The criteria a player must meet to make our list is as follows:
- The player must be between the ages of 16 and 25
- The player cannot be a cemented starter in the senior national team
- The player must be eligible to play for Croatia
Honorable mentions:
- Boško Šutalo (21)
- Dominik Oroz (20)
- Leonardo Lukačević (22)
- Marin Sverko (23)
- Martin Erlić (23)
Bruno Brajković, 20, RB, NK Rudeš ($330k)
Strengths: defensive stability, dribbling, creation, crossing
Weaknesses: set pieces, strength
Next step: Statistically, Bruno has been the best Croatian right-back for the past season, but he now needs to display his talents at a higher level. The 1. HNL should be his next step. Bruno was called up to the Croatia U20 squad after consistent performances all year long and recorded 2 assists in just 45 minutes of play.
Stats:
- NK Rudeš: 33 appearances, 2 goals, 7 assists
- Croatia U20: 45 minutes played, 2 assists
Potential: 7/10 – Top 5 league defender
Leon Pesch, 18, RB/LB/CB, Bayer 04 Leverkusen U19
Strengths: speed, offensive instinct
Weaknesses: defensive positioning
Next step: Leon is working to crack the Leverkusen roster. He’s a quick, dynamic, right-footed fullback and is considered one of the biggest talents in the Leverkusen academy and in German football. He has an appearance for Croatia U16. Leon appeared in some friendly matches for Leverkusen, but expect him to make a run for their roster next season. He must focus on consistency and translate his game into the Bundesliga.
Stats:
- Bayer Leverkusen U17: 15 appearances, 1 goal, 3 assists
- Bayer Leverkusen U19 (COVID-19 season): 4 appearances, 1 goal, 1 assist
Potential: 7.5/10 – Good top 5 league defender
Josip Šutalo, 21, CB/RB, Dinamo Zagreb ($825k)
Strengths: defensive positioning, tackling, versatility
Weaknesses: speed, offensive progression
Next step: Šutalo needs to compete for a starting position on Dinamo’s roster. It might take a year or two, but he has the talent to do it. A goal and an assist in his start vs Hrvatski Dragovoljac was very promising, but Šutalo needs consistent minutes to really take the next step in his career, as he seems to be a squad player for Dinamo manager Damir Krznar right now.
Stats:
- Dinamo Zagreb U19: 17 appearances
- Dinamo Zagreb II: 15 appearances
- Istra 1961:
- 26 appearances, 1 goal
- 2.5 interceptions per game
- Dribbled past 0.3 times per game (dribbled past once every 3 games)
- 3.6 clearances per game
- 0 errors leading to a shot or a goal
- 64% ground duels won
- 58% total duels won
- Dinamo Zagreb: 11 appearances, 1 goal, 1 assist
Potential: 7/10 – Top 5 league defender
Ivan Cvijanović, 17, LB, Osijek II ($330k)
Strengths: tackling, duels, dribbling, shooting
Weaknesses: consistency
Next step: Cvijanović is a great balanced fullback. He adds punch to the offense but can defend exceptionally as well. Osijek is short on left-backs, so expect his next step to be in the Osijek squad where he can continue to grow and develop.
Stats:
- Osijek II:
- 12 appearances, 1 goal, 1 assist
- 62.3% defensive duels won
- 2.57 dribbles per 90
Potential: 8/10 – Great top 5 league defender
Gabriel Marušić, 18, CB, Bayern Munchen II
Strengths: passing, positioning, progressive play
Weaknesses: aerial duels
Next step: Marušić has impressed at all levels of Bayern’s youth teams, but his next step is to truly cement himself as the Bayern Munchen II starting center-back. He is currently held in regard as the 3rd/4th rotation center-back, and sees minutes with the U19 squad as well. Last season, he was quickly promoted from the U17 squad to the U19 squad, even then showing he is dominant at that level. COVID cut the season short so he only played a limited amount of games.
Stats:
- Bayern Munchen U17: 9 appearances
- Bayern Munchen U19: 4 appearances
- Bayern Munchen II: 4 appearances
Potential: 8/10 – Great top 5 league defender
Bartol Franjić, 21, LB/CB/DM/CM, Dinamo Zagreb ($3.85m)
Strengths: versatility, football IQ, passing
Weaknesses: lack of any elite attribute
Next step: Franjić has proven to be amazingly useful for Dinamo Zagreb, as he can cover as a CM, DM, LB and CB. Franjić is undoubtedly a very skilled player and has proven himself to be Dinamo’s strongest player in the left-back position. His next step must be to continue starting and impressing for Dinamo, starting for the U21 team, and eventually furthering his career to be able to get a chance in the senior NT. A big indicator that seems to be limiting his potential in our opinion is that Franjić still has yet to display an elite attribute such as speed or dribbling or lockdown defending. He can basically do it all pretty well. Bartol is still young and has time to develop one.
Stats:
- Dinamo Zagreb U19: 14 appearances, 1 goal
- Dinamo Zagreb II: 35 appearances, 4 goals
- Dinamo Zagreb: 50 appearances, 1 goal, 3 assists
Potential: 8/10 – Great top 5 league defender
Dominik Braun, 17, CB, Dinamo Zagreb II
Strengths: aerial ability, tackling, distribution
Weaknesses: none yet
Next step: Braun won the award for best defender in the latest U19 tournament held by Dinamo Zagreb. He’s an outstanding shut down defender with excellent aerial ability (despite not being the tallest player on the pitch), great distribution and tackling. Braun is proving too strong for the U19 level at just 17, and is up and down between their squad and the Dinamo II squad. Braun’s next step is to solidify himself in the II squad and eventually get his debut for Dinamo Zagreb’s senior team.
Stats:
- Croatia U17: 8 appearances
- Dinamo Zagreb II: 1 appearance
Potential: 8.5/10 – Borderline elite defender
Marin Pongračić, 23, CB, Wolfsburg ($9.35m)
Strengths: aerial ability, shut down defending, tackling, distribution
Weaknesses: speed, injury prone
Next step: Maxence Lacroix had a massive breakout season for Wolfsburg in 2020/21, so a move is bound to happen soon. An injury plagued 2020/21 season for Marin Pongračić saw him out of the squad almost all year, and on the bench when he wasn’t out. However, in the limited minutes he did receive, Pongračić impressed. Astonishingly, he still hasn’t even been given a chance this new season. Regardless, he needs a bounce back year. He needs to break Wolfsburg’s starting XI every match and regain his form, as he is needed for Croatia’s senior squad. A lack of center-back quality is prevalent for us, and Pongračić can really help strengthen our back line. However, with his current form, it is very unlikely that he receives a call-up for the September qualifiers.
Stats:
- 1860 Munich: 7 appearances
- Red Bull Salzburg: 56 appearances, 1 assist
- VfL Wolfsburg: 23 appearances, 2 goals
- 85% pass accuracy
- 1.1 interceptions per game
- 1.3 tackles per game
- Dribbled past 0.2 times per game (only once every 5 games)
- 66% aerial duels won
- 58% ground duels won
- 1.2 fouls per game
- 85% successful dribbles
- 60% long ball accuracy
Potential: 8/10 – Great top 5 league defender
Domagoj Bradarić, 21, LB/LM, LOSC Lille ($6.60m)
Strengths: speed, agility, dribbling
Weaknesses: consistency, defensive reliability
Next step: Bradarić needs to lock himself into a starting position for Lille. With rumours surrounding current left-back Reinildo’s move to Napoli, this could be Domagoj’s chance. He is an explosive left-back that brings a lot to the offense, but needs to learn to be more reliable at the back as he is often caught up field. If he can work on his weaknesses (mostly mental things like being more consistent), Bradarić has so much potential it’s scary.
Stats:
- Hajduk Split II: 35 appearances, 5 goals
- Hajduk Split: 25 appearances, 2 assists
- LOSC Lille: 61 appearances, 1 goal, 6 assists
- 0.7 key passes per game
- 87% pass accuracy per game
- 40% long ball accuracy
- 17% cross accuracy
- 62% successful dribbles per game
- 55% ground duels won
- 42% aerial duels won
Potential: 8.5/10 – Borderline elite defender
Josip Stanišić, 21, RB/LB/CB/DM, Bayern Munchen ($440k)
Strengths: versatility, maturity, speed, defensive reliability
Weaknesses: crossing is inconsistent
Next step: Stanišić has been the talk of the town recently after having chosen Croatia over Germany and breaking Bayern’s starting XI as a 21 year old defender. Rumour has it that Bayern has stopped searching for a replacement backup for Benjamin Pavard, as they’ve found it in young Croat Josip Stanišić. Stanišić needs to continue impressing and being consistent, and he will get his chance in our National Team, especially with our weaknesses at the right-back position.
Stats:
- Bayern Munchen U19: 44 appearances, 3 goals, 2 assists
- Bayern Munchen II: 42 appearances, 2 assists
- Bayern Munchen: 2 appearances
Potential: 8.5/10 – Borderline elite defender
Rocco Žiković, 16, CB, FC Liefering (RB Salzburg) ($2.2m)
Strengths: maturity, technical skills, defensive reliability
Weaknesses: injury prone
Next step: Rocco needs to continue his great performances from Salzburg U18 into the Liefering squad where he is rumoured to be given a chance soon at only 16 years of age! Žiković was bought by Salzburg from Istra 1961 for 2 million euros as a 15 year old. This just shows how much potential he has when a huge talent developing team like Salzburg comes knocking. He won the ‘best player award’ as a central defender in the Vlatko Marković tournament, which attracted the Salzburg scouts.
Stats:
- Croatia U15: 4 appearances
- Croatia U16: 4 appearances
- Croatia U17: 2 appearances, 2 goals
Potential: 9/10 – Elite defender
5. Duje Ćaleta-Car, 24, CB, Marseille ($27.5m)
Strengths: strength, distribution, consistency, defensive positioning
Weaknesses: speed
Next step: Ćaleta-Car is heavily linked with a move to West Ham United, which we think would be his best move. He’s perfectly suited for Premier League football; strong, gritty and smart. There is a lack of Croats in that league, and having DCC get good minutes with a top 8 team there would be great. Duje should undoubtedly already be a starter for the National Team, but it seems as though he is considered third in the rotation. Good performances with West Ham should lock him into a starting spot.
Stats:
- Šibenik: 17 appearances
- Liefering: 20 appearances, 1 assist
- RB Salzburg: 130 appearances, 4 goals, 6 assists
- Olympique Marseille: 91 appearances, 3 goals, 2 assists
- 86% pass accuracy per game
- 49% long ball accuracy
- 1.3 interceptions per game
- 1.1 tackles per game
- Dribbled past 0.4 times per game
- 3.9 clearances per game
- 71% aerial duels won
- 49% ground duels won
Potential: 8.5/10 – Borderline elite defender
4. Borna Sosa, 23, LB/LM, VfB Stuttgart ($17.60m)
Strengths: crossing, vision, dribbling, consistency, passing
Weaknesses: ground duels
Next step: Sosa needs to continue shining for Stuttgart this season, as he was off to a banging first game, recording 3 assists. There really isn’t much more he can do on the pitch to deserve a NT call-up. Sosa will probably outgrow Stuttgart’s squad this season, so a good next step would be upgrading to a stronger Bundesliga team. He was linked to Bayern Munchen in January for a fee of around 20 million euros, although competition would be fierce there with Canadian star Alphonso Davies. But could you imagine how tasty it would be to watch Sosa whipping in crosses to Lewandowski all game? Sosa can operate as a left midfielder, left wing-back in a 3 defender formation, or as a left-back in the typical 4 defender formations. He is an elite crosser of the ball, recording the highest number of accurate crosses and crossing assists last season.
Stats:
- Dinamo Zagreb U19: 3 appearances
- Dinamo Zagreb II: 11 appearances
- Dinamo Zagreb: 41 appearances, 6 assists
- VfB Stuttgart: 55 appearances, 3 goals, 22 assists
- 2.2 key passes per game
- 0.9 big chances created per game
- 1.2 interceptions per game
- 49% long ball accuracy
- 66% successful dribbles
Potential: 9/10 – Elite top 5 league defender
3. Mario Vušković, 19, CB, Hajduk Split ($7.15m)
Strengths: shooting, set pieces, speed, defensive positioning, distribution
Weaknesses: consistency
Next step: A transfer seems almost inevitable now for Mario, who’s been on the bench a lot lately for Hajduk. We believe this is because a transfer has been close to agreed and will be announced soon. He was heavily linked to Torino and Celtic. Mario needs to translate his amazing 1. HNL performances into his next league. He’s a huge talent and is only a couple years away from having a massive impact on the National Team. He is, in our opinion, the second best center-back talent Croatia has ever seen, behind only Joško Gvardiol.
Stats:
- Hajduk Split II: 19 appearances, 1 goal
- Hajduk Split: 48 appearances, 3 goals, 2 assists
- 89% pass accuracy
- 62% long ball accuracy
- 67% chipped passes
- 1.4 interceptions per game
- Dribbled past 0.1 times per game (only once every 10 games)
- 65% aerial duels won
Potential: 9/10 – Elite top 5 league defender
2. Maro Katinić, 17, CB/RB, Dinamo Zagreb II
Strengths: aerial duels, distribution, speed, consistency, versatility, defending one-on-ones, strength, mentality, technical
Weaknesses: none yet
Next step: The reason we have put Katinić above Vušković in this list, but stated Vušković is the second best center-back talent is because Katinić has not even played a 1. HNL match. So, putting him in that conversation with 2 players who have surpassed the league in terms of performance and skill would be unfair. That being said, the reason he is so high up this list is because of his pure raw skill. Katinić is even better than Gvardiol was at the age of 17 (he was 16 just a few months ago). Katinić debuted for Croatia U17 at the age of 15, and expect him to make the U19 roster this season as well. He is currently starting every game for Dinamo Zagreb II despite only recently turning 17 years old, so his next step would be to continue impressing in the 2. HNL, and eventually earn the chance to play 1. HNL football. I think he will receive his Dinamo debut if not this season, certainly in the next one. A great comparison for Katinić would be to Joško Gvardiol, except he is right-footed. He can play center-back as well as right-back, a position where we desperately need more depth. He has everything Gvardiol had at the age of 17, plus an amazing aerial duel win-rate, something Gvardiol lacks a bit in his game. Katinić has an unheard of 90% win rate in aerial duels…90%! Katinić mainly plays as a right-back for Croatian youth teams. Teams like Juventus, Napoli, Atalanta, Barcelona, Wolfsburg and RB Salzburg have been watching him very closely.
Stats:
- Dinamo Zagreb U19: unknown appearances
- 4.8 aerial duels per game, 90% success rate
- Dinamo Zagreb II: 1 appearance
- Croatia U15: 2 appearances
- Croatia U16: 3 appearances
- Croatia U17: 9 appearances
Potential: 10/10 – World class
- Joško Gvardiol, 19, CB/LB, RB Leipzig ($20.90m)
Strengths: strength, speed, dribbling, distribution, tackling, consistency, versatility, technical, mature, defensive awareness
Weaknesses: can work on aerial duels, not the tallest for a center-back
Next step: I’m pretty sure everyone expected Gvardiol to top this list. He’s a perfect combination of speed, dribbling and flash mixed with defensive reliability, strength and power. At just 18 years old (now 19), Gvardiol was physically dominating HNL opponents almost twice his age. His amazing performances have earned him a 19 million euro (+ additional clauses) move to RB Leipzig, a great club for his development. He is going to be replacing Upamecano/ Konate, however this year under Jesse Marsch, Leipzig seem to be operating in a 4 at back formation as opposed to Nagelsmann’s preferred 3 at back (which would have suited Josko better). Joško has already made 5 senior team appearances at just 19 years old, all of which out of his natural position! We truly have a wonderkid on our hands here, and Gvardiol has the potential to be the greatest Croatian defender of all time. However, he needs to continue progressing like he has. He needs to crack the Leipzig XI (was left on the bench all game in matchday 1 versus Mainz), and impress. Expect Joško to develop at Leipzig for a few years (like Upamecano and Konate) until he moves onto bigger things. The reason for him being benched is unknown, as it is strange that he was not even subbed in to make his debut. He is surely better than Orban and Simakan, but we will see how Marsch handles the center-back dilemma.
Stats:
- Dinamo Zagreb U19: 12 appearances
- Dinamo Zagreb II: 4 appearances, 1 assist
- Dinamo Zagreb: 52 appearances, 4 goals, 3 assists
- 0.4 key passes per game
- 89% pass accuracy
- 54% long balls
- 58% chipped passes
- 36% cross accuracy
- 1.9 interceptions per game
- 1.9 tackles per game
- Dribbled past 0.1 times per game (once every 10 games)
- 81% successful dribbles
- 70% ground duels won
- 59% aerial duels won
- Is fouled 1.5 times per game
- RB Leipzig: 0 appearances
- Croatia U17: 8 appearances, 1 goal
- Croatia U19: 5 appearances
- Croatia U21: 6 appearances, 1 goal
- Croatia: 5 appearances
Potential: 10/10 – World class
I believe Joško Gvardiol can be the best Croatian defender of all time.
Borna Sosa is an extremely smart player, and I always firmly believe he will make it one day even in his toughest time. I know lots of football fans prefer skillful players and underestimate Sosa’s talent, but now he proved himself. Sadly he made a big mistake several month ago, a mistake bigger than any mistakes he made in the field. I sensuously still hate him, but rationally speaking, he deserves a chance to make amends.
Again, some players listed here are way too overrated by the media and touted too much by their representatives…
Markus .. “Are you not entertained?!” Aurelius .
You are going next level this week.
You make us realize our back line has been weak for decades.
The fact that we can’t defend set pieces is embarrassing.
We need a ZDS goal keeper.
One taller nasty CB.
One explosive CB to compliment the above two.
Quick FB’s who can provide width in the attacking third.
I am glad to see Sosa called up. He will be wide open as teams attempt to deal with midfielders.
Also his crosses make Budimir relevant. Who I think can effective these next three matches.
Car and Gvardiol look good to me?
Vida actually plays well and should be respected.
Lovren has had his run of red cards.
Stanisic has the running style that looks legit at RB.
jakov medic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3KRZflqFGg
We already know caleta will be quite serviceable
Sosa most likely can have impact and I believe stanisic actually being rated this high by Bayern is not for nothing
A couple others should be at least serviceable
I don’t think anyone is saying they will all be master classes
But still we will have enough to keep a decent squad for I believe years to come
Yes I agree. That’s why I said I agree with Truth ‘in a sense.’ I don’t agree with everything he said, and I have just as much confidence in our future as anyone. If anyone remembers, my first few articles were mostly about younger guys and their potential. For example, less than 2 years ago I had Benkovic as a starting CB in my “Croatia in 5 years” article and that looks quite unlikely unless he figures out his club and injury situation. I’m sure that most of that lineup is wrong at this point because it’s hard to predict potential.
I wasn’t trying to say that I expect these guys to flop. Quite the opposite. But I just think we often go over the moon with guys way too fast and want to throw other guys out to the curb for the ‘new shiny toy.’
Nice work Markus. Your writing is quite good for a younger guy.
I will say I have to agree with Truth in a sense that we do overhype our guys a lot (and rightfully so). He has a point where when I was your age a few years ago we had the likes of Vlasic, Jedvaj, Coric, Balic, Radosevic, Tudor, Halilovic, Pjaca, Muric, Livaja, Perica, Rebic, etc. who were all considered good-to-great prospects and out of this list the only ones who even had decent careers so far are Vlasic and Rebic. Jedvaj, Pjaca, and Halilovic were quite good for like a season or 2 after leaving Dinamo, but fell off a cliff after a bit (Pjaca has an excuse though because of his injury).
But the point is, probably in the last 2 years or so I learned that it’s nice to keep track of all of these guys and hope that they pan out (I still keep track of all of these guys the same as you do), but realistically A LOT of them won’t. But that’s why we say they have the potential to become good players, not that they definitely will be.
Again, awesome job. This is not a criticism at all, it’s just a different point of view I guess. Keep up the good work!
100% get where you’re coming from. I’m giving out the potential ratings based on what I feel their ceiling is, not the guaranteed career they will have. For example, Gvardiol has displayed he has the potential to be world class due to his achievements at such a young age, but of course, just like any other player, he may not pan out for one reason or another.
Appreciate the compliments!
Well, to be fair, nobody should be expecting us to hit on a 100% rate, lol.
When you look at all the Brazilian prospects that come out of that country…at least 90% of them are junk.
But hitting on that 10% makes them a tournament contender every World Cup.
If 10% of our prospects turn out to be good international players, then we are on the right track.
Yeah, that’s not what I meant by that. It’s more just I think we need to be more careful with how much we hype up every single talent. It’s good to be excited about players’ potential. Nothing wrong with that. There are tons of young guys who really excite me. I’m in the camp that someone like Stipe Biuk could and probably should get a call up soon if he continues to do well and show progress. We just need to realize that players shouldn’t always be given more chances right away because of potential.
That’s why I keep saying to chill just a little bit with guys like Stanisic. Yes, he got the start for Bayern in their opener, that’s awesome. But Bayern is very smart with their younger players. They will expose them to the first team and see how good they actually are. Just like you always mention how Dinamo weeds out the guys they think aren’t quite as talented, but people don’t know that yet so they play them a bit and then sell them early.
Not saying Stanisic will be a flop at all, I’m excited by him too and think he has the potential to get into the national team VERY soon. But I am no longer one of those guys who automatically wants to get every top young prospect into the team straight away. Even if Dalic had decided to call him up, I doubt he would have got too much playing time, so why not let him start off with the U21s and likely play 90 minutes every match to see how he gels in our system. Then, if he shows he’s above that level while playing with them and with Bayern like Gvardiol and Brekalo have done in the past few years, move him to the senior team. He also looks like he will start today against Dortmund in the Super Cup so let’s see how he does there.
Basically, my point is there are some people who make it seem like they think the national team should be Modric and all the kids. Yeah, maybe Skoric isn’t some top defender, but like I said yesterday, he’s the last option at CB and doesn’t complain about that. He seems like he works hard and is likely respected by the players and the coaching staff because of it. Would I like to see maybe someone like Pongracic in there instead of him to get more experience? Sure. But Pongracic lost his starting role at Wolfsburg due to his injuries and only plays a little more than Vrsaljko does right now at Atleti. Why should he be given special treatment? Because he MIGHT be a starter for us in the future?
I get where you’re coming from when you always say that we need to have our younger guys gel but isn’t that why we have youth national teams? Sure some of the guys will have never played together because of age gaps but apart from maybe Luka Modric, they will have all played with players with similar play styles at some point in the youth setup. I just feel like you should have to earn your spot on the team with exceptional performances either at club level or at U21 level. That’s why I said I’m not mad that guys like Brekalo and Petkovic were dropped even if they could be guys we rely on in the future.
With that being said, do I think that some young guys deserve a chance? Absolutely. If we have 25 guys why not have 26 and given Majer his deserved call up? Is there a rule against that? I am happy to see Sucic on the stand-by list because he has been doing well at Salzburg for a whole season now and has the potential to be a star player for us, but I also want to see him actually getting minutes for whatever Croatia team he plays for, not just a 10 minute cameo in a game we are up by 3 already. Let him go be a starter for the U21s for a round of internationals (unless players get injured and have to pull out). He missed out on the U21 Euros twice this year because of injury so I would be interested to see how he does with those guys.
Also with the idea of trying to cap people like Sucic and Stanisic just so they can’t play for other nations. The new rules state “players can now switch national teams provided they were eligible to represent a second country at the time they first played for their first country, even if they have played in an official competition for the first nation.
This applies so long as they have played no more than three matches (including friendlies), none of the matches were in the final tournament of the FIFA World Cup or confederation competition, and they all happened before the player turned 21.” So we would have to play those guys in all 3 matches and hope they don’t decide they don’t want to switch after that. I’m not worried about either of these guys doing that anyway. Sucic has already rejected Austria a bunch telling them he only wants to play for Croatia and Stanisic was going to play for our youth team years ago, but didn’t because Bayern wouldn’t have helped him develop then. These guys will both play for us before the World Cup if you ask me. Just be patient and let them develop.
I like that Rocco Žiković went to the Red Bull development system.
Normally, I don’t like when our teens leave our system…but Istra has never produced anything for us, and likely never will.
I think Pamic and Agic were the best Istrijanci to play for us (which is utterly shameful).
Red Bull seems to have quite the hard-on for Croat league players, and they helped develop Pongracic, Caleta-Car, and now have Olmo, Gvardiol and Žiković.
I think all these guys are going to turn out good.
As always, I enjoy reading this , but the likelihood of any of this coming true is very unlikely in terms of top prospects
There is a clear trap that is fallen into. All of Croatia’s best talents on this list are teenagers..
Which makes sense… Cause it follows a usual path of great hype that reality and time has not been able to kill yet
What is the odds that Croatia barely has any real defensive talents 25 and up, but there are a bunch of superstars in waiting who are all 17-19 years old? Probably very slim
It’s more likely this is the usual youth hype train.
I’m sure a few years ago, such as list would’ve featured Tin Jedva as number 2 as the a do-it all back that is the best defensive prospect Croatia has had in years
Awesome info
Should be enough there to make an above average defence
Let’s hope the midfield can be top class even when luka leaves
And surely a striker will take the reigns eventually
I think there will be a proper leader as well
Sucic, stanisic. The guys that choose cro. Be like kovac type leaders I hope
well – by statistic | -0nly
but . . . it won’t tell you anything!
I will put ->
Borna Sosa | at No 1 list
then no 2 | for Josip Stanišić
Boško Šutalo and Domagoj Bradarić
– coming up next on my list –
LAknat is always right
who can tell you | accurate!
LA I think we should slot the god of halilovic back on left FB and all of our defensive problems shall be solved.He would certainly rank as our #1 defender.
I’m disappointed you didn’t think of this first!
Markus, you wrote this?
Quite honestly, you’re work is incredible! I’m really impressed with the attention to detail, the amount of information included, the fact based information….you’re marvellous bro!!
If I ever meet you in person, all drinks are on me!
Kvartuc did a fantastic job bringing you on this site as a writer!
I’m honoured, thank you for the kind words.
I’ll gladly take you up on that offer 😄
If you’re ever in the mood to talk soccer, ask Kvartuc for my info and we can pick each other’s brain. I’m more curious now than I ever was about our kids…because of these types of articles I read!
BTW – my friend, the guy that introduced me to veliki Joe and who also helped Kvartuc setup the interviews explained a few things to me about kids in Croatia. I was shocked that some kids…13 years old make $30,000 Kuna/month…or in some cases more. I couldn’t believe what they were telling me about kids teams, the coaches, the organizations…it’s super serious at a very young age.
Markus I’m
Curious as to where you get all your info on these young guys it’s rather impressive.
Wyscout, SofaScore, following their games and watching them online through links. Transfermarkt has some of their stats as well.
Markus is on fire! So much attention to detail. I seriously have some of these guys on my radar now because he and CroatiaU14 have told me about them. They were on the Sucic train over a year ago. And Sucic has hot all his goals thus far.
Markus…great addition to the CroatianSports Team!!
Just keep forwarding this analysis to Joe and others in the HNS.
I’ll bet you those idiots don’t even have anyone doing any of this.
Probably gets Corluka or Olic fired ha ha.
As much as I hope Gvardiol is a stud I can’t help but think he might be no better than Lovren. Athletically he’s go it but if you rewatch the Spain and Scotland games he makes a ton of mistakes. He’s gonna have to be way way more consistent to be truly world class.
Great work Markus!
I understand your worry, but every single player in the world has hiccups. He was thrown into a massive tournament on the biggest stage for his nation with a weeks notice, hardly any time for him to mesh with the other players and get into the mindset. I watch him almost constantly and he’s one of the least mistake prone players on the pitch, very rare to see him blunder like he did versus Spain.
I agree he’s young and was thrown into the fire. Big big upside. The Scotland game I thought he was quite sloppy too.
I spenttime with Simunic in Dubrovnik and then again the day before I came home. He mentioned Gvardiol during our conversation and said he’s a brilliant player but an odd person. Not sure this information is relevant but I thought I’d add it to the conversation.
Gvardiol is highly regarded in Europe and many clubs had their eye on him, he’s just young and was thrown into a very high pressure situation.
Odd in which way lol? Superstitions, genereal demeanor…?
I was asking him about Mandzukic and what my opinion was about why he retired from the repka. Joe immediately responded and said Mandzukic is quite an odd guy off the field and completely avoids anything in the public. He said if Mandzukic was to go for a coffee with a friend or teammate, it would be somewhere nobody really goes…just very strange. He then mentioned that Gvardiol is also strange like Mandzukic. Not necessarily about where he goes for coffee but more so about his personal behaviour…an oddball!
I’ve heard Mandzukic is quite shy (don’t know more than that). I think that may be “strange” given that these players make millions playing in front of crowds and are surrounded by people. But, I’m guessing he probably isn’t “strange” when it comes to a regular person who might not like the limelight.
I’m not too worried about Gvardiol becoming Lovren.
Gvardiol made some bad mistakes, but he was also the youngest starting player in the entire Euros and was unfairly thrown into the starting eleven (without any prior games, in what was obviously a very unprepared campaign led by Dalic).
Lovren has poor technical skill and (as a result) panics when he is under pressure from opposing players (which then leads to his bad decisions).
Gvardiol is very technically sound and (despite his young age) doesn’t get frazzled when an opposing player comes at him.
If anything, Gvardiol is a little too confident in those scenarios (which is a good thing, because he will gain discipline with experience and not opt for the risky play).
Lovren is also a weak minded hothead with ego issues. He’s already left our squad once (at Euro 2016) for selfish reasons, and his weak mind succumbs to many high pressure situations like it did against Brazil in 2014 and Czech in 2021. Even when things are not his fault, you know that he will be the one that gets easily conned by the opposing player and cost us a foul or penalty.
Gvardiol seems more introverted and calm. These are better character traits for a defender to have.
Markus this was fkn awesome!!! Good stuff man, always a good read
We have so many good defenders. Finally, hints at world class