Joško Gvardiol scored his first goal for RB Leipzig Saturday in a 4-1 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach. Gvardiol headed home a sharp header following a free kick in the 21st minute to break the deadlock. Along with the goal, Gvardiol has been crushing it on the defensive end. And remember, he’s still a 19 year-old teenager for another month.
Duje Ćaleta-Car followed Gvardiol’s footsteps this weekend with a goal of his own in a 2-0 Marseille victory over Strasbourg. With the match 1-0 in the 82nd minute, DCC headed home a Payet corner kick to seal the deal for Marseille. With Lovren and Vida in the twilight of their Croatian careers, the future Vatreni defense will only get stronger (faster) with weekends like these where Gvardiol and DCC perform well. You can add Sosa, Juranović, Pongračić, and Stanišić to that list as well.
Dinamo Zagreb’s Kristijan Jakić (on loan) scored his first goal for Eintracht Frankfurt Sunday in a 5-2 thumping over Bayer Leverkusen. Jakić sealed the deal in the 66th minute when he banged in a shot from 17 yards out to make the game 4-2. Jakić is only 24 years old and plays as a central defensive midfielder. He is getting solid minutes in the Bundesliga this season as he sits behind Marcelo Brozović in the Croatian pecking order. If Jakić shows his worth in Germany this season, he should find a permanent home in a top-5 league as Dinamo have missed him alongside selling Majer in the summer.
Luka Modrić captained Real Madrid to a 2-0 victory over hated city rivals Atletico Sunday night in the Spanish capital. Modrić had one of his best games of the season at 36 years old with an incredible 9.5 rating (TheRealChamps) as Real Madrid now sit eight points free atop the La Liga table. “Take a bow. Luka Modrić has been working his ass off these last few weeks when Real Madrid needed this kind of class and effort the most, and he finished this gauntlet stretch of matches with his best performance of the season yet. Modrić was all over the pitch defensively, constantly recovering the ball for his team. Atleti could never get into a rhythm because of Modrić’s sensational quality on the ball and in disrupting passing lanes. The first goal of the match started because of his astute defending. The stats say Modrić had four dribbles completed, three interceptions, and two tackles, but it feels like he had a lot more.”
Ivan Perišić, Marcelo Brozović and Inter Milan are on absolute fire in Italy. Both Croatian internationals got the start for Inter in their 4-0 win over Cagliari on Sunday. With both Napoli and AC Milan dropping points this weekend, Inter are back in 1st place in Italy. Brozović has been locked in this season as his current contract is set to expire in June and the CDM is in high demand all across Europe.
Ivo Grbić posted a clean sheet Sunday as Lille played out a 0-0 draw against Lyon.
Given the slew of post pandemic stress heart problems in athletes and soccer players — anyone worried it could strike one of ours? We already have some experience with this, via Strinic. What if one or more of our mainstays ends up being affected? We cant afford to lose any players.
Post pandemic stress heart problems? Yeah right.
Hmmm…. I wonder why there’s been a huge upswing of young athletes having myocarditis/pericarditis events world wide. Hint, it’s not from stress.
If we can find another dominant type presence like mandzo we could own some games again with our possession and When we play with our aggressive style like cp85 said
Rebic could be that presence if we could make it work
Not too many with that type of power and athleticism
He just doesn’t have mandzos finish
@Danny J – whose our closest forward of any age who can hold up the ball and/or play like a typical centre forward ?
Re Rebic – That and discipline. I felt like Mandza and the older guys kept Rebic in line. He’s a head case but not Livaja level headcase. Ibra keeps Rebic in check. The team needs to press as a unit. Not one guy and everyone sitting back or just 2 strikers. 2018 we had everyone pressing, like how Barca used to try and win the ball back immediately (maybe they still do, I haven’t watched enough recently.)
Petkovic doesn’t offer that. He looks like he’d be a great Mali nogomet player. I’d bring him off the bench for us. Small slow ass tiki taka technical soccer has always been and will continue to be our strength. We’d rather take our chances playing that way then kick and run for example against a team like England. Play people by your rules not theirs.
Sadly I don’t believe we have a mandzo type player anytime soon
We have to make do with what we have
Scoring and pressure by committee
Maybe if someone could get through to rebic he could spear head our press
I’m not sure where you actually play him tho right now
We are getting more goals from other positions these days then strikers In club play it seems
Rebić also hasn’t been playing at all. He must be injured because he hasn’t even been in Milan’s squad
Well the good thing is we already have a guy, “Ante Budimir” honestly he’s exactly what we need, if people really watch the biggest impact against Spain at euro when all those subs went in was having a striker who was playing the position properly.
Rebic isn’t a striker that’s it don’t ever try it again it takes a certain skill to play striker.
Watching this weekend Budimir come off the bench I was impressed with all the little things he does, he played a part in the tying goal as he’s is a handful to deal with in the box it was his effort which lead to a bad clearance from the defender. Budimir I hope continues to get back in shape knock in some goals and emerges as our striker. We have a lot of skill on wings and mid we need a beast to create space and stretch the field Budimir is that guy.
What formation do you think Cro plays at 2022 and what is the best Cro game you’ve seen them play?
I think we’ll go 4-3-3 false 9 for the World Cup. Basically Cro version of tiki taka. Mandza set the pace/tone and we don’t have that anymore. High pressure like 2018, we’re best when we come out swinging. The Malta game (big asterisk here, I know it’s Malta) and Russia (also somewhat of an asterisk) were perfect examples of our potential when we come out aggressive.
The Catenaccio style Italians used to play is done (getting a goal a la Pipo Inzaghi then defending for 85 minutes). I think we’re best when we come out guns blazing.
Portugal giving us respect in 2016 by sitting back and playing counter was the mental turning point for Cro. No county of that caliber played that cautious with us. We didn’t know what to do.
In my opinion our tie with Italy in Milan was our most dominant performance against a top team (for at least 80 minutes until some of our dumb fans ambushed the game).
PS. Algeria, good team to bet on. If there’s a team to get a push like Korea in 2022 it would be them.
Our most dominant performance against a top team was our WC’98 win against Romania.
People may think that Romania was not a big name, but that was their golden generation. They topped their group ahead of a strong England and a strong Colombian team before they played us, and we beat them down badly.
Romania made the quarterfinals in the previous World Cup as well, after slapping Argentina to make it there (then losing in the quarters on penalties).
They even made the quarterfinals at the following Euro2000 tournament as well (in the Group of Death, where they beat out England and Germany). The 90s was the best ever decade in Romanian football.
The last 30 minutes of our game against England at the World Cup semifinal (along with the second half of extra time) was also one of the most dominant performances against a top team (although it wasn’t for the full game).
I agree that the away game in Italy was completely one sided in our favor, from start to finish.
We dominated England pretty good too (when we eliminated them). They couldn’t do anything against us, then the ref bailed them out and handed them a penalty…but you could see that they weren’t going to hold onto that draw for long.
*When we eliminated then for Euro2008
I love how when you say “when we eliminated England” you need to specific as to which time you are referring to 😀
Could it be that the Dinamo vs Hajduk “rivalry” is not about sport but instead something else? It’s not like Dinamo has been in the way of Hajduk winning titles in recent years when Hajduk have been nowhere near it.
I’ve heard that Dinamo Zagreb fans are mostly Bolsheviks, one of my Croatian friends told me that BBB stands for Bad Blue Bolsheviks, and he’s not even a Hajduk fan, it makes sense seeing you’re called Dinamo? It looks to me that Vlasic might be a nationalist that hates globalist Dinamo.
“In 1923 a system of sports and physical education clubs and societies was instituted in the Soviet Union. These were called Dynamo (or Dinamo), from the Greek word meaning ‘power’ or ‘power in movement.'”
It got a lot harder for luka now for champions league
They got drawn with psg
I sure hope luka can take out psg
And also Milan had an easier matchup
Now they have Liverpool
Hoping our boys can make some magic there too
Look at the difference from someone that loves Croatia and respects all Croatian teams:
RAKITIĆ: BIT ĆE ČUDNO I EMOTIVNO IGRATI NA MAKSIMIRU, JAKO MI JE ŽAO ŠTO SE MORAM BORITI PROTIV SVOJIH
Pure class from Rakitic…unlike that low iq bench warming dummy vlasic.
Great words
Anyone see the drama with Champion league draw??
Meh.
Raketa also almost cost us dearly when he was flip flopping on his retirement during the most critical point of our Euro 2020 qualification…
Then decided to suddenly retire immediately prior to those critical games.
People do stupid things all the time. Rakitic’s stunt could have cost us qualification, but Vlasic stepped up.
They both did stupid things, but they did great things for us too.
(Just like Sosa, Rebic, Kramaric, Vrsaljko, etc.)
These are 20-something year old kids with very little life experience. You can’t set the bar too high.
Another thing I would like to add about gvardiol
He was tossed into the fire during euro
Had some quick growing pains and that may have been enough to take a lesser player out of confidence
But as shown he has taken it all in stride
There will be screw ups but I feel he will be resilient
Hopefully not pointing fingers like lovren has done in the past
Regarding Gvardiol…
The biggest indicator to realize whether he’s a good player or mediocre player is not only based on the size, speed, technical abilities….the difference is their decision making. Its always a risk as a defender to make any decisions, especially because most of the decisions they make can immediately negatively affect the entire team.
Gvardiol does have a lot of talent, composure, technical abilities…but most of all, he’s been on the better side of committing to tackles and stepping in front of the player he marks, he’s also joined into the attack several times and done very well. Gvardiol is a standard player at a decent club, in a good league…this is definitely a good thing for him and us. He’s playing high level soccer at a decent club and he’s stable…not waving between good and bad games, this is very important….consistency is a valuable thing, especially for young players.
Put it this way
I don’t think anyone here is saying he is for sure the next Italian legend defender
But I think he has a higher ceiling then lovren or vida ever had
Him and CC and our entire back line will for sure be better then our overall 18 back 4
Come on we had pivaric God bless him on LB
If we can get all the ducks in-line and with some luck it’s really not a far fetched fantasy to think we could potentially go all the way again as early as next year
Our back 4 should be considered experienced enough by then
If luka can play as he played yesterday for a month next winter he goes down as top 100 players of all time no doubt
I think he is going to be one of the best…I’m not sure you understood my comment.
I agree with you completely
I was just personally saying we don’t know his true ceiling
But it’s more to respond to the couple other posters who said they weren’t really seeing all the potential
Its not like he is playing for a shit team In a shit league
He is playing above average for his age and situation and doing so most weeks
He should outgrow his place in a year or two no doubt in my opinion
I thought all things considered, he did ok at the Euro’s…sure, he had some nerves, especially in the first game but he got better.
The true measurement of his success is his standard play at his club…every week! I watch many of his games and his club count on him as a solution…he’s part of their plans and isn’t just getting minutes to fill a hole.
I’m not trying to be a downer but if we look at Stanisic, he’s a fill in for Bayern and he’s been OK, nothing spectacular. Every time I see people writing about how well he’s played I wonder if they’ve actually watched him? yeah, its great he had playing time but that was primarily because Bayern had injury issues AND Stanisic looked super average when he played for us. I do see the potential but at this point, he’s not yet even close to Gvardiol as far as providing great performances…he’s just OK for now, but we will see in the future.
I’m also cautious with commenting on Roko Simic. Another good potential but at the moment, he’s playing lower tier and until he proves he can do the same in the BIG league, we need to be more realistic and patient!
What happened to Gvardiol at the Euros was a damn shame.
Thrown into the fire without even a full cap. That was one of the biggest things that set me off against Dalic. Complete lack of preparation for that tournament. No planning for three years, then realizing his mistakes the night before the tournament, lol.
I was harping on getting Gvardiol caps (and starting games) well before that tournament.
I demand penance from Slavonac for it!
🙂
I’ll admit you were a HUGE Gvardiol fan and its probably the only thing you’ve ever been soo right about!
😉
just kidding!
I’m surprised at how much you’re underrating Gvardiol. To say you only think he has a higher ceiling than Lovren or Vida is an insult to him lol. Gvardiol is a top 3 under 23 defender in the world and arguably has the most potential out of any defender in the world. Many Croats fail to realize just how talented he is simply because he isn’t a winger or midfielder. He’s got Van Dijk or Thiago Silva-like potential.
Regarding Modric, he’s already too 100 easy. He’s at the very least a top 5 midfielder of all time, in competition with Zidane, Xavi and Iniesta. But he’s had more longetivity than any of them and that puts him over them imo.
Gvardiol is the biggest talent Croatia has ever had at CB.
Igor Tudor is the only comparable talent in terms of ceiling (and Tudor was picked up by Juventus at age 20 as a result). But Tudor was far too slow, had too much of a “kiks” factor mentally, and was very injury-prone. It was pretty evident that he wasn’t going to hit that ceiling, despite being a solid overall player.
Lovren was also seen as a very good talent (though not as high as Tudor was in his day)…but Lovren always had a bad “kiks” factor, which was seen early when he played in France (and they were quick to get rid of him). His one season at Southampton (where Jose Fonte covered for all his errors) made people think he could reach that ceiling after all, but that was quickly dashed once he played his first season at Liverpool.
None of our other CBs in our history came close to being seen as some sort of World Class defenders.
Robert Kovac was our best CB in history, but he was moreso “steady” than “talented”.
Corluka, Bilic, Stimac, and Soldo were very good…but similar to Kovac, they were steady, capable, with good leadership. But none of them were the kinds of talents that had teams jumping all over them to sign.
Duje Caleta-Car and Marin Pongracic are likely going to be similar to guys like Kovac and Corluka (which is not a bad thing at all).
The rest of our defenders were never big talents. Joe Simunic is largely overrated on here because he is a diaspora player. Vida was never a big talent either. Neither was Schifo. Tomas, Zivkovic, and the others were largely mediocre talents.
Actually, I would argue that Corluka was immensely talented for a CB in that his footwork and vision were excellent. He played clever when he had the ball, and he could read plays like no other. The only reason he might not be perceived as a super talent is that he was relatively slow and gradually slowed down to a pace that made him overall pretty average. But there were a few years when he was considered a top defender and even called “The best defender in the world” by Arda Turan. He will be remembered as just “solid” because of how slow he became. Anyway, he will be a good coach for sure.
Oh, Ignacio Sosa age 18, got called up to the Uruguay U20 squad. Relative perhaps to Borna?
I will find out
managingmadrid.com:
Luka Modric—10: What a player. The Croatian is to be enjoyed, he is a legend of the game and one of the greatest to ever wear the white shirt. Modric did not score nor assist in this match yet was far and away the best player on the pitch. Nothing and no one could stop Luka Modric tonight, both offensively and defensively. He is the total player.
On earth
with Luka Modric is still around the National Team
please give him the best players to play with on the pitch {}
Stupid Dalic is going to put someone – out of capacity –
……………………Kramaric…………………..
Perisic…………..Modric………….Pasalic
………..Brozovic………..Kovacic…………
B Sosa…Gvardiol…..Lovren…Juranvic
………………………Grbic……………………..
with substitution: Vlasic, Livaja, Brekalo
ahead of this player -> Majer and Orsic
this is how supposed to be ->
……………………Kramaric…………………..
Perisic…………..Modric………….L Majer
………..Brozovic………..Kovacic…………
B Sosa…Gvardiol…..Cal-Car…Juranvic
……………………..Ivušić……………………..
with substitution: Pasalic, Orsic, Pogracic
and will change the formation to 3-5-2
………..Kramaric………..Pasalic………….
Orsic…………….L Majer……………Perisic
………….Brozovic……..Modric…………….
…Gvardiol…….Pogracic…….Cale-Car…
……………………..Ivušić………………………
Luka Modric (CM) – 8/10 – Deservedly received an impromptu standing ovation from a famously stingy Bernabeu crowd.
Sretan Božić !!
Give my man Modrić rest through till the new year.
Actually put him on a special schedule till the CL knock out stages in February.
No need to burn him out.
Play all the youngsters.
You got the best of him since August non-stop.
Get him ready for the business end.
@ Maminjo
Way to breakdown the beast that is Gvardiol.
His size, skill, speed and left foot at CB is a revelation.
Still not 20?!
With DCC, you got a physical and dominant pairing for the next decade 4-6 major tournaments.
Seems like all we need is a focal point up top and the we will be World beaters.
This just never gets old (and neither does he🤣)
CM Luka Modric
Take a bow. Luka Modric has been working his ass off these last few weeks when Real Madrid needed this kind of class and effort the most, and he finished this gauntlet stretch of matches with his best performance of the season yet. Modric was all over the pitch defensively, constantly recovering the ball for his team. Atleti could never get into a rhythm because of Modric’s sensational quality on the ball and in disrupting passing lanes. The first goal of the match started because of his astute defending. The stats say Modric had four dribbles completed, three interceptions, and two tackles, but it feels like he had a lot more.
Rating: 9.5
https://www.goalstube.online/2021/12/eintracht-frankfurt-bayer-leverkusen.html?m=m6
Well struck goal from Jakic. He’s looking like a solid backup/injury replacement/depth guy.
……………………..Livaja…………………..
Perisic………….Pasalic…………..Orsic
……………Brozo………..Modric…………
Sosa…………Gvar….Caleta………….JJ
……………………..Grbic…………………….
So what makes gvardiol such a good talent? I’m not seeing anything distinguishing
Must be the header he scored. He’s alright. He’s no Vida
He was pretty darn average at the Euros. Defended like Brekalo at times
Literally played out of position but ok.
@ Poglavnik, Gvardiol is more valuable to the Croatian National Team than Vida right now and the defence looks better as well.
#1: He is physically strong
He doesn’t get pushed off by anyone both on the offensive and defensive end. Nothing worse than seeing a guy get easily outmuscled for the ball.
#2: He is fast
He can join the attack, but is quick to run back and defend. Even on defense, if a player gets by him, Gvardiol is fast enough to recover from his mistakes.
#3: Technically Gifted
He is very comfortable with the ball at his feet, and as a result, he doesn’t panic when under pressure. He is also technically skilled enough to start a play, without having Modric come all the way back to do it (allowing for quick counter attacking plays, and lower mileage on our veteran midfielders). We’ve had this problem for a long time with our recent CBs.
#4: Good passer
Can make a good pass forward. This is related to #3 above (technically gifted) but still, it’s nice to see some decent passes finally coming from our backline.
#5: Dynamic
Seems to play equally well as a LB or a CB, which useful in case of injuries or card suspensions. He could probably play as a winger or midfielder too if you needed him to.
#6: Confident
He can be a bit overconfident at times, but has no problems showcasing his skills and using them to their full extent no matter who the competition is. We’ve been harping on Kovacic for so many years for being hesitant to use his skills. Gvardiol is the opposite of this…and he’s only 19.
#7: Young
He’s very young…and is already playing at the highest level (and better than most players).
He’s not just good for his age…He’s good period.
Considering players do not really peak until they hit age 28, we’re looking at possibly another 10 years of upward development. That’s insane.
Agree completely with all of these. The proof is that Guardiola’s star-studded and super-strategic Manchester City team did not even attempt to mount an attack down Gvardiol’s side in the second half of their champions league match last week. On the one long ball that Man City did send to the midfield on his side during that time, Gvardiol ran way up to meet it, muscled his opponent off the ball and sent a pinpoint long ball to his teammate upfield who took two touches and set up a teammate for the second goal. Gvardiol won the ball, and 5 touches later, the ball was in the back of the net. And he made it look like the easiest thing ever, but how often do you see central defenders creating chances like that? He could have had a goal himself in that match too, as he carried the ball himself all the way from his defensive zone into City’s 18 and had to be disarmed by three defenders. The guy is an amazing athlete.
I guess you haven’t been watching him this season?
@Arno, I guess you haven’t been watching him this season?
Gvardiol x DCC centre-back partnership *chef’s kiss*
Speaking of DCC scored today for Marseille to seal the victory for his side.
Gvardiol = Stud! Croatia’s present and future for next 15 years. Can’t wait for Nations League in June, great litmus test and tuneup for WC
Yeah gvardiol should be great for a long time.
My only concern and it’s not really a concern is as he gets older with his build, weight might become an issue like it was for Kranjcar.
Kranjcar was downright fat for a while. They have a similar build to them.
Pjaca and Pasalić are pretty big too, come to think of it. The difference between these players and Kranjcar are that teams have even more tools now to measure fitness for their players, and Kranjcar was playing many years in England, where it seems to be acceptable for footballers to be a bit heavier (take a look at Luke Shaw, for example!). Being an absolutely dynamite talent, Gvardiol is likely to be very carefully managed by the teams he signs with, and that probably won’t be QPR.
If Croatia can just keep retaining Italian talent like gvardiol, their future looks bright
Italy needs all the talent and luck they can get,not to be spectating a second straight World Cup 👀
Lol.
Gvardy doesn’t have Italian blood.
But neither do Tolói, Jorginho, Emerson, and Keane (but at least Keane is born and raised there).
So, yea, maybe he should be playing for Italy, lol.
“Italiano” you sound almost as dumb as Vlasic…lol
And east there ginoboy….you’ll be crying to mamma mia in her basement watching us at yet another World Cup after the chops send you home in tears in March. 2 WCs in a row free of you mamma boys.
PS next time WC qualification is on the line, maybe let a real Italian take the penalties vs the Swiss instead of your brazilian import. lol
https://hohofot.elhighlights.com/embed/zD6fhcfYQu0DH
Not sure if it will work
But quality header
Very nice cross and not too contested but was through a crowd and he did very well to jump at it
We are really missing mandzus headers IMO now.
But maybe gvardiol and CC can make up for it with their height and powerful bodies on set pieces
Least now we have multiple set piece crossers
Luka, sosa, juranovic, even barisic I think is ok
Gvardiol gets Leipzig on the board
Was looking for the goal
Found this instead lol
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.the-sun.com/sport/premier-league/4144917/video-leipzig-gvardiol-brugge-head-beer/amp/
Lolol. That’s funny, never seen that before. That dude is good, really good!
He is gonna be a cro defender legend one day it seems
19 years old, worth 80 mill according to this article???
Seems high I know he is talented, but inflation much??
Remember when you could buy a luka modric for 30mill
How much money did Madrid make from luka over the years ??? He was a bargain
Ya for sure!
Over/under of one of our guys scoring outside the box??
Gone are the days of our penalty box poachers like Mandzukic Olic and Jelavic. Seems like we usually score from outside the box
Ya now we need more poaching
Livaja may be more that role
Pasalic seems to also have this ability for the tight area goal