Ivan Rakitić was at Uvala Lapad in Dubrovnik hanging out with eight friends Thursday afternoon. He was more than willing to be on camera for a few seconds but requested to move away from his friends so that they wouldn’t rag on him. Even though he says he’s rooting for Germany, Rakitić said he was not following the World Cup.
Reporting live for CSR from Uvala Lapad in Dubrovnik, Croatia –Branimir Kvartuč
Knowing what we know of Dinamo and there team then Dinamo are not actually looking for a left back. We are happy with Ibanez and Cufre. We are looking for a box to box midfielder who will help look after Ademi and Badelj and it is the left position of the midfield three where we need it if Zajec plays 4-3-3. Also we know Mamic loves Sammir and Morales is our best player so there would be no requirement to sign Babic for the wide positions. Purely for central mid.
Anyway i think we may miss europa Liga this season as we've not got the players this time out.
Babic too old to play wingback? That has been part of his problem- he doesn't want to go to the place that old, washed up wingbacks go- to fullback…
Klasnic has been linked with Mainz and Hoffenheim in Germany and Bolton want him back on loan for another year. But Klasnic is involved in his court case at the moment against Bremen so his mind is elsewhere. But he needs to find a new club very soon. Hoffenheim would be a particularly good club for Klasnic, playing alongside Simunic. They also have Tomislav Maric on their coach staff.
Do you know of any rumours were klasnic might end up?
Re: Super
Well lets put it this way. I am in total agreement that between now and October the players who get the call in the squad are the guys you mentioned. However in the winter Bilic should monitor the form.
If we look at things now Eduardo needs a new club. Klasnic needs a new club. Both of these two need to resolve their futures before thinking about Croatia. If Jelavic, Bilic, Petric stays where they are that's fine and can still be called each match if they are scoring at club level.
December time we need to see how the rest are doing. Klasnic i think is the most vulnerable as he does not have a secure club situation. He needs to keep doing what he did at Bolton and he should stay on board. But ideally he needs to choose his club in the next fortnight.
I see your point dinamofan. All that i'm saying is it's not as easy as think to just bring in players put them in the starting 11 or replace someone else and think they will do better. Sure kalinic,gavranovic might step in and replace someone if there hurt, retired, out of form. How much they will contribute is a different story.There still very young players. If you think there gonna just come in take over and perform well and be a major contributor to the nt that remains to be seen, that's if were talking about the next 2 years.(anything after 2 years i don't know i can't predict that far ahead). Bilic had no strikers last game and didn't want to call anyone else up.
Also i agree there should be no favourtism and everyone should be equal but it doesn't always work out that way.
Alen Pamic is set to join Standard Liege from Rijeka. This is another defensive mid to keep an eye on next season. Positive news.
@Brane,
Half man-half amazing… Can't believe you found the time to get Rakitic on CSR with all you have on your plate in Croatia. All the best to Venice!
Now we come to Babic. Alex, you shouldn't talk about Dinamo Zagreb and AC Milan in the same comment. Dinamo play one good team a season. Marko Babic's experience and knowledge is way beyond the level Dinamo play at. Why would you play Babic at wing back when he's getting older. We have Ibanez for that. I'm sure Babic could play in a central 3 in the Croatian league. Forget Europe cos we ain't gonna do anything this season. But anyway i think Zajec will scrap the central 3 idea as he does not have the players for it. It seems to me we can only play 4-4-2 in which case Babic would still be useful to us. Marko Babic is no different to Gareth Barry. Barry is purely left footed, but plays in central midfielder for England and Man City.
Cufre is still with us and plays centre back these days as he does not have the legs to play left back at a high level.
Zajec's Dinamo formation does not really work. Jurcic had the right formation for Dinamo, but he didn't have the players to master it as we only have one half decent striker and we had a mediocre defensive midfield and defence that was nothing special once Lovren left.
Basically Babic is the only experienced midfielder out there and who Zaragoza would happily let go. Apart from him there is no other Croatian midfield player worth picking up. They are all tied to clubs.
I actually don't think we have much to aspire to this season apart from a good title chase and improving the game of Badelj, Tomecak and Mandzo and to bring through Kramaric and the next young talent. As far as i'm concerned thats our season.
lets have a look at your 6/7 strikers
Eduardo – Injury prone at moment. We have no idea at moment of his health for next season. Will get the call but if not fit then have to call someone else.
Ivica Olic – Olic would have happily retired after qualifying and would prefer not to play friendlies from what i heard, so he should only be on board for meaningful matches. Take note of his refusal to play Estonia and Van Gaal shouting at him for getting injured V Qatar.
Mladen Petric – is a bench player until he improves his form. Played poor in Euros and poor in qualifiers. Not a good idea to bank on a player not performing. He has a place on bench nothing more until he changes attitude.
Ivan Klasnic – Has to be playing and scoring for his club, when he finds one and is currently focused on his court case. Is 31 next season. Not a guarenteed player by any means.
Mate Bilic – Has to keep scoring for Gijon and Croatia. No special treatment.
Mario Mandzukic – what are you basing this on. So if you think Mandzo deserves a regular call based on club form, then Davor Vugrinec should be in Croatia's team as he outscored Mandzo easily. Mandzo is only in so he can transfer. This is not based on his ability. 1 goal is all he has scored for Croatia.
Nikica Jelavic – plays in Austrian league. Scores against rubbish teams, so what. Good hustling in the friendlies, but nothing special. We've not seen him in a strong league and so what he is doing 80% of foriegn based Croatian strikers could do.
How do you conclude that the above are irremovable. It is purely based on their club play. I agree Olic is guarenteed. If on form Klasnic, Petric, M Bilic should be there. But if not they come out.
Kalinic scores 10 to 15 next season and he's in. Gavranovic same. Reasons being as they are potential successors to Olic, Petric, Klasnic, Bilic who are all 29, 30, 31. Lakic, Cesarec etc obviously start a little behind and they have more to prove. They need sparkling seasons to come in, but considering that the current strikeforce do pick up injuries then they have a chance.
You miss my point anyway. I say that players need to be pushing at the squad. What your practically saying is those strikers can stay in if they player Shit which is a very bad attitude. Everyone should be competing and there should be no favoritism. Its purely based on form.
so i totally forgot about Corluka in my lineup
what would be your ideal line up for euro 2012 qualifying?
We aready have 6,7 stikers. Eduardo,Olic,Petric,Jelavic,Bilic,Mandzukic/Klasnic.Sure if someone gets injured or out of form another one might step in. Olic and Petric consistently score goals and play great for there clubs yet people complain they can't always do the same for the nt.
You can't just throw players in and expect them to automatically play well and put them on the team. Your team needs stability and cohesion.Changing players all the team or adding don't always solve the problems.You have your core group of guys to work with such as modric,kranjcar,rakitic,corluka,etc.. The players who will get a chance right now to make a difference for the nt are strinic,lovren,dujmovic. Others have to wait a little longer and might not get a chance at all.Some players just called up to increase there transfer fees but won't do nothing for the nt.
Babic was playing on the left in a 4-2-3-1 for Zaragoza and subbed a few times at LB. A strictly wide player like Babic would never be purchased with the intention to have him in a 3 man midfield, which requires a CM. Look at all the teams whove played 4-3-2-1 or 4-3-1-2(diamond), like Milan- they had CM's like Ambrosini and Gattuso playing as the "carillero's" on the left and right, never Jankulovski, Carlos, Cafu or even Seedorf. Or Chelsea, who used Lampard, Ballack, Mikel, and Deco in those positions. I can't think of a side who've played a natural wingback or winger in a 3 man midfield, be it 4-3-3/4-5-1, 4-3-2-1, or 4-3-1-2.
rE: alex
as i say i'm not advocating a call up for Vranjes, Leko and Babic unless they were 'totally' firing, but we should expect all players that are Croatian to strive to be the best they can be so Bilic can call upon them if he needs them. Last campaign Bilic was counting on his stars and after that he had a really dodgy bench. I'm not just talking about those three, but every Croatian player should try to position themselves so that they are playing. If you can't get in the side then change your club.
To me there is no way Jelavic has done more than Lakic to date. One good season doesn't make him a irremovable object in the national team. Goals in Bundesliga 2 and Austrian league amounts to the same thing. In fact i'm sure Rapid would love Lakic if they could afford him. As far as i'm concerned last season has gone and its a free for all as to who makes the national team this season with the exception of the usual suspects who we know are guarenteed. But around that it should be wide open. If someone has a great year give them a look. It doesn't matter if your Mate Bilic or Mario Gavranovic. Everyone should be treated equally. These guys are all in good leagues now. I remember when we was taking Davor Suker and Bosko Balaban in 2002 when they had poor seasons and we left out Tomislav Maric who was blasting them in for Wolfsburg. Its always best to keep your mind open as a coach.
As for Marko Babic, he can play on the left of a midfield three in Dinamo i.e Ademi, Badelj, Babic. He was playing it this season with Zaragoza anyway. We need a mobile midfield player on the left of the three. Also someone who can help Ibanez.
There isn't really anyone else out there for us to get. Banovic is staying in Frieburg. Rivic apparently is linked with Kaiserslautern. Midfield players are in short supply. We also are not looking for a defensive mid or a playmaker as we have that in Ademi and Badelj. Its a box to box midfield man we need. I personally do not see how Zajec can play this 4-3-2-1 formation without a commanding midfielder. We can't play Ademi, Badelj, Callelo as that's too negative. We can't play Ademi, Badelj, Chago either so i'm not convinced Dinamo currently have the players to play this formation that i hear Zajec wants to play.
Lovren ? ? Strinic
Srna Kranjcar Modric
Rakitic
Olic Petric
we have no good center backs at all
what do you guys think of this line up?
Petric position should be interchangeable depending on Eduardos form
I'm sorry, I should have said "not playing" instead of "on the bench". Looking at the stats, Prosinecki only made 16 apps that season and I couldn't tell if they were starts or subs. Boban made 23 apps (don't know starts/subs ratio). Suker had around 30, but, again, they might have included many subs( common for a striker).
Even if kalinic and lakic score 15 goals i still see them behind jelavic and bilic on the nt if they keep doing well at there clubs. Kalinic is still young and will be on the verge of the nt.
Players play well for the clubs but that also doesn't mean they will perform well at the nt level.
There are a few players who will bilic will work in right now.Strinic will probably start lb. Lovren will also be worked in. It seems to me bilic still prefers vukojevic but i think he will eventually realize dujmovic is a better option.
Prosinecki was not on the bench prior to the 98 WC. He was playing at Dinamo, when healthy.
And same thing with Boban, if he was healthy, he was playing for Milan. Never on the bench prior to 98 WC.
Suker, did spend parts of the 97-98 season on the bench, but he still played at least 75% of La Liga matches.
Yes, we need competition, absolutely. All I'm saying is that Leko, Vranjes, and Babic are over the hill for the NT. Leko's just chasing a paycheck, Vranjes doesn't get along with Bilic, and Marko Babic has flopped at his last 3 clubs- he's been out of the loop for 3 years! The squad will be a new one. If Bilic learnt anything from last campaign it's that old washed up, tired players don't make a good squad.
A nation of Croatias size will always have to accomodate a few players who are on the bench for their clubs- there's a big difference between being on the bench for Arsenal vs starting for Bucaspor. Suker, Boban and Prosinecki were largely bench warmers for their clubs in 98'. Did it matter?
Btw, how would Babic solve Dinamo's midfield problem? He's a wingback. Is Cufre still there?
The national team needs a squad of 30 at the end of the day and they all need to be fit and ready. What i'm saying is if there is lots of guys are fit and playing each week it is of more use than the scenario we've had lately which is this…
Leko and Pokrivac wasn't playing at Monaco, but were in the squad. Sablic was rarely fit at kiev but in the squad. Vejic was a key man for Bilic, but spent end of last season in Hajduk reserves. Drpic was a key man for Bilic and he was in midtable Bundesliga 2. Kovac's and Ivan Juric was called up only months before retiring from football completely. Is anyone aware than Juric and Kovac actually retired completely from the game before this world cup and yet they were integral part of the qualifiers. The whole aspect of the squad is something that needs to change. Yes you have your important players like Rakitic, Corluka, Modric, Srna etc, but you also have to fill the holes with other players that are READY and firing. In the past campaign we had players who were not ready and that's what needs to change.
If all those guys i mentioned are playing and firing for there clubs then this will help Bilic to make a successful team. You say you don't think those guys will come in. Well put it this way what will you do if Kalinic scores 12-15 goals at Blackburn next season, or Lakic scores 15 at Kaiserslautern or if Leko's team is in top 5 of the Turkish league and he's central to it. Obviously you have to take note. BUT the first step is that these players need to position themselves within clubs where they will play and that is something that Bilic needs to drum into ALL Croatian players.
I mean for a start we need more than 2 defensive mids challenging for a place. We all know Pokrivac at moment is 3rd defensive midfielder for Croatia whilst being in and out of Red Bulls team. That's not good enough and is a situation that can harm Croatia. What we need is to still have players who can come in and can do a job for 15 mins or a game without the whole operation falling to bits. Thats why i say you need 30 players playing well in there clubs and that has to be Croatia's aim next season for its countries players. NOBODY sitting on benches. All should be trying there best to gets minutes on the pitch.
As for Marko Babic if Velimir Zajec wants Dinamo to play 4-3-2-1 then he needs another midfield player. As Leko is not coming then maybe Marko Babic is our man. There is not another midfielder out there, that is why Hajduk are telling Kaiserslautern to go away in their pursuit of Srdjan Andric. Central mids are hard to get in Croatian football at the moment and that's why we should hunt out Babic. He's the one guy in limbo who could come.
One last thing about Leko. Of course he's going to say that Bursaspor(?) are "ambitious". What else is he going to say? "um… I chose Buraspor because they were the only ones desperate and stupid enough to accept my wage demands"? No, of course not. He "wants to be a part of a great project", to "help build a club with a great tradition" blah, blah.
Yes, next season should be a good one for watching players, especially the Bundesliga with Petric, Olic, Pranjic, Rakitic, Ilicevic, Gavranovic, Pamic, Vida and ?. It'll be even better if Strinic, Mandzukic, and Jajalo end up there. I could also see Klasnic ending up back there.
This season may have the highest number of Croatian players in the top 5 leagues in years, with Lovren looking to claim a larger role at Lyon and Pletikosa likely to sign for Spurs…er…Crottenham. Who knows though, most of transfers will happen later in the window.
Leko, Vranjes, and Babic are done. Leko is just picking up a paycheck so he can focus on designing/furnishing his house in Zagreb. Vranjes is in his 30's and ended up a very average player. Babic has flopped at his last 3(!) clubs…thats almost unheard of for a top flight player- after the 2nd failed club, they usually drop down a few levels. Seriously, the only place I could Babic going in Europe is Croatia. Maybe Turkey, as that seems to be the new preferred graveyard of Croatian players. He can exchange home decorating tips with Leko.
Can't see any of those players on the national team. Maybe only Pamic, Gavranovic but also not for a while.
U.S should have not had the goal disallowed but Slovenia should have had a penalty as Novakovic's head was blocked by the defenders hands so to me that levels itself out. Also Slovenia deserved the point due to the play on the pitch as they were the better side. I respect what Slovenia are doing. They have decent players in every point of the pitch. No geniouses, but just solid guys at solid clubs. Whilst Slovenia is a rival of Croatia, we can also learn something about how they structure there team. There coach for example can't do anymore. That is the best formation and players in the country.
Germany were unlucky to have Klose red carded and what was that from Vidic. Again has anyone ever seen Vidic do that before. Very odd.
I was surprised by Leko's transfer to Bucaspor, but apparently they have big ambitions for the season and have signed Stjepan Tomas as well. I would have preferred Leko to go to a bigger club, but who knows maybe they will make an impression in Turkey. Whether he is restored is purely on how he plays. If he plays well, bring him back. If he doesn't then he stays out. Vranjes and Babic need to make similar transfers. Vranjes was doing well with Genclerbirigli last season so same sort of move should help him.
Bilic should get after people like Leko, Vranjes, Rukavina and Babic. No player should be allowed to sit on there backside doing nothing. Croatian players should all be striving to get into the national team. Whether they make it or not is a different matter, but every player should find there level and play as much as possible. This is all Gordon Schildenfeld has done. He's found a club that suits him and look at him now. He's on the fringes of the national team. Bilic should be making every player aware of this.
We don't want to be seeing another scenario like Nikola Pokrivac being in the squad when he's out of form. Bilic should turn to all players in form. If Leko, Vranjes play well they can come in to the squad. If they don't then they stay out. That's the law Bilic should go by.
Next season theres a lot of players who could see more action then in the season just gone. You'd have Budimir and Cesarec playing each week in Greece, Budan may be brought back in to things at Palermo, Lakic and Ilicevic are in the Bundesliga again with Kaiserslautern, Pamic at Freiburg, Gavranovic at Schalke. Kalinic at Blackburn. There is a lot more players out there playing in top flight leagues so who knows who could step forward next season.
jerko leko should not be guarenteed a spot on the team… we should test younger players out first before making the decision… i prefer this move to turkey rather then going to the weaker croatian league… if your going to the croatian league in my opinion your a write off at that age… i can understand testing youth from croatian league but not a older player
great shout out to CSR from rakitic.
RE: WC
germany got robbed. that was a BS red card. and then the serbs with another ridiculous handball?!? WTF? too bad podolski couldnt hammer it home.
if germany got robbed, then the US got raped. there was no reason to disallow the third US goal. ESPN showed the replay 50 times isolating everyone in the box…no foul anywhere. US should be in command of the group right now with ENgland drawing.
Leko not going to dinamo, instead signs for turkish side bucaspor. Anyone thinhs he will be called back to the national team now?
Roma is too big for Knezevic. I think he'll be benched if he went there.
Palermo say they don't want to sell Budan as have sold Cavani instead. I think his Croatia days are gone, but would be nice to see him get more opportunities next season.
Ivo Ilicevic has signed permanently with Kaiserslautern. Looking forward to seeing how he does this season. i watched a lot of his games last season. Kaiserslautern were almost my second club. Plenty of transfer business still to be done i think.
dario knezevic is being linked to Roma. I guess claudio raneari wants to give him a second chance after his time at juve when he was injured all year…. i don't like the fact that since he was injured all year juve fans called him a flop even though he barely played…. here's the link
http://www.goal.com/en/news/10/italy/2010/06/18/1983318/romas-interest-in-dario-knezevic-is-concrete-livorno-chief
I want to know who let the referee get high before USA v Slovenia.
i think Hajduk would like to sell Strinic and give him the chance to move to a stronger league, but he can only move to a big club that will pay the 4m Euro asking pricing. Big Russian clubs have been linked with him today. Koln wanted him, but they couldn't afford him.
I think Hajduk will recieve a bid for Ibricic and Strinic and J Buljat before the close of the transfer window which is months away.
I really like what I saw from that Strinic kid..we badly needed a good left back…is he staying at home??
Rakitic doesn't look too disconcerted to me. How many of us would have stopped to take the time to do this. I'm not giving himself massive applause. He's just on holiday. but nothing to criticise here either. For Croatia he's a really important player. If Bilic can fit Rakitic, Srna, Kranjcar, Olic, Eduardo, Corluka and Modric in the same team that'd be pretty amazing. Its possible that not qualifying was the best for the team as it wouldn't have been adjusted otherwise. Its best to mess up one tournament rather than two or three. We seem to have solutions to the problems we had in the qualifiers. I still think we need a couple more friendlies.
It seems like Pletikosa will go to Spurs, Eduardo will head to Spain, I couldn't care less if Srna goes or not as Shaktar are a good team… Leko better sign up to a new club soon. I think Koln would be perfect for Leko.
Mario Antolovic signed for Legia Warsaw today. This is another good thing for Croatian football as it reinforcing Cibalia's finances. Cibalia have a excellant coach, but they had no money and were losing all there players for free. If anyone wants to know who Antolovic is. He is a highly promising 20 year old goalkeeper so will be interesting to see how he does in Poland as Croatia needs a keeper.
@ Branimir Kvartuc
Ehm , really though i do not even live in Croatia , i was just kidding though , no need to get so worked up about it bro .
Rakitic!!! love that guy…lets hope he continues to get better and better
Branimir, your a hero buddy…i wish more of us were like you… good luck!
Nice job Branimir, and all the best on your venture, we'll be rooting for you on the 26th!
awesome job branimir…. thats what i like to see from CSR.. going straight to the source of croatian soccer…. this sight keeps getting better…. i like what i see… Ante that boy.. i like the way you stick up for your bro… that's a true brother
Rakatic was cool. I had some business in Uvala Lapad in the middle of the day on Thursday when I spotted him. The dude is vacationing so I did not want bug him too much. I simply asked if it was cool if he would take 15 seconds to do a shout out for CSR. He was cool about it.
@Annonymous about the Croatian accent…. quit being a hater…. I've been living here for two years and my Croatian has completely improved. Real Croatians (the ones that live in the country love my accent) so quit competing for the "I'm the best Croatian award" I know you want to prove that you're a better Croatian than all other Croatians, but this just tells me that you are most likely a wanna be…… sorry to be so harsh, but you asked for it…..
P.S. everyone… I will be live on Dobro Jutro Hrvatska Friday morning. For those of you who have Croatian Satellite look out for me and my Croatian accent, promoting Stand Up Paddle boarding in Croatia and my World Record attempt: I will be paddling from Venice, Italy to Pula Croatia on June 26.
@ Anonymous,
Please sign in. CSR likes to keep track of people who talk shit on the site.
@ Ziva,
My bro said Rakitic was more than willing to take a break from hanging out with his buddies. Let's see what else Branimir has to say about this when he jumps on the site.
Wow , u need to work on ur Croatian accent dude 😛
Is it me or did it seem like Rakitic wanted nothing to do with the camera.
Good stuff Branimir!
Cool
Rakitic giving PG a shout out….awesome. Good work Branimir!