DAVID BECKHAM NOT TAKING THE NEWS WELL
Dinamo Zagreb’s sporting director, Zoran Mamić, has denied the Los Angeles Galaxy a chance to play Dinamo in a friendly before the upcoming winter transfer window. Mamić has said that the main reason for not wanting a Galaxy friendly was because Dinamo are currently committed to their Europa League season.
I don’t buy that one bit! Galaxy are probably looking for a king’s ransom from Dinamo as they would bring Beckham into the deal as a marketing ploy. Good move Mamić! But it would be fun if Dinamo made it ‘Tomato Night’ at Maksimir so the BBB can really show how much love they have for David Beckham!
MARADONA & FRIENDS COMING TO CROATIA?
Rumors circulating around the Croatian media are pointing towards a Croatia-Argentina friendly to be played on November 18th in Croatia. It would be absolutely foolish of HNS secretary, Zorislav Srebić, not to schedule a match with the South American giants as Argentina would come to Croatia basically for free. Argentina have already scheduled a friendly with Spain four days earlier and are charging the current European champions €1.5 million for the visit.
The only thing the HNS would have to pay for is an airplane from Madrid to Croatia for Argentina’s national side. It looks like everything is in place for Croatia; the HNS would just have to OK the deal.
Should the game be played in Zagreb or Split?
@Anonymous
Sorry for getting back to you so late, I would like to chat with you.
please email me at paluka81@yahoo.com
maybe we can work together on bringing hajduk/Dinamo to the states.
Maybe he'd be a draw for teenage girls
Dinamo-Galaxy….who in the hell does that match interest. 1.) its a friendly and 2.)that match would not have drawn 10,000.
Dinamo cant fill their stadium for meaningful games, yet alone for an exhibition against a meaningless team (Galaxy) in a meaningless league (MLS). Beckham is not a drawin Croatia.
Gents…love your site….but I am the one who proposed both the Galaxy game in Zagreb and the Argentina Nat Team to play Croatia on FIFA match date of Nov 18th….I am a American- Croatian and live in Los Angeles.
The Galaxy game was a real deal…I scheduled the match vs Kaiserslautern on Nov 26th in Germany….and was looking for a second match …which now looks like ….Schalke…should be announced next week…
Ziva, Perisic had offers from numerous clubs(Ajax, PSV, Hamburg, Anderlect) outside of Hajduk and Croatia while a 17 year old. While money is always one factor, it is said that Alain Perrin convinced Perisic and his family that, for a teenage footballer, France(Sochaux) is the best place to be. If you have info that would contradict this then please share…
I just got the phone with my LA Galaxy guy. He confirmed there was talks with Dinamo Zagreb a few weeks back as Galaxy were looking to schedule two friendlies. Dinamo declined their invitation, stressing the fact that it was too close to their UEFA Cup match on December 2nd in Brussels against Anderlecht.
Galaxy have scheduled two friendlies, one with second division FC Kaiserslautern on November 26 and one with a Bundesliga team, which has yet to be announced and he isn't allowed to mention the team or date.
Also, he wouldn't mention any of the financial details. So apparently, Dinamo declined because of its tight schedule with European games.
Perisic left hajduk at an early age because he received more money in France. hajduk wanted to sign him to a very small contract, which would have been his first pro contract. He had a chance to come back to hajduk, but they wanted to sign him to a 4-yeear deal and the kid received a shorter and better offer in Belgium.
The kid made the right move. it's not like Hajduk has developed any talent in recent years.
Notice that i dropped out Mandzo. I think Mandzo has not done it this season. At present all we know about Mandzo is that he is a good HNL1 player and that's it.
I think we've got some problems at Dinamo which is more to do with Mamic than anything else. I personally feel we've reached stage of progress with our defensive line. I think Loncaric, Etto, Lovren, Kovac and Cufre all have chemistry. Nice balance of pace and experience there.
Midfield to me does not work at Europa Liga level. Morales is like Niko Kranjcar. He needs to be on the left so he can see the whole game in front of him. On the right he is not able to playmake from that position. However this all has to do with Sammir. Sammir has to be dropped. Last night he showed he has some ability, but he's got no end product. His shooting is terrible. Jurcic says he don't like big change so won't bring Tomecak in for Sammir, but why not. Tomecak is promising. Sammir has 3 years now in Dinamo and he's not become the next big star at Dinamo like Mamic was saying. Mamic should swallow his pride as Dinamo needs to move on from Sammir. In the centre in my opinion we should let Badelj keep going in central midfield and let him learn his game. Last night was not a good game for him, but we should just send him back out there and am sure he'll grow into a quality player. Vrdoljak in my opinion is just Vrdoljak. He can't play any better and is not a driving force of the midfield. I think we should cash in. Sell for 2million Euro and whoever buys him should send the money straight to Sibenik so we can have Ermin Zec.
Up front i completely acknowledge now Papadopoulos was a bad signing. He's not as bad as Slepicka, but he should be dropped. Mandzo needs to go back up front and someone should tell him to stay there cos he causes trouble anywhere else on the pitch.
Sivonjic is a decent squad player. Kramaric should be sent on loan to Lokomotiva cos he needs a full season of games and we should take back Antolic for the second half of the season.
There is room for Perisic. Not in the starting line up just yet, but 100% definitely in the squad. When the qualifiers start we can take Perisic off Ladic cos Ladic has already upset Perisic by ignoring him when he deserved a Under 21 call up all the way from last season. Ladic doesn't deserve Perisic so we can take him once we start playing competitively again.
From what i read of Perisic, he said Hajduk didn't offer him a playing contract so he transferred.
Our midfield options can be as follows so there is room for Perisic:
Srna, Vukojevic, Dujmovic, Rakitic, Kranjcar, Modric, Sertic, Perisic, Pranjic
To me these are the best midfield players Croatia has. Pokrivac, Leko and Anas Sharbini should all drop out.
Strikers should be
Eduardo, Olic, Petric, M Bilic, Jelavic (for now)
In defence i personally still think Lovren on current form is good enough. Also keep Krizanac and Simunic, plus Corluka. Test the rest in friendlies.
I guess this was part of the speculation with Dinamo playing the Galaxy???
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=686912&cc=5901
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tntUDDMzlpI&feature=player_embedded
Highlights of Perisic's goal.
Perisic is an example of a talented young Croatian player handling his career intelligently. Apparently, him and his parents had offers from clubs like Ajax, PSV, and Hamburg but were convinced by Alain Perrin (and the excellent reputation of French youth academies) to go to Sochaux instead. There he won the French FA's under-18 cup with Sochaux. Looking at how well he's developed since leaving Croatia, I wonder if young players like Kalinic and Rukavina were best served by staying in Croatia as youth's- not only on a playing level but perhaps even more importantly by making them big fish in a small pond and f•••ing with their heads.
@Vatreni
The reason why guys like Kalinic, Rukavina, Tomasov, etc are having problems when leaving Hajduk is because they left Hajduk prematurely without the proper development. If Hajduk were to think a little more like Dinamo, wait a couple extra years for their players to develop (Corluka, Modric, etc) not only would Hajduk be making more money on transfer fees, but the players themselves would be much, much better.
I think Perisic should stay on the U-21 team for now. Provided our MF stay healthy, we're fully stocked for now with
Srna, Rakitic (sub), Kranjcar, Modric, Vukojevic.
Give the young lad some time to properly mature.
Good to see the Perisic discussion. Keep an eye on this guy. The kid has talent and should definitely be on the NT roster for Euro Qualifiers come september. Anything to get rid of primadonnas like leko and pokrivac.
Klasnic I can see having a spot for those close tight-knit games when a goal is needed (he put a lot of pressure on United in their last game), got 50% of our goals in Euro 08 and can be a last minute threat.
Starting though, absolutely not.
Its not true that Hajduk coaches did not want Perisic to stay at the club. He left as a 17 year old youth national team player to Sochaux of France to make some money. We all know that Hajduk cannot compete with salaries of other European countries. Since he wasn't under professional contract at 17 he left as soon as he got a decent offer. Hajduk was trying to bring him back this season but Perisic was not interested so he signed with Brugge. Perisic has been scoring goals in Europe as well as Belgium. I agree that he's in much better form than Anas Sharbini at the moment. Anas has been lost since he's arrived at Hajduk. This also happened to Rukavina and Tomasov. I'm not sure what it is about coming to Hajduk but many players can't handle the change.
We all must remember Perisic is only 20 years old. It will be interesting to see how he develops as a player. I'm sure the HNS will be watching his progress closely. He seems like a solid kid. I haven't heard anything about him being cocky or having a bad attitude. Currently, I'm sure his confidence is high and I think he will only get better with experience.
but on the flip side you could say Perisic was not good enough to persuade Hertha to sign him. Perisic will be there or there about's when the qualifiers kick off. You have to remember though Hajduk coaches didn't think this guy was any kind of player and perhaps there are people in Croatia working against him. Look how long it took him to get in the Under 21's. You may find we are having a discussion in a few months time about Bilic calling up Anas Sharbini ahead of Perisic.
I have zero against Rakitic. In some ways he's not built on his first season with Schalke, but in other respects he plays with a big club and also has scored 5 or 6 goals for Croatia since Euro 2008. I'd still keep Rakitic in squad, but there is also room for Perisic as well. There is room for both of them.
Perisic could take any of Pokrivac, Leko, Anas Sharbini or Klasnic's place in the squad.
dinamofan – I don't think Perisic has much to do, if he's starting, playing full time in Europe/Belgium, and Rakitic is barely seeing time in Schalke.
Whats with all this finger pointing after every Dinamo Euro match. Jurcic said 3 players didn't play to their level, but won't name them. Yes Mandzo, Badelj and Morales. So what? Everyone has off nights. Those 3 have been our best players this season. Jurcic should cut them some slack. One poor night. Might have something to do with the fact Mandzo and Morales were out of their best position.
Perisic, yep he'll be ready soon to be in national team. I think he's got his work cut out to get in ahead of Rakitic, Kranjcar, Modric, Srna and Sertic if we call him up. But i definitely think he deserves a place over Anas Sharbini. There is certainly a place for him in the squad, but i think the point being made was that Under 21's need him at moment. Perisic can play in next qualifying campaign definitely.
I also reckon Jurcic has done all he can with this group of players. There is not many more changes he can do to make us play better. Its over to Mamic to bring in better playing staff.
I was very happy with that Dinamo match. Our defence looked alright tonight. I was extremely happy with how Lovren and Cufre played. Suarez dived, but what Mandzo was doing i have no idea.
Morales likes to play on left. Jurcic put him on the wrong side tonight. Not one of his best game and also Badelj not had a good game tonight. Normally we need those two on their game to create. I'm not worried at all. Tonight we was beaten by one player, but apart from him defensively we could live with Ajax. The attacking part of our team by which i mean Papadopoulos, Sammir and Mandzukic isn't good enough. Sammir played one of his better games for us this season, tonight, but its still not good enough.
The reason i am please though is cos i think there is a basis to work from. Our new keeper Loncaric looks a lot better than Butina. Cufre looks like a real left back and Tomecak scored a fine goal. I can seriously see improvements. If we sign a few players in winter and summer to IMPROVE the side i think we'll do a much better job in Europe next season.
I actually want Mandzukic to go in the winter. I think he's going backwards. He's not even play as a striker at the moment – more of a left wing. He's no good to us as a left winger. If we want to play one up top why not play Mandzo where Papa was playing, move Morales where Mandzo was playing and put Tomecak on the right wing.
I think we should cash in on Vrdoljak and Mandzo and start signing some decent players to add to what we've got and i think we'll start to compete. Tonight i wasn't especially impressed by Ajax.
Dinamo drop in Amsterdam 2-1.
Suarez looked like he embellished that foul by Mandzukic in the opening minutes. There was contact, but as for a foul………… not really sure.
Dinamo at times looked very flat, and Ajax had no problems outworking them for the ball. Morales being taken off before Papadopolous who did nothing again, was a mystery to me.
The Group is still in fact very close. Dinamo have 2 home games left, and both are still infact winnable.
What interests me about Perisic is that he's a complete box-to-box midfielder, something Croatia rarely seems able to produce. He can play as an CM, 2nd striker, DM, and considering he's very two-footed, probably on either wing. Plus, as one of the goals today showed, he's good in the air. Considering the way his career is developing, he could become a key player in the center of the midfield for the Vatreni in the years to come…
Looking at the trajectories of their careers, it looks like Perisic' low-key approach has much to recomend it over the hype and early promotion that's been Rakitic' career so far. Maybe it wouldn't have mattered, but I can't but help believe that he'd be in a better place if he didn't have all the distractions and expectations that have followed him since he left Switzerland.
Here's the link to the Perisic goals. He also missed a penalty http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38qrcyap4zA You can get a live link to the Dinamo-Ajax game here http://atdhe.net/9880/watch-ajax-amsterdam-vs-dinamo-zagreb Manzdukic fouled an Ajax player in the second minute for a penalty. Idiot slid in the box first and missed the player then got up and pulled him down. It would be nice if Mandzo was a bit smarter. His intelligence cost Dinamo Champions League. If he didn't get a second yellow late in the 1st game against Salzburg they would have gone through. Cufre is a solid left back. They were missing him earlier this season as well.
Dinamo looked pretty good in the first half. After the goal they calmed down and moved the ball around. Hopefully, they will be able to at least get a goal in the second half. Sammir was involved often in the offense. Mandzo is losing too many balls going forward.
PERISIC with 2 goals against Partizan today in Europa matches, i think he's ready for the A team sooner than some think
I'd love to see Argentina play Croatia. Messi!
Has anyone seen Dragan Stojkovic's comical goal whilst coaching Grampus Eight. Watch this for a finish. Wearing shoes as well!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQPW2jC_URY
I'm sure that's with the outside of the boot. He's still got it.
I dont buy the Galaxy-Dinamo friendly at all. The Galaxy have scheduled matches in the past few years against teams from Asia, New Zealand and Australia, where they can make big time on Beckham name and image. this does not exist by playing Dinamo. There is no way this can be true.
as for Argentina-Croatia….there is no negative to playing the match, but htere is not much of a postive either. You can bet the majority of Argentine stars will play more in the Spain and take it easy against Croatia.
I don't see a point in Dinamo playing L.A. Galaxy in november.
They'll have about 7 matches (4-5 league games, 2 Europa League and 1 Croatian Cup). I doubt it's about money, but Mamic is as cheap as they come.
The match should be in Split. Most clubs are slowly moving their home stadiums outside the capital.
So they expect us to pay them for a friendly. The match would be totally pointless to us. Why would we even need that. We recieved 2m Euro for Schildenfeld, may sell Mandzo for 8m Euro in the least, Vrdoljak for 2m Euro so what would we need this friendly for. We've got so much money coming through the club we may as well start using some of it as padding for pillows.
I think Dinamo will be extremely busy in winter. We have Slepicka, Gullermo Suarez to sell. May take a bid for Mandzo if we are out of Europe by then. Also Vrdoljak may go. In return we'd want to recruit better quality players at a stage when i think this winter Dinamo has never ever be more financially powerful so may want to go scouting. I think this winter we prob could afford to pay £3m for a single player.
If we wanted i think if we are out of Europe we could even go the rest of season having sold Mandzo and Vrdoljak and not bothered to replace them and still win the title. I think we should definitely buy Zec though having seen that he is not a one season wander and cos he is so young. We're only gonna get rid of Slepicka by swapping him with someone like Keric. We can also bring back Antolic and afford to sit on rest of our money. So considering we could be so loaded in winter why would we need the friendly.
Poljud. We now know that Maksimir is not the impenetrable fortress we once thought it was. Ask England.
Wroooooooong!!!!! Croatia played the Netherlands in Split February of 2008.
For the record Croatia has not won a game in Poljud yet.Croatia needs to win and beat the Poljud curse.
I know im a little biased but a game hasn't been played at Stadion Poljud since playing Brazil. For heaven's sake, the HNS would rather play games at the Kantrida rather than na Poljudu…. Split is Croatia's 2nd biggest city… I think it's time…
Split for sure
not even Dinamo want to play in Maksimir