Croatia’s first problem going into the World Cup has arrived. Left back Ivan Strinić is out.
The Dnipro defender has ruptured his right quadriceps muscle in his leg and has been officially ruled out of making any trip to Brazil. Strinić has been capped for the Vatreni 32 times since 2010 and has become a pivotal part of the Croatian defense.
Now the question is: who should replace him?
Niko Kovač can put hybrid a hybrid Danijel Pranjić at left back, however, the Panathinaikos midfielder has holes in his defensive game even though his presence on the field would up Croatia’s attack. If Kovač could bolster down the central defense with Gordon Schildenfeld and Dejan Lovren, captain Darijo Srna can play right back moving Vedran Ćorluka to left; a position he has played before.
Odo Niko 🙁
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/12040/9326792/world-cup-injury-rules-croatias-niko-kranjcar-out-of-finals-in-brazil
Kranjcar injured
@Armada-Further to my last post as I had to rush away,please dont be concerned about me.Your recruitment skills will be of no use.I am self employed and doing rather nicely thanks.I am in a position of having decent quiet and solitary periods but I then get very busy for periods also.
-Of course,in my role as Zivas dad,I have expected more critics,but this is actually only the 2nd time.I have had far more praise than critics and heck,some think I am funny at times 🙂
-You obviously dont appreciate me,I will need to live with it.
-I wont say too much,but Armada,there would be a decent number that would not be too positive toward you either,I have noticed that you have been descibed in certain ways also.Thats just the way it goes.
-Anyhow,better go ,will get busy again soon.Sorry,definitely no adoption for you.
O WE GOING TO MISS MARIO MANDZUKIC VS BRAZIL
Armada-Sorry my man,you can try as hard as you like,but I will not adopt you.You are well off the mark with your opinions,so I am not hurt in any way.I actually kind of find them funny.Good luck with your recruiting,it sounds great.
@Vatrena Čast
You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.
People like to pick on Strinić, but now that he’s gone, people realize that it puts us in a Russian Roulette-like situation with our LB role.
@armada now that’s funny
Wait a second I remember not too far back people were saying strinic is shit and blah blah blah. Now he is hurt and people are scrambling to find a replacement. What gives?
http://insider.espn.go.com/espnfc/news/story/_/id/1828720?cc=5901
espn going through top 10 in the world cup at each position. they rank mandzukic number 8
i’ll be interested to see if both modric and rakitic make their top 10 list.
Watch out Zivas step dad, Armada would attempt to meet up with you than never show up.
I know speed is on the bottom of the list for great defending, but I have a really hard time believing that Corluka can stay balanced in an awkward position for him against a team like Brazil. Oh well, I guess will see. I’m in favor of Croatia parking the bus to make sure they don’t lose by more than two goals.
@ Ante(Zivas step dad)
Got a question for you dude…. So let’s say we go to your actual friends (not internet friends) and family and we tell them that you spend a considerable amount of your day trolling one poster on a Croatian sport message board.
What do you think there reaction would be? Feel bad for you? Laugh at you? Wonder why you don’t have a job maybe? All of the above?
In no way do I agree with all of Ziva’s points, but lets call a spade a spade, dude. You’re pathetic. I can say with 90% accuracy you probably have no job. I’m a recruiter plus I’m all about helping out fellow Hrvati. Let’s connect and I can get you out of this bad place and hopefully get you out of the house, making a few bucks and away from internet trolling. My treat.
Agreed. Speed only matters if you know how to use it. We have watched Pranjic get burned by slower guys because of his lack of situational awareness and tactical postioning.
If I am looking for a great defender and the attributions that make a great defender, speed is close to the bottom of the list.
Speed isnt everything. Corluka is a smart defender. Would be totaly fine with him at LB. Pranjic at LB is a disaster, Lovren to.
If we play the below:
Srna-Schildenfeld-Lovren-Corluka
Against, Brazil – Carli would be more of a stay at home LB and Srna would take more of a chance jumping in on the attack. The thing about Vedran is his positioning; he never puts himself in a bad position and makes up for his complete lack of speed for usually reading plays well and being at the right place at the right time. If we ask him to run up and down the flank, he’s going to be completely gassed by halftime. Let him stack back more and through the game and let a more athletic winger (Perisic, Olic, whoever) do all the running and leg work.
f strinic n vida
pranjic should be fine now
Tata means “perhaps”not “pherhaps”.
See,even tata makes mistakes. 😉
Son,unlike you,I remember things I have said,and I remember things that you have said.Pherhaps its due to your lack of maturity.pherhaps its due to my love and guidance as a dad.
You did agree to use the term to appear more balanced and not just appear to put down Croats,but you man -Donovan as well.It wouldnt be right just to speak of him in a positive manner.
Son,sometimes you are plain dumb.But dont worry,I will ask mamma to make Sarma tonight.Everything will be ok.
go ahead call him cry baby Donovan. Doesn’t bother me.
But, I appreciate you keeping track of random conversations we have had months/years ago. Just when I want to pull back a bit from posting, I see some of you need me here to be the ombudsman.
Blah blah blah.Looks like its smoke and mirrors time from you again.You did agree some time back that it would be fair to use this nickname when referring to Donovan as you regularly use nicknames for Croat players as a put down.”Cry baby Donovan”seems fitting after what he did.
You will of course deny this agreement now,because thats what you do.
huh…….you can call him whatever nickname you want. I don’t care for him one way or the other. Just pointed out that he performed better for his national side. Last three World Cups: Donovan has 5 goals, the entire Croatian roster has 4 goals. The only people who cant understand that are the ones who are blind by being a cheerleader and not being able to see and think clearly.
Is/was Rakitic a better overall player than Donovan? Rakitic sure was and is. But, that was never the point. All I said was that I want a player who produces on national team. And he did. And Rakitic has not…..at least up to this point. Just like this coming weekend, I have no rooting interest if Modric wins the CL or not. I just want him to be healthy going into the WC.
back to the defender debate……what good is having speed if you don’t know how to defend. Pranjic doesn’t know how to defend. Slower players get by him because he is poorly positioned and doesn’t understand the passing lanes. Not his fault that he has to play out of position and is made to be the sacrificial lamb
Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! Not Landon,he cant be cut!
Ziva,dont forget to use the nickname of “Cry baby Donovan “when you refer to him.Remember,you did agree to this to not look biased against Cro players who you regularly use nicknames for when mocking them.You agreed,but always forget to call Donovan that after he came crying back home from Germany becuae he couldnt adjust to the food etc while over there.Thus proving he is nowhere near world class.
I know this is a sensitive time for you,but it is the ziva istina my lad.Evewything be alwight,ok?
Pranjic certainly should not get the nod to play at LB (if indeed he is in the 23) rather put Lovren at LB Schifo and Charli in central defence and if Srna is played in the midfield throw Vrsaljko at RB. I dont like the pace of that set up but i think we would be way too vulnerable with Pranjic in the back line, the guy is an attacking midfielder the LB experiment has been tried and it was a complete failure and a huge part of why we werent at the WC in 2010
http://www.tportal.hr/sport/sp2014/333891/Kovac-pred-novinarima-Hoce-li-danas-nekoga-prekriziti.html
Great Interview..
BTW they cannot call up another player to replace him until they declare their 23 man roster then if somebody get hurt they can call someone else.
Corluka is a much better defender, but to me they shouldn’t be comparable. Corluka is a center back for the most part and Pranjic is a back. Tough to compare.
Ziva- As a back against a fast team like Brazil, you need speed the most. I’m not a fan of Pranjic at LB, but I can’t see how Corluka can be effective at left back. He’s just not very agile and can get reckless with his tackles. Pranjic actually offers more from an attacking standpoint and will offer more speed. Maybe against Cameroon, but who knows.
I know being a defender isn’t all about speed, but Corluka is so slow these days that it would be dangerous to start him there. Also who do you start at center back next to Lovern, if you want to put Corluka there? I take my chances with Pranjic. You have to consider all the possibilities at the back four before making a decision.
Also your theory is very common. Most people would rather want a player to perform better at a international level than club level. I love how you try to sound so unique, yet you think just like everyone else. The Donovan-Rakitic thing was so silly.
@Bobby V
Gotta say I’d be weary about any promises of donations made by our savez…
Not great news about Strinic given that he was our best option at LB. Question…didn’t Vrsaljko play RB for Dinamo? Honestly wouldn’t be a horrible idea to experiment with him at LB….wouldn’t be ideal but given the other options Corluka (too slow) and Pranjic (bad defender) he might be worth a shot.
If we had to choose between Corluka and Pranjic I’d say Corluka as he is a much better defender.
Niko Kovac –
“I have spoken to the team captain, Darijo Srna, and we have decided that the players and the coaching staff will renounce a part of World Cup play-off win bonus, thus giving one million kuna to the victims. We also invite supporters to buy tickets for the Mali match in Osijek and support the Croatian Football Federation action. Supporting the team this time represents supporting the country. These people have always been by our side, now we wanted to show that we will stand by them”.
The ticket sales profits from the friendly match with Mali (May 31st in Osijek) will be donated to the victims, as well as the tickets sales profits from the U-21s qualification match against Ukraine in Zagreb.
@allen…..having sped doesn’t mean you are a good defender. I think Corluka would do a better job defending, even as LB, than Pranjic can.
They would, but once at the World Cup the US has done better than we have.
Listen, for me it was never a player v player debate. My point was that I personally valued players more who excelled with their national sides and didn’t underperform. I used Donovan as the example of someone who over performed and I used Rakitic as one who underperformed.
Honestly would risk Pranjic at LB against Brazil for speed purposes. Corluka at LB against Brazil is criminal. He would get embarrassed so bad that I may have to sell his jersey that I have and stop being a jock sniffer to the Croatia national team.
….and pretty sure Croatia would qualify from CONCACAF every time.
Well The United States has zero wins in the last 10 Euro’s!
It was never a debate. Rakitic is a better player, but Donovan has had a much more productive international career.
Hey, last I checked the US has made more knockout round appearances in the last three world cups than we have. In fact, we have not had any. One win for cro in the last three world cups that have been played (of course us only being in two of them).
One of my all-time favorite threads now has a chance to re-appear. Donovan vs. Rakitic – hahahahaha
Too late now for Milic.
Milic also had an avg rating of 7.22 from whoscored.com playing as a LB
Pranjic is a terrible defender which is scary especially since we likely will not play with a true defensive midfielder. Corluka is too slow to play on the wing but it could work like it did against Turkey.
Wouldn’t mind having Hrvoje Milic there as a back up. He’s had a great season playing with Stipe. 1 goal and 2 assists as LB in 17 games while playing the others in a LM role. Was kinda surprised he didn’t get the call up considering the question marks we’ve had at LB since Babic played there.
Is a surprise but not a shock
Not my boy, but him being cut is a surprise but not a surprise. With Klinsmann getting the contract extension he will give younger players a try. He won’t be fired no matter what takes place in Brazil.
And before some of you add words that I never said, I will repeat what I’ve said before. I will take a player like Donovan any day, one who performs as good or better with the national team than he does for his club side. Five goals in 12 World Cup games is good in my eyes.
I wonder if Rakitic would have made the US squad …
^ ^
Great move, I say!
He’s always portrayed a certain sense of entitlement in my eyes.
No room for that under Jurgen!
So 28 players left who gets cut after the mali game i just realized sammir has a good chance going to brazil. Cop pasalic brozovic badelj mocinic sammir one will survive.
LANDYCAAAAKES!!!
Who cares about Strinic, in more important news Ziva’s boy Landon Donovan has been left out of the American squad.
Only options are Pranjic and Corluka.
Corluka played well at LB against Turkey, but that was one game that happened over 2 and a half years ago.
Bubnjic is too green, Vrsaljko too. Lovren wasn’t too great at LB when we played Belgium in Zagreb.
This should open up another call up.