and qualify in second place behind us. You are a croat, you support Croatia because you love your country and it’s people, dont get confused. Religion is only for faith, allah rewards the faithful. Those who pray and fast and are humble and good people. That’s why he likes Croatia 😘
I’d also start ivusic over livakovic, but would you srsly start sutalo over erlic? Erlic has excellent defensive awareness and atm he is clearly better than sutalo. maybe in 2 years its a different story. but sutalo makes a big defensive mistake almost every game. Second goal in the second game against milan was the saddest tackle attempt i’ve ever seen. Hes not rdy yet for a starting role. Anyways, on paper erlic would complement gvardiol better than sutalo would.
@Dannyj
It would make sense to take both of them. Pray one of them heat up at the right time.
Would love to see Sosa send crosses to a true striker who can get on the end of them….
So if vida is Cut can we talk colak and budimir?
Vida will never be cut. Dude will be in quatar like it or not
Lovren is shit,
Isuse boze. Šta je s tobom??
Pjevaš ista pijesma svaki put. Ajde u guzicu.
For everyone else who posts rationally….
We really need a backup for Brozo. Not quite sure who that would be as I think Majer will/should be our right winger by default.
Is that Jakic? He seems to play a few different positions but honestly can say I haven’t seen him play.
Even though Vida is a good team player and played solid in 2018, I do hope he misses out…it would be a blessing in disguise and open up a spot for someone who is more deserving today rather than based on what he’s done in the past.
Biggest question is why is Ivanusec on the short list? He’s offered very little and we have to have a young kid there in his place…thankfully he wouldn’t make the final cuts unless we had major injury issues.
I was thinking the same thing about this Lovren is Shit guy it’s getting old. Either contribute something new or don’t contribute at all.
The 1998 crew is well represented. And it should be.
Would really like to see Sunjic in. Very underrated and good player. Perfect for a backup role.
Morocco will be no problem. One of their best players is right back Achraf Hakimi, who is not up to the task of containing Perisić and Sosa at once. While Morocco has some good players, they are likely not going to be able to defend for a full match against a well-prepared Croatian attack. Also, Lovren isn’t actually that bad.
Labrović, Kotarski, Vida (if injured), DCC, Pogrančić, Ivanusec, Brekalo, and either Misić or Budimir.
Reasoning: no need for more than 3 keepers; no need for too many CBs when Jakić has also been playing there successfully, and DCC and Pongračić did not impress when given the chance; Ivanusec is just not needed; while Brekalo has the advantage of being able to play on the right wing, he doesn’t seem to be having a great season like some other players who can also play there (Majer, Sučić, Kramarić, Livaja). The last one is a tough call: Misić might be the only direct substitute for Brozović, but Budimir is a potential power play off the bench when pressure is needed against a tired or unfocused defense, as we saw against Spain at the Euro. Neither of these players seems to be quite on the level of the Repka, but each could be called upon in an important way off the bench.
Who I would cut:
– Kotarski
– Labrović
– Pongračić
– Vida
– Ivanušec
– Sučić
– Mišić
– Budimir
Sučić has a super bright future, but there’s just too many guys in front of him right now
Agreed with all except Vida
There are no surprises with the preliminary list. Barring any injuries in the next two weeks the following players will miss out:
Kotarski, Labrovic, Pongracic, Vida if injured ? if not then DCC, Ivanusec, Misic, Brekalo and Colak.
The only doubt is between Budimir and Colak ? I think that Dalic will opt for Budimir because he has been with the team longer than Colak and is slightly more robust an also stronger in the air.
According to Croatian newspapers, Vida is very doubtfull for Qatar due an injury.
Players that will be dropped:
Kotarski
Labrovic
Pongracic
DCC
Music
Ivanusec
Brekalo
Budimir
Id rather take budimir than petkovic imo.
I dont know how ivanusec is on 34 man squad he has been terrible for dinamo.
Id take colak he are only true number nine and is on fire i know its scotish league but goals are goals petko can score for shit in hnl