Would you play Kovačić as the CDM #6 behind Modrić to open up an additional offensive slot for Kramarić or Majer? To do so, Dalić would have to bench Brozović. In Croatia’s last 19 tournament matches (Euro 2020, World Cup 2022, Nations League 2024), the Vatreni are only scoring 1.26 goals/game in the first 90 minutes of each match.
Scoring is a problem…so something has to give.
Orsic ………………… Perisic…………….. Kramaric……………………… Marco Pasalic
…………… Brozovic……………….Modric…………….(Kovacic/Majer/Sucic) (Pick one)
Sosa…………………..Gvardiol……………..Stansic…………………………Juranovic
Zvuk golova!
Sorry Extra player
Orsic ………………… (Perisic/ Kramaric/Budimir)……………………… Marco Pasalic
…………… Brozovic……………….Modric…………….(Kovacic/Majer/Sucic) (Pick)
Sosa…………………..Gvardiol……………..Stansic…………………………Juranovic
Anyone who thinks we are a bunker team and is dumb enough to even compare us to that Grk team has ZERO clue about nogomet.
Nogomet is like chess or war or boxing not basketball (where people are scoring points every 3 seconds).
We are a force! Nobody likes to play against us. If they underestimate our skill and resolve they cry when they are defeated (England, Brazil).
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. I personally love getting into the knockout stages and going deep. Let’s keep it that way.
Dalić and the boys know what they are doing.
Samo napred
Bog i Hrvati
Kovacic is too soft for me to play him along modric. At 39 Modric will do all work and kova just stand there doing nothing. I know Broz isnt in the greatest league in world i see him better at number 6 than kova. Even at 60 70 perfent what he use to be playing in seria A.
Dalic wont change up maybe v albania he goes offensive in Dalic mind get 2 draws and win to get throught the group.
If no injuries i expect MBK v spain and italy.
I would take Pasalic in the middle with modric over kova at least pasalic has a nose for goal.
Was reading recently that the back line at euris Dalic is considering Stanisic Erlic Sutalo Gvardiol
Juranovic Sosa on bench vs stronger teams
Problem w/ us playing Gvardiol at LB
Is other teams will just target our right-side/RB
Stanisic is decent – but not some world-class RB (and isn’t the fastest)
See RM vs. Man City 1st leg 2nd half as e.g. of how it will work against us (RM stopped taking Gvardiol on after the 1st half)
We have no choice but to play Gvardiol at CB (he could probably play as a #6 or maybe even #8 – but we already have too many options there)
Croatians are admirable, because we are hardest on our own, maintaining a no victim attitude, and a tendency to be most critical of our own. We generally expect perfection from our team continuously. To je to, gotovo.
We have to remember Brazil couldn’t score a single goal in 90 minutes as well, and we did not have one disparaging word towards them, except, this is the way it should be. They played a very open game until the end, and it caught up to them.
My wish, we play intelligently based on self-knowledge, everchanging dynamics on the pitch, to that eventual golden ring, and that the puzzle is solved, regarding finding the right balance.
Upoznajte sebe.
Brazil also played scared too.
They had so much confidence against their other opponents, but when they played us, they couldn’t dominate like they normally do…and a couple of nutmegs here and there, and they got scared.
@Maminjo
@Slavonac From Canada
I’m a 1000 percent wrong 😑 my mind must be broken because I’ve always been against that stupid theory.
We are not even close to being a bunker team and I appreciate the correction in my temporary state of insanity.
What I meant to say is, I rather have the team that is a greater offensive threat as opposed to a team that controls the ball but doesn’t take any chances or shots.
It’s frustrating to see total possession but no arial threats in the box. We are the 2nd largest people in the world next to the Dutch, we should be destroying teams with crosses alone.
Anyway, again I appreciate the correction, please forgive my brain 🧠 fart for the day.
Apology not accepted.
Mrš nazad u Africi!!!
What’s that comment supposed to mean?
It’s a joke
Dear HNS –
I’m trying to order the new kit on the HNS website
But when I click “Personalization type” I’m very disappointed in player options
Why no Baturina or Marco Pasalic ? Aren’t they the future ? At least Luka Sucic is available, I guess. I would also like to see a Belinho option.
Additionally, there are some completely silly options:
Niko Moro ??? Do you anticipate a lot of demand for his jersey – given his 1 cap (and 1 cap too many) so far ? Come on. Please remove this option ASAP.
Livaja ??? in case you haven’t heard yet – he’s said he didn’t want to play (when last called up by Dalic) – you might has well add Nikola Kalinic and Ante Rebic. Having him as an option makes it look like we’re “begging” him to rejoin the team for the Euros
Beljo and Musa ??? April Fool’s has passed
Brekalo ??? Seriously ?
Vrsaljko ??? he last played for Croatia 2022 (and completely retired from football in 2023 – so wouldn’t count on him ever playing again) – if you’re putting retired players – we should have our beloved RB Captain Srna over Vrsaljko all day long – come on. Also Lovren listed.
Don’t worry I will do a custom option #24 with “Marco”. As previously posted – hopefully you sort out ahead ASAP and make #24 with “Marco” and #15 with “Mario” (please refer to Vanja and Sergej)
Thx
Livakovic, labrovic, kotarski;
Juranovic, stanisic, Erlic, sutalo, Vida, Caleta car, gvardiol, sosa;
Modric, kovacic, brozovic, majer, mario p, baturina, vlasic, sucic
Kramaric, marko p, petkovic, budimir, perisic, ivanusec, pjaca
No Oršić!?!
Mrš! Nazad u Africi!!!
😅😂
Is he back from injury yet?
Why Ivanusec vs Oršić? Maybe we could go with one less fullback —Vida, or mid- Vlasic?
Ivanusec has been a key player for us recently. Best player on the pitch vs Holland in nations league. Definitely should start in my opinion. Yeah maybe vlasic hasn’t done enough and orsic should be in the squad in place of him. I’m not sure
Ivan Rakitic is the most underrated nogometaš of all time.
Absolutely world class in the prime of his career. Captained Sevilla to Europa league titles on either side of Barcelona career.
Was dominant in 2018 World Cup run.
Actually it just so happens that he played the exact same position of one Luka Modrić. He spent years of incompetence at HNS at not figuring out how best for the team be lined up around those two. 2018 finally got it right.
This is why Kovačić needs to slide back to the 6 and allow Modrić the freedom to work the 8 to create going forward.
Kramaric – Sučić – Majer – Baturina can all play the 10 for us.
You can also slide Modrić at the 10 at times as his skills are still job and decisive in the final third.
Brozovic comes in around game time management.
Full faith in Perišić to be ready. He is a world class athlete that is the ultimate pro. He will be fresh mentally as well and eager to be the difference maker that he is.
A difference player, but still effective seems in his twilight years. An all time favorite no doubt for everyone.
Moving forward I think Kramaric… IF USED CORRECTLY AND IN THE RIGHT POSTION CAN SCORE FOR US. The problem is he has to be in the correct situation. If not he’s silent. Who knows if Perisic will be available or effective.
I’m all for taking out Broz or Kova if it means Kramaric is setup to score and we have the more aggressive attacking mid fielder instead. We can rotate and substitute as needed. We don’t need overkill of MBK all the time. We can score and then change it up and play control ball. Make adjustments as needed. Not last minute need a prayer stuff when it’s too late. Hopefully Petko is feeling it and Majer as well. Hopefully some new blood is going to come through for us and persic will be ok. Sucic has a lot of potential just needs to stay strong and healthy and his time will come soon.
Still looking for a new hungry young beast scorer to come up the ranks
Will see
Well Krama has been scoring for us pretty regularly now. He’s really stepped up for us in the past year.
We’ll see if that continues during the Euros.
Mandzukic was our man!!
Could score when you really needed it!
Champions league final with Bayern…
Semi final vs England. Pure class
We were ripped off in 2018.. Still can’t believe it
Var biggest scam since FIFA started !!
Greasymann fake foul were he was stun gunned by a ghost!! What a scumbag flop and the refs bought it and didn’t check Var??? It lead to a goal
Persic neutralized and then they use Var against Croatia when there was a no call then a fake hand ball call on persic
Such an abuse of the rule
Totally fake.. the ref had to come out go back and change the story ?? They have some mysterious corrupt person telling them what to do in there ear???
How ridiculous
VAR IS THE WORST CORRUPTION TOOL IN SOCCER? Can be used or ignored at will to get desired result
Croatia vs France 2018 final is the perfect example!!!
I said this at the beginning of the 2018 cup. That VAR would work great in the first few rounds but would be used as a weapon in the final.
I had predicted this before the group stage started and little could anyone know who would reach the final.
Interesting side note. France 🇫🇷 had massive riots for months prior to the World Cup over their Liberal Woke World Economic Forum lackey Macron. Then they win the cup so to distract the French from the destruction of their country.
Lastly, the world powers have always hated Croatia 🇭🇷 because we used to never align with their nonsense.
I bet you if we went full woke wore rainbow 🌈 armbands we would magically win the World Cup.
Don’t even get me started on Mbappe’s tranny boyfriend 🤬
This comment might get censored since this site has always prevented free speech, leans to the Woke Left and will even be under further pressure by their advertising OverLords 😤
Brozovic in 2018 was vital for Croatian success in the world cup, his pressing/running and positioning took pressure off Modric. For me he was the missing piece of the puzzle at the time. Soldo on steroids. My feeling is Mayer for Albania and Kovacic for Spain and Italy
Ante, what would you make of Sučić? I love his drive and feel like he could also provide us with a missing piece of what it takes to score more goals. It’s a shame that he keeps injuring himself.
He’s fit now but unfortunately we didn’t get to see him perform with the national team as of lately…
Wish we could have seen a bit more of/more configurations including the likes of Pjaca, Marco and Sučić (I know that only the latter is a midfielder but still). They show so much will and ardor on the pitch, it’s really refreshing.
I’m also tired of not seeing more goals (or any goals at all) being scored! I kinda hope that Dalić will resign or at least drastically try a few new things after the Euro, with Modrić probably hanging his boots.
During the good old days of Golden boot Suker reign, our 1998 WC group results were : 3-1. 1-0, 0-1. A total of 4 goals to qualify for the final 16. The three goals were against Jamaica.
Was there ever really any good old days, maybe when Da Silva/Olic/Modric/ Kalinic/Petric etc. played together in their prime, as some have suggested?
That was during the great tournament drought unfortunately, the highlight denying a talented England team, advancement in a tournament.
We rarely blow any one out of the water like France did recently to the tune of 14-0.
Modric is the world-class player that we have
Suker and Boban were considered world-class.
the rest like Perisic and Rakitic are decent players.
Bro ! Perisic a decent player ???
Perisic is world class my friend
Rakitic was right there as well!
Stop huffing paint 🎨
😂
I think (I’m just guessing) if we calculated each team in the top 15 FIFA ranking, you would see many team scoring more than 2 goals per game on average unless they play in some CONCACAF or some shitty South American tournament. some teams have multiple good goal scorers while other don’t but at the end of the day even the smaller teams like Denmark get the better of teams like France. Netherlands usually have multiple goal scorers and yet they rarely do well in tournaments. Italy complain about their goal scorers…or lack or scoring…you gotta learn to win with what you have.
ooops, I meant to say
“you would NOT see many team scoring more than 2 goals per game”
Ideally, the 2008 Argentina game would be a perfect prototype result, to be reproduced, over and over again. A victory over a monster talented powerhouse team, where we go ahead first, lead all the way thru. Even so that was a hard-fought game to the end, as the final score might not fully capture.
As previously noted by others, we have not been a run of the mill park the bus bunker team, as recent time of possession data would support.
How close we were to disposing of France both times in 1996, and 2018. We have not been a moon shot away. We had our boats securely in the harbor, to have a simple knot come loose, and sent us adrift.
I think you got your dates off a little..
And switched them around
2006 we beat Argentina in a friendly
And France was 1998 final
But I agree…
*Semi final
Now I goofed 😂
Yeah, I meant 2018 sorry
We must evolve from that Bunker mentality, it eventually catches up to all teams. Greece 🇬🇷 now non existent, Iceland 🇮🇸 no show.
Italy 🇮🇹 actually became better when they started to become more attack oriented.
This worked for 3 tournaments but the luck 🍀 will run out in shootouts etc.
I love ❤️ Majer on the corners and free kicks. Time to allow some fresh blood 🩸 to be injected into the line up.
We’re not a bunker team
Bunker mentality?
we control the midfield and possession in most games…not a bunker, just responsible defensively
@Maminjo
@Slavonac From Canada
I’m a 1000 percent wrong 😑 my mind must be broken because I’ve always been against that stupid theory.
We are not even close to being a bunker team and I appreciate the correction in my temporary state of insanity.
What I meant to say is, I rather have the team that is a greater offensive threat as opposed to a team that controls the ball but doesn’t take any chances or shots.
It’s frustrating to see total possession but no arial threats in the box. We are the 2nd largest people in the world next to the Dutch, we should be destroying teams with crosses alone.
Anyway, again I appreciate the correction, please forgive my brain 🧠 fart for the day.
My thoughts on Epicless Broz has never wavered.
Whenever he’s having a terrible 😢 game he points the Croatian finger, flailing his hands in the air 🙌 like a damn drama 🎭 teacher.
I never applauded this nonsense from our people. Unacceptable bad attitude that is glorified instead of treated as the virus it truly is.
Players that accept total responsibility for greatness or failure are the players that should be on pitch.
Too many people quick to write off Broz.
He (along with Ronaldo) are actually two of the best players in the Saudi League.
That may not mean much to you, but he’s rated better than Milinkovic-Savic, Mitrovic, Mane, Koulibaly, Laporte, Neves, …and all these guys continue to start for their National Teams.
If Portugal, Spain and Serbia have no problems starting their Saudi players, why are we so quick to write off our Saudi League player who is actually outperforming them?
(especially one who was a Ballon D’or finalist a few months ago)
I like Majer, but Brozovic’s defensive game and tireless running is too valuable and something Majer does not provide at all. I’d still start Broz and if we’re struggling to create offensive chances, then Majer can come it.
Exactly. Broz does so much of the dirty work and many never fully appreciate him. Sure, he took the money and ran but no one can blame him. Even if his game has dropped off a bit because of his current competition in the Saudi league, he’s still a very important player for us. Controlling the midfield is our identity whether people like it or not and given we don’t have an elite goal scorer, it’s how we will win games. We are anything but a 2004 Greece. That was bunkering anti-football….but it did work.
Sure if we are behind then we bring in more offensive minded players for a Broz or Kova. We’ve been very successful with our ball possession style…why change?
if we go back 6 years and look at the World Cup goal scorers you will quickly see where the goals come from per team:
Harry Kane 6
Antoine Griezmann 4
Kylian Mbappe 4
Romelu Lukaku 4
Cristian Ronaldo 4
Eden Hazard 3
then we see Mandzukic and Perisic each with 3 goals
in the 2020 Euro Cup we saw this:
Cristiano Ronaldo 5
Patrick Schick 5
Karim Benzema 4
Emil Forsberg 4
Romelu Lukaku 4
Harry Kane 4
World Cup 2022:
Kylian Mbappe 8
Oliver Giroux 4
Lionel Messi 7
Julian Alvarez 4
my point is that we don’t seem to have goal scorers and I doubt that’ll change in the near future. when Davor Suker was our striker, he scored 45 goals in 69 games…that’s .65 goals/game…pretty darn amazing stat.
at the 1996 Euro’s, Suker scored 3 goals in 4 games
at the 1998 World Cup, Suker scored 6 goals…beating out super stars like Batistuta, Vieri, Salas, Klinsmann, Bierhoff…
goal scorers don’t only score goals, they force defenders to constantly look for them which creates chances for other players for secondary scorers.
what would change if we remove Kova or Broz and we add in another attacker? thats a good question…my guess is that we’d lose some of the stability we’ve had in midfield…both Broz and Kova give us tons of defensive service, they are both great at helping us transition the play forward…Broz, Kova and Modric all interchange at times and you’ll always find Modric coming deep for the ball…no matter what combination we use.
if you ask me, I’d say we need goal scorers and not mess with our midfield. Ante, I think I understand your point and based on your point of view its obvious you want more goals. Yes, goals do come from other positions and not only a striker but we lack “GOAL SCORERS” period. we used to have more scoring options like Rebic, Olic, Rakitic and we’ve always struggled to score after Eduardo Da Silva got injured…he was a phenomenal goal scorer until that prick ruined his career.
right now we need to work on creating more chances. there are lots of teams that win but don’t score tons of goals but they obviously have to be disciplined as a team and play good defensively. we don’t have a Ronaldo, Mbappe, Kane, Messi…and we need more quality service into the box…which is our bigger problem. our attack from the wings is pretty crappy at best and this is the area we need to work on. first lets fix what not working…we don’t need to mess with what is working.
Great points. It’s true. Plenty of basics to get right. Another example is set pieces, I can’t believe how bad we are from corners…
The corners are a self-inflicted issue.
This is the coach’s fault.
We have guys like Modric and Majer who regularly swing in dangerous crosses from the corner without issue, but for some messed up reason, we rarely do this and just opt for the short pass instead. It cost us the Argentina game.
yes, good point.
if you watched the Clasico this past weekend, Real Madrid were terrible on set pieces while Barca were excellent! set pieces make a huge difference
I wanted to point out in regards to the leading goal scorers you’re not factoring in PKs. For instance, the 2018 WC;
1. Harry Kane (England) – 6 goals
• Penalty goals: 3
2. Antoine Griezmann (France) – 4 goals
• Penalty goals: 2
3. Romelu Lukaku (Belgium) – 4 goals
• Penalty goals: 0
4. Denis Cheryshev (Russia) – 4 goals
• Penalty goals: 1
5. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – 4 goals
• Penalty goals: 1
For the 2020 Euros;
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) – 5 goals
• Penalty goals: 2
2. Patrik Schick (Czech Republic) – 5 goals
• Penalty goals: 1
3. Karim Benzema (France) – 4 goals
• Penalty goals: 1
4. Romelu Lukaku (Belgium) – 4 goals
• Penalty goals: 1
5. Emil Forsberg (Sweden) – 4 goals
• Penalty goals: 2
6. Harry Kane (England) – 4 goals
• Penalty goals: 3
And I won’t get into the 2022 WC with Messi. My point is it makes our goal-scorers not look so deficient when you factor that in.
Also important to note in 2018 is, after Belgium with 16 goals, Croatia and France each had 14. Croatia was second for goals scored by multiple players behind Belgium but Belgium had Tunisia and Panama in their group.
Also, half of Harry Kane’s goals in 2018 were against Panama.
Tough call . Broz has done alot for HNS and I’d say good 50 minutes for Broz may be all he has left in the tank. We’ll need speed . Gotta figure out how we get Orsic in there. He’s the fastest guy without the ball and he can open things up. I’d say our ball control will be there but we need that one speedy guy that can open things up for a surprise long ball. Should be fun – just beat Italy, molim te.
This argument shouldn’t include Orsic because he’s a winger. I’m trying to open up one more slot in the middle of the field.
We are going to play with 2 wingers regardless. Orsic and Perisic are both playing again. But will they both be in Euro 2024 form in 60 days?
I don’t disagree. We need to score more if we can. A most legit and relevant discussion indeed. Like hearing all of your opinions, no disrespect intended.
It is such a game of inches. Lukaku had four legitimate scoring attempts on Croatia, and not one when through, except his fist into a plate of Plexiglas at the end. His only payday was a doctor’s bill.
I think Brazil would have score 3 goals on a lesser goalie, a younger Livakovic, 6 months before the tournament.
Nah.
Croatia played Brazil well defensively. It wasn’t goalkeeper heroics.
It was Croatia’s backline making sure that Brazil’s only scoring attacks came from narrow angles.
Livakovic thrives in these situations, but he is still bad with long range shots, high balls and crosses.
Croatia defended the top of the box to prevent any long range shots on goal, didn’t allow for crosses, and directed all Brazilian attackers to try and cut in from the sides (who were then forced to shoot from the narrow angles with Gvardiol covering the cross and Livakovic on his line).
It was a great gameplan.
I’d love to see 3 combined games 3-0 in goal differential but it’s typical HNS , once we think we got the D and goaltending figured out it will likely be that piece that has a tough run in Germany-I say a few 3-2 games for us. I think we’ll see our D in the offense more than is being predicted. Gvardi has offensive tendency more than I thought. Either way, just beat Italy.
Sorry Ante, 2 separate conversations. I agree with you on Broz grudgingly, I also love to see Orsic in there because we need someone who can run and run fast. Orsic and Broz are different thoughts.
If we’re in need of a goal and if Budimir is still in great form…then make a tactical change at the end of games by subbing in Sosa, Juranovic, Orsic and Mario Pasalic on the flanks.
Just send bombs into the box all game long.
Orsic and Pasalic would be good penalty kickers, so if it had to go to PKs, we would have the right people.
Not sure about Sosa and Juranovic regarding PKs, but Budimir and Sosa hooked up just recently on a nice cross in a critical game recently, as clear demonstration of your thoughtful proposition.
Sorry I was thinkin’ of Marco, not Mario, I know he is an unproven HNL player, a bit of a wildcard , but he is very exciting to watch, as though something is always about to happen, not to take anything away from Mario.
Marco is not easily pushed off the ball like Brekalo, and Halilovic, seems to know how to use his body positioning like modric.
I am a fan of doing this bombing in from the corners approach for goals especially vs Spain and Italy
Throw a few guys in the box with enough guys back to not get hit on the counter
It’s not so high percentage but I’m confident in guys like budimir and pasalic senior knocking in the junk
With Albania we should have possession and maybe guys like majer krama and petko who have good ability to create in smaller spaces should shine
But ya not having Mali pasalic, sucic and orsic would be hard to swallow
Pjaca showed well as we saw. He can argue for a spot
But how can you give any of those guys a spot over orsic and his great providings to the repka with a tiny sample size
I couldn’t even imagine if you gave him a leash the length we gave kova in all his years
I know I’m overselling him but he will forever be the guy for me for the repka like what if…..
Of course there are others like Eduardo yes but he was injured
Orsic was prime and healthy for a long while and being behind Perisic was just unfortunate for him
If we are talking about getting another impact player on the field, who has had a larger impact on scoring every time, other than Orisic. The gentlemen is a coldstone scorer or when he is not scoring, he is assisting someone.
Participation on the national team should be based on your national team past performances.
Even Majer goal against Canadia was a set up by Orsic, who started the break, laying it off for him unselfishly to score. Same with Brazilian score.
Pasalic, and Sucic also, strike me as potential high impact players, where anything can happen.
How can Orisic at this point, be left off the team. Blows me away. At the very least he should sub in for Perisic.
Majer is a relatively a low impact player vs other options. Don’t know if your gaining much versus what you potentially might be losing.
Tell me how to bring on Sucic, Pasalic or road tested Orsic , and I am all ears.
Brozovic will be a locker-room cancer
would have a bad attitude more than Lovren/!
We’ve been scoring more since the World Cup ended.
Remember, the Euro2020 was a transition year and was a long time ago. World Cup 2022 we had no in-form striker, so we had to make adjustments (alternating between Livaja and Krama up top, which was not ideal).
We’ll see what happens at Euro2024, but Spain and Italy are not teams that allow 2+ goals to be scored on them per game…so I wouldn’t expect us to increase our average in this tournament. What’s most important is that we win. Both those games will be a chess match and I wouldn’t sit out Brozovic (a guy that will likely punish Italy) nor Kovacic (a guy that will be very useful against Spain).
Majer off the bench in a central midfield role is a nice strategic in-game option. Just need to hope that Dalic doesn’t wait until the 70th minute to take advantage of it.
We haven’t really scored much in 2023 following WC 2022. Only games we scored 2+ goals were 2-0 vs. Turkey, 4-2 (in extra time) vs. the Dutch, 5-0 vs. Latvia, and 2-0 vs. Latvia. We’ve had too many 1-0 games in my opinion and can give up a little defense in order to be more attacking.
Two 1-0 wins over Armenia and then we had that awful weekend where we only scored one goal in two matches vs. Turkey and Wales.
I’m not worried about Italy and Spain in group stage. We will get out. If not, that’s a different conversation.
I’m talking staying fresh past group stage. We have never had a winning formula for that. Nearly ever KO round match we play goes into extra time/penalties.
-2018 WC 3/4 matches
-2020 Euro 1/1 match
-2022 World Cup 2/4 matches
-2023 Nations League 2/2 matches
We’re playing Russian Roulette with ourselves. Need to start putting some teams away in 90. That’s my take. And how do we do it? Need to sacrifice somebody in the midfield trident and it’s not going to be Luka.
Would work with a 3-5-2 but that will never happen under Dalic.