Ante joins Lovre Nikolac from CroatiaFooty to discuss Slaven Bilić’s 26-man Croatia roster ahead of the upcoming Nations League matches vs. Czechia, England and Spain (x2). Bilić is bringing tons of strikers into the squad which include Matanović, Musa, Budimir, Beljo and Ivanović.
Maybe I have some sort of tunnel vision but as much as I feel badly for saying this, I just don’t see Budimir as a starter for us.
I really liked what I saw from Matanovic and my hopes are he progresses and becomes a goal every second game (its extremely hard to score at a pace of 0.5 goals per game and I don’t want to be unrealistic).
I think Ivanovic can be interesting but he’s had his set-backs.
Musa is also proving me wrong but I wish he played in Europe…I understand why he’d stay in the US, after all, money matters.
Beljo? I’m a Dinamo fan but I’m not convinced he’s capable to score many goals in a stronger league with tougher defenders so I’m hopeful but not expecting much.
Marxo Pasalic offers some width, speed and service into the box and I like him for that.
we have to respect Krama since he’s been great for us since Mandzo left. He was injured and recently had an operation so lets see if he is in form.
I basically agree with Slavonac.
Matanovic is the number one striker right now. We move forward on that basis . . . And he has upside from here. I am not sure what his upside is? But he seems to be progressing and improving steadily. It has been said on this site, I forgot by who, that he has the potential to be as good as Mandzo. I don’t doubt it.
Budimir brings quality at this time, but we cannot project Budimir to play for us in Euro 2028 or WC 2030 and he should not be our regular starter. Nations League is important, but we are looking to build to 2028 and again to 2030.
Like Slavonac, I would also like to see Musa move to Europe, where he would regularly play against stronger competition. Maybe the Eredivisie? maybe even the Bundesliga, I am not sure what the best move for the Moose would be . . .