There was a small chance both Luka Modrić and striker Ante Budimir could have been available for Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier between Croatia and Slovenia in Split, CroatiaWeek.com reports. However, both La Liga players have been officially ruled out with injury and will miss all three September World Cup qualifiers.
The Vatreni drew Russia 0-0 in Moscow on Wednesday before stealing a win vs. Slovakia on Saturday. A win vs. Slovenia at Poljud ensures Croatia will sit atop Group H World Cup qualifying going into October’s matches. Russia host Malta on Tuesday and should bag all three points.
Mateo Kovačić has done a good job carrying the midfield load against Russia and Slovakia in Modrić’s absence. However, this would have been a prime week for Ante Budimir to play as striker for Croatia with Andrej Kramarić looking out of sorts in the final third while Antonio Čolak was given his first cap in the Croatian shirt vs. Slovakia.
Croatia should not underestimate Slovenia, who beat them 1-0 back in March during the opening group match. Slovenia scored in the 15th minute and bunkered the rest of the match to upset Croatia in Ljubljana. In five WC qualifiers, it was the only goal Croatia has conceded so far.
Even without Modrić and Budimir, if Croatia can get a win at Poljud and earn 7 points from this week (which is their toughest stretch this qualifying campaign), consider it a HUGE success! Especially with goals not falling in.
3-5-2
(3-4-1-2)
I’m going along to say I believe we have enough defenders that can aid to the attack and flow of the game and keep composure.. I believe the days of our stagnant and gutless(offensively speaking) back line are coming to an end and all this is happening with the injection of 2 modern players (SOSA & GVARDIOL). Vrsajko would be my 1st pick in the Vlasic position as he is the only player currently tested and has shown to be “Srna like” when in form.. With him out and not sure if he will ever be the same due to his age, do we have anyone with these attributes? Feel free to comment please as this is the key to the puzzle! Juranovic has been and is great but a true Vrsajko type player would be key for us and add depth there! I feel we have solved our Modric mystery and Vlasic/Mayer/Livaja are solid there.. what ever happened to Allen Halilovic and is Ante Coric going to follow suit Krovinovic?Krovinovic would be interesting if he gains form again was amazing at Benfica till injury?
Maybe Stipe Biuk to solidify some attacking on LW even though Orsic has been a great option and Bradaric has not really been given a chance but for Perisic type of player I believe BIUK is most similar!
Strikers wise we still should try to flirt around with some youth.. Sucic Ljubicic Simic…
————-Perisic—-Budimir————–
–Sosa—-(Modric/Vlasic)Juranovic
————Kovacic–Brozovic————–
—–Gvardiol—-Vida—–Lovren——–
———————Ivusic————————
——-Ivanusec(Sucic)Kramaric——-
–Orsic—–(Majer/Moro)—Pasalic—
(Bradaric)Franjic-Jakic–(Vrsajko?)
—–Barasic—–DCC—-Uremovic——
————-(Livakovic/Sluga)————–
Slovenia is complete garbage and we can’t figure out how to pound them with a dim whit coach- should be an easy 3-0 victory if we had a first class manager- fire Dalic now
Yup! Definitely not maximizing the talent in this squad. Pathetic how long he’s been here. At this point it’s probably more likely he leaves us than we ditch him. Go to the middle east or China and make some money Dalic!
Been trying to watch these games in Canada with some success anyone know a good streaming site. Thanks in advance. Let’s go Croatia 🇭🇷
http://m.livetv.sx/en/
I usually find a decent Russian stream here and cast to my TV from my mobile phone or iPad. You have to back out of a couple of ads but it’s not too bad.
Thanks a lot for that site worked great. Good game 🇭🇷 🔥
@ Horvat
Great idea with Sosa playing the left wing, but at wingback for real width.
I’d like to see a 3-5-2.
We are pedestrian and predictable in transition.
Slovenia needs 3 points.
We need to score.
Vlasic and kramaric need to play, they need to figure out how to make themselves contributors on the NT, the honest truth is without them, there is not much hope of anything, other than being a mediocre team…
Since we are now getting thin on quality wingers, might not be a bad idea to use Gvardiol as a LB and Sosa as a LW.
@Maminjo
The problem with your logic is that 3 games in 7 days means we MUST use our bench and have no choice. Club teams would be pissed to see a national team playing a guy three full games in a 7 day stretch.
Brozo is our key player without Modric out. I wouldn’t be surprised to see both he and Kova sit to start the next game as they’ve both basically played 2 full games. In 4 days.
I’d like to see Majer play a bit and see what he offers. Would love for Krama to actually play his position behind Livaja for once (as Livaja likely gets then of upfront).
Fine.
If we must use our bench, then at least call up an actual backup RB, and more than one CDM and Striker.
I like Uremović, but he’s a pure CB and cannot advance the ball. We completely lose our runs up the right side for this game.
We have multiple CDMs available for callup to help cover for the loss of Modrić with guys like Bašić, Moro, Jakić, etc…
Yet we call up only one in Brozović and would rather play a player like Pašalić out of position than play one of these other guys in their natural position.
Yes, we got hit with some unfortunate injuries to players like Budimir and Stanišić… But Stanišić wasn’t even called up anyway, and you can’t roll in with just one (maybe two) guys who can play up top if you plan on sitting one or both of them during these three games.
Dalić’s policy of it being difficult to get into (and out of) the squad is stupid.
With a condensed qualifying schedule, you have to be dynamic and call up players in areas of need even if they are not currently in the National Team.
Look how much of a difference Sosa and Ivušić made. Even Majer looked good in his short spell. Can’t be afraid to call up new players, especially if they are already experienced and playing good club football.
You know Moro is there right? He just hasn’t played.
I agree we shouldn’t play Pasalic back there because he’s not strong defensively and I also don’t think he’s great in possession. I think he is best served as an attacking mid sitting behind the striker when we are swinging in crosses. I genuinely think that if Kramaric was subbed on instead of him together with Livaja and Perisic we would have scored. We looked so dangerous with those two and Orsic combining for quick short passes and nearly getting in behind the defense, but Pasalic doesn’t quite fit that style in my opinion.
Pasalic gets into really good attacking positions which is why he’s scored for us on a few occasions, but he’s not as technically sound as our other midfielders. He probably would have been a striker if he had slightly better finishing. I think he’s a good player and deserves to be called up, but I think he’s best served when we need to score and we’re swinging the ball into the box.
I do think Dalic will mix the lineup up some but if I was him I wouldn’t go crazy and switch more than like 4 or 5 players. Uremovic is definitely a CB and doesn’t provide as much in attack as Juranovic, but he is quick and can get into good positions. I remember watching him play RB at the u21 Euros a few years ago and being surprised at how solid he was. You know my thoughts on Stanisic so I won’t get into that again. I’ll just say he doesn’t provide much more in attack than Uremovic does and if you’ve actually watched him play you’d know he was originally a CB too, and it shows. That’s just my opinion. He’s still young and has plenty of time to truly develop.
If we have to go with a rotated lineup, this is what I would like to see: Ivusic, Uremovic, Gvardiol and whoever else at CB (not Skoric lol), Sosa (sub him off later for a CB and move Gvardiol out there if and when we get the lead), Moro, Kovacic, Kramaric, Perisic, Orsic, Colak/Livaja (pick whoever you feel like watching, I think Livaja is better technically but isn’t really a striker).
Give Majer a few more minutes too. Either in place for Kramaric in this lineup or off the bench.
I honestly don’t care who plays. All I care about is the result. As long as we win we will be fine and I am confident even if we haven’t been scoring.
Didn’t realize that Moro was called up.
If that’s the case, then it’s idiotic to start Pašalić in that role since he’s crap there.
Gvardiol, Brozovic, Perisic and Kramaric are the only starter-worthy players in this potential lineup.
Maybe can start some of these other guys in case of injuries or if a starting player is out of form…but to have most of your lineup made up of backups (in a qualifier) is playing with fire.
See In Dalica word the 23 men are all important and are all starting 11 material thats what he said alot of the time
Now im reading ivusic juranovic vida lovren barisic(gvardiol) pasalic broz orsic krama livaja perisic.
Sosa crosses with mandzos headers are what we really need
I really want to see if Sosa and budimir can link up
If we want to play around a bit with formations it will be better against Malta or Cyprus. Even then we probably can’t cause of needing goals
But need all hands on deck vs Slovenia IMO
So i am reading he will rest some players kovacic vlasic sosa juranovic look like they wont play media outlet is reporting
Ivusic Uremovic Lovren Vida Gvardiol Pasalic Broz Ivanusec Perisic Livaja Kramaric 4 2 2 2 formation
Gvardiol is still injured is he not? I like the formation and lineup.
If the players need a rest and aren’t 100% fit I understand, but starting anything other than our strongest lineup is very questionable… Slovenia beat us already, and this is a huge game in terms of group positioning… Kovacic Sosa Vlasic must start
Classic 4-2-2-2 formation.. marine next time dalic can bring out a 4-1-1-1-1-1-1
Lol
Lovren and Vida with only Brozovic in front of them for support is a risk.
Pasalic is strictly a CAM, so pairing Brozovic with him will lead to zero defensive support from Pasalic.
We saw how bad Pasalic was there in UNL with our two biggest losses, and he wasn’t played there again (I assume) for this reason.
This is an important game and we need a win. I hope that the narrow and lucky victory in Slovakia didn’t inflate the heads of our coaching staff thinking we can just rest players for this pivotal game.
Guys like Uremovic, Livaja, Pasalic, etc are nothing but backups…and should only be considered for a starting eleven lineup in case of injuries (or friendlies).
We should be right… shouldnt we? The away games were the main concern for me but so far the results have been about as well as i had hoped for.
I’m not concerned about this game. We’re at home and have a good home record. I’d like to see a win at split considering it be the third win at the stadium as Croatia. Last game was away and Slovenia got lucky with the deflection. Livakovic not playing will also benefit us. This issue we’re facing isn’t just a matter of scoring, it’s having a consistent striker who can also score with range. We have trouble with missing on corners and headers. Just have to make sure we don’t wait until the last minutes of the game to score. Perhaps leave the lineup as it was or put someone in that can score in the dirty areas. Slovenia getting a draw would help them. Close the gap on the group…then it comes down to the last game in Split against Russia for first. Rest Modric for the big game against Russia when we’ll really need him. Cheers