After starting their Europa League campaign with seven points from three matches, Dinamo Zagreb have now lost their last two matches to Celta Vigo and Lille by a combined 7-0 aggregate scoreline. Is it time to sound the alarms have a near perfect start? Absolutely.
Dinamo will need at least a draw Thursday night against La Liga side Real Betis, who currently sit 5th in the Europa League table, to ensure their European season does not implode after a fine start. Let’s see what happens.
Maybe the last gasp draw vs. Hajduk this week gave the team a bit of momentum heading into the Betis match.
I would like to talk about Petar Sucic again – he’s young and it’s his first season playing in a big club and Serie A so yes, he needs time to establish himself at Inter. But imo if there’s one young NT player whom we cannot afford to be playing very little for his club going into the WC, it’s Petar Sucic. Because Petar is a starter for us and imo an important cog in our midfield, someone who could be crucial to our success next summer. We need him to blossom at Inter by THIS season already. As the season progresses, I really hope Petar will somehow improve his consistency and form… and eventually beat out competition from his older, more experienced teammates, namely Zielinski and Mkhitaryan, to nail down a place in Inter’s starting 11. Tough ask I know but we all believe in Pero, don’t we?
Inter rotate constantly under Chivu. They have thuram, Martinez, Esposito and Bonny as strikers. Only 2 can play at a time. All 4 have rotated during the season so far and all have impressed. In midfield they have Petar, zielinski, mhkitarian, calhonoglo, frattesi, diouf and barella. That’s 7 players for 3 positions. All 7 are good and deserve to play. Chivu has done an excellent job of keeping all players fresh and interested. Petar has played quite a lot and has had two or three excellent performances including two matches where he is probably best player on the pitch.
For a young player in his first season at a huge club this is highly impressive.
On top of this, inters tactical system is very difficult for a midfielder who likes the ball (as all Croatians do) as it’s based on rapid transitions and direct verticalisation to the strikers. So often a midfield player will go back towards his own defensive line to offer an angle for the defender to pass out, perhaps receive a simple pass and the lay off, then have to sprint forward 40 metres to catch up with the forwards to give an option there. It’s a lot of running and few touches on the ball. It’s very quick. The goal Petar scored against fiorentina was even more remarkable for this reason. It was his only chance to do something special in the match and he knew that and produced a magnificent goal. The pressure is huge and Petar so far is handling it. This is arguably better for his development than playing every week in a team that gives him the ball and allows him to create in midfield. He would look great, but at inter he is learning how to become clutch. Anonymous does your eye test agree?