The recent injuries of Mateo Kovačić and Josip Brekalo have troubled the selection process for the upcoming two matches. Nikola Vlašić’s poor run of form has opened up the lineup even more, leaving a spot in midfield and the right-wing, open for the taking.
One young star who has stepped into the limelight is Stade Rennais’ midfielder, Lovro Majer. Coming off a recent injury, Majer has absolutely torn apart opposing midfielders and defenders in his two starts for Rennes. Although small in sample size, his control of the midfield and excellent ability to progress the ball forward has caught the eye.
Lovro Majer vs. NK Mura
- 90’
- 1 assist
- 92 touches
- 61 passes (85% accuracy)
- 6 key passes
- 1 big chance created
- 5/8 long balls
- 2/2 dribbles
- 5/8 duels won
- Man of the Match
Lovro Majer vs. Lyon
- 90’
- 3 pre-assists
- 69 touches
- 32 passes (78% accuracy)
- 5 key passes
- 2 big chances created
- 4/11 ground duels
- 2/4 dribbles
- 2 tackles
- Man of the Match (again)
Majer finds open channels and sends killer through balls on a regular basis. His high energy play pressures the opposing defence and allows his attackers to put themselves into good positions. He’s progressive, has great dribbling and can pull off a screamer here and there.
Would you like to see Majer against Russia? Maybe against Malta first? Who do you think Dalić will actually play?
Nice to see the HNS aggressively going after Germans with croat roots. The HNS tippy-toed around hard core recruiting these diaspora players for a while in some sort of etiquette dance. The German federation has eliminated any idea of etiquette though between the blatant Sosa swipe and their consistent intimidation of German born croats of playing for Germany or else their club career will be over.
The HnS should adopt this very aggressive approach and ultimately, I like their odds given there are a lot more Croats in Germany than Germans in Croatia
Yea but now these young guys are taking the risk of these Bundesliga clubs (who are loyal to the German FA) prioritizing their development behind some of their teammates who play on the German national team.
This is why I think Stanišić implied that he wanted to play for Germany all those years ago. He likely wanted to play for Cro, but knew that there was no way Bayern would continue to develop him and push him toward the first team if he made that switch.
Smart move by him. But hopefully none of these young guys get screwed up because of this.
Colak is also German, isn’t he? And he’s an example of a player who didn’t get any significant exposure until he left Germany and went to the HNL. Maybe because he isn’t so great, but he’s better than a lot of German strikers…
That would suck, but there are other options of course
I like to see our boys in Germany as I think they do develop better there then say Italy
Maybe we see more of our boys heading to France in their early 20s
If it was good enough for lovren…..;)
Gvardiol is officially a stary cb under sreckovic dalic said do today and he said lovren or vida coukd also lose spot to cc most likely vida is going to ve bench and spot starter going foward. And next sosa should be permant lb and we at least 50 percent d is set.
Glad dalic noticed that you need a cohesive back line like in russia 2018 to get results.
Don’t speak with your mouth full
This reply made me laugh a lot more than it should have
last night I decided to watch Croatia vs Scotland again. It was one of the games where we saw Petkovic start up front, Perisic on the left and Vlasic on the right. I noticed a few details that I’m fearful may come back to haunt us.
First and foremost…Livakovic doesn’t even extend his arms when he’s challenging for a cross. I was surprised how I missed that detail before but I clearly saw it on a few occasions last night….he really does not command the high balls and its a problem.
In that game, Gvardiol played left back, Vida/Lovren in the middle and Juranovic on the right. A few things we should be concerned about….Juranovic had zero help from Vlasic…when he went forward or defending, Vlasic was ALWAYS caught in the middle or on the left side of the field. Gvardiol was very composed, extremely good vision and although not all his passes were completed well, he was really good! Vida/Lovren…lets just say that Scotland had their chances and some of them were because of our own gaffe’s…including when Perisic sent the ball to Modric at the top of our own 18 yard box and left hi in a very bad position. With that said, Lovren and Vida were both sitting ducks and I saw the defense disorganized on at least 3 key plays throughout the game.
Modric/Brozo and Kovacic: If you ask me, Brozo played the game very simple…he committed to several tackles and broke up the play while gaining back possession, Kovacic was smart and had a few attempts to advance the ball forward…he was good…I honestly felt Modric didn’t have a very good game. Sure, he scored a very important and timely goal but overall, he wasn’t even near his usual level on that day.
Perisic/Petkovic and Vlasic. In my opinion, Perisic was a complete beast…hungry, chasing down balls and pressuring defenders all the time…he was really motivated and once you look at all the energy he spent chasing, taking players on…it was very nice to see him get rewarded with an incredibly nice goal! Petkovic?! Look, if we had a system when he could wander around the 25 yard line and barely press high, not have any defensive responsibilities and all he had to do was receive the ball, hold it up and make a play…he’d be the best and we’d all love him but honestly, its very embarassing to watch Petkovic fake that he’s faking to press. Watch him…he pretends to press on a defender or the goalie and then 10 yards before he gets there, he completely starts to tail off. Zero ambition to get the ball back…he just floats and waits until he gets possession. Vlasic…man…the announcers said VLASIC WAS HAVING AN AMAZING GAME AND i WAS SCRATCHING MY HEAD ASKING MYSELF…how the hell did they come to that conclusion? Sure, he scored our first goal…but Perisic did an incredible winning a head ball and serving right to Vlasic…Vlasic finished the play composed and he did well…but let’s talk about his overall game. He started on the right side…Rebic’s usual spot! I didn’t count or write things down but if I remember well, he didn’t make a single cross, a single pass, a single one on one…in fact, he was barely ever on the right side of the field. I’m not sure if this was some type of strategy between him and Dalic but honestly, Vlasic was always on the other side of the field and he looked out of position.
Mind boggling!
That’s because Dalic didn’t fear Scotland. Vlasic again was basically playing striker. He had Juranovic basically as a winger. Like I mentioned earlier Vlasic is simply a striker and against weak teams like Scotland who don’t know how to play nogomet you can get away with it but against teams like Spain not so much.
Vlašić always veers to the center or even the left side of the field.
I think he’s just uncomfortable on that right side and should never play there again.
livakovic is a bigger problem then I think the vlasic situation
Can majer play a make shift right winger?
From his highlights, he looks pretty comfortable on that right side.
This is one experiment that is actually worth trying (especially in games where we aren’t going with Juranović on the right side).
Jakov Šuver, another young defending talent in the diaspora pool, has just jumped ship from Germany! Maybe this whole Sosa thing lit a fire under the hns…
Bierhoff and his Petrovic-killing wife triggered this
It’s actually a diaspora Croat from Germany (Danijel Lučić) who is volunteering to do all this, and is directing the HNS to all of the best German Croat talent.
He’s pretty much a Markus/CroatiaU14 clone from Germany.
Thanks to him, we’ve added Josip Stanišić, Marco Pašalić, Jakov Šuver, Franjo Ivanović, Gabrijel Vidović, and Noah Phil Pesch (and his brother).
Kevin Kurányi’s son (Karlo) is half Croat and may end up switching too.
Here’s a link:
https://www.croatiaweek.com/croatia-secures-another-diaspora-football-talent-as-germany-youth-international-makes-switch/
Jakov Medic is also making a name for himself in 2 Bundesliga. If St. Pauli don’t get promoted, people are saying he will still likely get picked up by a 1st tier team
Anyone catch that serb jokic with the hit from behind last nite – what a douchebag!
On another note please post if anyone has streaming feed for Thursday’s Malta game ! Thanks
To me personally Jokic is a stand up guy. Heat of the moment shit happens and even though morris is the better of the twins but still an asshole. Jokic will pay the price and still be one of the top 3 players in the league.
Morris deserved it, and was long overdue for a retaliation from someone.
Jokić did nothing wrong there.
Looks as though Brekalo might be cleared to play. Players like him and Majer are needed against the bunker that both Malta and Russia will play. Seems like Brozovic has been sitting on a yellow forever. When do these cards get wiped? I wouldnt start him against Malta, as their threat moving forward should be minimal. Plus I can see him telling the ref to “go scratch your sisters ass” after a questionable foul. Can’t risk him missing the Russia match.
Agree, we have quite a few players on yellow cards including Brozovic and Perisic. If Dalic has any brains they will not start against Malta.
They will though, I’m afraid.
Play Majer against Malta. Interesting to see how he would interact with Modric in the midfield. Two very clever players who will move the ball forward.
Yea, I’d rather do this than start Pašalić again.
More creativity is better, and Majer is hot right now.
Pasalić has been performing well consistently and is an attack-minded player, which Dalić says is his priority for these matches. He said he likes Lovro Majer for the same reason. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a midfield of Brozović deep and in the middle, Pasalić on the left, and Majer on the right, with Modrić taking the right side against Russia. Since Dalić said that he is counting on Petković to score goals, the obvious front line is Perisić on the left, Petković in the middle, and Kramarić on the right. I expect this lineup to put the game away against Malta early on so that players who didn’t start get a chance to play significant minutes too.
Postava na Malti mogla bi biti: Livaković – Juranović, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa – Pašalić, Brozović, Modrić (Majer) – Kramarić, Petković, Perišić.
This what sn are reporting after first training today. Broz is on a yellow i would not risk it v malta i think jakic could do the job v malta.
Dalić loves Pašalić lol
Any Chicago Hrvati? Spread the word about this scumbag
https://cwbchicago.com/2021/11/rogers-park-man-beat-his-girlfriends-puppy-to-death-prosecutors.html?fbclid=IwAR3wsOityNSdHuX5e-5IYmulyZRXn15pYSKad-3mi9zilfk0PydEOiGWnug
Play the kids against Malta and tell them that if they perform- they got a shot against Russia- our kids and Luka get us to the Qatar – we need a goalie that doesn’t change – Livakovic needs to find himself and fast – zero faith in another goat herder like Dalic but I agree with Maminjo- it’s over for him after the qualifiers anyway – he’ll definitely play the old guard and switch them out in the 70th minute- I see a repeat of Croatia- Spain- we fall behind against Russia and then the kids come in -they score and we end in a draw.
After the qualifiers? You really think if we squeeze through he will get sacked??
If we make it – he won’t get sacked unfortunately, he has had ample time to figure out how to transition in the youth and really not been able to let go of players who have passed their prime and our goaltending situation is possibly even worse which alone warrants his dismissal but Iggy your right if we make it – we’re stuck with Dalic in Qatar- what can we do when we can’t move forward and just hire the best field boss we can get regardless of nationality. That won’t happen
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a player receive this high of a grade in one match before without an assist or goal. That speaks volumes. At the same time, it’s one game in the French league.
He needs to string 2-3 months like this in France to move up the Croatian pecking order. Should he start vs. Russia? Yes. You have to ride the hot hand and Vlasic looks to be unavailable.
I think he starts against Malta, and we can see what he can do.
He likes to make runs down the right side, so that’s good for us too.
This is the problem that Falic caused in League of nations and 2018 to recent nit playing future players and having and uigrana momcad.
Lovren Vida have no business in national team first 11 anymore Vida is a good atmosphere guy lovren is a prick who thinks he is Bekenhauer.
V malta i said why not play Goalkeeper I d go Grbic but it will probably be Livi. Juranovic Gvardiol Cc Sosa Majer Broz Pasalic Livaja Petkovic Kramaric. ALL out attack.
V russia Goalkeeper Juranovic Gvardiol Cc Sosa Modric Brozovic Majer/Sucic Perisic Kramaric Livaja/Petkovic.
Dalić is done.
It’s pretty evident that he’s a good relationship development coach… but he’s pretty average at picking a team, and below average when it comes to preparation and transition.
His preparation for the Euros was horrible and his Nations League experiments yielded nothing.
The delayed transition of new in form players and preparation for the World Cup is exactly the same as what we did right before the Euros.
Whether we qualify or not, he’s gone after the World Cup.
By the way, Josko Gvardiol made the Bundesliga TOTW and is up in the running for rookie of the month in the Bundesliga… for the second time in a row!
Did he win it the first time?
I recall him being in the top three.
Nah, he didn’t unfortunately. Probably won’t this time either since he’s a defender and didn’t score/ assist much. These kinds of votes always go to attackers.