Photo: AFP
Has Luka Modrić been reading the papers?
In his first start of 2013 in the second leg of the Copa del Rey Round of 16 Wednesday night, Modrić played exceptionally well versus Celta Vigo, setting up Cristinao Ronaldo’s second goal of the match with a beautiful over-the-top lob into the box which the Portugal captain deflected into goal to make it 2-0. Later in the first half, Modrić appeared to have assisted Ronaldo once more off a header pass, which would have given Ronaldo a natural hat trick, but he was incorrectly ruled offside. Real Madrid would ultimately win 4-0 and will now take on Valencia in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals.
Modrić is no goal scorer, but if he can consistently play like this and set up his superstar teammates in a way that will produce goals, he should feel right at home; and the ‘2012 La Liga Bust’ title will quickly be forgotten.
Modrić assist at 0:32
In other news around Europe…
Milan Badelj scored in the 13th minute of Hamburg’s 2-2 friendly draw vs. Borussia Monchengladbach Wednesday night. Badelj picked up a loose ball amongst the mayhem in the box and shot inside the near post for the opening goal. Borussia Monchengladbach’s 19 year-old Sweden U-21 striker Branimir Hrgota equalized in the 86th minute with a well composed strike from inside the box. He was born in Jajce, Bosnia, but has been rumored to have Croatian ties.
Badelj goal at 0:15, Hrgota goal at 1:10
@nije bitno
Honeywell Aerospace, good job. What do you do there.
won’t last for Tottenham, they will finish outside top 4
@Raptore
They have done well in England, but have always failed miserably in Europe. I know they are a great team now, but I don’t think Modric could play alongside Silva and allow the team to have the same impact. Just an opinion, but we’ll never really know.
By the way, with Luka gone, Tottenham is in 3rd place in the Prem.
Never said it was going to happen. I said there is talk about it.
@nije bitno
you need go back to school
Obama third term, lol
🙂
modric is gonna be fine where ever he is. give him time to his new environs and you will see. he is class. time.
Teams
They did come back. I’m rooting for Paul George he’s on both of my fantasy Bball leagues.
@ nije
Already got my first check, fuckin shame… Definitely agree with you in terms of the BS going on now
My Knicks are making a comeback though!! JR Smith is nassssty though!
I must say you guys are more entertaining then the Knicks – Pacers game right now.
NJ – get on the lithium you need it brate
Nije bitno is a fool and a kurvin sine.
Go watch your Fox news and get your education.
IMO Modric needs to leave Madrid in the summer and head back to England….preferably ManU
Jack V – I’m not a longshoreman. Work for Honeywell Aerospace.
@nije bitno:
OT in San Pedro? Are you a longshoreman?
Im a ’70’s child Raptore. Iv played and watched football for over 30 years. Obviously old age hasn’t made you less judgemental or more open-minded when talking about athletes.
And like I said, not looking foolish in front of you guys is the least of my worries. Who are you to me? Nitko I nista!
If he would have approached me differently I would have.
@Nije Bitno
Come on you are looking foolish. Show some civility, no reason to go after the dudes mother, hell say anything else or blame Fox news.
@TheGoldenChild
I See Modric & Nasri as more similar type players, although Nasri is a little more offensive minded & Modric slots into the defensive midfield role comfortably, As for Silva, the guy is just pure class, We have seen the midfield trio of Nasri, Silva & Yaya work brilliantly last season & look what results it got them , just ask your self ?????????
Nasri has not been up to par this time round, Luka would have been thrown right into that midfield & I have no doubt it would work, believe me, Mancini was looking at bringing him in, I remember 90% of this formum talking about how modric would not be a success at Tottenham, he wasn’t suited to Tottenhams formation, & look how all that worked out..
@Poglavnik
alot of you youngsters talk the talk but don’t know govno about football.. you all act like you have studied formation’s & tactics, but then i find you most of you started watching football in the 2000s, absolute joke… watch another 3 world cups, & go out on the field & play for 15 years then come talk to me..
Of*
Looking foolish in front if who? Your bitch ass? Hahaha that’s the least of my worries! Jadna ti majka tebe sta je napravila. Just my thoughts and opinion kurvin sine.
@nije bitno
shut the fuck up, you are lookng foolish
A country run by jews is better……at least there is money to be made.
I dont know what worse a country run by Jews USA or a cointry run by Commies Croatia?
this year*
See if you even get a raise this your from your company if you work for one. These corporations are going to get hit hard with taxes and what better way to make up for it by not giving their employees an increase in wage.
@ Armada – Jebiga read my last post, this is why i think the way i do. Look at your paycheck and compare it to your last in 2012. More of that to come standby……
@ nije
lol c’mon bro, are you really gonna quote or refer to a Fox News Latino site in making a argument againsts Democrats?! You’re better than that, c’mon…
@Ustani
Even though they may be somewhat similar, I see Ozil as a better attacking midfielder than Silva is. Silva doesn’t excel defensively nor offensively. Now I don’t mean he’s not good with those two traits, but what puts Ozil over the top is having the skill set of Silva along with the fact that he is better (more dangerous to the opponent) in attack. Not only can he work a tight space, go straight at the defender, threat a beautiful ball through, but he’s a direct threat on goal.
Silva and Luka on the other hand are more of your middle of the road set up men. They don’t necessarily excel in being a threat directly on goal, but they make plays that allow others to score. What Silva lacks in offensive firepower he makes up for in vision and selflessness.
If I had Luka and I needed to choose between the two, I would pick Ozil. A great team has every player on the field filling in a specific role that caters to their talents, and balances out what others are missing around them.
I’m not stretching it. The right wing media is. I just choose to listen to them now (in the past i didn’t and was somewhat for Obama, stupid me!) whatever speculations they had about him in the past were for the most part true and it’s starting to show slowly but surly.
@nije bitno………..come on, you are stretching it here. this guy introduced the same idea over 10 years ago and it was shoot down. There is no chance this could ever pass. I doubt Obama would even want a third term. He needs to make some serious cash when he gets out of office. As president he is not making any money. The real money comes in when these guys leave office.
I wish the Supreme Court would repeal its verdict of treating corporations as living objects. There’s a guy somewhere in the US that was pulled over for being in the carpool lane. His defense is that he shouldn’t have been pulled over because he had articles of incorporation with him. Since a corporation is considered a person, he didn’t break any law. This guy will go to the Supreme Court for sure.
He hasn’t came out himself and said it but…..
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2013/01/07/obama-for-third-term-congressman-pushes-to-end-term-limits-for-us-presidency/
It was on TV fox news last night too. I know its a republican right wing station but just the fact that a democratic congressman reintroduced legislation to repeal the 22nd Amendment is kind of fishy.
This has been done before as i think F.D.R ran for a 5th term.
Thanks,
Correct again. Who would have thought.
@Ziva Istina & Nije Bitno
There is no official claims by Obama himself on running for a third term.
Though assumed Obama would consider attacking Iran in hopes of a 3rd term. After all it’s been done before, Roosevelt ran for 4 terms.
@Raptore
You’ll have to excuse me for thinking you haven’t followed football for long or played at any type of competitive level. Generally athletes tend to sypathise with each other not rip each other with extreme comments. Narrow minded views like your one on Kaka don’t help your cause.
And I still say he doesn’t fit City’s current midfield!
@nije bitno…………show me one credible news items that states Obama is looking into a third term. I bet you there is not one.
As the ombudsmann, nobody is pulling my teeth to educate some of you and make you smarter, I do so to call out people so they don’t make up items (like you) to fit their argument and narrative. I am not an Obama fan, but no need to make up shit.
How about Alex Jones as the next president? LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtyKofFih8Y
@TheGoldenChild
“@canadians
I’m hoping this guy is running your country soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wWkUaJId7pM”
Why is that. He is part of the Conservative party, which is a majority government of Canada currently.
If this guy was in charge at this current time you would most likely see the 50+ billion dollar F-35 deal canceled.
Btw Perisic scored today for Wolfsburg
@TheGoldenChild
Using the same logic, would you consider Ozil and Silva to be similar players? I know it is not relevant to your discussion but I sometimes appreciate sports hypotheticals and discussion.
Ma zekam se
Ziva i know he cant change it but even the fact that it’s brought up and that he wants to do it is ridiculous.
P.S. if you feel embarrassed explaining anything to anybody, SHUT THE FUCK UP and don’t! nobody is pulling your teeth to do so.
Ante B – I agree i feel the same. Just looked at my paycheck stub online and thought i was going to get more than i did and got pissed when i saw the reason why. So i needed to vent. My bad……
Ugh I hate it when people talk politics, economics and religion on a sports site. So annoying.
@nije
I never really get political on here, but I watched this yesterday and my mind was blown.
@canadians
I’m hoping this guy is running your country soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wWkUaJId7pM
@nije bitno…..I’m no fan of Obama, but were you asleep during social studies or history class? Obama can’t do anything to change the constitution to run for a third time. For an amendment to be installed or updated, it must be ratified by 75% of the states. Since Obama didn’t win more than 75% of the states, it wont happen. I feel embarassed even having to explain this to you.
I agree with you on the taxes and the anticipated increase in health coverage.
Also i heard Obama is trying to change the constitution so that he can get realiected for a 3rd term like F.D.R! This man is really trying to mess up our country and is doing it with a smile on his face! I really believe this is his goal!
@Raptore
Long time no see. I see Silva and Modric as very similar players, and therefore I don’t see them flourishing together. If you have Modric and Yaya in there with two suitable wingers, then you have a lethal combination.
@nije bitno
Hang in there man you will be fine!
I will say this though, Obama has no clue. NONE…..
re-elected*
Well I got my first paycheck in 2013! I worked 6 hours more overtime for this paycheck (first in 2013) then i did for my last paycheck in (2012) and made 100 dollars less! TAXES are already raised and there is more to come. Wait until the healthcare premiums go up 20-26% cause Obamacare taxes. The hospitals are saying we aren’t making the money we use to make so we aren’t paying for it, everybody’s premium is going up so everybody’s health insurance is going to go up. Also i heard Obama is trying to change the constitution so that he can get realiected for a 3rd term like F.D.R! This man is really trying to mess up our country and is doing it with a smile on his face! I really believe this is his goal!
We’ll see….if he does, I’ll be the first to praise his play.
@ Ziva, I am sure given time he will perform. My main point was that he missed training camp, which is not a small detail and should not be neglected. With a little more time, I am sure he will play more games akin to the one yesterday…
@T.O. Cro…..nope, I don’t listen to the comments that come from coaches to the media. Usually, those comments are made to the media to protect the player from media scrutiny. Of course most of the coaches know more than the media. But, that is not the issue here. A coach coming out and protecting his player is the norm and is expected from most coaches.
It’s quite simple about Modric………..For him to not be labeled as a bust he needs to perform at yesterday’s level against top competition. We have not see that this year on a consistent basis.
Modric played well but one game wont change the way everybody is looking at him he needs to play amazingly every game
@Ziva,
So you don’t listen to the coaches, who happen to professionals at training talent. Who cares what the fans think in this case?!?! They are “ovce za šišanje” and allow themselves to get manipulated by the media nor do they have a modicum of the experience vis a vis the coaches…
Anyone of you old timers on this site know of mirko jurkovic? supposedly an all american football player from notre dame, died today RIP mirko.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-01-06/sports/ct-spt-0107-haugh-jurkovic–20130107_1_mirko-jurkovic-notre-dame-all-america-bcs-national-title
@Poglavnik
& another thing, don’t be mistaken & think im some kind of noob on this forum, i was 1 of the original early birds on CSR, long before many of todays regulars appeared
@Poglavnik
1st of buddy, don’t make silly comments when you don’t know me or what ive done, most likely i was playing Football while you were getting nutrients of left over sarma in your mothers stomach, dont even question my intelligence, ive been following & understand the game a great deal,
As for Nastasic, I was makeing reference to Mancini giving his squad more time to adapt, Nastasic is a little above average type of player, he is no superstar, lets get that straight, yet he is givien ample time to show what he can do..
& what are you talking about Man Cs midfield is crowded ??, Man C’s Midfield is quality but its nothing like that of Madrids, Silva & Yaya are carrying that midfield, they are world class, Sammir is somewhere in the region of our own Modric or a little below, not being biost but I would pick Modric over sammir in my squad any day, Modric would have no problem slotting into the Man City formation & would do it comfortably in my opinion..
But it seems Mancini loves his serbs from looking at his past, or at least what it looks like, where ever he goes, he brings them in..
@T.O. Cro……….i don’t pay attention to what his coaches are saying. What would you expect them to say?
I’m not the one calling him a bust. It’s the Real Madrid fans who are calling him a bust. There are high expectations (at times unrealistic) at Real Madrid and he has not met those expectations. Now, will he meet those expectations???? I hope so.
To call Modric a bust this early in his career at RM is ignorant. First, the guy missed training camp. Second, sometimes it takes time to adapt to a new environment and teammates. Anyone calling him a bust has, clearly, never played sport at a high level. Read the quotes of his coaches at RM and they all say his talent is indisputable…
@Ziva-yes,fair comment.I still disagree that you say he has not even come close to the expected level though.Nice to see that you were able to make a comment without the need to use a lable,in this instance”bust”
All I am saying is the Modric has not come close to playing at the level that was expected of him when he was signed by Real Madrid. I want him to succeed. Even the biggest homer or jock sniffer would admit that.
@Raptore
You really don’t think the man can play at the highest levels and with the best teams? Does he not look comfortable when he’s on the field? Has he not had some nice performances for a team thats got way bigger issues than where and when to play Luka Modric? As far as big games go, time will tell.
City’s midfield is just as crowded as Madrid’s, and the Natasic comparrison is totally irrelevent. United would’ve been an ideal fit but you can’t blame a man for his preference of team, country, lifestyle, etc.
And easy on Kaka, Im guessing you havent played a lot of football in your life…
@zivi seronja-is that you again using your worn out statements over and over or your trained monkey “Bobo”writing in for you agian,would we like to see Modric playing at a higher level?I doubt anyone would say no to this.Moving to Madrid was always a risk,maybe if it does not work out for the best he simply was not quite good enough for that team at that time etc,fine.enough said.”Bust”now,still implies he is finished when he is not.I still want to see him settle in better,I am sure you do to,but you would also love to say,oh,but I saw it first.Stick that sentiment in your cakehole!
Modric has not lived up to the expectations of what people considered a world class player, meaning he can adapt to any league & any club in that league,
whats on his side of defence is the amount of time he has been given to show what he can do, its still a little early to call him a total flop considering Madrid has had a poor run this season, but if he doesn’t start to play well where it counts, the big games, then he’ll be heading out the exit door more soon then you think,
or would you want him to end up another KAKA ? literally !!!, a piece of sh@@ in the bottom of the bowl after being on top of the world..
that’s why i seriously hope his Madrid holiday isn’t a long one, he’d be more suited to a Man C shirt where he will be given ample time to adjust, just look at the Serb loving Mancini giving Natasic time to adjust..
@Ziva
That’s hilarious!
I totally thought anonymous was while reading that post, and then i scrolled down and saw it WAS you!
Considering the man has only played under 1000 minutes this season, I am judging him on that.
Form is temporary, class is permanent.
I’ve got the finest set of homer-glasses in the diaspora!!!
@Ziva
Obviously expected more, but let’s see how the next couple of games go. Mourinho played Luka offensively the first half, and that’s the half they had most of their chances. Any time he did make a mistake, he was running around the pitch to get the ball back (which is more than you can say for others on that team).
Ozil was a pretty big disappointment today, and I think Mourinho realized it. He was quite vocal with Luka in the second half, asking him to drop back and control the midfield without attacking. You could see him gesturing to “just stay in the middle of the pitch” The offensive pressure swung to Celta, but the defense held up pretty well. Once Di Maria came in for Ozil, though, the offensive pressure built up again and Luka help break Celta’s push by poking a ball away from their midfielder which ended up leading to a scoring opportunity.
It’s one game and it’s against Celta, but maybe Mourinho and Modric are finally getting comfortable with each other. 5 months is a lonnnng time to make that assumption, but with all the other turmoil going on with that team it’s not that far of a reach.
@Ziva:
It is easy to criticize everyone and everything. You have reverse homer goggles.
@ Poglavnik, agree with you 100%.
Madrid is a top 5 club in the world. Big challenge to integrate as a creative midfielder. Especially when there seems to be major beef between the madristas and Mourinho.
Modric has arrived on the world stage. He does not have to prove anything to anyone. There are only a handful of players that have his unique skill set and most of them play for Barca.
Is the only world class player on our NT. We are blessed to have him and need to start to create a system that revolves around him.
Classic Croatian pattern to not appreciate what you have.
Better for us that he saves his best form for us.
opps forgot to sign in….that was me with the above comment.
@poglavnik…..sure, and there are some on this site who can’t give objective reviews/criticism because it involves a Croatian athlete. For some of you its tough to take off the homer glasses.
Actually, for this, bust means he has not lived up the expectations of him at Real Madrid. Nice game against Celta Vigo. However, he was not purchased for nice games against Celta Vigo.
Modric will be judged on how he and Real Madrid perform against Barca and in the Champions League.
Applauding Modric for a good game against Celta Vigo is like applauding Dinamo for bringing in a high-priced foreign player and that player having a good game against Cibalia. Modric will be judged on other, more important and higher profile matches.
Again…..I ask this…….when he signed with Real Madrid, is this what you expected from Modric in the five months he has played for them so far. I sure didn’t.
Yup!
Some posters on this site would make great tabloid journalists.
Its only a matter of time before someone who thinks they know whats going on, posts about how this was a game that meant nothing and was against a shitty team. Its your own nose that smells like sweaty jock.
Here, Here Ante!
He started his English career the exact same way and he soon became one of the best players in England. Here’s a news flash for all the haters… He IS one of the best players in Spain. The more he plays, the more you will realize this.
Bust is a dumb ass label that some people want to stick on him.”Bust”implies that he is finished up at Madrid,He is at one of the worlds biggest clubs and he has not waltzed in and brushed people aside as we may have liked him to,hell,it may not even work out for him at Madrid in the end,but I wouldnt expect him to pack up and run away too quickly.If he did that,then indeed,he is “bust”at Madrid.
I think we also need to remember,a few people are now calling it a bad move to Madrid and that Man U or Chelsea were better options,I liked those better in some ways also at the time,but dont forget Levi was firm about him not going to a rival Premier League team ,this made things more limited and difficult for Modric.Man U I believe also has a bad record of making things “diificult “for NT duty and wearing players out for NT duty.We will see what pans out.Good luck to the guy.
Keep calling him a bust people… God, I hope he never reads what some morons on here think of him and his game.