Ivan Perišić, Marcelo, Brozović, and Inter Milan have finally broken up the Juventus dynasty. For the first time in 10 years, there will be a new “scudetto” holder, and it’s Inter Milan. Inter defeated Crotone 2-0 on Saturday with Broz playing the full match while Perišić came on for the last 24 minutes. Atalanta drew on Sunday which locked up the title for Inter.
Perišić had an average season at Inter playing in 29 matches, scoring three goals and assisting four times. Brozović furthered his claim for being one of the best defensive midfielders in the game with Manchester United currently wooing the Croatian. We will see where Brozović and Perišić land after EURO as Inter look to make the knockout stages of Champions League next season.
According to the @HNS_CFF Twitter, Nikola Vlašić’s knee injury injury that he sustained Saturday for CSKA Moscow is pretty serious. He shouldn’t be out for an extended amount of time but will still have to rehab. With EURO 2021 and the Croatia/England match taking place June 13th, Vlašić only has 40 days to get back to 100%. We will be monitoring his situation.
It’s going to be a wild finish in La Liga! With only four matches remaining in the season, Atletico, Real Madrid, and Barcelona are all only separated by two points. Luka Modrić was rested this weekend for Wednesday night’s huge 2nd leg Champions League semifinal vs. Chelsea. The tie is currently 1-1 with the winner going to the CL Final. Real Madrid beat Osasuna 2-0. It is still unknown if Mateo Kovačić will return for Chelsea on Wednesday with a thigh injury. He was not on the bench Saturday for Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Fulham.
Red Bull Salzburg claimed the OFB Austrian Cup on Saturday after beating LASK 3-0 in the Final. The 18 year-old Sučić came on in the 88th minute and was able to claim his first trophy as a professional football player. We are extremely big on this guy!
IF we get our shit together in the group stage, and progress, then anything can happen. I am hopeful for a good run, but we can easily have a few bad games, and then fall apart.
All of this analysis,talk of formations potential plug ins for injured players etc etc is great but just realize in the end…getting out of our group is the best we can and will accomplish.
I’m going to be the lonely black swan 🦢 and say it’s 50/50 we even progress out of our group.
Pasalic is CAM _O
Kramaric as well -0i
Dalic is just fucking stupid idiocracy {0}
he won’t lit my candle – as the best manager
who was gonna be placing Rebic into man-marking Mbepee
fuck this Dalic – with luckiest ever – WC run . .
or we are gonna say }{ luckiest draw }{ weak opponents
@Lovro
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Yes, Pasalic is good at moving without the ball and positioning himself on offense. He’s also capable of making a dribble and a pass too.
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But he’s not capable of defending, at all. Massive liability there.
He’s also not capable of playing in any other position other than CAM (our deepest position).
…and even if he does play there, he doesn’t create anything. He’s more of a guy that feeds off of others, and will clean up any messes in front of goal. Kinda like a hockey player who presses forward.
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He’s not good enough to start for us, considering the talent we have in central midfield…and Dalic has been trying to fit him into positions like CDM (against Portugal) and on the wing (against France) and he was absolutely horrible in those games.
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I’d rather we try out some of our other talent like Moro, Majer, Ivanusec etc. They have a wider range of skills where they can fit into other roles (if needed) and all three of them can ‘create’ better than Pasalic in the midfield (and creativity from the midfield is our bread and butter).
I have defended Pasalic in the past, and I still believe he is a strong asset for us. His positioning is very good…he finds himself in dangerous areas often. Yes, he needs to work on his finishing, but he does add another dimension to our attack.
@Maminjo
“they added 1.5 Croats to the mix”
Priceless.
Pasalic has started only 5 of the last 9.
The criticism here surrounding Pasalic shows a lack of soccer knowledge.
Mario has scored 3 goals in the last 9 matches for Croatia and has placed himself in scoring position better than anyone in those games.
Several of his attempts were saved or just missed. Nobody has been more involved in the final third than him.
Too bad….Brekalo would be a great fit at Atalanta!
@Markus
Problem with Serie A is that they pay less than England and Spain.
Atalanta had a transfer agreement in place with Wolfsburg back in September, but Brekalo’s wage demands were too high. They didn’t want to pay him more than a couple million Euro per season (which is his current salary).
I think he wanted a bit of a raise to 2.5 million Euro. Serie A clubs can be a bit cheap like that.
I’m sure Roma and Milan can meet that number…but if an EPL club actually wants him, they will easily outbid any Serie A club. Hopefully Brekalo doesn’t just sign for the money. Gvardiol made the right move avoiding the EPL with that Leeds offer. He should do the same.
He’s got the skills and a strong mindset. That’s most important.
Plus, he’s been very impactful in quite a few of the games he’s already played for us.
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Inconsistency will always be the case with a player that young, and we’ve been unfairly tough on him for it.
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He’s done more for the National Team at his age, than many of our current starting players that we really value (like Perisic, Brozovic, Rebic, Krama) did in their early 20s. Gotta give him at least a couple more years.
@Maminjo
I agree, I’d love to see him at Roma though. Although a Croatian Milan would be cool, I have a feeling he’d be benched or rotated too much, whereas with Roma he’d get that starting spot unless he’s in bad form.
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I sometimes forget he’s 22 and younger than a lot of “prospects” we keep wanting to get called up. He’s younger than DCC, Pongracic, Basic, Majer, and same age as Ivanusec. He’s got so much room to grow and I’m not even worried that he’s been pretty average for the NT.
Brekalo is an alpha. He’s not afraid to speak his mind, and he’s very confident in his skills.
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He will be fine. But yea, a lot of coaches prefer people who conform.
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Liverpool’s Klopp and Atletico’s Simeone are probably two coaches from that group that wouldn’t like it when Brekalo throws rainbow armbands back into their faces.
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Milan seems like it would be a better fit with Pioli and the existing Croats.
Rebic, Ibra, and Mandzo are all pretty alpha, and he’s been good at managing them.
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Roma might be good too. They are going through a coaching change with Sarri likely to take over.
Brekalo might do well playing Sarriball, since that style requires technically capable and offensively aggressive players (like Brekalo) who like to move across the various forward positions and confuse the opposition defense.
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I don’t like young guys going to EPL, since their coaches are the worst and they spend such stupid money on players that they are fine with benching them.
I don’t like Simeone (despite him being a good coach).
Milan and Roma would be best from this group.
Brekalo to Liverpool
Please dont go there with klopp there
Remember what happened to Perisic
They went from a laughing stock team, to a top Serie A club the moment they added 1.5 Croats to the mix.
Every time there’s a rumour about a Croatian player potentially moving, Milan is always in the mix 😂
@Maminjo – to sit on the bench most likely. He should go somewhere mid table if he wants to play.
Now why on Earth would Arsenal, Liverpool, Atletico Madrid, Roma and Milan want to sign Bustalo?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/tbrfootball.com/report-arsenal-and-liverpool-in-race-to-sign-wolfsburg-star-josip-brekalo/amp/
Well, even if he’s potentially available for the Euros, he will be out of form.
Hopefully he can recover in time and be near 100%.
@Dannyj
Off the top of my head, I think we play Armenia and Belgium. I could be wrong though.
I read that scans were ok, I think on a Croatian news site. https://www.tportal.hr/sport/clanak/doznali-smo-u-kakvom-je-stanju-koljeno-nikole-vlasica-i-hoce-li-biti-na-dispoziciji-izbroniku-zlatku-dalicu-za-europsko-prvenstvo-20210502
Hard to tell how serious a knee injury is or how much time you’ll need to heal until those scans come through
Oh he’s fine now
Very confusing
Seems that Vlasic will be fine.
How many exhibition games do we have and against who?
Yea, I like Cigan’s lineup.
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Seems like something Dalic SHOULD HAVE BEEN testing out in the Nations League (instead of experimenting with lineups he would never use in a tournament).
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Now we have to go in blind and hope that this untested lineup will work.
Donji Zagon
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Yes, but he was our worst player on the field in two of those games.
I like cigans line up
But it doesn’t seem like karma or petko can get dirty enough
Will have to rely on perisic and rebic for that
I guess petko and kramaric tho are both good in tight spots
Good together for bunker breaker style play?
It’s when we start making swap outs
Let’s hope we pull a win against England and then can be a bit easier on modric for the next two group games
Does anyone here know if our fans can attend the Wembley game?
^ ^
Nice but id sooner part with Lovren than Vida.
Need to either say bye to both or see who has chemistry with who If we keep one of those vets with an unproven one.
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4-4-2
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………………………………Petkovic………………
…………………..Kramaric…………………………
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Perisic………………………………………..Rebic
…………….Brozovic……….Modric……………..
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Sosa………………………………………..Vrsaljko
……………….Caleta…….Lovren………………..
………………………………………………………….
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………………………..Livakovic…………………..
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Could all be a blessing in disguise gents
Apparently Barisic went down during today’s game???
Well I guess we may have our wish of Sosa or Bradarić
Pasalic wasnt on the field by himself.. and losing to France twice and Portugal.. lets just say, not many teams beat them.
Keep in mind I believe we only have 2 wins in our last 7. Vlasic isn’t spectacular but i believe he can be effective. More chance of him unlocking a game than Kovacic. And what Atalanta are doing is just awesome.
@Anonymous
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No, Pasalic played in all our embarrassing losses in the Nations League this past year.
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The 4-1 Portugal loss, the 2-1 France loss, the 4-2 France loss, and the 2-1 Sweden loss. He started in those first two games and was one of the first subs in the latter two matches.
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He’s not that great. Decent depth player against mediocre teams (like Cyprus or Malta) but even then, he’s not really that flexible when it comes to the roles he plays on the field.
Completely useless defensively, and on the wing.
He can only play in central midfield (our deepest positions).
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He’s a fringe callup in my opinion. I would rather try our younger players (like Majer, Moro, Basic and Ivanusec) since they cover a wider range of positions on the field and seem to fulfill bigger needs in our midfield than what Pasalic can provide.
Bradaric isn’t rotting lol he’s just been a few months with on and off game time. He just has to rediscover his form… he’s only 20 after all. The other guys yes, but he will be just fine.
“Vlašić je obavio pregled magnetskom rezonancijom, a prvi nalazi su ohrabrujući te sugeriraju kako se ne radi o ozljedi koja bi Vlašića na dulje vremena odvojila od travnjaka. Nakon detaljne dijagnoze, bit će donesena odluka o najboljoj terapiji kako bi se Vlašić potpuno spreman vratio u natjecateljski pogon.
Liječnička služba hrvatske reprezentacije u kontaktu je s Vlašićem i kolegama iz CSKA.
Inače, Vlašićev CSKA, kojeg vodi Ivica Olić, odigrao je 1:1 protiv Ufe te drži šesto mjesto na ljestvici ruskog prvenstva.”
Some good news it looks like
Vlasic knowing croatia will play russia soon..and yet he in injured in russia now
Is it just me or have we got results with Pasalic in the lineup?
I am more worried abt defence
Tin jedvaj is rotting in levekusen.
Benkovic is rotting in belgium
Sime vrsaijko is rotting in atletico.
Bradaric rotting is ok..at least we have sosa and barisic
Pašalić is garbage, and I really hope he’s not the one who replaces Vlašić.
Dalić seems to really like him though.
Modrić finally got rested today… he has looked tired lately. I hope he doesn’t get completely worn out before the Euros. Broz and Perisic are on the verge of winning serie a. This is great because they will be able to relax, and can be fresh for the Euros. Inter only need Atalanta to lose tomorrow. I just want everyone to avoid injuries, and get ready to give 100 % for the Vatreni.
@Maminjo – I agree that Vlasić has been excellent in the open play games (not so much against a bunker) and would be an asset in the Euros, where the games inevitably break open as teams chase the win. Also, Vlasić is clearly an attacking player, so whoever covers for the absence has to be an attacking player, whether it’s Pasalić as a false 9 or one of the true 9s. I would hesitate to imagine Rebić being slotted in there because he’s so much more effective on the wings, but I guess Rebić is also a possibility in the forward 2.
@Donji Zagon
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I disagree.
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Vlašić has been good for us and is exactly what we needed when Rakitić retired.
Kovačić will now be the starter, and I really hope this is his moment to shine.
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If Kovačić takes this opportunity and puts in a a bunch of his typical sterile performances, then he will be nothing more than a Milan Badelj for us.
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I agree with Doom that we should try Krama and Petković instead of doing something foolish, like start Kovačić.
With Vlasić out I imagine we go to a 4-1-3-2 with Kramarić and Pasalić or Budimir up top, unless Petković plays through his shoulder injury. It’s amazing to think that Croatian football a decade ago was distinguished by a wealth of gritty center-forwards, and now we seem to have only two pure 9s. Anyway, losing Vlasić is bad. He’s a terrific player. It’s not the end of the world, but with Rog and maybe Petković out from injuries, our depth will suffer. It definitely opens up room for other players to contribute though. Let’s hope enough players can keep it together this summer to make a strong run.
Vlasic injury will make thing easier for Dalic regarding starting lineups. Vlasic has not impressed the last few appearances of the repka.
Hope he doesnt turn into out Pjaca 2.0
Wow. Huge loss for us these Euros. Can’t replace him.
THE FIX IS IN. Hajduk had the refs in the bag for today’s game… #hottake
Yikes!
https://mobile.twitter.com/CroatianScout2/status/1388540273911898113
Vlasic w potential serious knee injury.