What does the Croatian national side need most on their “wish list” is 2024? Wingers!
What did Dalić do for UEFA Nations League squad call-ups in September for the Portugal and Poland matches? Not call up one natural winger. The only natural winger on the squad for Croatia is 35 year-old Ivan Perišić, who is currently without a club and coming off a major knee surgery.
Don’t worry, Coach Kvartuć is here and he believes in playing guys in their natural positions…especially if they are in form…no matter what league they play in. Not only are Marco Pašalić (23) and Marko Pjaca (29) the only real wingers at Croatia’s disposal right now, but they can do something that the Croatian national team has been lacking for years: a shot from outside the box.
Nations League is the perfect time to experiment and let younger/fringe players get a shot. But Dalić just can’t pull the trigger on that philosophy, can he?
Take a look at two goals both Pjaca and Pašalić scored for Dinamo and Rijeka over the past 10 days. Call me crazy.
Pjaca and Oršić should both be called up. Oršić is starting again at his club. Perišić still without a club should not be there.
Oršaaaaaaaa!!!
He’ll save Dalic’s skin and make a comeback for 2026 World Cup.
agree with Maminjo. Dalic is actually believing he was a big piece of 2018 and 2022. We had good horses, good luck and good coaching by Modric. He’s a figure head put in place by HNS . He’s the Kamala Harris of Croatian soccer. You go girl!!
He made some good calls in 2018, like starting Rebic and Mandzo up top with Perisic (instead of Krama, who looked like a first choice striker for us for getting us into the World Cup with that Ukraine brace).
Getting Broz in there in the midfield with Modric and Rakitic was another good move, after having Krama in there for the first game and deciding on the change.
Constantly subbing out Perisic in middle of the second half was the only recurring mistake he kept making, especially since Perisic was hands-down our best player in the tournament.
Not replacing the obviously injured Subasic (with a pretty in-form Kalinic) was also a mistake, as Subasic couldn’t move in the last two games…but this was a much tougher call to make.
Problem was, he stopped working after that. He lost his focus, and started on some other projects outside football. He coasted during the Nations League, then panicked right before the Euro2020 and was unprepared for it.
He recovered for UNL2022/23 and WC2022…though he was very lucky not to be bounced early in WC2022…and that luck ran out for him at Euro2024.
Needs to be faster with this youth change, or else we will have another bad UNL, which will hurt our seeding and make things harder in our upcoming tournaments.
Dalić in 2022 still had Lovren who although always a controversial figure was a leader on the pitch in the checkers. Between Lovren, Modrić, Perišić, Brozović, Kovačić, and Kramarić on the field and Vida, Mandzukić, Subašić, and Čorluka on the bench (plus Olić), Dalić had the 2018 spirit everywhere in 2022. Now that it’s basically gone, a new principle is needed, which should be more strategic and less about magic. Also, Pjaca was there in 2018, so he should be called up on that basis anyway!
still need a top class striker
Let’s hold our breath
HNS said y’day Erlic has withdrawn (no replacement announced yet)
x.com/HNS_CFF/status/1828825491719201136
Dalic should have called them, but did not. So, we have to assume that he will drop his usual 4 – 3 – 3 and come up with a new formation which does not require genuine wingers?
I doubt it.
He’s just going with the usual formation and will continue to play guys like Krama, Majer and Perišić in those wing positions.
Krama and Majer are playing very well right now, so things may work out for Dalić… but we won’t have width or speed on the wings if we need it.
Dalić’s ego has gotten the best of him.
Everyone has been calling him out for overplaying the old guard, and not choosing to bench some of our central midfielders in favor of starting some natural wingers.
This obviously bothers him, and he’s been resisting mainly because of that. He’s the coach, and he doesn’t need the fans and media “backseat coaching” the team.
He would be starting Broz if he could right now. At least we have Petar Sučić called up, and hopefully he will get his well deserved game time. Baturina too.
Hopefully Dalić’s ego will settle down and he doesn’t drag this too long. It cost us progression at the Euros. Hopefully it doesn’t hurt our next tournament as well.
We immediately need to start playing the young guard (with a few key vets as needed).
At the end of the day, the Nation’s League is there to build squad cohesion and test out new players.
What’s the point of bringing a 35 year old Perisic? I’m not saying Pjaca or Marco will ever be world-class. But they’re our best bet for wingers next tournament. They needed to be on the squad list and it’s baffling that they weren’t
Yeah. Pjaca and Marco are stop-gap wingers until some of these younger prospects like Durdov, Noa, Sotiček and Matković pan out.
They are not some high ceiling wingers, but they have a high floor.
You know what you’re getting with them and they fill a critical need.
My goodness Pjaca’s crossovers were so fluid it looked like a magic trick. Dare I say better than younger Perisic.
Nailed it!!