HAJDUK IS READY TO PARTY AFTER THE DRAW, BUT WILL THEY FEEL THE SAME IN DECEMBER?Both Hajduk Split and Dinamo Zagreb dodged bullets at the Europa League group stage draw Friday afternoon in Monaco; missing being drawn against any European elites. Both Croatian clubs will make trips to Belgium and Greece this year as Dinamo plays Villareal, PAOK and Ivan Perišić’ Club Brugge, while Hajduk face Zenit St. Petersburg, Anderlecht and AEK Athens.
Dinamo and Hajduk have legitimate chances of getting through to the knockout rounds with these favorable draws. The boys from Zagreb should feel good about this year as Club Brugge and PAOK can be beaten, especially with wins against Ajax and Anderlecht in recent years. Can Hajduk keep the momentum going against Athens and Anderlecht? Taking points from these clubs would not be inconceivable, especially in front of a packed Poljud after a 15-year absence from European play.
CSR wishes Nikola Pokrivač and his Red Bull Salzburg side all the luck in the world as they face European giants Juventus and Manchester City. Domagoj Vida’s Bayer Leverkusen side should have no trouble in Group B while Ognjen Vukojević and Dynamo Kyiv should also breeze through. Will Zenit field ex-Hajduk defender Ivica Križanac when he returns home to play in Split later this year?
Is there nothing in the fact that most of the national team have same kind of agents then.
We already know Bilic selects players to get them transfers otherwise why was Kalinic always in two years ago and now he is a better player he does not get a sniff. This is obvious. How do you know agents are not instructing Bilic or he is doing favors to friends? What evidence is there to show otherwise when we see where Vejic and Drpic are now and how Pokrivac is making the team. Also Mate Bilic is blatantly given the cold shoulder and Slaven Bilic does not know him well.
Anyways actually i do see the thinking behind signing Tonei after Hahilhodzic explained it. Yes we do not have a left back at the club and may need Cufre to move there on occasions so they signed Tonei rather then Salata who wanted too much money. I still would rather see some long term planning and be chasing Kelic and Keric.
We also want Mario Budimir another ex Hajduk player. I think Budimir is a sound targetman, but not sure why he'd want to give up his first team place to drop to a lower level. Its different with Keric as Czech league is naff, but Greek league is not too bad. Budimir should try a strong season and get a bigger move. AEK Athens were already seeking him.
Budan deal is not happening cos he's injured. Linic gone to Istra. I see no issue with Knezevic staying in Livorno. Galatsaray signed Misimovic so looks like they won't move on Ibricic.
@JP………agreed, 100%
@Slaven……..Bilic is not corrupt. Just guys who are uninformed and don't know what they are talking about. Bilic has made some questionable decisions, but he is not corrupt. He is one of the cleaner guys within the savez. The man could have taken a job in Englandy for much more money than he is making now.
Everyone keeps kncoking Bilic saying he corrupt. If he's so corrupt why didn't he consider and of the table full of contracts he had from a bunch of top clubs around the world? If he only cared for himself he would have joined Schalke or Fullham. He's not exactly raking in the cash right now. He's bound to turn the team around for the Euro since the team bombed the last two major competitions. After this next campaign I think he'll quit.
Anyways, some good commentary.
@Ziva
Sure, point taken, no doubt the kid at Athletico is "pretty frickin good", just pointing out that it is possible to field a young keeper at the highest levels.
Actually, all the previous chat about a "turning point" is not about the HNL at all, but rather about Croatian's playing soccer as a whole. Mostly the NT's, and the players playing abroad is much more impressive than anything happening in the HNL. We've got a nice platform from which to continue building from. And it's likely with the exposure that Hajduk and Dinamo get in Europe that a few more players move on to better leagues still.
@Anonymous
I think you can find that "Dinamofan" has shed his skin to become "Stewey".
Where has Dinamofan:) gone? Has he got his head in the sand like all other Dinamo supporters? What a joke of a club, bunch of gypsies
@JP……..Atletico's 19 yr old is way better than this Delac kid. His experience in Spain slightly is better than gaining experience in the HNL. Delac will never play one game for Chelsea.
If you see progress in the HNL, then more power to you. I just dont. The league format flucuates every year (12, teams, 16 teams, 12 teams, 10 teams)….so if that is progress, so be it…. No fans watch games…..
as long as you have Markovic, Mamic brothers, Stimac brothers, etc involved….there will be conflict of interest issues.
2 teams make the group stages of a water downed europa league and some people act like this is a turning point. it is a turning point if this happens year after year, until that takes place, this is a fluke.
Just saw Pletikosa sitting next to Modric in the Spurs-Wigan game
Tonei – 30 year old who nobody seemingly wanted.
Does not interest me much at all. I was calling for Renato Kelic – an 18 year old with talent who could make Dinamo money in the future, yet we get Tonei.
Marvelous. I'd take Cufre over Tonei anyday. Is he going to be cover like Simic or is he blocking Barbaric? I'm not keen on Barbaric, but surely we're going to at least try to improve him.
Behaviour like this is going to increase the rebellion against Mamic. To me targeting a load of foriegn players directly after recieving BBB's statement is showing Mamic has no respect for BBB's boycott and is just inflaming the issue. I'm all for talent like Sammir, Morales, Cufre, but i am pro the 5 foriegn player ruling used in Russia and other countries. What Mamic is doing is not interesting me at all. We're talking about a Dinamo side soon with more foriegners than Croats and that's just not healthy. In my opinion Dinamo fans also have time for Cufre, Morales and Sammir and these guys should not be targets just cos Mamic is being a moron at the moment.
Striking position – again were still using Dodo whereas our feeder club want Dodo and Sivonjic back at Zapresic and are dying without them. They also have a talent called Antun Palic. That dealer is a no brainer, just like Andrej Keric. Any deals Dinamo have to do is obvious. You don't need to sign foriegn to fix them.
@ Jordan,
Hell yeh they both got favorable draws!!! Are you kidding me?
Remember, 2nd place would do the trick to get either Cro team through. There are no reasonable expectations to think either could top a group. That would be crazy! So forget Villareal and Zenit for now, even though Zenit doesn't score many goals.
Dinamo can definitely get some results against PAOK and Brugge. They played Anderlecht well last year and they won the Belgian league by 10 points or so.
Hajduk could catch Anderlecht and Athens on an off day and still have a rockin' Poljud to play 3 games at.
The only other 'soft' group is H with Getafe and OB.
Group A- Not even a group of death. Man City and Juve would blow out any Croatian team 7-0.
Group B- Atletico and Leverkusen. More domination there.
Group C- Sporting and Lille. Might score a goal.
E- AZ and Dynamo will easily go through.
F- CSKA and Palermo are real sides. What can be done there?
I- Sampdoria as a 2 seed in Europa, they'll cruise.
J- The group of death. Borussia, PSG and Sevilla. Forget about it!
K- Another tricky group. What could Dinamo or Hajduk do against these clubs?
L- Porto and Besiktas should roll easily.
Out of all the teams I just mentioned that will roll through their groups, Dinamo only has to go through a Belgian Brugge and Hajduk an Anderlecht and so-so Athens.
I would says that's pretty favorable compared to Juve, City, Leverkusen, Samp, PSG, Napoli, Palermo.
btw., for those of you who think young goalie's can't get it done… Athletic Madrid beat Inter today in the Super Cup with a 19 year old between the pipes.
Oh no the Turks are coming, have you heard, the Turks are coming!!!
Haha, really, seriously, is that what you think? That kind of fear-mongering plays well in the Selo I hear.
So, let me see… we only have any success because "our kids have raw talent"… leading to results which "are a miracle".
It's not really a miracle then, if we have raw talent is it?
And of course Markovic has a close relationship with most involved, he's directly or indirectly their boss! Is this your "inside baseball"?
Markovic wants to cover his own ass, first and foremost, and so we'll see some changes or else he'll be gone too.
Times are changing for Croatia and Croatia football whether you want to acknowledge it or not… change with them or be left behind. Otherwise you're just squandering your own raw talent as a Hrvat.
I can see Hajduk taking points from AEK and Anderlecht, not sure about Zenit however. I'm not saying things look great for Hajduk but there is some hope. Neither Greek nor Belgian league is that great, Partizan managed to beat Anderlecht for the CL spot and AEK barely got past Dundee Ut.
If Ibricic keeps his great form and the young guns don't shit their pants there is a possibility of perhaps taking 2nd place. I'm just worried about the teams depth because other than Cop, Vejic, Buljat and maybe I'm forgeting someone but other than that the bench is very weak. Also, since I don't really follow Croatian league (for multiple reasons) I do follow the European Cup matches and I don't know what's going on with Vranjes but he would be very helpful (so far I haven't seen him dress up for Hajduk). Another weak point is Subasic, average goalkeeper at best. Hopefully the great atmosphere in Split will encourage the boys to play their hearts out in the next few months.
In any case good luck to both Hajduk and Dinamo
listen, i think we will qualify for the euros. the group is not hard. Bilic is an average coach at best. But at the end of the day we will advance or not advance due to the talent we have on the pitch and the health we have. If we are injured again, then we will lose again. Plain and simple….If healthy, we will be OK.
By the times are not changing…..the game in cro is still corropt.
Dinamo and hajduk in the europa league is nothing…..the europa league is more watered down than the uefa league ever was. Its nice that we have two teams in it, but this is not a major accomplishment. Honestly, we should have 2-3 teams every year in the group stages of euro competition.
10 years ago Varteks actually did something in the cup winner's cup or eufa (not sure). And where are they today. Until shown otherwise, this is a fluke.
I applaud what the BBB are trying to do, Torcida has been at it for a year now attempting to do the same thing. Hopefully something happens with the efforts. The game is for the fans. Without the fans, there is no point in having any of this.
But to think "the times are changing" is wrong. You have no idea how much shit goes on in the HNL and within the savez. Markovic is about to lead an investigation into match fixing and he has a close relationship with some of the main characters involved.
Our results are a mircale considering how much incompency is evident throughtout croatian soccer. Our kids have raw talent and that is the only reason we have been able to qualify for most of the major tournaments in the last 16 years…..
and fuck the eu….only bad things will happen with that. Just what i want, a fricken turk purchasing property next to my land in cro.
Tonel to Dinamo:
http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/tonel-verstaerkt-dinamo-zagreb/news/anzeigen_45009.html .
I've never seen this guy in action so I don't know what will happen here. What do you guys think?
@Jordan
Because look at the other draws that were possible. Man City, Liverpool,etc., At least this way there shouldn't be too many 5-0 blowouts (in a worst-case scenario).
@Ziva
Things can change. Corruption in the past is no reason to continue it. That's what BBB are trying to do. All the power to them. Svaka Cast.
Bilic has many of ways to profit from his role that don't necessitate corruption. Plus Ziva, lots of things have changed that you're not recognizing:
-when's the last time that we've had this many players play in Champions league period, let alone as important cogs on the teams?
-when's the last time that both Dinamo and Hajduk were in Europa at the same time?
-when's the last time that the U20's qualified for the world cup?
The above, have all either never happened before, and/or certainly never at the same time. Bro, times have changed, and your mindset needs to too.
And btw., Tudjman is dead, so is Yugoslavia, and EU is imminent. We're not in Kansas anymore Toto 🙂
Croatian soccer on many levels is at a new peak. This is just the beginning. If Bilic wants more money the best way to do it is to kick-ass on the field, and join the ranks of the best coaches in the world, which he has the ready-made platform to do.
My only hope is that he continues to learn, he's shown some capacity for that lately, although it took the catastrophe of watching the WC on TV to inspire that learning!
@SlavenBilic
If we don't run away with this group there's something really wrong. We shouldn't be looking to "just qualify", we need to be outclassing teams, and sending a message of fear to the other big boys in Europe.
Lakic and Ilicevic need to produce on a weekly basis to get on the national team, not just 2 games.
Yeah, croatian soccer is corrput….well no shit, where have been. It always has been and always will be. The 1998 team was corrupt; fricken Ciro sold a spot on the team to one player. It's no secret.
It's also no secret the path to the national is easier when you come from hajduk or dinamo.
Do I think Mandzukic should be on the national team roster….no
But, Ilicevic and Lakic need to do this a bit more often.
Also, talk about team chemistry…..would not bringing them in cause some chemistry issues on the field (not in the locker room) with new players. Team chemistry is great, but its not needed. Plenty of teams succeed because of the talent they have.
I'm glad we have depth, but lets not get all carried away with these guys and the U-21's….We'll be lucky if the U-21's can produce three legit national team players.
@ Ante
How can you say Dinamo and Hajduk got favorable draws?! haha
Dinamo has a slim chance to advance. I can see them beating PAOK, but even PAOK has been playing great lately. Definitely don't see them taking points from either Brugge or Villarreal.
With Hajduk, hate to say it, but I don't see them taking points from either AEK, Anderlecht or Zenit. Maybe they'll tie AEK or Anderlecht, but I don't see them upsetting anyone.
And when it comes to Europe, unlike Prva Liga, I like to see our teams win, no matter who's playing. Just doesn't look that promising to me.
I'm just well bored of Bilic's favoritism. Croatia has so many options now and should ease through the group if managed properly. However there remains some things very dirty in the core of Croatian football that could even pull a good national team apart.
Bilic has already come out and is talking about team chemistry. Is he serious. Croatia has shown no real team bonding. In the Estonia game and Slovakia game it looked disjointed. It seems to me as an excuse to keep things the same. He's trying to justify the unjustifiable which is Mandzo and Pokrivac's place in the squad. How can he say they deserve it. Mamic is currently under suspicion of fixing which means Mandzo's goals could have been let in. He's only scored 16 of them. This guy has done nothing to justify playing. In a Croatia shirt he has 1 in 13 or something. Its nothing. Whereas Bilic and Jelavic got there goals against minnows like Austria and Qatar, Mandzo could not even net in those games. Its so unjustified that he gets the call. I reckon its very likely he drops to the bench in Wolfsburg with Diego's arrival. I hope so.
I'm not saying put Ivo and Lakic in. But they certainly deserve to be ahead of Mandzo on what they've shown throughout there career. I mean Lakic left Croatia ages ago whilst Ivo wouldn't even come to Dinamo yet. These guys were beyond the Croatian league.
I want Lakic and Ilicevic to keep it up and then get the call if anyone drops off. At present i think Mate Bilic deserves the call and Klasnic is just lethal. I'd definitely want Klasnic on my bench as an option if i was a coach of Croatia. If Klasnic is not healthy, i'm looking at Lakic, Kalinic, Perisic or Jajalo NOT mandzo or Pokrivac.
Ilicevic..finally a midfielder, besides Rakitic, who can score goals. I hope he makes the NT, as well as Lakic. Like I wrote before, Petric and Olic have done nothing since beating England.
Ilicevic played a great game did have a few major mistakes including the red card (double yellow) but a goal and an assist was great for him. All 5 goals for Kaiserslautern in the two games so far have been provided by Ilicevic and Lakic
also in Germany he is a rather well known player in the second bundesliga and also he has played in the bundesliga with VFL Bochum at a very young age….no great discovery there I think many people knew this kid was going to be good player
ilicevic and Lakic's form does not surprise me. Anyone who actually knows about Croatian football (ahem not corrupt Slaven Bilic obviously) would know about these guys ability ages ago. Fair enough you can't select them in Bundesliga 2, but they were only there cos Kaiserslautern is a big club. But at the end of the day is Srdjan Lakic gonna profit Slaven Bilic. Does Bilic no Lakic personally or know his age. Unlikely. So… he'll keep playing his chums even in spite of the stats. Just watch.
Mandzukic was apparently fantastic V Bayern last week. You kidding me. So what was Ivo and Lakic this week. Its time to officially call an end to Mario Mandzukic's stay in the national team. Theres guys who do not play there football in HNL1 who are clearly better. Most of Mandzukic's goals were let in by dubious keepers. Rukavina's goal to games ratio thus far is better and Keric and Cesarec and Bjelanovic are also all better than the guy no mind Klasnic, Bilic, Kalinic and Jelavic. When Mandzo scores 8 in the Bundesliga then we'll talk about national team selection.
I spent the past few months backpacking through South America and return to see Ilicevic show his true quality. I have been talking about this kid for the past 5 years. The only other person I have heard mention him was DinamoFan. Ilicevic and Rukavina scoring freely, Hajduk playing well, great time to be alive.
This Croatian team will have great depth in about a year or two. Just as soon as those under 21 kids graduate.
Thanks for the update Ivo. I was wondering how the game was going.
Ilicevic is a machine! He scored a superb goal against Bayern and now he assists Lakic for the second one. Both, Ivo and Srdjan are fighters.
That worked-out about as well as possible for both teams.
Am I dreaming or did Dinamo play Villareal a few years ago?