Dinamo Zagreb are 180 minutes away from returning to Champions League football. In their way – Moldovan champions Sheriff Tiraspol.
After a fantastic Europa League campaign last year where they made it all the way to the quarterfinals – defeating Tottenham Hotspur before being bounced by eventual champions Villareal – this Dinamo side only sold Joško Gvardiol (RB Leipzig) in the summer. The core is still there and Dinamo is expected to keep it together until the winter transfer window. Why sell now when European football will only increase your players’ value over the next three months, especially if Champions League football is being played.
Petković, Ivanušec, Oršić, Livaković can carry this team to a possible 3rd place finish (based on draw) in Champions League that would send them to Europa League knockouts after the New Year.
No matter what happens in the Sherrif tie, Dinamo are guaranteed European football this year. Beat Sheriff, they go to CL. Lose, Europa League group stage awaits them.
Watching sucic hi-lights from today and it’s rather obvious this kid is something else.I thought a few of you were blowing smoke with this kid,and thought “here we go again!”with the hyperbole but he’s sheer class at such a young age,and is going to be special.
Dinamo looked like they were playing against Brazil.
This game just exposed how poorly our league is in Croatia. No legitimate management, coaches, development, scouts…ništa! Livakovic isn’t good and has zero confidence to be a starter. If he’s struggling and letting goals in against a club from Moldova then it’s a sign he can’t be the national team goalie. Ever since Subasic retired, no replacement has satisfied me. Liva, Kalinic and Sluga are all trash. We don’t have a good track record of producing great goalkeepers. None have ever started on a major team that has gone far in champions league or won a league title with a Croatian goaltender. Goaltending has hurt us in crucial games and time to give other guys chances. Why should this game come as a surprise to anyone? Dinamo struggled against a Poland club, they choked against Donetsk both games. No quality and money to be good enough to make it ever again. Petkovic and Livakovic are awful, Mario G left too. Just hoping we can see the national team do well in the fall and get to Qatar. We have a lot of youth that can do damage. Our older generation from 2012-2020 is expiring. Time to take out and have these players retire like Rakitic did. Fire Dalic, find a better goalie, start the Croatian trio that will dominate the German league…Stanisic, Sosa, Gvardiol and Pongracic. Our clubs have and will always suck. At least we can see Croatia youth like Sacic, Grbic, Stanisic, Pasalic, Gvardiol, amd others. Well if they get minutes. Guess we can laugh at red star anymore for losing. No way we score four at home. It’s over… good laugh today.
Quadruple and can’t laugh at red star*
The national team dynamics has now infiltrated the Dinamo team
Brilliant
Livakovic stinks. Majer showed why he wasn’t called up to the NT. Orsic, Petkovic and Ivanusec largely invisible. Moubandje was pitiful. Who would have thought that Dino Peric was that important. Kristijan Jakic was Kristijan Slabić, very wasteful and responsible for the 2nd goal. Lots of work to do but for some crazy reason, I still think that they have a chance.
The last time I put money on Dinamo
I’m going out on a limb and calling extra time when sheriff comes to Zagreb.
They will bunker dinamo will get an early one and off we go…a guy can dream can’t he?
Well, that was embarrassing.
On a more important note…
How did Luka Sucic do for Salzburg today?
He played the whole game in the #10 role behind the strikers.
Anybody watch?
Yes. I watched most of it on Spanish TV in the US. Honestly…. he played great. Very very encouraging. He played a hand in the 1st goal by a clever little flick forward on the line, and have several other dangerous chances of his own (including a very difficult chip attempt from just outside the box that the goalie barely got back in time to tip over the bar). He also showed really good control in tight spaces. The Spanish announcers seemed to be saying his name alot, even when he didn’t have the ball. It was fun to watch actually.
I’ll also add that I simultaneously had the Bayern game on ESPN+. Stanisic def held his own. I didn’t see much offensively from him at all, but his defensive awareness and play was pretty good. Overall, definitely a good start for him as a 21 y/o on Bayern
Amazing game. Proved he’s Salzburg’s best number 10 and should never be behind that stupid fucking American. I think they may switch Aaronson into a deeper role (he’s been playing the 10 lately) and Sucic up. I really hope they do that.
Hey Maminjo
” easy peasy” next time shut up and stick to your Wikipedia searches.
LOL
Geez.
I missed the second half. LOL. What happened?
Did Bruno Petkovic score two goals in his own net?
(Slavonac would blow his load if that happened ha ha) 😉
outworked, outplayed, outsmarted….they were better in every category!
there is less than 5% chance Dinamo will tie or beat Sheriff in this upcoming game. I have no idea what their strategy was…they looked like they were some 2nd division team in pre-season. Sheriff attacked them down the wings, through the middle, long balls, through balls….I have no idea wtf was going on.
sorry Maminjo but no chance, Sheriff did not have any respect for Dinamo as you mentioned. Sheriff walked right through them unchallenged!
Right! Im not writing us off yet. We had impressive comebacks last year in Europe. Get an early one at Maksimir and take it from there.
4-0 in Zagreb.
Easy peasy.
Might be time to sell some of that talent Dinamo.. Unless we get a road goal!
road goals dont count anymore!
Don’t know what’s worse, Dinamo losing or Slavonac being right
probably me being right…it happens often!
😉
hahaha…I’ve never seen Dinamo look soo terrible. this is a complete shit show. Sheriff looks like they’re wayyyyy better!
This feels like watching the NT. They show some quality, very little urgency, terrible defence, inadequate goaltending….
Dinamo is shitting the bed. Easy peasy.
at this level its never easy peasy! Sheriff looks far more dangerous and I know we have some injuries but at the very least, we should be more solid defensively.
Sheriff celebrating like they just scored on FC Barcelona.
Dinamo seems to be heavily respected by the Moldovans.
Dinamo’s quality has been better, but Sheriff are working hard.
we are really poor defensively. they’re walking right through us…not sure thats demonstrating respect?
We’re down 1-0 to a team from fucking Moldova
nowadays it doesn’t matter what country the team comes from. every country has strong teams
San Marino does?
Uzbekhistan?
🙂
…also, the announcer in the Bayern game said Stanisic is playing because of some injuries. I know its fantastic he is playing but it also lets us understand better that it looks like he is filling in because of injury rather than him playing because he rose above everyone lese in his position.
Interesting to see Marco Pasalic coming in for Dortmund as well.
Yes and no. He did rise above everyone else in his position, bar the injured player obviously. Still very impressive considering there are some quality defenders on this Bayern squad.
Dinamo look like Swiss cheese in this first half!
so Petkovic didn’t make the cut for our National Team and he’s not in the starting lineup for Dinamo…whats going on?
Maminjo…are you ever gonna admit I’m right about him? He’s a coaches nightmare…..all the talent in the world and yet he has the heart of a gerbil!
OMG…so now he’s back in the lineup? WTH is going on!?
Huh?
What’s there to admit?
He’s a highly technical player that is strong enough to not get pushed off the ball, and he draws a lot of attention for others to score goals (with the most recent example being Modric’s go-ahead goal against Scotland and Vlasic’s game-tying goal against Czech at these Euros). He definitely has drawback, like his lack of speed and stamina (rendering him useless on counterattacks).
Same goes for players like Krama or Rebic.
Rebic is a physical winger that creates chaos for others, but doesn’t have a soft touch and is a poor finisher.
Krama is a lethal finisher, but can’t play as a sole striker up top and is the opposite of physical.
No player is perfect.
If Petkovic can’t run the full game (whether it be poor stamina, conditioning, or something else) then don’t play him in certain formations and scenarios that require that.
It doesn’t mean you have to cut him from the team.
He’s still a useful player for us, and in certain situations, he works very well (proven by the goals he’s scored or been involved in thus far).
The bigger problem is picking ONE single formation and strategy, sticking to it (come hell or high water) and calling up only those players that fit that strategy.
This is Dalic’s kind of thinking. He liked his Russia 2018 lineup, and it’s all he knows how to play. He only wants to play it, and has been trying to fit square pegs into round holes to make it happen.
A more talented mind (or harder working coach) would recognize that our collection of players is pretty damn dynamic, and we have the LUXURY of being able to play all kinds of different strategies and formations.
Dalic is fucking lazy. There is plenty of gametape out there that he can watch that shows Petko, Krama and Rebic thriving in certain scenarios with the club teams…but Dalic refuses to do the work. Neither he, nor his staff, will watch the games. He’s just a Copy & Paste coach, just doing an endless “trial and error” selection of players to see how they fit into the Russia 2018 strategy.
you didn’t need to write a novel. I’ve never once said he’s not technically gifted but he seems to have a lot of issues with his coaches because of his attitude and lack of work rate.
My novel is a best seller.
The attitude thing is just your assumption. Neither of us know what goes on behind the scenes.
Work rate is the same as Prosinecki’s, and you’re a big fan of Zuti.
A good coach will recognize a players strengths and weaknesses, and play him accordingly.
its not an assumption Maminjo. Bjelica, Mamic (Zlatko) and Dalic have all publicly mentioned his poor attitude in the last 2-3 years.
I’m not a hater on players (unless they are Kalinic and deserve it) and I know exactly what you mean when you talk about his qualities but at the same time, I see him dog fucking on the field and I know he can be more consistent if he just worked harder.
Stanisic is starting against Dortmund today. Let’s see what he’s made of. Also, Marco Pasalic (not Mario) is on the bench for Dortmund. Another interesting talent at 20. Hadn’t heard of him until CroScout on twitter brought him up. Doesn’t seem to have crazy potential but seems like he could be a serviceable player for the national team in the future.
Two starts for Bayern?
I’m sold.
He’s already achieved more than Juranović has in his career.
Stop trolling me 😂
I’m actually serious lol.
I’d call him up ASAP. The RB position is a huge weak spot for us, and we don’t have time to play the whole archaic “gotta pay his dues before being called up” bullshit.
Juranovic is decent offensively, but is a sieve on defense. We’re relying on him having a very good three games against Russia, Slovakia and Slovenia. Rarely do middling players have a great three games in a row, yet we didn’t call up a backup for him (unless you consider Uremovic an RB, which he’s not).
Stanisic isn’t some super young up-and-comer. He’s 21 and already starting for Bayern. No point in having him go through the obligatory U21 callup junior process, lol.
Out of curiosity, have you watched him play at all in either of these matches? Bayern plays very attacking with their full backs. Even just watching the first half that I just watched you can see Stanisic is solid, but he’s not some great defender. He’s also not fast like I’ve seen people say, but that doesn’t mean he’s slow. He’s probably about as fast as Uremovic. Who by the way is 100% being called up as a RB option where he has been solid for us, not great, but solid. Uremovic is there to be the more defensive option at RB and maybe play some CB. Juranovic is the more attacking option.
I’ve only seen Stanisic play these last two matches (like I bet pretty much everyone else here has) and he looks like he’s somewhere in between Juranovic and Uremovic in play style at RB. Better defensively than Juranovic and better in attack than Uremovic. But here’s the catch, worse in attack than Juranovic and maybe bit less solid defensively than Uremovic. Uremovic is one of the best defenders in Russia. Sure playing at Bayern is better than playing at Rubin Kazan, but being an injury replacement and a stone cold starter are two different things. I’ll say it for the last time because I’m becoming a broken record. Let’s see what he does in the next few matches and with the U21s in September. If he continues to perform the he should be called up. It’s not ‘paying your dues’ to play with the U21s when you’ve literally only performed for a month at club level.
I mostly agree with you, however, I think comparing his attacking and defending skills to Jura/Urem this early isn’t fair. The sample size is small + he played against Dortmund and Monchengladbach, two teams that would obliterate every team in the Russian or Polish leagues. So comparing Juranovic against Polish opponents to Stanisic against German opponents isn’t fair.
Also, I agree he isn’t in the same category as like Coman and Davies fast, but he easily caught up to Malen once or twice and the end of the game and that dude is PACEY. Stan is easily faster than Uremovic, and Juranovic, except I’d give Juranovic the upper hand when it comes to acceleration and agility.
Yeah I’m excited to see what he’s got. Like you and I both said it’s a small sample size. It’s just two games. He’s got to show consistency. But I wasn’t really talking about Juranovic and Uremovic vs. Polish and Russian clubs I meant when they played for Croatia against good teams in the Nations League and the Euros. I’m as excited as everyone else is for a RB talent, but I just want to see a larger sample size.
You would think today’s game would be a easy one to win but dinamo has a tendency of shitting the bed. I wanna see Salzburg advance too and see more of Sacic at top level.
If anyone needs links..try hesgoal.com.
for those of you that want to watch the game I highly recommend you buy DAZN subscription. its not expensive…something like $125 for the entire year and you can use the app on your phone and/or on your tv.
I’ve never once had a glitch watching on my tv…its a very very good stream!
Zenit is already regretting their Lovren purchase.
https://sportske.jutarnji.hr/sn/nogomet/nogomet-mix/rusi-udarili-po-lovrenu-kriv-je-za-pola-primljenih-golova-uz-sebe-mora-imati-igraca-koji-ce-ga-voditi-15095550
Yet we’re still going to be starting him at the World Cup lol.
probably true but you have to ask yourself….why the fuck would you play him if he’s the cause of half the goals scored against you? we don’t have to be an “A” license coach to realize a shitty player is causing your team grief!
not sure how to view that article? If he’s that bad, he would be riding the pine!
Because they dropped 10 million on him last summer, and don’t want to look like fools admitting that they got taken to the cleaners by Liverpool.
Any TV access in US? Didn’t someone post a facebook link last time that worked?
He’s goal
This match-up won’t be easy. We can all look at the club they are playing and think to ourselves that a Moldovian team should be a cake walk but that is NOT the case. They have hungry players that are hopeful and motivated to qualify just like Dinamo are and their squad is made up of all internationals….so I wouldn’t call this easy.
I quickly looked at their win/lose ratio and they know how to win…which is always a crucial thing in the sport. We might think “if we don’t recognize any BIG named players we should be able to conquer our opponents” but this game doesn’t require BIG NAMED players to win.
Easy peasy
Should be a walk in the park