Photo: Liverpool FC
After a phenomenal first season in the English Premier League with Southampton FC, Croatian defender Dejan Lovren has completed a £20 million move to Liverpool. Lovren had made it known that he wanted to move to Liverpool before the world Cup had even started. Now, he will return to the Champions League (which he played in during his Lyon days) with a revamped Liverpool side who has brought in a plethora of players after selling star striker Luis Suarez.
article about halilovic debut and commending his selection of barcelona as the place to develop his talent long term
http://talksport.com/football/croatian-messi-alen-halilovic-turns-heads-luis-enriques-barcelona-debut-140720102751
With so much idiocy in our FA, plus their inability to develop good coaching, we cannot rely on the Repka to produce successful results.
Therefore I’m happy to see our players perform well at club level. At least it’s something.
Last week someone asked why people were against Puppet Suker and wanted some examples of his idiocy. Well, here is one…..http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/lalovac-odobrio-sumnjivu-privatizaciju-nk-zadra-vlasnik-postaje-reno-sinovcic/760375.aspx
Sinovcic is still around the game and Puppet Suker does nothing to remove him.
I don’t want the armband anywhere near Rakitic or Modric.
I want it on someone’s arm that’s not afraid to yell and scream and chew people out.
I realize all captains don’t need to operate like this but I do think we’d greatly benefit from a proper leader.
A vocal leader, none of this lead by example shit which those 2 never do anyway.
Also, I do wish Lovren all the best but it wouldn’t surprise me if he’ll be mentioned with those other great big money signings by Liverpool of the last few years.
Stewart Downing, Joe Allen, Andy Carroll, Alberto Aquilani, etc, etc…
Liverpool sure know how to piss their money away.
My prediction is they will be the team to drop from the top 4 this season.
ziva hvala
from my source, rakitic flew his gay friend to brazil for world cup!! nogomet i jebeni!!!!!!!!!!!! bahahaahhahah! veliko pedercino!!!!!! !
Any thoughts on the Albanian Mafia reaching into out NT? They already control most of the Cafes & Pizza shops.
@ja sam kurcino – fala bogu!!!!!!!!………..yep, interesting about Rakitic. But, the people on this baord have said they don’t want to hear rumors.
@Antwerp
Croatians tend to place a strong focus on developing a player’s technical ability. This usually results in having many highly skilled midfield-type players who, in many cases, become fantastic dribblers.
The problem is, that when these players eventually become coaches, what are they supposed to teach?
“ok, you’re gonna dribble past these two players, put it through this guy’s legs, and score”
😉
@ ja sam kurcino – fala bogu!!!!!!!!
Nice fail on your spelling, it’s hvala bogu.
anyone hear back story from wc about ivan rakitic….???????
we dont need good coaches?? we already have one in Kovac, players need to step up
would be nice to produce homegrown coaches, but jesus let them get produced with the younger guys, hire out. many other countries do it, someone needs to steal mamic’s piggy bank and get a coach
like someone said, make a good basic contract with a good coach… doesn’t have to be hiddink or something but someone who has coached more then say 10 games lol and then just offer up some really good performance bonuses
i know they are 2 completely different guys playing in different spots but seems to me super marios 22 million is a steal compared to lovrens 25
Since we are so good at producing footballing talent, can’t we put together a system that produces good coaches too?
There is no doubt that we produce an incredible amount of extremely good talent for such a small country.
It makes you where Croatia would be if we were a country of 80 million people like Germany.
There were some pundits commentating that if there still was a Yugoslavia, with a current population of only 22 million people (Serbia 7.1, Croatia 4.5, Bosnia 3.8, Macedonia 2.0, Slovenia 2.0, Kosovo 1.7, Montenegro .7) it would be the favorite in Brazil.
That would still be with 60 million less people than Germany.
Yeah, Costa Rica is smaller and Uruguay about the same, but, what else are those countries good at?…and not nearly as consistent as Croatia has been since independence.
Hell, if there were an Olympics for countries with 5 million people or less, we’d kick ass with the medals.
My main point is that there is little room for error from a coaching standpoint and there can’t be any outside influences or negativity within an organization so small as ours.
Yes, the Mexico game came off as a big fuck-up. Kovac made some mistakes, but, still, way too much talent to not advance.
So, is it the modern day player who doesn’t want to get hurt for his big club money, or the fact that they can’t get it through their heads that they will not be rewarding guys like Mamic, Suker, and ex-coach Stimac if they perform hard and win.
Unfortunately, those crooks will make their money win or lose. It’s the Croatian people that should be on their minds.
Someone should tell them that the same ones that fought and endured the awful war are still alive – if they still need a reason to play hard.
Ohh, it’s pride now…….sometimes talent is what wins out.
Here according to this article, based on value we should have been the 12th best country at the world cup.
http://time.com/#2826581/world-cup-most-valuable-teams/
I’m sure after the Rakitic, Mandjukic and Lovern transfer, we’d be in the top 10. There is no excuse for that pathetic, no heart showing that they put up against Mexico.
And we weren’t the only small country there. Uraguay, Costa Rico are pretty damn small as well. But you know what they had that we didn’t? PRIDE
@Bobby V – I could agree with comment “We are a nation of only 4.5 million people.” BUT lets compare the value of our players to other world cup teams. I don’t know the exact numbers, but I’d be shocked if Mexican or Cameroonian players had been sold for more and are valued higher then our guys.
Because of that we have expectations to get to the next round. There are no excuses going into it.
@milan – I only hope our guys looked at Germany and learned something. Hopefully Kovac learned a thing or two as well.
Soul Champ – Brate uvijek si vjerni and keep it up. Wish more would be around here.
Bobby V – good post above. I believe we will have a stronger showing for France 2016.
@Bobby V
I think Lovren tops Mandzo at 20 million POUNDS. That’s the equivalent of more than 25 million Euros. I think the final cost of Mandzo was only a measly 22 million Euros.
@Soul Champ
Typical narrow minded fan who only remembers brief highlights rather than full game. If you remember that full game, Corluka was actually clearing out just about every ball possible. Yes I’m aware he’s become slow, but he’s still solid. Who else can play back there? Schifo is too unreliable and Vida is unstable.
Kranjcar back in QPR with the great Joey Barton would be beautiful to see. QPR, Liverpool, and Spurs are probably the three teams I’ll support closely for EPL this year.
@ Ron Jeremy
LMAO! Do your best with Ziva. Our population dwindles by the day. Trebamo imati još Hrvati u svijetu.
@ Milan
Ah!!! Great point. However. Srna gives his heart but his legs are done and cannot Marshall the team anymore. We need a new captain. Modric or Rakitic. You pick and create the team around them. In soccer the captain is accountable to have the team ready to perform. Lahm was the best, I am glad you evaluate us against the gold standard.
Our players ARE comparable to the Njemci . I say watch them and take some of their system. But need to honor that we have a few creative geniuses that need space to work their magic NOT track back and tackle for 90 minutes!
@ Bobby V
Our basketball is BACK! Great coach with a very good core group and some young super stars. Enjoy .
Mandzo being showcased to the Atleti fans:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpLmCQQXr-g
I like how he answered all his questions in Croatian, and didn’t bother trying to have a broken English conversation with the interviewer.
It’s painful to see that. The best example is whenever UEFA has the draw for the Champions League and having to listen to that Italian host speak with a bunch of French and German dudes all in broken English, with none of them really understanding each other, lol.
Well, with the basketball team, it sure helps to have an easy group to open up play. Greece and Argentina are the only teams that should trouble us. So, a spot in the knockout round is almost a sure thing, but then we cross over with Group A and that will mean Spain, Serbia, France and Brazil. Those 4 should advance from that group.
Lovren is now the 3rd most expensive Croatian signing, behind Luka Modrić and Mario Mandžukić, and the 5th most expensive signing in Liverpool history, behind Andy Carroll, Luis Suarez, Fernando Torres and Adam Lallana.
Regarding the expectations of our national side at tournaments – and this has been said a thousand times but is the most realistic statement:
We are a nation of only 4.5 million people.
It pretty much makes us all look like a bunch of Pomerainians (barking their heads off) who seems to think it can kick a Great Danes or any larger dog ass when he sees him.
Relax – be proud of our small nation. Don’t get upset like your tatas did when you fucked something up as a teenager.
Keep reporting and promoting the positives. Maybe 1998 will happen again in our lifetime.
However, if you want to see what playing for Croatia should look like, check out Repesa and his basketball team at the World Championships beginning August 31.
@ziva istina
agree to a point the talent is above but do not agree about the coach is responsible for Lahm and Bastain, these guys showed up to play and I know you hate the word “heart” but these guys are a different breed, they are resilent, no mental midgets with them
Lahm and Bastian were coached by a guy who knows what he is doing……plus, the talent level with germany is way above Cro…..way above. How many guys on the cro roster could start for Germany.
@soul champ
You win as a team and you lose as a team. Too many on here want to blame Kovac, savez, blah, blah, etc. Starts with the players. Time for them to show up. Most of them have their rich contracts so hopefully that will motivate them to do something otherwise as No Heart for Country states “that would be too much to ask for”.
Watch how Lahm and Bastian played for Germany. These guys were all over the field, doing it all, could of injured themselfs but they did not care, they played and it showed. Hopefully our boys watched that game and realized time to step it up or go back to the coast and enjoy the sun.
Soul Champ – Brate I’ll do better than that! My upcoming movie Kralj Kurcino will be dedicated to Ziva Istina! Maybe, just maybe It will help with the big V issue. I can offer no help if the issue is closet queer….
@ Milan
Agreed. You put on the GRB and you better bring it!
Enjoy our Kasarku crew this August as they play with heart and Repesa is a real basketball coach.
I will say that we can no longer play old tired legs and expect Modric to be Maradona. The modern game is to organized and everyone trains and has decent players at the World Cup.
Mexico match was embarrassing on many levels but to blame all the players is not fair.
Positive goings forward:
U21 – Euro June ’15.
Potential Olympic birth with semi-final finish
Full pipe line of young talent to blood during euro qualifiers.
@ Ron Jeremy
Could you send Ziva an autograph picture with some tips to get the basement moving a bit. I am sure he has some space next to his Corluka at Srce poster.
Mmm… Kralj Kurcino. Maybe I’ll use that title for my upcoming movie. I like the sounds of it. So what is it Ziva closet queer or the big V????
@AJMO Hajduk………..hmmm. Maybe.
BTW, remove the capital “H” from my beloved, yet jadan, mali i nemocan hajduk. They don’t deserve a capital “H”.
@Ron Jeremy……..pozdrav kralj kurcino……….I comment about everything and anything cro related. Last I checked this was a website of cro athletes. A cro athletes’ sexual orientation is fair game, especially the nontraditional ones..
Ziva – it amazes me how much you know and comment on our athletes sexual lives. Let me guess, you’re a closet queer or a sexually frustrated virgin.
@ajmo Hajduk
Ziva, you talk about Niko eating fast food and lovren liking gays when they both get more pussy in one night than you will in your lifetime. I’ve never seen you or know anything about you but based on the garbage you post i can tell that you get no action in life.
@Milan,
I doubt it. They’re more concerned with getting their transfer to bigger clubs and getting better pay. Once at the bigger clubs they’ll play like pussies to avoid injuries and jepordizing their club careers.
I wish they would look into the stands and realize what they have. They have people traveling the world, spending a shit ton of money to support them and show our pride for country. but that would be too much to ask for.
England is more open to gays (or bi-sexuals), especially Liverpool. SO, Lovren should feel at home.
@soul champ
This has nothing to do regading being positive or negative. I make no excuses for this team unlike many here. No need to sugarcoat this.
Euro is around the corner starting in september so we will see if these mental midgets on the field get a backbone and decide to finally play for Hrvatska.
Liverpool is a good choice since he was one of the Homosex guys at the pool party. Sramota.
@ angry Hrvati
WE MISSED THE LAST WORLD CUP IN 2010!
Our players tactically at a major disadvantage against Mexico.
We played way too many old tired legs and kept young studs on bench.
@ basementGRAD
I am happy for Kranjčar . Repka or not I like to see all of players prosper and do well. Not sure how that integrates with your Za Basement Spremni lifestyle?
@ Milan
Appreciate the frustration but need to hear some more specifics. For example Perisic played the best he has played in 3 years in Brazil.
I humbly request you write positives about where the repka is heading into the next 2 years. Then you can write one major concern you have. Jebi ga it is a worth a try!
Uvijek Vjerni.
If true, this could be great news for the fast food industry in London, especially around the QPR grounds…..
http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/redknapp-ipak-vraca-kranjcara-u-london-niko-ima-kvalitetu-za-premiership/762440.aspx
Milan……let soul champ talk. I get a kick out of his talk about heart, soul and passion……
Anyone interested in a good read with comments by Mario Stanic, here you go………he brings up a great point about Males. Dude did the right thing and he gets rewarded with death threats from Mamic’s people and is basically black balled out of the game..
http://www.index.hr/sport/clanak/stanic-gdje-je-danas-hrvoje-males-to-bi-pitanje-trebalo-progoniti-svakoga/762448.aspx
There is a small part of me that wishes our repka does fail only because if we ever do get a great result at a Euro or World Cup, people like Mamic and Puppet Suker would be out in front taking credit. Plus, Puppet Suker would most likely also be selling tickets that were intended for our fans to his ticket broker buddy in Germany.
Wow this crap won’t stop about technical this and that. Our players underperformed for the repka. Watch the game against Mexico. Modric and Rakitic taking a walk in the park. No worries as we know they will shine for their clubs and come euros same crap from our players. Too many execuses being made on this site.
He played well in Brazil.
Not a soccer expert but it seems that teamwork and partnership are key to defensive back lines ?
Crap goal keeping and slow and WACK Corluka is a tough thing to work with.
Our repka needs some time gel and work out the kinks.
Lovren should be paired with CB that can run like he does.
Corluka is too slow to play highline and track defenders.
Let’s be clear, it was Corluka WHO allowed Marquez to bum rush that header into a rooted Pletikosa net.
Also red card was travesty of justice.
@ Svima
Our world class players need a system to thrive in. While I liked the Kovac move because I knew the players would play hard, we now need to see some tactical nouse that activates our natural talent.
Again we are now producing more talent then ever as a modern nation state . Remember ’98 was a product of a stronger Jugo domestic league. We now have to start producing some young coaching talent to go along with our playing talent.
Uvijek vjerni .
There is too much glorifying these players, what have they done for their country, their egos get so high that they believe they are the sh*t because they play for a top club but lose to a Mexico team with a majority of Liga MX players. What a joke, if I was playing I would have a hard time smiling after what happened a month ago
Is Lovren an Irish surname? I know he’s from BiH.
Another National Team player who underperformed in the World Cup, but is joining an elite team.
Why would Liverpool want Lovren when there are hundreds of defenders better than him?
Agreed….congrats to him for being in England and the access the EPL clubs have to that TV money…….he is a good player, but has never shown he is elite. Maybe he will
Another Croatian playing in Champions League should be intriguing, although one mistake for the national team and he’ll be crucified forever. Good for Lovern though, taking advantage of being overpaid and playing for a big-time club.
He’s the most expensive Croatian defender in history. Also his£20 million move is the 2nd biggest for a Croatian player, the first being Luka Modric.
Who gives a shit about your post stef.
We still talking about soccer?
Wake me up when Kovac and Suker are fired Mamic killed by an obsessed Dinamo fan, national team finally hires a real coach and national team reach the next stage of the World Cup. Other than that I don’t give a shit!
All our players play for best clubs in world but produce nothing for the repka…what a shame…
Good for him, hopefully he puts in another stellar year!
Poor Southampton!