10-man Hajduk drop points in a disappointing 1-1 draw to Varaždin Friday night. Rijeka lose 2-0 to Istra Saturday and fail to take a lead on the HNL table. With only 6 matches left in the season, Rijeka and Hajduk are both level on 56 points. Dinamo trail with 52 points. Still anyone’s league title!
It’s crunch time in the HNL and no one wants to take the reins to become league “top dog.” Rijeka have lost two matches in their last five against Istra and Slaven. Hajduk on the other hand have back-to-back draws versus Lokomotiva and Varaždin. These are games they need to be taking max points from this late in the season.
With the results this weekend, Dinamo have been given life in the HNL as they still play Hajduk and Rijeka one more time. We have no idea how this season is going to end in the chaotic Croatian HNL.
Jutarnji List has a write up on the youth in Sportske Novosti.
link?
https://sportske.jutarnji.hr/sn/nogomet/reprezentacija/impresivan-popis-bili-su-velike-hrvatske-nade-sada-su-bez-klubova-igraju-za-nizeligase-ili-tek-cekaju-priliku-15575968
Sorry man, these are people on the backburner not the youth.
People waiting for a a call up like Dejan Lovren’s brother. They are in their mid twenties.
I should have read it fully first lol.
My follow up comment is in moderation. Just correcting my self, it is not a write up in youth rather players that had promise and where they are now. Still a good read tho.
What a depressing list. It fully highlights why Dalic has relied on the old senators for so long.
Still interesting to look at, if nothing else then to gain some perspective on maybe what Dalic has been dealing with
Hull 2-1 after 73′
5 out of the 6 bottom CL teams currently winning their games !
So Hull getting the win here super important
Basel 4-0 after 40’
Soticek on bench maybe he gets more minutes today
Leeds 5-0 at HT vs Stoke
Relevant as CB Ashley Phillips (on loan from Spurs i.e. Vuskovic competition come summer) playing
Pandur 1-1 Preston so far
Crnac missing from Norwich 2nd game in a row – injury ?
See HNS beautiful social media post re: Pope – likely written by a Croatian teenager – with English as their 2nd language – even they know “Rest in peace, Holy Father”
x.com/HNS_CFF/status/1914237818601087391
No “R.I.P.” like some morons on here were writing and trying to defend – you should be ashamed of yourselves for being so low IQ and uncouth
Requiescat in pace, noster papa Franciscus
I have been impressed with Istra. They destroyed Dinamo and Rijeka at home now go to Hajduk. Istra looks really dangerous in transition with Lavall and Lisica.
Weirdly inconsistent though.
In their past five games, they beat up Rijeka and Dinamo badly, and yet they lost to Gorica and Sibenik too.
Highlighted Lisica, Rozic and Mauric months ago (before these big victories) but fell on deaf ears 🤷♂️
Weird you point out bit piece Lawal while they brought in Rozic (who has been taking most of Lawal’s minutes) in Jan as he wasn’t doing enough (sure he scored 3 goals recently but whatever)
Vidovic finally got 19’ after it was 4-0
Budimir with another brace and still more time for him to score!
He has a chance to be league leader seeing as the other two players are still our for another game or two. If he can pull of 3 goals in this match then there is a good chance he can at least come a close distance with Lewi and Mbappe.
What you guys think the chances are that someone like Real Madrid could acquire Budimir?!
Watching the games Real Madrid played they are missing a traditional number 9. I feel like Mbappe likes to play on the wings more than up front.
Hajduk and Rijeka have both been struggling this past month, relying on late goals and PKs just to narrowly win or draw against inferior opponents.
It was only a matter of time until Rijeka’s luck ran out with all those close 1-0 victories, and of course Istra being the team to make them pay.
Dinamo probably beats Rijeka in Zagreb (in two rounds from now) to cut the gap before that huge Poljud match.
I hate to admit it, but I think your right Maminjo… I think Dinamo is still gonna win.
The league just seems to have so many issues with it.
If teams like Hajduk and Rijeka are planning on winning then they really need to reassess what they are doing. Maybe they need squad changes, maybe they should look at developing youth just a little more than they have been. Maybe being a little less inclined to take foreign players would help as well. They just don’t have the kinda wealth to secure decent contracts from players abroad so they really are bringing in B to C rated talent.
While on the one hand Livaja is helping he is also hindering Hajduk at the same time. If they could let the guy go and get a decent sum they could bring someone in to bolster their ranks, but that seems very unlikely given that he is the only one putting the ball in the other teams net.
I don’t think Livaja is as much of a problem. I think Hajduk over relies on him due to a lack of depth and a lack of trust in their youth players (like poor Rokas not getting any time this season).
But I think if they sign Džeko (who is rumored to sign) then it makes things interesting.
The young players (Hrgović, Brajković, Durdov) are likely to improve as they are getting more time in these recent games.
They should look to dump the African guys for whatever cash, and maybe sign some more Croatian talent (either youngsters on loan deals or some Croat vets).
Dinamo does well to foster the growth of their own talent, and try to sign other HNL team’s youth players (like they tried with Šotiček last summer, and Jagušić for next season).
Hajduk has had too many Dalmatinci (like Baturina, Moro and Gvardiol) end up on Dinamo. They need to secure the talent in their own backyard, give them opportunities to grow, and try to bring back vet guys to fill the gaps or provide depth (if they plan to play in HNL and Europe).
Both Hajduk and Rijeka have improved in this regard over the years.
They just need to keep going with developing their players, and getting their finances in order (so they don’t waste money on firing coaches, hiring yet more executives, and bringing in African B talent).
The ideal situation for Hajduk would be to develop their Dalmatinci but they are hampered by their financial situation. Look at Luka Vuskovic. Had they held onto him for a few more years they might have already won the league this year, secured Champions League money next year, and pocketed at least 3 times the transfer fee. As long as their financial focus is only on the present year they will never be long term title challengers.
You can’t really fault them for turning down 12 million pounds for a 16 year-old. It’s still great money for a player at that age (where anything can happen).
But you can definitely fault them for turning down obvious talents (like Perisic, Modric) and having Splicani like Baturina, Moro and others go toward Dinamo (which should be unthinkable).
They also did not need to hire a coach like Gattuso for that kind of money. Even that executive (Vitali) is probably a complete waste of money.
Most important thing is for them to continue to develop their youth guys, which they have been (kind of) doing, but still seeing some issues with that this season.
Like…Rokas Pukstas was looking like a 10 million Euro player, and yet somehow there is no attempt to play him at all?
They also seem hellbent to sell Durdov for about 5 million?
The good news is they seem to be doing things a bit better over recent years, but they really need to bite the bullet and continue to develop their youth over everything.
I like that they signed Rakitic (despite him being a shell of his former self) and I would like it if they signed Dzeko (assuming it’s not for stupid money).
Having a team filled with vets (like Raketa, Dzeko, Perisic), surrounded with the Pukstas, Hrgovic, Durdov, Brajkovic types…would’ve been ideal.
They could compete in Europa (or even maybe win the HNL and get into Champions League), then the exposure would net them serious money for their young talent.
Didn’t Hajduk pass on Modric who then ended up w/ Dinamo ?
There have been “rumours” that in order to play for Hajduk you need to pay to get game time, etc
Modric was asked a long time ago if Hajduk asked him for $$$ – he said he’s not answering the q – they than asked him if he’s denying it happened – he said he’s not denying it either
If true, don’t understand their biz model i.e. the $$$ generated from selling Modric alone > all these “pay for play” in totality, most likely [although given Hajduk wasn’t playing in CL then the transfer value wouldn’t have been as high as what DZ got as Modric was playing CL vs. Arsenal, etc]
I seem to recall Srna also alluding to this at some point (can’t remember exactly) when he first arrived at Hajduk, about the “pay top play”
Yea, there used to be a lot of corruption and nepotism/cronyism at Hajduk.
I mean, if you look at a lot of the youth players, they have the same last names as former Hadjuk greats (Gabric, Dolonga, Skoko, Brajkovic, Vuskovic, etc.).
Not to say these kids aren’t talented players, but I’m sure they are pushed ahead of the Modric, Perisic, Lakic, Prso, Jelavic types who were given little chance.
The Srna/Pletikosa transfer to Shakhtar was bad. Pure under the table cash deal that hurt Hajduk.
Then they get into financial mess, and are too desperate to sell anyone for anything. Constantly looking to unload talent for 1-3 million Euro.
I remember them trying to sell 17 year old Nikola Vlasic for like 1.5 million, and his dad just refused to let them.
They eventually sold him for 10 million, and they could thank Vlasic’s dad for that.
They were in a bad cycle, and it looks like they’re slowly crawling out of it…but still some issues that need to be fixed.
I fear for Hajduk on Wednesday at home to Istra. Istra has on many occasions in the past upset Hajduk and given them a hard time even at Poljud. Istra under returned Spanish coach Garcia is playing well having beaten Dinamo recently and now Rijeka.
Somehow ? luck, PK or whatever Hajduk needs to win against Istra and then on Sunday travel to play struggling Osijek. If they could get six points from the two matches?? that would put them in a good position to win the title with Dinamo and Rijeka having to play in Split.
Hajduk is unbeaten at home (excluding 1 -3 loss to Rijeka in Cup), and I think they have won 11 and drawn 4 in HNL.
Very exciting finish to HNL coming up and this time around it could be decided by direct match ups between the top 3 teams ??
My guess is Hajduk takes only 4 points out of the 6 points, and Rijeka end up 3 points in their two games (by losing their game to Dinamo in Zagreb).
We could easily see the top-3 within a couple of points of one another with Hajduk (at 60), Rijeka (at 59), and Dinamo (at 58).
Then, we have the match at Poljud which could decide whether Dinamo overtake everyone.
Even a draw makes things interesting, as Rijeka will have to play in Poljud two games later.
A wild close to the season.