Mateo Kovačić played all 90 minutes and received an 8.3 grade (FOTMOB) in Chelsea’s 3-1 victory over Leicester City on Saturday. Kova scored a fantastic “karate kick” insurance goal from inside the box in the 78th minute to seal the victory for Chelsea. Goal.com conservatively gave Kovačić a 7-grade as he “Got Chelsea’s third goal with a lovely finish and was on the ball a lot.” Chelsea have now won three straight games since Kova returned from injury. #justsayin
Joško Gvardiol received MOTM honors and scored a goal in RB Leipzig’s 3-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach Saturday. Gvardiol was a steel wall in defense for Leipzig and scored the team’s final goal as he picked up a loose ball on the goal line following a corner kick. Huge match this week as Leipzig take their 1-1 1st leg draw to Manchester in Champions League with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line.
Josip Juranović remains on fire for new club Union Berlin even though they did not get the result they were looking for Sunday night. In a tight 0-0 2nd half versus Wolfsburg, Union Berlin were awarded a penalty kick in the 72′. Juranović stepped up to the spot and converted but Wolfsburg would equalize 12 minutes later to force a 1-1 draw. With the point, RB Leipzig, Union Berlin, and Freiburg occupy spots 3-5 on the Bundesliga table; all on 45 points. Bayern lead with 52 points.
Luka Modrić returned from a yellow card suspension to play 72 minutes in a 3-1 Real Madrid victory over Espanyol Saturday.
Josip Brekalo played 45 minutes for Fiorentina Sunday after being subbed on at halftime. He picked up a yellow card in a 2-0 victory over Cremonese.
Borna Barišić assisted in Rangers’ 3-0 Scottish Cup victory over Raith Rovers Sunday. Rangers will now play in the semifinals the last weekend of April.
4 goals in 133 games for Chelsea. Oh wow! 😆
Stipe biuk on the scoresheet!
Yes, I just saw that. Good for him! 👏🇺🇸🇭🇷
https://www.goalstube.online/2023/03/wolfsburg-union-berlin.html?m=1
JJ smashes a penalty right down the middle.
https://bleacherreport.com/post/chelsea/c3ccea4c-e39e-4e43-ad7b-1f11e566efc6
Kovačić kapetan!!
Stanisic has fought through high profile signings to earn his minutes.
He has navigated Bayern youth system CHOSE his Croatian heart to play with us.
He is mentally tough, skilled and quicker than you think.
He can stay at Bayern or leave.
Must win vs PSG .. Nagelsman chose Stanisic.
Plus he is guarding world class wingers daily at Bayern.
The kid is the goods.
You can play him as a right footed CB and Juranovic has Rwb.
Lock down !!
Stanisic is in trouble again..
Cancelo with one goal and one assist
Pavard with two goals
Davis with one goal
They are super pissed with stanisic ahead of them and have proved their worth instantly
Stanisic cant score and assist as many as them
Well regardless his stock has risen
There will be some quality teams calling
Besides everyone knows you can’t win a CL without a Croat
The ghost of mandzo will haunt them forever:)
Davies plays on the other side anyway, and in the CL match, Cancelo came in further up the field than Stanisić, with Stanisić staying back to shut down Mbappé. Pavard is the usual starter, but Stanisić has defended better than Pavard. So he doesn’t score goals, but winning teams also don’t concede… I expect him to be their guy for Champions League, where it’s more important to keep a clean sheet against strong opponents who are used to scoring goals.
They gave up 3 goals to ausburg without stanisic, thats no bueno
Yeah I agree, just because the other guy assisted and scored that doesn’t mean that he is the better option defensively. We have to remember it is a defensive role. I think that the fact that Stanisic was off and that many goals were scored by the other team only serves prove Stani’s worth to the team. It shows that he is a more capable and competent defender. It isn’t always about the goals scored.
It must be killing you that Stanišić starts and plays in the big CL knockout games, while these other bigger named players have to get game time in league matches against midtable teams.
Is sosa a good enough winger role for the 3-5-2?
Love to see the 3-5-2. I’m going to be saying it like a broken record
I think we look better now than in world cup
I too am worried Perisic is running out
He needed to move years ago to England and would have been better In Italy now
With him pairing up as second striker it may be his new lease on life
I’m probably more pissed about orsic
He really could have made a bid on that left side for us
He’s got the goods we know it’s not like they are magically gone now. He’s not too old
But needs to play
Loving kova right now
This last World Cup I feel gave him a new confidence
Can he make the next step to an all world team level???
If he can turn the Chelsea wagon around let him stay
But really wouldn’t mind if him and luka finish one year together in Madrid and takes over king luka In Spain and repka
Good to see our players slowly rounding back into form.
I really think the 3-5-2 is in our near future. Our strength for so many years was our midfield. Once
Modric starts his decline (at age 50) our D will be our strength.
Playing a back 3 of Gvardiol, Erlic/Sutalo and Stanisic while having both Juranovic and Sosa as wingers, will form a great D plus add flexibility to shift more defensively if we are up a goal or two.
I guess the only issue is who do we play as our front 2. Right now I’d use Krama/Perisic & give Musa a run to pair up with one of them.
Perisic’s form has been poor and I hope it’s not the beginning of the end for him. He’s so athletic and always plays better for the repka than club.
I can guarantee for the first game we use our traditional 4-3-3 and play it safe. What I hope is that Dalic uses Stanisic as RB and Juranovic as our RW. His free kick goal was excellent.
Who here thinks Modric takes another crack at a World Cup gold in 2026?
🙂
I don’t want to say it
But if messi can so can he
The problem with luka he plays too hard for Madrid
Sounds like messi doesn’t mind padding stats against bottom of the barrel French teams
Luka is way too hardcore to not go all out
I think he is a for sure for euro
Again we shall see if health hold up
Could he maybe go to the states and play in mls going to 2026?
I know their season doesn’t really match Europe
I hope Madrid don’t make him choose them or Croatia
I honestly think he plays until the Euros then hangs them up.
Although you never know. If he keeps playing at this level he could very well keep going and being a backup if necessary and provide leadership.
Madrid will not make him choose between them and the National team because they know who he will choose 🙂
Yes… this can work too 4-3-3
——————(Beljo/Kramaric))——————
-(Orsic)————-Musa—————-(Spikic)
-Perisic—(Vlasic/Ivanusec)—Juranovic
————————-Modric—————————
————Kovacic(Jakic)Brozovic————
—Sosa—————————————Stanisic
————Gvardiol—Sutalo(Erlic)—————
—————————————————————
——————-—-Livakovic————————
With the current crop a 4-3-3 still is strong… like most of you here say we need another LWB and hopefully Bradaric is the guy… forgot about him since his departure from French league.. nice run and setup that goal against Milan! if he proves to work well if given a chance for the NT then we can definitely say the 3-5-2 is for us! Barisic is good not great but is solid LB but he cannot provide what Sosa or Bradaric type player can in this sytem of play… too bad Sucic is out in defiantly till probably May or June at least it seems.. with that said I believe Beljo will get the nod for the reserve call.. it’s a position we need to figure out most right now.. also interested to see Spikic too.. defensively we have so much current depth and youth in the Vuskovic brothers as well(hopefully the older one can get outta that doping scandal)
If even just one striker shows up and we can solidify our wings we are one motha****** dangerous team boys.
Hmmm ..
Kovačić takes the captains armband and Chelsea are 3 wins on the bounce.
That goal was vintage Kovačić .. when he scores they tend to be world class finishes.
Modrić looked quick and impactful today.
Still not a near replacement for him .. unless .. your name is Mateo Kovačić.
Need some wingers and forwards to join the Vatreni evolution !!
Gvardiol with a great goal and Sosa had a good game after his suspension from the Bayern game. I think we are top of the table for best defence right now in the world. We definitely have the best in Europe. Eventually Gvardiol, Sosa, Jurnaovic, will be on better clubs. Stanisic is being entrusted more. Even Erlic is a decent backup centre back. I watched the PSG vs Bayern match and Stanisic made no errors. He was quick, efficient and was efficient with his energy. Also has great football IQ. One thing I noticed with him comparing with Messi and defending him is that he’s much quicker with transition with his feet. Gvardiol looks slow at times and idk if that’s his lack of cardio or endurance training. If this is what we have for NL finals and next Euros, we will be champs.
Gvardiol is the opposite of Stanisic, in that Gvardiol is so naturally talented that he can gamble on offense and defense…and still recover because of his speed, strength and athleticism. He makes mistakes, but he gets away with it (and he knows it).
Stanisic is just a hard working, disciplined and smart player. He knows he doesn’t have that natural ability to recover from making mistakes, but he does have height and speed, so he maxes out on his natural talent.
He keeps surprising everyone since he got those two starts (back when Kovac was coach). He disappeared from the senior team for a while to develop with the juniors (while outsmarting the Bayern brass by making them think he will represent Germany over Croatia). The guy then comes back better, and despite there being World Class competition in the Bayern backline…he sticks around (instead of going out for a loan), and somehow beats them out for a starting spot.
I think his disciplined play, and Gvardiol’s natural ability (allowing him to push forward in attack, while Stanisic provides cover) would make for an interesting pairing.
I like Sutalo alot, but he’s also like Gvardiol and likes to push forward too. I would be afraid of seeing them both get caught out of position since they both like to push. At the same time, we also have Erlic who is alot like Stanisic in the sense that he likes to stay back and play it safe (though he’s a lot slower than Stanisic).
Lots of options. I agree that we arguably have the best backline players in Europe and I hope Dalic tries out all of our options back there.
…Now watch him start Domagoj Vida against Wales, ha ha
Luka Vušković Is coming !!
Yup and when that plane lands with that prodigy on board it will be awesome!
Gol Kovacic !
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Managingmadrid.com player ratings: Luka Modric—7.5: This felt like one of Luka Modric’s better performances in recent matches. Constantly popped up in dangerous central pockets, looking to penetrate the Espanyol backline.