Nothing changed atop the HNL table between Croatia’s Big-3: Dinamo, Hajduk, Rijeka. On Friday night, Dinamo made easy work of Šibenik winning 3-0. Poljud had to hold their breaths on Sunday as Hajduk needed a 74th minute Marko Livaja header to come back and defeat Varaždin. Rijeka easily handled Istra 4-0 in their derby clash with three Rijeka goals coming inside of 30 minutes: Rukavina, Pašalić, Ivanović.
The biggest result was Hajduk grabbing all three points. Imagine dropping points at home to Varaždin after being eliminated from Europe to a Slovakian side: Ružomberok. Not a great start for good ‘ol Gattuso.
I did not think that Dalic was going to callup Perisic for the NL matches in September, but he has. I guess not really a surprise knowing Dalic, he simply is not capable of dropping our veterans that he is indebted to.
Our defence is top heavy with CB’s with DCC making a comeback. Good to see youngsters like Igor Matanovic and Petar Sucic on the list.
Dalić still refusing to call up Marco Pašalić (despite calls from fans and media), the same way he refused to listen to everyone and bench Broz during the Euros.
His ego is getting the better of him.
his ego or his conscience? I don’t think Dalic’s ego is as prominent as his conscience is. He’s usually good with his principle’s…he remains loyal to those that have earned his loyalty and on the other hand he’s proven he has balls as well. He kicked out Rebic, Kalinic and basically let Livaja make his own decisions because those 3 hurt the team. I feel Dalic has been too loyal to some guys but at the end of the day he’s given us the best results ever so its hard to complain.
Over the years we’ve had some young and “newer style” coaches and I felt they really underachieved…especially Kovac. He had a ton of experience as well as a lot of exposure to great support staff and modern techniques but his “EGO” got in his way. Slaven Bilic has also disappointed with his philosophies and long winded story telling.
with that said, I’m usually not opposed to Dalic’s decisions because he has to make his decisions based on certain criteria he has set for his success as a coach/manager and I do like his ways. if we were to listen to any one particular member from this site we’d have already tried out every Croatian from Croatia to Croatians on other planets…we tend to think anyone is worthy of a try, regardless of any real consistency or true proof. when people might “think” someone deserves an opportunity they often aren’t aware at how much calculation is generally required…the decision isn’t usually that simple because you’re evaluating soo many different variables and guys like Antonio Colak or Roko Simic who seemed to be a 100% obvious choice for some people are a 100% pass by people much smarter and experienced than us.
I don’t mind Perisic and Modric hanging on for a while longer and I’m glad Vida and Broz (I’ll miss Broz a lot) are done and I’m really excited to see Petar Sucic has joined the first team…the kid is a treat to watch. one day we will hopefully see Baturina, L Sucic and P Sucic (yes they’re cousins) all in midfield. I can’t wait to see if they’ll click well together.
Dalić has been good but all coaches can get stale or stubborn and he cost us dearly at the Euros.
He never kicked out Kalinić (who walked out on his own). He begged Livaja to stay, even though there was no need for him. He was pretty blatantly disrespected by all three of these guys.
He’s still stuck on his vets and continues to refuse calling up wingers with actual winger skills.
He’s been heavily criticized by everyone for these two major issues and he refuses to buckle. He’s got a bit of an ego there and doesn’t want people telling him what to do, and he burned a tournament to try and prove his point.
However, I think Dalić is very diplomatic with his players and HNS executives and he’s better suited as HNS president than as coach.
Yes I agree that all coaches “can get stale or stubborn”.
when you said he cost us dearly at the Euro’s…I think his stubbornness works both positively and negatively for us so we gotta take the good with the bad.
for instance. when we beat Brazil at the 2022 World Cup, Juranovic had the game of his life and usually it would be better to play a defensive player against Neymar…but Dalic started Juranovic and on that day, the Gods of football were shining their light on Jura. he will never have another game like that for the rest of his life.
was that win Dalic’s? I’d say yes and I’ll also say he chose a good lineup, he used sturdy players where needed ie…Pasalic, Broz, Gvardiol, Lovren…and he even knew when to put in Bruno as a sub. that win advanced us to the semi finals and I thought Dalic was marvelous considering we had limited options at striker and wing.
I too am glad to see Petar Sučić and Matanović.
Broz leaving forced his hand though.
I’m sure if Perišić officially retired, we’d finally see Marco Pašalić (or some other winger) receive a proper callup.
Perišić (along with the washed up vets who are on the standby list) need to officially retire, or we’ll not be prepared for the upcoming qualifiers and 2026 World Cup.
We should also keep eyes on defenders
E.g. Pong with 2 yellows, than red y’day
The decision making on the 2nd yellow was terrible
Marco Pasalic aka our Jarrod Bowen with a beauty
Exactly what we need on the “RW”
If this doesn’t get him into the starting line-up in September
Nothing will
Some great goals by Rijeka including the first from Gabrijel Rukavina.
spoiler alert it didn’t
Marco Pasalic aka our Jarrod Bowen with a beauty
Exactly what we need on the “RW”
If this doesn’t get him into the starting line-up in September
Nothing will