Please hire Diego Simeone as the head coach for the Croatian national team. Even though you probably won’t read this, I’m hoping someone close to you passes on the message. W’eve already given up on asking you to leave, so let’s just call it a draw. You do something that makes us happy for a year, and you line your big fat pockets with the money that floods in with the decision.
(Zdravko Mamić has joined the conversation)
Now that I have your attention, let’s start with the fact that Croatia made a monumental decision this year to elect their first woman president. I know Croatian mothers run their homes, but who in their right mind would have thought we would have a woman running Croatia in 2015? Why not keep it going with proving the impossible? What have we got to lose really? Our stadiums at home are empty, the fans around the game are dying in Croatia, and the biggest stories about our national team revolve around racism and swimming in speedos. This is the bottom, it’s not the rock bottom, but our feet are dangling just above the rocks.
Since you’re a businessman, let me talk to you about why my idea is so good. Hopefully, since you’re so good at investing, you’ll be able to see how much money you can make.
1. PINNACLE OF OUR TALENT
This is the best Croatian team we’ve had, since EVER. On a pure talent level, this team should beat out any other team we’ve assembled in the past. Modrić, Rakitić, Mandžukić, Kovačić, Perišić, Kramarić.
- 3 players playing in the top 2 teams in Spain. 2 of the 3 being difference makers
- A 20 year-old bringing back Inter from the depths of hell
- A scoring threat that has finally grown into his role, and who plays at one of the more exciting teams in Germany
- Somebody that can finally compliment Mandžukić
We have a core and we have enough pieces to compliment and support that core.
2. OLD GUARD OUT. Someone with no ties in.
Srna, Ćorluka, Pranjić, Olić. I respect these players for everything they’ve given, but it’s time for them to step down. This is why:
- All of these guys played with our current coach…let that sink in.
- Clubs: Ukraine, Russia, Greece, Germany (5 spots from relegation)…let that sink in
Along with the relinquishing of the old guard, we need somebody that isn’t going to play Sammir in a qualifying match. I know Sammir made you $3 million when it was all said and done, but imagine what would happen if you played Hrvati with actual talent. Imagine if Hrvatska actually played their strongest squad and made a run at challenging for a title. Remember what happened when we did that in 98′? You inspired a generation that developed players like Kranjčar, Modrić, Ćorluka, Rakitić…I can keep going but I’m sure you get the point and see the dollar signs. Think of it as an investment to your son, who you’re probably handing this all off to. Think long run, and what we could do if you put somebody in charge that actually had a damn clue as to what they were doing.
3. Someone that can win now.
When they were playing, the Kovač brothers were like the twins in the shining. You would rather take your chances walking through a minefield than coming anywhere near one of them. When it comes to coaching, they look like a couple of brothers finger painting. They’ll be great some day, but they are going to need to fail A LOT before they get to that next level of coaching. With our current talent pool, you’re using a coaching staff that is below them.
If anything, keep the Kovač brothers around to teach our young defenders how to defend. Maybe, just maybe, he might be able to get Lovren to stop taking selfies and take his footballing career seriously. We need balance, and our attack is only going to be as good as our defense. If our CDM is too afraid to move up with the flow of play, then we’re always going to have struggles scoring. Simple as that.
4. Coaching Mentality and Ability
Remember who Atletico Madrid was a couple years ago? Neither do I, and neither does 99% of the world. Simeone is the better looking version of what would happen if Blažević and Bilić had a kid. His antics on the sidelines takes me back to Bilić running down the pitch after we scored against England. His tactics and piss and vinegar attitude is what Blažević brought to earn respect. What Simeone does better than both:
1. He’s not going to be their friends.
2. The players will respect him, and play with the same fire his team at Atletico plays with.
Fun fact: Argentina was selling Hrvatska guns when the war was going on. We should thank them for that by making history.
I could go on, but I think this is enough. We need a coach that can bring us back to our former glory. Your football stocks are plummeting, the league is dwindling, and the fans have lost that fire that we so desperately crave.
Solution: Diego Simeone.
Signed,
An extremely worried Croatian supporter.
P.S.
Thank you in advance. 🙂
Havn’t had time to read but Corluka out bullshit, not yet. New coach means you got no say in the players he picks.
@mm
Not a biased comment, I think most would agree that the World Cup performance WAS a dud performance re: formation and tactics.
So far, qualifying has been good. A lot of that has to do with how we’ve been running our asses off, but he’s made some improvements with the formation & lineup as well.
When tournament play comes in June next year, then we’ll hope that Kovac has improved enough on the tactics front to not repeat the Brazil performance.
80% of the time we will have enough talent to overcome poor coaching or inexperienced coaching…..depends on how you look at it.
4-2-3-1 So much depth and so many options:
…………………………..Mandzukic………………………
Perisic/Rebic………Rakitic/Kramaric……….Kovacic/Halilovic
…………………..Modric………Brozovic/Badelj………………….
Strinic…….Lovren/Jedvaj……..Corluka/Vida…….Srna/Vrsaljko
………………………………..Subasic……………………………..
Those are our best 18 players and there are more young guys coming up. It all depends who we are playing against and adjusting who plays. If an experienced manager took over this talented squad we would be among the best in the world, but hopefully Kovac can figure it out…
“dud performance”
come on, wake up and stop with the bias posting
Kramaric can play the ‘number 9 and a half’ role, between the midfield and the špica.
I’m sure in certain matchups, this would work well.
It’s just a question of whether Kovač has learned enough on the job to recognize when to use these different lineups and formations.
It’s no question that Kovač has focused on fitness and making our players run all game (mimicking the kind of player he was), but this won’t be enough for tournament play.
Hopefully he continues to learn so that when Euro2016 comes, he doesn’t pull another dud performance with the other coaches outwitting him again when the stakes are high.
The question is if Kum Kovac plans to go wih a lineup with both guys in the starting 11.
Mandzukic is only 12 goals behind Eduardo. My concern watching that game against Italy. The midfield really wasn’t able to link with Mandzukic consistently. The pretty Barcelona passing is great for while, but sometimes you need to just drive toward the goal.
Mandzukic and a Kramaric growing in confidence sounds scary good!
do you guys think kramaric and mahir will work up front together??
Yea, before the injury, Eduardo was a natural.
Once that ankle broke, his career was over. He was mediocre and inefficient ever since.
If Kramaric can somehow fit into our starting eleven moving forward, he will likely surpass Eduardo on the scoring list.
Mandzo won’t get anywhere near the NT scoring mark
The Brazilian born Hrvat was on track to come close before his injury.
When it’s all said and done for Mahir, he’ll be #2 or #3 all time for us in terms of scoring all time.
it might sound crazy, but there is an argument that mandzukic is just as good as suker
at both bayern and atletico, mandzukic is scoring in nearly 60% of his games. if you were to do it on a per minute basis considering his platoon role at bayern it would be more impressive yet. add to that, unlike suker, mandzukic rarely takes pentalyt kicks.
suker scored at club in only about 47% of games.
where the undoubted edge goes to suker is in national team play. suker scored in a whopping 65% of his nt games, whereas mandzo is at a still respectiable but more pedestrian 30% clip
but it should be noted, mandzo is actually best with the stakes highest. euro 2012 3 goals in 3 games, wc 2014 2 goals in 2 games, 2 goals in 2 serbia games, world cup clinching goal vs iceland, goal vs turkey to get to euro 2012
so has mandzo produced at suker level for the nt? not close….does he have the talent to going forward???? perhaps….
RIJEKA v Hajduk stream: http://sportska-tv.in/arena/3
GOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLL RIJEKA!!!
Forza Fiume!!!
Ajmo Rijeka!!!
for sure the Adriatic Derby winner!!!
looks like Canada will play Guatemala not Croatia in a FIFA Friendly at the end of March:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_men%27s_national_soccer_team#Friendly_matches
I make fun, but it’s pretty awesome having so many creative central midfielder prospects like that.
@Bobby
Yea, I think there was a short discussion about Balić here.
He’s the next Modrić, but only after Vlašić becomes the next Modrić… Of course, only after Ćorić becomes the next Modrić… This of course, after Kovačić or Halilović become the next Modrić.
😉
than Stanic goal is a classic…
always loved this one by Zuti during WC ’98:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nk8KDdc9ZQ
sick sick goal
Stanic huh?
He was kind of under-rated.
How’s this for an outside the box goal? 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IJEZCCDKXg
Anybody seen Andrija Balic play? Haven’t heard his name mentioned here.
Great analysis Maminjo!
Big Perisic fan too.
Surprised you didn’t mention Jarni too, Ziva?
Pace like that and a good left boot made him a world class weapon on the National level.
Boban for Milan was great, and Boban on May 13th 1990 was great otherwise i wasn’t really a fan.
Seemed kind of soft and faggy for my liking.
Always felt like he was in Zuti’s way.
Modric has Boban covered before he has his morning piss.
Modric is only behind Zuti as the greatest individual talent to come from Croatia.
One guy who was always overlooked back then was Stanic. Dude could play over the half the positions on the field if needed. We have nobody as versitle as him now.
I
@Ziva
I think Mandzukic will surpass Boksic, if he hasn’t already.
It’s easy to look back and inflate the greatness of a player to legend status. I think Boksic’s time at Marseilles was legendary, but after that, he was always considered a very good power forward who was not a particularly efficient scorer, but brought a different & rare skillset for a forward. Mandzukic is similar in his uniqueness and niche skillset, but has somehow managed to include super-efficient scoring as well. Also, unlike Boksic, he’s managed to stay healthy and has surpassed him in terms of National Team performance already with 5 goals in our past two tournaments.
The club careers of Modric and Rakitic will be on par (if not better) than Boban’s and Prosinecki’s careers. However, they have a long way to go in order to match what Boban/Prosinecki did for the National Team. Raketa is still young so there is time for him to step it up and maybe reach that level. Modric is already 29 and probably will never take us to new heights (which is a shame considering his talent).
We’re missing a Jarni caliber player on flank, but it looks as though Perisic is taking that next step. Since June 2014, Perisic has been our best player in every single game we’ve played (whether it’s tournament, qualifier, or a friendly). Time will tell, but this kid will probably be a winger version of Jarni for us. He’s already pumped in 8 times as many goals. He’ll probably have a similar club career as well.
Nobody from this crop will ever reach Suker level. Kramaric, at best, will be a poor man’s Suker (which is actually a compliment). Krama will have a solid career (both club and NT), but he won’t be a Suker. That’s a once in a generation caliber player.
I think because of that Suker factor, the 96-98 squad is better, but not by much. Another major factor is that we had experienced coaching with Blazevic during that era. Yea, Blazevic was an idiot at times, but at least he wasn’t learning on the job (like our last three coaches were).
Another in a long line of fake Ziva Isotna accounts…..,,keep trying
Celta out hustled Atletico big time. No excuse for that loss.
ya i don’t think the current crop is better at the moment but for sure the potential is high right now
lol man if shaktar somehow knocked out bayern that would be soooo awesome… fuck pep
Unless we have a few million dollars to pay a coach, we can put this idea to rest.
I don’t think this is the best team on pure talent: Modrić, Rakitić, Mandžukić, Kovačić, Perišić, Kramarić.
Way to early to include the likes of Balaban 2.0 on that list or to even include Perisic or Kovacic. Those guys have not done much in their young careers on the international level.
I’d still take the 96/98 nucleus (when all healthy) of Suker, Boksic, Zuti, Boban, Bilic……these five were all at one point considered the best or in the argument of being at the top of their respective positions. No knock on the current group, but only Modric fits that description and you can add Mahir Mandzuka because of his CL title and the important role he played in it.
All the others are there on potential. The 96/98 team actually got out of group phases at tourneys and won knockout games. Until the same can be said with the current group, we cant even have that conversation.
I sometimes wonder if you guys actually watched the older generation play. From a skill level Suker, Boksic, Boban, Bilic were better technically than any of their current replacements (with Modric ganing on Boban).
@ Matt
Epic possibility!
I pray that NK makes the move this spring to give the nod to the new talent. I am giving him the benefit of the doubt so far as maybe we needed to stabilize our first place status.
@ Svima
Man did Mandzukic align with his kind of manager.
You don’t think Bayern could of used him today ?
Pray Shaktar can put in a couple of away goals in Munich.
Pep je Peder.
ZDS
Simeone’s next coaching gig is going to be cleaning up Pep Guardiola’s mess at Bayern.
word on the inter webs is that bilic is considered for the man city job
Does Diego have any interest in coaching Croatian?
Nice letter, to bad we had to wake up from the dream.
It would be a dream come true with we could retain the likes of “Cholo” Simeone.
The best we could hope for is that we continue to produce wave after wave of new talent in the years to come. And maybe, just maybe a coach comes along that can ride that wave to the promised land!
No complaints with Kovac. He so far is performing well and bringing in the youth at the same time. He inherited this team and is turning it into his. Will be in a good position for the euros. Players like Jedvaj will be able to step in and play more. Corluka a great player but his form has dropped a bit. Kramaric should be able to step it up as well for the euros.
Dream-
Could we even afford him?
What type of salary would he deserve/command?
– Kovac should be good though 2016… If he fails I hope we go with an outsider.
FYI-Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović looked good at the inauguration- and I don’t mean good like professional- I mean good like you know-
Our Euro 2016 success will be determined by how quickly our new guard can develop chemistry with one another.
The Euros are still a year and a half away, and it’s not at all likely that a starting unit that contains several players well into their 30s (with declining club careers) can possibly be successful.
Every passing day that Kovač decides against benching players like Olić, Pranjić and Srna, is another wasted opportunity to have players like Jedvaj, Vrsaljko, and Kramarić develop that chemistry with one another (as well as our current regulars in Modrić, Rakitić, Mandžukić, etc).
Love Simeone and honestly think he’s the best manager in the world, besides Pep and Jose. This is simply an article of just a dream. If Simeone goes somewhere, it would be a Man City or Arsenal. He wants to go to the big time, although I think he’ll be at Atletico for the long term.
You mostly hit on good points. Besides Corluka who I’ll continue to defend for being reliable, I’d like to see all those old players go to the wayside. I’ve been waiting for Olic’s retirement for about four years now from international play. Great piece, but let’s be honest that the chances of this happening are less likely than Ziva getting new material for his weekly punchlines.
Credibility? What credibility?
ridiculous article/idea, Croatian in first place, Kovac doing well and still can’t please some
Fucking oath !!
word… lets start a fund;)