Ivanuśec, Moro, Kramarić, Sučić, Pjaca, Budimir have all been called up to play against Latvia and Armenia in Croatia’s final two Euro 2024 qualifiers in November.
That means somebody has to be left off the squad. Vlašić, Barišić, Brekalo, Musa, and Beljo have all been cut from the November squad list. I’m a bit surprised Beljo got the knife as Croatia are still thin in the # 9 position and Dalić will need to figure something out sooner than later.
Still no sign of striker Roko Šimić??? When will the 20 year-old RB Salzburg striker get a crack at the senior squad?
More fines and sanctions came down on us…. Don’t know all the details tho
all the info is in. Learn to read and you would know. They have to reduce capacity in one section/sector of the stadium by 6,000 seats.
Maksimir already has a reduced capacity thanks to the earthquake and being a shit hole. So, they will be allowed to sell less than 20,000 seats. Probably closer to 12-15,000 seats
Rude response. Spoken like a true komšija.
I literally browsed by it online when I was on the pooper
Saw there was more issues with seat sanctions
Davor has taken over as “davor downer” of the site;)
Fewer than, not less than. Learn to . . .
No need to be a dick
Looking over the U21 callup list. Lovro Zvonarek is on it. Interesting to see if he’ll play.
Young dude is having a decent season for Bayern II
Good prospect, but I don’t really trust these U19 teams from the big leagues.
We have tons of players playing on these teams across Europe, on the biggest clubs too…but it doesn’t mean anything.
Good that he’s scoring goals there, and it’s also good to see him playing against players three years older than him at the U21 level…but gotta wait and see what we’ve got when he’s actually promoted to the senior team of a club.
Not sure why Pjaca was called over Marco Pasalic; Pasalic is having a much better season. I understand we’re stronger on the right than the left, but I feel like a defender could’ve been dropped to make room.
Nikola Moro is a weird callup as he’s having a really underwhelming season. Pongracic’s callup makes a bit more sense, but do we really need Vida, Gvardiol, Pongracic, Sutalo, Erlic and Pongracic? Only way this makes sense is if Dalic is planning on moving Gvardiol to LB or playing with wingbacks.
Also, why is everyone so desperate for Simic to be called up? I’ve watched a few Salzburg games this season and he’s rarely impressed. His stats in an average Austrian league aren’t really that impressive either.
Pasalic is listed, he’s under midfielders.
Nevermind I thought you said Mario not Marco lol
All good questions.
Re: Marko vs Marco…
I can only assume that Marko Pjaca was called up simply because of his size and strength.
Marco Pasalic has been one of the best players at Rijeka, but we’ve been lacking that physical “power forward” up top in the past round.
Guys like Perisic and Petkovic (as well as Rebic and Mandzo in the past) used to ‘muscle’ their way into the box.
But, we had too many non-physical guys playing against physical teams last round (Brekalo was getting pushed around by Welsh nobodies).
Even though Marco Pasalic is the better player, he’s also a non-physical player who is built like Brekalo and Dalic probably doesn’t want that in a critical game. To be honest, he probably should have demoted Brekalo to the standby list and called up Marco Pasalic instead simply due to good form (but that’s a little too risky for Dalic in having both the starter and backup as new callups).
Re: Nikola Moro…
I think this is strictly a seniority thing with Dalic.
I doubt Dalic even watches Bologna games and picked Moro because he was a long-tenured U21 player and has been on the bubble with us for years.
He wouldn’t even sub him in last round (despite Kovacic having a horrible two games) so it likely means that he’s not confident in playing him.
Moro is not that young, so not sure why you’d even call him up and not play him. May as well just give his spot to a developing player like Martin Baturina.
Re: Gvardiol at LB…
I think that Dalic may be thinking about it.
I don’t think Dalic is willing to make a formation change of playing three at the back…but we do only have Sosa as our LB callup (which is weird).
It’s either going to be Sosa playing the full 90 for both games, or we’re actually going to see something different there.
I think it’ll just be Sosa for the full 90 in a 4-3-3 formation though.
Re: Roko Simic…
I don’t think anyone here is desperate for calling him up. We’re just desperate to try something new up top.
Krama tends to play better at wing, or behind the strikers…and if it wasn’t for Petkovic’s good form, we’d still be struggling to find someone up top (just like at the World Cup when we were rotating between Petkovic, Livaja and the weird cameo appearance by Budimir).
Budimir’s form has improved a lot these past few weeks (he was bad at the World Cup and last Nations League) so we’re catching a break here with Petkovic’s hot season start and Budimir suddenly playing well at Osasuna (now that Petkovic is injured).
But in these past few months, we have some VERY young strikers who are starting games in the Portuguese, Austrian and Bundesliga teams (including Champions League appearances).
It was worth giving them a few minutes to see what they could bring. Most people found that Beljo was pretty good and worth throwing in there for 10 minutes at the end.
https://streamin.me/v/d5c0240b
Moro scored a nice goal yesterday.
Croatia is better for not qualifying
to kick the shit Dalic out of here
` serious — he is the shit manager
Croatia is better for not qualifying
to kick the shit Dalic out of here
` serious — he is the shit manager
Gvardiol at LB is no brainer. He plays it at CroCity. I remember he stated at LB vs Spain at the 2020 Euros.
I actually see a lot of talent in the U21 ranks. Some of the boys will breakthrough.
The DNA has shifted at HNS. The diaspora chooses Croatia all the time now.
New coach will have the opportunity to bring in fresh faces.
Dalic has called in a better mix of hungry players.
We will get our mojo back in November and see where our path takes us to Euro ‘24.
Saw Perišić rehabilitation photos.
This dude is such a supreme athlete that I wonder if he will be ready for Euro ‘24?
Was that before or after he was at the Belgrade derby in ABA League?
Gvardiol @ LB works @ Man City bc of the offensive players ahead of him in the pitch – which opens room for him to carry the ball forward (while Man City can be really sloppy on defensive / getting back at times – watch the goals that have scored against them this year)
He should play higher up the pitch for us – to unlock his offensive potential – box-to-box midfielder would be ideal – giving us his defensive cover while also his offensive prowess
Surprised we haven’t utilized him yet like that – maybe w/ Marin now in the fold @ CB – we can try it out
Dalic if we qualify has alot of work ahead of him but he will continue his conservative approach i believe he will leave after euros the next coach will inherit an average team i dont see us being comepative anymore imo maybe im wrong but we dont have top class players we can say we do but we dont. Thats the truth. Lets take a look at an example team
livakovic juranovic gvardiol sutalo sosa moro/baturina sucic kovacic majer ivanusec simic?
We probably said the same when Bilic took over and shuffled the team with all the young kids and players from u21. I have a feeling something like that will happen after the Euros. A big shake up, new coach, and we will look like a fast attacking team again with plenty of scoring.
Well, it’s a start. My take is that Vida will go to euro24 as a locker room piece and that’s okay with me. Even after his kiks he still, gets called up. Šutalo despite being in a funk at club gets called up so he’s called Pongračić as well to provide some damn competition. Same goes for Sučić and Budimir and Pjaca – he’s called them to bring a spark. If anyone is going to bring some competitiveness to practice it’s gonna be Budimir despite his limitations. He’s an experienced pro and guys like Musa and Petko can learn a thing or two from him. I don’t get the Beljo thing like you said Maminja ako zabija onu šansu he’s a starter.
Wings are a concern but if we push Gvardi at lb I’m more worried about the middle. Erlić should get a look against Latvia imo even if Sassuolo sucks, he’s playing solid. Baturina needs to be in the team, how many more bangers it’s gonna take for Zlatko to notice? Sučić may be in the running for RW but I doubt he would bench Paša. If we are healthy as others have said we shouldn’t stress these games unless we have the wrong approach kao u listopadu. Mentality has to be correct, no matter who’s out there. U Boj
I actually liked beljo in the last series. Unlike musa, he was actually dangerous, involved and had movement
I had hope for brekalo and thought he was ok in the first game. Second game not as much. I feel like he’s lost confidence
Beljo’s positioning is good.
He played very little, but was always where the ball was going to be.
Too bad that reaction shot didn’t go in. It wasn’t his fault, but if he scored that goal, he would be in the starting lineup right now (instead of being taken off the team).
He probably won’t get a realistic chance now until after Euro2024.
Melnjak with an ACL injury and may need surgery. If Sosa’s injury turns out to be more serious then we could be looking at Gvardiol starting at LB. I’m doubtful Barišić gets another start there.
Oof…wouldn’t Domagoj Bradaric be an emergency stopgap measure?
You would think so, but he doesn’t seem to be on Dalić radar at this point. As of a few days ago, Rangers were unsure if Barišić could still train due to his injury. I’m not sure of the timing of Melnjak’s injury and when Dalić decided to include him in the call up list and how there was such a disconnect, but having three currently injured left backs either on the squad or injured call up list does not seem like a wise selection.
Yikes.. for sure. Oh boy, management have had to have known, if not, then were mislead I would assume. What a mess
Melnjak shouldn’t be anywhere near this team anyway.
Ir it came down to it, I’d rather play Jura at LB then Melnjak.
Indeed
Juranović used to play left back when he was at Celtic. He can do it, but it isn’t ideal. Better to play a 4 in the back with Gvardiol at LB and Stanisić at RB. Play a 4-1-4-1 or 4-4-2 with Juranović on the right wing, Kramarić either on the left wing or in the 2 up top with Ivanusec on the left wing.
I believe he also played LB in our 1-0 win against France in Paris with Stanisic covering Mbappe as RB (that triggered our run to the top of our group).
Ideally we wouldn’t ever have to play him at LB (seeing that we have Sosa and Gvardiol) but I would rather have him there than bother to call up someone like Melnjak (or even Barisic to be honest).
The dropoff in quality is just too much and ruins the flow of our overall play.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzBXYberFry/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Here’s Baturina’s beauty from yesterday.
Honestly, I’d call the kid up.
We’re wasting a spot on Moro (a guy that Dalic would realistically never play anyway).
Dalic making adjustments.
I pray Pjaca is healthy and can contribute as the at Estonia lumpy field for the Šuker special did his knee in.
I remember Prso came back from knee issues and was going at Brazil in 2006 World Cup.
Budimir is MANdzukic type that is necessary at this point.
Sučić also has grown through knee adversity.
New energy to ignite our beloved Vatreni.
It’s at Latvia and Armenia at home.
Time to get back on track.
the best result for Croatia
– draw with Latvia
– loss to Armenia
so the future will be bright –
as Dalic is gonna be fired!
Why are you even here?
…………..Petkovic………Budimir………….
…………………….Kramaric…………………..
………………………………………………………
………………Broz………….Modric…………
Sosa…………………………………………..JJ
………..Gvardiol….Erlic…..Stanisic……..
……………………………………………………..
………………………..Liva……………………..
or
…………….Kramaric……Budimir………….
………………………………………………………
Ivanusec………………………………..Pjaca
………………..Broz……..Modric……………
……………………………………………………..
Sosa………Gvardiol…..Erlic…………..JJ
……………………………………………………..
………………………..Liva……………………..
At least there’s no Kovacrap in your lineups. Overrated backpassing flog.
A lot of guys on the other thread are posting DOOM about these choices. But look at it this way: Barisić no longer on the team because he wasn’t a difference-maker, Musa off the team because he wasn’t a difference-maker (replaced by Budimir who, in his way that most fans ignore, has been a difference-maker for the repka every time and is a pillar of the TEAM success at Osasuna), Pjaca on the team to add a combination of SIZE/STRENGTH and finishing ability (he’s not what he once was, but he’s still good!), Sučić on the team to add extra midfield creativity (Vlasić off the team because of lack of it), Pongračić on the team to see who actually plays the best defense (what other CBs are playing better?) and make 3 in the back a possibility.
Even though I think too much is being made of Pjaca’s comeback…
I like him as a callup.
We have too many weak players on the wing like Brekalo, Jura, Krama, Sosa, etc.
We no longer have Perisic (who would bully his way into the box). We were also missing Petkovic up top, who was always good at using his body against opposing defenders.
We needed physical players against Turkey and Wales, and we had none.
We need someone to get inside that box and steamroll through some opposing defenders.
Pjaca could give us that, and hopefully he’s extra motivated and sees this as his last chance to salvage his NT career.
Exactly. Pjaca and Budimir are the battering rams this team has been missing for games against second-rate teams that nevertheless play tough, such as Turkey, Slovenia, Wales, Scotland, Czechia, etc. A couple of that type of players need to be incorporated as regulars on the bench.
No sign of Roko most likely because they want him to work his arse off and turn into at least an Austrian league Halland before they consider him. Scoring one or two goals per month won’t cut it just yet. At this stage Kramaric and Budimir with their experience will likely bring more goals for us. When Roko starts bagging at least one goal per 90 mins he will be in the squad.
Experience doesn’t bring goals.. LOL Not at all. I’d rather have a young hungry Simic than an old Budimir.