Written by Markus
In order to progress to the Round of 16, Croatia needs a minimum of four points from their next two matches. Three points could allow the Vatreni to move on as a 3rd seed, but we all know that no one wants that. Changes definitely need to be made for the upcoming match against the Czech Republic and there are two ways Dalić can play his cards:
Scenario 1:
Croatia plays a 4-2-3-1 formation with Petković in his natural striker position; not forcing him to adjust into a target-man role. Let him do his thing in the box and work with his feet because, let’s be honest, not a single striker on our team is beating this Czech defense in aerial duels. This is why I believe Budimir could be a waste in this game considering the Czechs have very strong and tall center backs, and Budimir is not strong enough to fight for those 50/50 balls.
Kalas- 6’1″ 190lbs
Celustka- 6’2″ 180lbs
Zima- 6’3″ 186lbs
Provod- 6’2″ 188lbs
Kral and Soucek CDMs – 6’1″ 170lbs and 6’4″ 192lbs
Stats from their game vs. Scotland (proving the Czechs are strong in the air but weak technically):
Celustka- 8/12 aerial duels- 1/4 long balls, 25/33 passes completed (75%), possession lost 10 times
Kalas- 3/4 aerial duels- 1/4 long balls, 17/22 passes completed (77%), possession lost 5 times
Boril- 0/2 aerial duels- 3/8 long balls, 21/31 passes completed (67%), possession lost 14 times
Coufal- 2/2 aerial duels- 3/8 long balls, 36/48 passes completed (75%), possession lost 26 times
Soucek- 6/8 aerial duels- 2/5 long balls, 20/31 passes completed (64%), possession lost 14 times
Kral- 3/4 aerial duels- 3/5 long balls, 17/30 passes completed (57%), possession lost 15 times
For comparison to our defensive units (Defense and DM) against England:
Ćaleta-Car– 1/1 aerial duels- 4/6 long balls, 49/52 passes completed (94%), possession lost 4 times
Vida- 0/1 aerial duels- 2/4 long balls, 37/41 passes completed (90%), possession lost 4 times
Gvardiol- 0 aerial duels- 27/30 passes completed (90%), possession lost 5 times, 1/1 dribble attempts
Vrsaljko- 4/4 aerial duels- 2/6 long balls, 30/44 passes completed (68%), possession lost 25 times
Brozović- 1/2 aerial duels- 2/3 long balls, 49/56 passes completed (88%), possession lost 11 times
We always comment about Croatia’s defense being poor on the ball but Czech makes us look like gods. Their best defensive players’ passing completion percentage is 77% and ours 94%. They lost the ball 14 times per defensive player on average compared to Croatia at 9.8 (keep in mind that Vrsaljko affects Croatia’s stats drastically). Only one of their players lost the ball less times than our average. However, their advantage is in aerial duels. Most defensive stats are lackluster bare air stats. Keep in mind that Croatia played England and they played Scotland.
I believe that Ante Budimir would thus be inefficient against this defense as he is technically inept when compared to Bruno Petković.
Kramarić and Petković both like dribbling a lot and we have seen what they can do together on the pitch. I think Vlašić would be a better fit as he can unlock defenses from his comfortable attacking mid role, like he does for CSKA. Vlašić on the wing is wasting his skill set.
I want to see Rebić on the left wing. Petković as a striker won’t offer much pressure so we need two work horses to compensate on the wings. Perišić and Rebić are the answers. However, one is ambidextrous and the other is not, yet we’re limiting Rebić’s talents on the right wing? Rebić has been a force to be reckoned with in the Serie A this season on the left flank and I say we put him in his most comfortable position (something Dalić doesn’t really like to do). Perišić also likes his left side but he can adjust to the right much better than Rebić can.
Now, as a midfield pivot, we play Modrić-Kovačić. Although Ante may disagree with me ;), I think Kova merits it for his England performance. However, I hate giving things just for merit, and I want to field the best possible lineup. That’s why I stick by this Modrić-Kova pivot because Kovačić is very comfortable in that role (plays it with Chelsea) and it allows Vlašić to really get up the pitch and almost play as a second striker right off Petković’s shoulder. We won’t need to defend as much as in the England game so a DM could just be a waste and will create a giant gap behind Petković and in front of our midfield.
The backline remains untouched. Despite confusing criticism, I thought Gvardiol was excellent. Yes, he missed a tackle but he was not at fault for the goal. Ćaleta-Car was caught in no-man’s land and Brozović left Sterling unmarked, who then obviously outpaced Vida. Vida-Ćaleta are getting more and more comfortable, however, I expect more from Ćaleta. He seems a bit quiet and gets caught off guard a lot defensively. That being said, he’s still a surefire starter for me right now, but he needs to up his game a bit. Against Czech I’d like to see him drift up and utilize his long ball playing ability. Vrsaljko is slowly getting better every game he plays in so I wouldn’t make changes on that end. Finally, Livaković is our undisputed starter.
Scenario 2:
There are thousands of lineups we can all fumble with. Although I believe Budimir could potentially be a useful asset, this game is not for him. We need to take a technical approach because Croatia are much more skilled than the Czechs. Height, strength, and crossing will NOT work. This is why I had Petković and Vlašič in the first scenario.
I doubt Dalić even considers this as a potential option but here goes:
Kramarić false 9. We play like Liverpool 2019.
Kramarić is our Firmino. We know he can’t be left isolated as a striker so he plays as a slightly more advanced CAM and no striker in front of him. Why use a striker if they all suck? Why does it always have to be the conventional 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1? Kramarić can unleash his inner Hoffenheim with this formation that could have Perišić and Rebić/Brekalo on the wings. I’ll leave this one up to the comments. Do we play Rebić or Brekalo on the wing with this formation? Brekalo is obviously much more technically skilled and can be useful at unlocking the Czech defense, however, Rebić is a work horse and will disrupt by pressing. Now, Rebić still seems injured so I’ll go with Brekalo on this one. The midfield would have to be a Modrić-Kovačić CM and Brozović as the DM. Maybe we give him a chance to bounce back? This is the risky part in my lineup. We’d need a DM and I’m not sure if Marcelo is up for it.
Defense remains untouched as I have previously explained.
Perišić and Brekalo will be our Mane and Salah’s, pressing up the field and stretching the pitch out, allowing Kramarić room to mingle in the center. We have a rock solid midfield trio that no one on the Czech team can break down (Soucek alone will not do the job).
The biggest X factor is Kramarić. Dalić needs to find a way to create a system that works with Andrej.
Ultimately, it comes down to how motivated and in sync our players are. No formation in the world works if there isn’t any cohesiveness or teamwork. This is what we lack and if we could find some rhythm; then the Vatreni take off!
I recall seeing a interesting lineup when we lost to France in the nations league. It was a 4-2-3-1. Dalic had Vlasic in the middle at cam. Then Perisic and Pasalic at the wings. Petkovic started but was subbed out for Budimir. Badelj and Modric at central mid. I remember watching that match and our lineup pressured France even though it was a 2-1. Keep the same backend from last game. I don’t know if Lovren will start but he shouldn’t, will Bradaric get the call? Maybe try that formation and have Budimir as the lone forward. Vlasic and Rebic at the wing. Modric with Brozovic in the middle. I think the way the Czech play the formation has to change. I watched the highlights for Czech against Scotland and previous matches. The Czech are a fast paced team that completes lots of give and go’s. The centre backs are tall and strong but the fullbacks are small and weaker. If we want goals we need mid control which shouldn’t be difficult considering the Czech play with two centre mids always. Get balls on the wing and create opportunities in the box. That’s what we failed to do against England. The Czech don’t need ball control to win, they are always moving and have lots of speed. Lots of their goals are from headers, corners or long balls. But from what I’ve seen in the team, they lighten up in the 18 yard box. The defending is almost perfect…they are constantly on top of wingers and give no space for runs. Get balls in deep and score a dirty one in the box. We must play quick, fast, and aggressive against this side. We lacked that against England.
Any idea if Lovren will start? I want to see Vlasic starting. Give Brekalo, Budimir, and Orsic minutes
Duje got a yellow and made a couple mistakes; handball and let Philips get by him for the goal. That said, he did pretty well and had a great recovery against Sterling early on. Would be interesting to see if he gets pushed out for Lovren. Personally I think DCC and Lovren are our best CBs. Lovren has pretty good passing range compared to the other CBs as well. I’m fairly confident he will play but am not sure if he subs out DCC or Vida.
Watch Lovren interview on HNS YouTube- he gave it good to one reporter who wrote he won’t be playing – his a very sarcastic SOB- I say he will play
Yup saw that interview. Dude needs to calm down and stop being so emo with the reporters. Take the higher road, it’s their job
All these debbie downers..We need to give ourselves a lot more credit then we do as a soccer nation regardless of how we do the next 2 games.We ALL want to win!We have all truly turned into our fathers sons.. constantly griping and rare to compliment.
Look at Turkey a country 20 times our size with a far better domestic league,and they continue to poop the bed like they did today and against Italy.
We have become spoiled by our success…remember it could be far worse…Poland anyone…Russia…the list goes on!
Enjoy the show.. it’s impressive enough that we are on stage continuously.
Talked to Igor Budan today in zadar asked what he thinks he said if we beat the czech hrvatski diset euforija will take over but like all of us he said we are stale and are affraid to take risks for some reasons. And 1.01 zicer Next coach will be Biscan in september.
Imo if anyone cares for me its hard to believe we will make a u turn all of a sudden i really hope we do but as mentioned on this site and many croatia portals we just dont have eye of tiger like in russia lost key players and we never filled the roles granted its hard to replace Mandzo Raketa.
Livakovic Gvardiol Vida Lovren Vrsaljko Kovavic Modric Vlasic Perisic Brekalo/Kramaric Petkovic id go with that but we dont have a standard 11 like other teams we are still searching and if you search at tournaments you have nothing to do but just participate 3 and out but ajmo vatreni prove us wrong
Yea, I have a bad feeling that Biscan will be coach over the much more deserved Bjelica.
Bjelica is proven, and has done very well with very little. Biscan is not. I think Biscan has potential, but it was tainted by his mediocre performance at the U21 Euros.
That Bjelica/Dinamo thing where he was fired has likely blacklisted him from the National Team.
I hope I’m wrong because he would take us a step further.
Vladimir Petkovic is also an option (if he gets fired) but I doubt it.
Curious if we actually look at non Croatian candidates once Dalic steps down.
Probably not… and that’s largely because of the fact that Igor Bišćan seems to be very highly rated by the HNS.
He’s not bad, but he’s still too inexperienced and unproven for me.
I hate taking unnecessary risks with inexperienced coaching.
Bjelica would be perfect for us.
Hoepfully hes made good relationships with the youngsters he could potentially coach with the senior team.
That’s a dream but it won’t happen- the bureaucracy of HNS is to make sure no outsider will coach
I know you hate everything about the U21’s, but his performance wasn’t mediocre. He took over a team in trouble and took them to the final 8. Not too bad. Also, coaching National teams is a lot different than coaching a club. Bjelica is an excellent coach, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to coaching a National team. I’d be ok with either selection, to be honest.
Italy’s groups might be the easiest. Anyone watching Turks and welsh…these teams both stink lol no defence – strikers missing open nets, players tripping over each other – looks like high school soccer lol. Gotta be weakest group if not one of them.
Group E is the weakest. Slovakia, Poland & Sweden. Even the Dutch’s group is gvono.
Best Scenario is us beating Czech and drawing Scotland. I’m hoping England smashes the Scots because that extinguishes they’re pride and motivation in the last game against us. A draw against Czech won’t be enough but it isn’t the worse. If we beat Czech, England beats Scotland and then the last match day will be interesting. If the Czech draw England then we would need a draw or win against the Scots. Because if Czech beats England and I could see that happening then a win vs Scotland is crucial to not get third or at least get through. All this analysis is driving me insane. Just win Friday so we have confidence. Amjooo
Best case scenario
Croatia beats Czech
Scotland losses hugely to England
Croatia draws or beats Scotland
Czech losses to England
It’s quite obvious now how clutch and valuable Mandzukic really was for Croatia and his club team on so many occasions. He was an Assassin!! it’s extremely tough to just replace a player of that caliber.
That being said a lot of the players also for what ever reason just haven’t looked HUNGRY in recent games.. I don’t know why??? At this point it’s win or die if you want to survive in this tournament and Dalic’s main job right now should be getting the team fired up and snapping them out of whatever zombie funk they are in. I really hope we get to see an exciting game where Croatia play with heart and some god damn energy and life. Let’s hope they wake up for the Czech game.
Dalic has let us go stale.
Been calling for his firing for a long time now. Dont know how he survived those 2 games in March. Our boys need some life breathed into the team and hes not gonna provide it. What a shame we’re wasting this tournament and Modric by hanging on to Dalic. Always been a Suker fan but this has been his biggest oversight
My Brothers,
For those of you who watched and listened to the espn broadcast vs England.
Never forget how the media will always do us dirty. This is a call to ALWAYS call out fakenews from those who control the marrative.
Examples:
Brozovic- instead of congratulating for being a huge part of Inter winning the Serie A and unseating Juventus after a 7? Year run…the dopes chose to say he was “unathletic” and a hot head. The guy carried Inter at times.
Kova-instead of congratulating Kova for his 4th Champions league title…the dopes decided to point out he only got 10mins in the final game, and 0 in the RM champions league game.
They also decided to bring up his red card in the fa cup.
Perisic-they inexplicably said he didnt always start at Inter. The truth is Perisic started most games except those he was injured or getting a rest. All players get rested from time to time, but Perisic was the clear starter from very early in the season. They should have congratulated him for being a winner at Bayern and at Inter (where he played out of position, and obviously did it extremely well.)
Car-they randomly decided to talk about his refusal to play for the under 19s, and mentioned his neach photo.
All the while praising England scrubs as if they were the second coming of wayne rooney.
Oh fucking cry me a river. Of course England is going to get favoritism from British commentators.
All some of you do is whine. You love the us against the world thing but also want love from every where.
All in all you are cherry picking just like you are saying the Brits did.
They also said that Kova looked dangerous all game and praised him.
They said that Carleta was highly rated and sought after.
They said how dangerous Perisic was on numerous occasions.
Brozo didnt deserve anything good to be said about him that game so it is what it is.
Stop playing the victim and dont be so fragile.
Spot on. The media is against us. The refs have it in for us. The bura is really bad this year. On and on and on. Do you think people in the domovina had this victim attitude when trying to secure our independence? That was the case, we’d still be Jug’s, Austrian-Hungarian or god knows what…
@armada well said sir.
I agree, but take into consideration that if Hrvatska was still in (an existing) Austria-Hungary after WWI…we would never have been a provincial colony in that shitty serboslavia mess which was yugo! Hrvatska and Bosnia would not have had to deal with cocky half-Turks who thought they were the masters.
Can you guys believe there are people on some Facebook and comment sections of Croatian websites that actually believe the following?
1-Vlasic shouldn’t start. Only an idiot like Dalic would ever sit Vlasic, even if he is playing at 70%, due to injury.
2-Budimir is a good idea. Only an idiot like Dalic would ignore the obvious good results of the Petkovic, Rebic, Perisic, and Vlasic front four. He has experimented with everything else but this winning combination ever since our only good stretch of play since Mandzukic retired. See Sep 6 2019 to Nov 16 2019. Inexplicably he veered from that formula ever since, and here we are with dopey people on other websites asking for Budimir! Seriously?
3-Play the young guys! Only a moron like Dalic would do that, like he did.vs Sweden in the UNL when we lost pathetically.
4-Rebic sucks. Only a moron who knows nothing about soccer would sit Rebic, even if he is playing at 70% due to injury.
The lineup vs Czech and Scotland is crystal clear.
Petko
Perisic-Vlasic-Rebic
Modric – Brozo (or Kova)
Gvardiol – Vida- Car – Vrsaljko
only an idiot would start 2 players at 70%
I like this starting eleven.
The offense worked for us in qualifying, and it may work for us against Scotland and Czech.
If Vlasic’s knee is still bothering him, you can sub him out with Kramaric in that spot.
If Broz is still playing poorly, you can sub him out and try Kovacic there.
Dalic will put the same line – Perisic | Rebic | Kramaric + Brozovic (out for Vlasic)
with no target man | and push Rebic / Kramaric in front, but figure out it won’t give a goal solution | so He is gonna put Petkovic and see he won’t do anything | there … even a sloppy pass !!! (he can’t control the ball properly) – what a wasted
Nice article using stats and player’s performance to justify playing positions. I would be comfortable either of your scenarios right now. Losing 1-0 to one of the tournament favourites is not that bad for Croatia. We are NOT one of the tournament favourites. We are just not as good, plain and simple especially when it comes to goal scoring at the highest level. Could we win the tournament; definitely but unlikely.
Compare our current squad to the 2018 squad; we had multiple players playing Champions League knock out stage football; how many of our players were in the knock out stage this year? The answer is less than the English team. Dalic has tired all sorts of combinations over the last 3 years and finally got us into a tournament by finishing first in our group. I think he’s the best coach we’ve had since Slaven.
All that aside, if Rebic or Kramaric can regain club form, we’re back in business!
@Andrej L can you please tell us what combinations he’s used? How is he the best coach when he has the worst losing % in the history of the national team? The guy is clueless. Anyone that plays Jedvaj or Melnjak the amount of times he has should be fired on the spot.
He’s clearly used multiple lineups. The two players you mentioned are not in our squad at the moment. Unfortunately, Gvardiol and Vrsaljko were not obvious options when Jedvaj/Melnjak played. He took over and did well to get us into the WC, then he took us to the WC final, and most recently we finished 1st in a group where 4 of 5 teams qualified for the Euros. These were all important competitive matches in which he was quite successful. If you consider Nations League and friendlies, then sure he hasn’t been successful against the some best teams in Europe. I would just point the finger at the reality that some teams are just better than us when we lose to them and it’s not always the coaches fault.
On that note, too bad guys like Jedvaj and Pjaca couldn’t even make the squad this year. They need to find get some consistent playing time next season.
Remeber that losing percentage coincided with the intro of the nations league
All the other coaches didn’t have to play vs. top ten ranked opponents consistently.
It matters.
Exactly, agreed. I highly doubt Cacic, Kovac, or Stimac would’ve done better.
Furthermore, would our U21 team have eliminated England out of the Euros if Dalic called the youngsters for Nations League?? Those players developed chemistry with other players who hopefully will join the senior team and got experience at a major tournament. I really like our development structure and it will help ensure development of quality players for a country with a limited population and finances as well.
the czech team is not a pushover . They are technical and can play a serious physical game . I agree it will come down to our players to go out and win the game . They need to put three goals in the net or better to have any chance and at the round of 16. I don’t have to tell anyone here how we have done at past events when we needed win to advance. So this is it. A draw will not see us through . We cannot rely on the Scotland game. This is for all the marbles . We must win !
Krama
Rebic Perisic
Kovacic
Modric brozovic
Gvardiol dcc vida vrs
Liva
It’s borderline crazy, but maybe strip back Mateos defensive responsibilities and let him run at the other teams back line and try to attack through the middle a little bit… he can’t shoot for shit, but he can make players look foolish in tight spots, it would also free up modric to just play a deep lying role
Why even waste time writing this article? Dalic hasn’t changed his tactics in 3 years. He doesn’t know how and does not understand that technical side of the game. He will field the obvious or do something he’s done in the past, something that did not work. The guy loves to force a tennis ball through a garden hose.
I dont get playing rebic as cf doesn’t male sense to me guy has no teknika probably just in to run like a chicken without a head. Why call budimir petkovic if they arent good enough. Dalic knows best i guess. Id bench rebic infavor of brekalo orisic ivanusec what do we have to lose
Why don’t we start with Domagoj Bradaric from Lille he’s only 21 adds some pace from left back.
gvardiol is wayyy faster than him. also bradaric is small and weak.
https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2021/feature-why-domagoj-bradaric-is-losing-out-to-reinildo-at-lille/
Gvardiol is actually much faster
Today’s practice lineup…
Livaković – Vrsaljko, Vida, Ćaleta-Car, Gvardiol – Modrić, Kovačić – Brekalo, Vlašić (Kramarić), Perišić – Rebić
Ronaldo way offside! Of course they let it stand.. Could be the difference in a tight group
I agree and had it been us today against the French those two offsides goals would off stood . To be honest that concerns me as we go forward. We are not the same team. In the future if our younger generation looks promising and is a serious contender I don’t rule out behind the scenes string pulling to ice us. At Russia had France scored those two goals I could live with that. The issue that irked me with the penalty was that the ref looked at the tape and did not want to give the penalty. They called him back twice to look at it. They pressured him to give a penalty and those same refs knew Grizeman dove. To me there I knew the game was lost. When the Rocket had the break away just out of now where protesters stormed the field in a country that things like that don happen. We made some mistakes for sure at the final. But had we scored two goals and if people thought we had any real shot at winning that final I am convinced that people would of made sure we lost. 96 euro prime example
Only one player can save us in the 9 position, and that is… Dejan Lovren! Remember when guys on here were calling for Lovren to play up top? Well… He’s good in the air on set pieces and physically imposing, and less of a risk if he’s on the opposite end from our goal 😀
Hahaha that was me!!!! I was calling for it every other day. Mind you i did also say Modric should be playing goalie 😉
Ivanušec thrives on the right side. I would love to see him come off the bench. He’s had a great season.
totally agree!
Sosa
dobit ces kais!
There is no magic bullet. No system tweak that’s gonna save us. The boys need to play. That’s it!! Play nogomet like men.
Control the ball, find space, run hard, tackle hard, close opponents down hard, make life difficult.
Our biggest problem is not lack of skill or ability, it’s DESIRE!
In Russia we knew we could win and we had the desire to go all out to do it. We still have the skill set, we just need the WILL to win. Motivation!!!
Ajmo dečki!!!
Napred Hrvati!!!
U boj, u boj, za narod tvoj!!!
Agree
We are not the most talented but no way we are not talented enough and add that with crazy hard work to make it far
Mandzukic attitude is what we miss
He was the spear head of that pressure
Run me down
I always say there is no excuse for not being the hardest working and most in shape
Sure there are genetics that come into play but besides some blacks on teams we are as good or better runners then many
Heart and tactics make up the rest
Leave it on the field
Samo igraj mudder fackers;)
Dalić has said that the lineup will be different against Czekia because the lineup against England was specifically meant to prevent them from scoring, rather than to win. We’ll see a very different game against the Czechs and the scots, especially because neither one of those teams is very good at completing passes. As I’ve noted before, our players usually score goals for their clubs on running plays in open play. I expect to see that against the Czechs.
Dalic doesn’t know what he is doing. We have no goal scorer, he brings a 3 extra keeper, petkovic, pasalic and badelj? Are u kidding me, those guys are not for tournaments. We haven’t had a goal scorer since boksic and suker
youre right John, not having a striker since Boksic and Suker clearly means that Dalic doesnt know what he is doing.
Also, we had guys like Da Silva and Prso…. silly comment. C’mon.
Really nothing more to say.
We need to come out and win this game. We have a chance to pull a Portugal 2016 here, lol.
To quote Ćiro Blažević in a way… I’d happily eat my words, if I was wrong (and be ridiculed on this site), but we aren’t making a run to the finals lol if we run into France, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Germany (if they get in form) and a few other teams even – we just don’t have the firepower, tactics or coaching to get past them. Looking at things right now, on our best day we can probably hang with most of these teams – but if a team like France or Portugal (both better than they were in 2018) is ‘on’ I just don’t see how we can A) stop/slow them or B) score enough goals to keep up with them, in the event it would turn into a shootout of sorts.
Again, I hope I’m dead wrong and you guys chase me off here for being so wrong, but I think our ceiling is SF. Anything past that is a gift. Come 2022, 2024 we can talk once this new generation takes over the squad.
Well, we can always pull the Greece 2004 or the Portugal 2016 and just play bunker or counter lol.
Even if we decided to do that lol we don’t have the defenders for it nor the attacking players to be dangerous on the counter. We’re built for the way we play currently. When we have other guys on here advocating for all these radical changes and formations… its like hey bro, this aint FM ’21 🙂
everybody but Modric should be game to game- you play well – you play the next game- you stink – you sit- we got some prima donna mentality that has to be snapped back into reality- it’s HNS so there is tons of political backdoor crap that takes place- play the kids now and see who wants it- Perisic , Brozovic, Rebic- they look fried for some reason- maybe playing for the “checkers” has lost it’s luster- sit them on the bench and see if we can get Vatreni back – I believe we are a great soccer country when we are driven by nationalism- these guys are driven by club paycheque- maybe the Dinamo kids can come in and go old school 1998
I agree 100%
thank you Markus- you are much younger than me but I’m sure you saw 1998 team- that had very little to do about soccer- it was about Croatia and our will to show the world post war what Croatian people are all about- I sense something has changed since 2018- I can’t put my finger on it but there is no fire with this team-
Yeah this seems to be a transition time. Once our guys in the 18-23 age range get into their primes we will be back.
Yes, it happens with all teams- let’s hope for the best- take care Markus
Ante brother, Czech vs Croatia game says July 18th… cmon. I saw some of the Scotland game. The Scotts were all over Czech and could’ve popped in 2-3 goals. That goalie who plays with Rakitic is insanely good. The Czech’s did look good and play aggressive. Scotland deserved better.. Robertson is a player we need to keep and eye out for when he goes for a run on our right back. That kid has lots of speed and agility.
Scotland are at home so its expected for them to come out firing.
Actually, one of the dodgy things about this tourney is 2 of our 3 group games are played away from home against a partisan crowd which is frankly BS imho. First time UEFA has decided to cheat this directly, as though countries like England and Germany dont get enough of an advantage as is.
I think lovren will play from reports and strong report states that epic broz might be benched and kramaric/rebic will be benched i heard two lineups are being tryed
Livi vrasaljko lovren vida barisic/gvardiol modric kovacic perisic vlasic brekalo petkovic
And livi vrsaljko lovren vida gvardiol modric kovacic vlasic perisic kramaric rebic
Lovren? Yikes
Brozo benched ?! Dreams do come true.
Kramaric plays just behind the strikers at Hoffenheim which I think we need. Rebic up top, apparently he said he doesn’t like the right and he’s done it for Milan as well when Ibra was out. Perisic on your left and have Vrsaljko over lap on the right.
I can’t see them changing starting players for this game, maybe I’m wrong and we see Petkovic instead. Can’t see us changing the midfield or defense what do you think?
Croatia put high pressure on England’s two central defenders only 2-3 times the entire match – Mings was begging to have the ball stolen from him. But the overall age of our players prevents us from doing this more often.
As for our attack, the entire problem was shown in the 90th minute when Perisic played a perfect header into the box, only to have Petkovic way behind the play. On several counterattacks, our wingers look up, see nobody inside the box, and have to pull the ball out.
Kovacic was the only player between the ages of 25-29 to play well. Brozovic sucked.
The top teams in the World have an overwhelming starting lineup with players in that age group.
The rest of Croatia’s starters are in their 30’s past their prime or young and inexperienced.
Those of you saying not to worry about scoring only once in 12 chances against Armenia don’t know squat – so we’re going to score 2-3 of our 4 chances we get against England?
Sad to say, but, Pasalic is the only player who knows how to position himself in the box, however, he isn’t a deadly finisher – and Vlasic is one player who can score from distance.
Better chance with them starting than Kramaric and Rebic.