Luka Modrić and AC Milan take on Inter and Petar Sučić in the Derby della Madonnina Sunday 3:45PM (ET)
Ante Budimir scored a last second 94′ minute goal for Osasuna to force a 2-2 draw vs. Mallorca Saturday.
Luka Vušković won two penalties and converted one for Hamburg in their 2–1 win vs Wolfsburg, earning the MOTM.
Martin Baturina returned from an ankle injury to scored his 5th Serie A goal of the season. Como defeated Cagliari 2-1 to stay 5th place in Italy.
Andrej Kramarić assisted in Hoffenheim’s match vs. Heidenheim Saturday. Currently 3-0 in 2nd half. He now has 10G/5A this Bundesliga season.
Luka Sučić recorded an assist for Real Sociedad vs Atlético Madrid, setting up their first goal in a 3–2 loss.
Hajduk host Dinamo at Poljud Sunday 10AM (ET) trailing Dinamo by 7 points
Udinese vs. Atalanta 1st half plus 3 additional goals in 2nd half
Mario
Honestly he was very invisible out there – if I didn’t know he was a NT player – I wouldn’t have guessed it – on the 2nd Udinese goal he was terrible defending his box – scared to get in front and block a shot not once by twice – it was embarrassing – overall, just some recycling of the ball by him in midfield and the odd attempt at a progressive pass – zero carrying of the ball anywhere relevant – not really winning the ball back – just there recycling the odd time
My bigger issue – is based on camera in the tunnel pre-match – he didn’t even acknowledge Mlacic in the tunnel – you only see the two teams lined-up so could have happened before hand – but he knows a fellow Hrvat/Hajduk is making his debut – so make an effort on his big day the kid is 18 y/o – and tell him congrats and good luck – again it could have happened when the camera wasn’t showing – I have to say that Mario was and instructing his teammates to target Mlacic (see below after the first flick over Mlacic head) – it was nasty on the part of Mario – Mario even passed it over Mlacic’s head once and had one of the fast players chase it and Mlacic running back and the ball hit his arm on the attempted cross (it was 50/50 if he was handball or not) – it’s all leaves a poor taste in the mouth and really petty/nasty stuff by Mario to target a young 18 y/o Croat like that – not impressed
Mlacic
Has he ever played in a back 3 at Hajduk ??? I don’t think Hajduk play in a back 3 – so it’s probably the first time he’s ever played – he was the RCB in a back 3 – he spent a lot of time trying to figure out/organize with the RWB and RCM – who takes who – and where he should be – and you have the Atalanta players interchanging and with real movement in front of him – all a bit confusing to watch/focused on, never mind play in
Before the yellow in the 20′ where he clipped the heels of the Atlanta player – there were 3 maybe 4 times where the ball would come into the Atalanta player with back facing Mlacic (usually near centre of the park) and Mlacic got super tight right at them – but the first time the Atalanta player flicked the ball past Mlacic and ran past him and Mlacic tried to impede him with his arms – foul – happened again – foul – third time Atalanta player was making a run past Mlacic on Mlacic impeded him with his arms – foul – then the clipped heels/yellow – he was trying to gauge when he should get super tight vs. not get so tight – as the half wore on he wasn’t getting as tight and it worked better for him – but it was really trial-by-fire on testing his decision making and when to go tight/sit off – he was trying to work it all out in his brain
The good news about this – is you show him with the clips of the above – and go one by one (as there are all the small play over and over again) – and review what he did and what he could have done better or should have done – it’s very confusing with the back 3 and who was taking who on that side – Anonymous isn’t even sure how he could have done better on those plays – I guess if you get so close win the duel (but the first time was a flick over him – welcome to Serie A Branimir) or manage the space better like he did
It was a massive learning experience – between the back 3 and having a much higher calibre of attacker to deal with – it’s a big step up for him – hard to gauge how much time he will need to learn/adapt
There was no real box defending that happened and limited 1 v 1 when he had an attacker run at him (that happened only once) – where you can assess his box defending/1 v 1 – most of the defensive actions occurred outside the box or in the central third of the pitch in the build-up – a weird game to assess a CB
MLS boys freezing
Musa hasn’t scored in last 2 games lol 1 goal in 270 Mickey Mouse MLS minutes
Pasalic got pumped 5-0 Friday lol 1 goal in 202 Mickey Mouse MLS minutes
To get called up to the Croatia NT – they should be scoring 1 goal every 30 minutes – minimum
Honestly – based on form – Dalic needs to call up Saranic > Marco (if he can’t take both) and Musa might be the last striker added (only bc all the other strikers not named Igor are either not playing and/or not performing – if Franjo was playing he’d get the last slot – he has one more game today vs. Prpic)
Budimir is amazing. Even when he starts the season slow, he ends up with great scoring numbers. Look at whom he’s ahead of on the scoring list and you’ll see how valuable our Budimir is. Also, how many of these goals have decided the outcome of a game? That’s something to consider with Budimir and Mario Pašalić in particular.
Crazy to think that we are less than 100 days away from a world cup and there’s only 5 players we can say that are definitely starting.. dalic has a lot of choices to make.. WC friendlys need to answer a lot of questions.
Isn’t that pretty normal? Do Spain or France already know who will definitely be starting at every position? I doubt it simply because there are too many good players involved. Maybe some teams already know their starting lineup 100%, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to win. And Dalić isn’t just going to go on press conferences announcing the starting lineup for three months from now because that would be pointless. With Gvardiol and Kovačić injured, this is a complicated question. If there are any more injuries, that will present new challenges. For now, let’s just hope everyone stays healthy.
Although Vuskovic is having a very good season, it would be interesting to see how he does on a really good team. The pressure is not the same when you play for a mediocre club. I have respected how Coach Dalic has handled Vuskovic. I hope that Vuskovic continues to build his resume.
A lot of good news today, but one that has flown under the radar . . . PERISIC is player of the game in Eindhoven’s 2-1 over AZ.
Livakovic
Pandur
Stanisic
Sutalo
Gvardiol
Jakic
Vuskovic
DCC
Erlic
Moro
Modric
P sucic
Kovacic
Mario Pasalic
Marco Pasalic
Vlasic
Baturina
Perisic
L sucic
Budimir
Musa
Matanovic
Backup:
Ivusic
Pongracic
Bradaric
Juranovic
Sosa
Smolcic
Valincic
Medic
Orsic
Majer
Basic
Fruk
Jagusic
Stojkovic
Petkovic
Ivanovic
Beljo
Absolutely crazy season Vušković is having
I can’t recall anything like this from a young Croatian defender
He has to start just for the chaos he would cause in the box from corners
If he doesn’t we would have wasted a World Cup for sure
Vusković’s penalty wasn’t the cleanest of goals he just gave it enough power that the goalie couldn’t hang onto it.
13 out of 13 challenges/duels won is still pretty damn good though.
5 goals this season for centre back is also pretty crazy.
Our back line might be the best in the world once Vušković finds a better club like Barca. Gvardiol fully healthy and with Stanišić.
Baturina looks great and the injury didn’t affect him at all it appears.
Is it me or guys like Majer, Jurnaovic, Sosa really fell off. I hardly hear any positive from any of them.
Mlacic got subbed off after receiving a yellow card.
Our midfield still seems above average. If Kovacic gets going and starts a hot streak that will be helpful. He’s back in training. A healthy Sucic X2, Baturina, Gvardiol will make us hungry and eager.
Sucic with an assist too today.
Baturina, Sucic X2, Modrić should be all set to start no question. We do need that height from Pašalić though.
Budimir with another goal. Starting him and Krama on the wing would be too slow. It’s impressive how much of an upgrade our defence is now since the last WC starting or few. Our forwards seem to slightly improving. This is the last tournament for Perisic, Kramarić and Budimir so it will be interesting to see who will step up.
I didn’t watch Udinese today, but they were up 2-0 after the first half and when Mlacic was taken out for the second half, Atalanta scored two goals. So, that’s good ha ha.
Majer is technically very elite. Great passer and creator.
But he lacks the physical side to be a complete midfielder in the modern era. He’s not physically strong, he’s not fast, not much stamina, and he’s not defensively that good. He would have been great in the 90s, though.
Juranovic and Sosa are both very physically weak, with Jura being very short. This is a disaster if you are expected to play in a back line.
Guys like Gvardiol, Stanisic and Jakic are physical monsters compared to these two.
Peak Sosa and Jura offered some good offensive ability on the flank…but that was the only thing keeping them on the team. Once they plateaued in that area, they were no longer worth putting on the field.
I’m glad they’re not on the team anymore.
JJ will always have Brazil, lol.
We need to figure out a way to get Vušković and Baturina in the starting eleven.
For Baturina it will be hard because Perišić has been a mainstay and he’s also having a good season.
Crazy thing is that Petar Sučić may get pushed out by Kovačić (if he comes back fully healthy)…unless we go Krama at RW again (which I hope we don’t).
We’ll know more once we see the Brazil/Colombia lineups later this month.
It’s looking great on paper. I’m really curious to see how it would work having a back line consisting of Vušković, Gvardiol, Stanisic and _______. I think we play best with 4 in the back, and I assume it should be Jakic until someone else steps up.
The interesting part is until Gvardiol came along, we’ve had traditional ‘stay at home’ CBs and have been successful with that style of player in the back. Now we have the potential for both Vušković/Gvardiol who like to make some forward runs. I wouldn’t be surprised if Dalic still starts Sutalo and slides Gvardiol to LB for a defensive anchor. I wish Gvardiol was healthy for these friendlies to see how it all works.
I agree with the big three defenders to start.
Based on last season’s form the fourth defender should clearly be Sutalo. He showed great ability with interceptions, dribbling, passing, and has good speed.
But . . . Based on this season’s form it might well be someone other than Sutalo. Jakic is a good choice.
Sutalo has time to get on track but it has been a surprisingly poor season for him. (Ditto for Luka Sucic and Lovro Majer.)
Smolcic, on the other hand, is probably having a better season than most people would have anticipated, and he might also be a good choice.
Hopefully we will learn more from the upcoming friendlies.
Unpopular opinion, but I would take L. Sucic over Majer, Musa over Budimir, 8 days a week.
I have to second this especially with Majer cause his stock dropped. MLS player over La Liga though?
Musa over Budimir? Fuƈk no.
Budimir has 7 goals in his last 8 games.
13 La Liga goals this season (in 26 games after a slow start).
He probably hits 20 goals on the season again, and will likely finish third in overall scoring for a third season in a row.
Prince luka will be 100 million dollar before 20??
You know 6 months ago if someone said “batina” could be a huge difference maker at the World Cup
You wouldn’t say not a chance , but you would sure be skeptical
Well he very well could be
Huge boost to that left side
Yeah forget wedding boy for now
We already have the right sucic
Prince luka and gvardi still a chance for World Cup
Absolutely amazing if they can find the connection for this go
AS PREDICTED
MLACIC STARTS FOR UDINESE !!!!!!!
Can’t watch live – but will watch it 100% at some point
Maybe someone else can keep eyes ?!!!
Subbed off at 1/2 with a yellow
…and Udinese give up two goals since he was subbed out, so great 🙂
@anonymous. What is going on with the Punk Pandur these days as he gave up another 3 goals today. Livakovic is Zlatko’s man for this WC.
Which of the goals do you think he should have been able to save?
LUKA VUSKOVIC
EARNS A PENALTY BY GETTING HIS ACHILLES RACKED
TAKES THE PENALTY
SCORES THE PENALTY
CRNKOVIC – U STILL POSITIVE HE AIN’T A STRIKER ????!!!!! 😉
Please also see 16:46 for the explosive recovery run (from standstill) to recover after his teammate gave up the ball – the attacker had 5 yard on Luka – and Luka recovered and slide tackled to prevent a cross
Anonymous doesn’t need to see anything else (or even bother watching Luka anymore) – it’s 1000% sure he goes to Barca (and partners with Curbasi) – and Dalic has no choice he has to give Luka 180′ against Columbia and Brazil
Vuskovic earned the second HSV penalty (and Dompe took/scored it)
Game changer
Giant amongst dwarfs on the pitch
Majer just came on – Dalic earning his free dinner and wine !
Perfect cross Lovro Majer 67:58 – beautiful shape – absolutely perfect
Hopefully Dalic wasn’t sipping his wine during the cross
Please Dalic Majer over Wedding Boy
Scuffle after the whistle
I think Majer got a red card (50% sure) – he grabbed a guy by the shirt really aggressively – hopefully Dalic already left his seat or was already drunk from 90 minutes of wine – either way doubt he would have seen it
Vuskovic was SMARTLY nowhere near the chirping and pushing – he knows he is the KING – and EVERYONE wants to provoke and take a shot at the KING to take him down – so just stay away as too much to lose (hello Barca) – such maturity for a just turned 19 y/o
83% MOTM Vuskovic – how poetic we transition from King Luka to King Luka II
@anonymous your boy Saranic with another great goal.
Thank you for pointing it out !
Just saw it !!
Very nice move to get past defender 1 v 1 and powerful shot !!!
Love the Suker pulse-check celebration (again)
Only 4 points away from 1st place 12 games to go 😊
Anyone have odds that Sesvete gets promoted this year ? Anyone ??? 😎
Anonymous eye tests have NO LIMITS and NO BOUNDS – from the highs of telling you all Vuskovic will be bought by Barca (or Madrid) 6 months ago – to slumming it in the 2nd division “garbage” of Croatia and highlighting a gem (Anonymous never heard of Saranic before 3 weeks ago – must have been sleeping while he was coming up the ranks – no cap)
Baturina goal. Stole the ball in midfield got the ball back on a deflected pass and finished nicely in the corner.
Bati-gol!