23 year-old Petar Musa is Croatia’s most in-form striker at the moment. Musa currently plays in Portugal for Boavista (on loan from Czech side Slavia Prague), where he has eight goals and two assists in 21 matches this season.
In the 2019-20 season, Musa led the Czech league in scoring with 14 goals. Despite receiving attractive offers from larger European clubs, Musa decided to stay in Prague for another season to continue his rapid development as a player. However, the young striker fell into a dreadful scoring drought, and was loaned out to German side Union Berlin for the remainder of the 2020-21 season. Musa only scored once in the Bundesliga, and Berlin disposed of him after his six month spell with the club. Instead of returning to Prague, Slavia sent Musa out on another loan, this time to his current club, Boavista. Musa is thriving at his new club, and has been one of the best attackers in Liga Nos this season. He is especially red hot right now, scoring in each of his last two matches.
Slavia Prague recently announced that Benfica have approached Boavista about signing Musa this summer. Premier League side West Ham United are also rumored to be interested in purchasing the striker. Both moves would offer Musa another opportunity to shine at a high level after failing in Germany.
Musa might just be the solution to Croatia’s striker crisis. The Vatreni are in dire need of a tall, aggressive poacher that is reliable in the air, and Musa offers each of those traits. Zlatko Dalić must consider Petar Musa while selecting his squad for Croatia’s friendlies in March and Nations League matches in June.
I will say it’s impressive to have that goal ratio at 23 years of age, so not to diminish the potential of what Petar could be capable of in the future, he may be an exceptional player one day, and certainly is playing well to achieve that much in an outside league at his age. So I would continue with high hopes for this guy because we certainly need it in the front line, as well as the back.
However, based on the numbers shown he is not the most in-form striker at the moment unfortunately. Not with those numbers. Pasalic alone has the same amount of goals (maybe 9 goals even), and 5 assists and he is an attacking midfielder in Series an levelled us again at the tough opponent of Spain. Even at 14 goals we have players scoring more than that this season (cough Livaja…Drmic). These are the kinds of numbers an attacking midfielder should achieve when we are seeing anything beneath a 10 goal scoreline. Who is writing this!? I am not seeing what your seeing unfortunately. Croatia isn’t the kind of team that benefits from someone sits there to head the ball in the net, they need a technical forward like Mbappe, Henry, or Van Persy for example. Someone who is able to shift the game in our favour with their style of play not just sit their an wait for the ball to fall perfectly at their feet, like Petkovic or Rebic who I don’t consider to be strong contenders.
Mandzukic was great in his last tournament (2018) for us but even before that I didn’t fully like his style of game either, I just don’t think that it fit well with team Croatia, but he turned it around in that tournament and played really well, especially defensively which is unexpected for someone in that role.
For me, you either have Livaja from Hajduk at 18 goals currently in our domestic league (who also scored 2 goals in 3 or 4 appearances for Croatia in the current qualifications for Qatar); or Drmic from Rijeka behind him at around 15 or 16 goals I believe. I don’t see anyone else playing as a striker for Croatia at the moment, noone comes close to the amount goals those two guys are producing. Understandably it’s in the Croatian league, so there is a difference but still. You have to account for the numbers a person is putting in when you look for a striker. Maybe Petar could be good as a substitute for now, he would be worth looking at in that regard and to try to develop in the next couple years but 23 is really young in my opinion not that that cannot work it has for others like Mbappe.
Personally I favour Livaja because he is smart on the ball and makes good decisions with the ball unlike someone like Rebic who can’t seem to do the same. Despite all of this Livaja plays an attacking midfield role prominently he would probably be the best choice right now based on the numbers he is achieving and this has nothing to do with what club a person plays on whether it is Dinamo, Rijeka, Hajduk or outside of the league for that matter. Obviously if someone is succeeding in say Premier League or La Liga, with the same kinds of numbers, than that would be a different argument to make.
The reality is that we lack a quality forward, it’s one of those positions Croatia is struggling with at the moment especially since Mandzukic retired. Mandzukic was the best we have had since 98, aside from Eduardo. I am not really that confident in anyone at the moment as a forward because I don’t think we have someone who fits that traditional 9 role but if anyone does the two mentioned above are the best we have at the moment.
Just to list off others, Petkovic also is not a fit for the team. He does not have that ability despite being better than Rebic but not by much, this is of course a judgement of how they have played for the international squad not domestic. Petkovic is also having a rough year since his injury so I think he should be out this next tournament.
Kramaric was one that I was sincerely hoping for, he had 3 incredible years at Bundesliga but he just cannot seem to make it work with team Croatia and he has had many opportunities to score on goal, especially in this last qualification for Qatar but he is not a fit either. Also with the injury he sustained against Russia he seems to be off and a bit shaken, so he might need to be out as well.
While I think touting and developing younger players will help in the end, I don’t think these players are there yet, whether it’s Musa or or someone like Sucic. But I hope to see their talents grow nonetheless because we could use a star forward.
Franjo and “U” – I posted this on another thread. Cro now with 98.9% likelihood of being in pot 2 (see the link below. Scroll down to the bottom). Risk of being in pot 3 now extremely low (1.1%)
3 teams below us would need to pass us for us to go into pot 3. Colombia (immediately below us) now looking unlikely to even qualify at all. Other teams below them may be too far below us in points to catch us.
This may have played a role in who we scheduled in March. If we went after England and Belgium and lost both, we would def go down in points. With Bulgaria and Slovenia, good chance we pick up some points, and at least keep our FIFA coefficient where it is.
http://www.football-rankings.info/2022/02/world-cup-qualification-simulations-5.html#more
Chicro 1- thanks for pointing that out.
However, only 2 teams need to pass us because Qatar is in pot 1. Therefore, Uraguay
and Sweden only need to pass. 1.1% is a very low chance (much lower than I thought – I did not look up the formula and do all the math, but just a guess).
If your source is accurate,
it confims that we need to play well and at lesst get some points in the freindlies to guarantee pot 2.
I also agree with =U= about there not really being a lot of games to fully prep for the WC; therefore, I still don’t think it’s a a time to experiment very much.
no worries brate. This site seems to do alot of the simulations.
It actually is 3 teams that need to pass us though (not 2). We are 15th overall. However either Italy or Portugal (both above us) will def NOT qualify since they are in the same playoff group. So for WC seeding purposes, we will be 14th after tomorrow’s rankings come out.
Uruguay will be only a few points below us, good chance they pass us. 2 more would need to pass us though. Sweden, Senegal Colombia all are more than 35 points below us (even after accounting for Senegal’s win in the AFCON). Will be real tough for 2 teams to overcome that deficit. Not impossible. But seemingly only a 1.1% chance of that happening
Franjo – you know what – you are right buddy, I am wrong. Even after accounting for either Italy of Portugal not making it, you gotta substitute Qatar for them. So yeah, only 2 teams need to pass us. My bad. Thanks for pointing that out
I have read in the Croatian press that we need one win and a draw against Slovenia and Bulgaria to be in Pot 2. Uruguay in all probability will be ahead of us. Senegal had to win the AFCON semi final and final and their two remaining WC qualifier matches against Egypt (home & away) to go ahead of us. Senegal won the AFCON final on penalties and that counts as a draw. So providing we do not lose both matches against Slovenia & Bulgaria we should be in Pot 2.
to make it even more f^cked up, Uruguay could maybe pass us in the FIFA rankings…. but only finish in 5th place in CONMEBOL. That means they would go to the intercontinental playoff in June.
The WC draw is on March 31 though. Can you really put Uruguay in pot 2 and us potentially in pot 3 if you don’t even know yet if Uruguay has qualified? Messed up
I fully agree with Franjo’s post. We are facing two teams in friendlies that failed to qualify for the World Cup. Both are lowered ranked teams that don’t possess any challenges. The nations league matches with France & Denmark will be a good test. Those four games will determine our team structure and competitiveness. In previous tournament such as preparation for the World Cup in Russia. We had faced Brazil, Senegal and Mexico. Three teams that were above average then and still are now. (Not so much Mexico). I would’ve loved to see a friendly against Canada & USA. Have the boys travel to North America. I’d even play a South American or another African team. I can’t fully grasp why we are scheduled to play lower ranked teams next month. Travel to the islands to play the aussies or kiwi were there’s a lot of Croats. I’m still unsatisfied with the tournament being held in a desert during November & December. Not to mention it was given to Qatar because they have oil money, cover up deaths & corruption, and are establishing leagues where lots of ex superstars want to play. Also, is 8 matches in 9 months enough to prepare us for November when the tournament kicks off?
https://bleacherreport.com/post/inter-milan/9429af8d-4f35-43fa-9a10-4e9a4a630850
Perišić looks better than ever!!
Another one I don’t want to see this Spring.
Perisic and luka gonna play in euro!
I doubt that we should be doing much experimenting: however, a striker may be the only exception?
Someone pointed out on this board about 2 weeks ago that Qatar gets a Pot 1 berth for the World cup draw.
Therefore, we are now at risk of dropping into pot 3.
Perhaps there were no better options, but it appears that Croatia may have made bad choices for the March freindlies (Slovenia and Bulgaria- ranked 65th and 71st respectively)?
Uraguay has already beeten Paraguay and Venezuela in qualifiers since the last update (ranked 43rd and 59th respectively),
And they will play qualifiers against Peru and Chile (22nd and 24th in rankings).
Given that more points are awarded in competitive games (qualifiers) vs freindlies, and more points also given for winning against higher ranked teams, Croatia needs to win both games in March, and it may not even be enough?
Senegal is also playing well – they are currently ranked 20th and have gone undefeated in 7 games since the last ranking update ( 5 wins and 2 draws, which were all games in competitions). Senegal will be moving up significantly in the rankings, and they will play Egypt twice in March for world cup qualifiers (Egypt is ranked 45th).
Senegal has also become a threat to us as the result.
I forgot about Sweeden- they also potentially have 2 qualifiers in March, and if they win 2, they also pose a threat.
https://www.managingmadrid.com/2022/2/8/22924043/modric-maybe-ill-play-until-im-40-2022
Modrić does not need to be called this Spring.
Open call ups to all the fringe players.
Modric must absolutely be called up this spring to suggest otherwise is completely stupid. He is even still our best bar none. I don’t know what your talking about Soul Champ…
I like the Boavista jerseys. They even have a black and white grb. It’s like the Croatian uniform in the Spiderverse.
It even has the pineapple version of the grb too
Croatia’s shirt looks like Boavista’s shirt. I’m not talking about the one the Croats wore in ’94 when you played the USA, because that one wasn’t checkered.
I’ll always remember telling a Croatian friend o’ mine that you should’ve had a checkered design in ’94, but I have to admit I did know of the Boavista design, obviously the Croats became aware of it later. Regardless, the checkered shirts do look nice, especially the one Mr. Musa is wearing in the picture above.
Striking options that should be called up for these friendlies should be both Simic and Musa rotating within the team, that’s where we can start finding out the solution upfront.
Yikes. Pretty bad goalkeeping error by Grbic on the first goal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5ac0LXbr_w
Damn. Watched the full highlights. Grbic did horribly.
Has cement blocks on his ankles (like Stipe did in WC2014) and also has an error caused by a timid approach to punching clear those high balls (like Livakovic).
Looks like we’re keeping the Croatian goalkeeper streak alive!
soooo. one bad game and you’re writing him off… sounds about maminjo like
Grbić has been one of Lille’s best players this season. He has kept them on top against better teams on several occasions only to have his team’s horrible defending give opponents opportunities for practically unsaveable shots. He’s really young too! One really bad game is just one really bad game. He’s in Lille to get minutes and coaching so that he will be a stellar keeper in the future. This isn’t Pletikosa or Livaković (or Lovre Kalinić, who actually seems to be finding his form again). This is a young guy with a lot of talent who is in the process of becoming a world-class keeper. I say let him live this one down and focus on the great performances he put in against Marseille and Lens recently, plus the solid performances in the champions league. Hopefully this is just a downer, and he keeps growing over the next 6-8 months
you forgot about Matej Delac boy!
also,, you need to stick with this truth ->
……………. Simic ………….. Vidovic …………….
Perisic ……………. Majer …………… Halilovic
…………..Brozovic ……… L Modric………..….
……Gvardiol……Pogracic……CaletaCar…..
………………………… Ivucic …………………………..
Pogracic > Caleta Car
we can use | Sosa and Juranovic
Ivucic > Grbic
Vidovic > Pasalic
Simic / Vidovic / Musa
stop thinking about some players
that will put the calamities |l
Looks like a good prospect for the future.
All we really need is Perisic and Krama to keep up their form, then we will be fine.
I think our bigger problem right now is our “keeper crisis”.
Biggest problem is making sure Dalić prepares well and always picks our best starting eleven at all times.
Our qualification went down to the wire (and relied on a last minute own goal) to get us through.
We also underperformed at Nations League and the Euros.
Benching Sosa for Barišić and Duje for Vida cost us points against Slovakia. Being unprepared and capping players (for the first time) DURING the Euros and still playing players out of position (and out of form vets) cost us points. Playing around at UNL tournaments ruined our reputation, hurt team morale, and cost us rankings and pot seeding.
We have strong midfielders and defenders. We have decent strikers and have some unknowns at goalkeeping…but nothing to worry too much about. Our strikers and keepers play first team football in good leagues.
We just need to make sure that we’re playing the right lineup and formation. We should do well at the World Cup if Dalić learned his lesson from these past three years.
Good depth player. Not sure if he is a solution to anything though.
He’d probably be a “Budimir” type for us…but younger, so there may be some more development.
We’ll see if he can continue his decent scoring next season too. Worth a callup.
I understand the concern but the problem is that we don’t have a solution upfront, we might as well give him a runout with the right players around him.
Could this be Supar Petar? I see a Mandzu in development – a little
If he keeps up this form, he has to be in the squad no excuses.
Looking good in checkers already;)
All we need is someone to catch fire for a month and never to be heard of again after Qatar;)
As a Canadian born Croat
I want to see
Qatar, cro, Canada and whoever pot 4 or Canada may be pot 4
Dream Slack group
Yeah i always thought Boavista looked like our jerseys, even the crest is not too dissimilar.
Croatian Canadian as well- Croatia would slam Canada- i hope Canada well in Qatar but European squads are so deep- good on Canada but now your playing the big boys.
Canada is playing well. Better than USA and Mexico right now.
But these things change when tournaments begin.
I remember the hype around Peru before the last World Cup and how they were playing well. They were skilled, but very ineffective at that World Cup. This happens a lot.
The easiest group for us would be Qatar (for Pot 1), and any of the African teams in Pot 4 (since we seem to always blow them out of the water).
Iran is the easiest Pot 3 team…but you can’t get two teams from the same federation (so if you get Qatar, you can’t get Iran too, same goes for Korea and Japan too).
Probably have to be Ecuador, Peru, or Canada for Pot 3.
Or just go with…
Brazil, Croatia, Serbia, Nigeria
Pelé’s last international match was on 18 July 1971 against Yugoslavia in Rio de Janeiro. With Pelé on the field, the Brazilian team’s record was 67 wins, 14 draws and 11 losses..I wish our vatreni can can find a striker like Diko..we need a cro brother like pele..I never did look up the score with his last game against fake yugo team.We need a pele type striker and the world cup is ours.