Luka Modrić made a huge difference in El Clasico Saturday, whether he wanted to or not. Modrić came off the bench in the 63rd and would “accidentally” assist Bellingham in injury time to steal all three points from Barcelona in El Clasico. Modrić received a 7.0 rating from Goal.com as he was “Part of a double-substitution with Joselu, coming on in place of Kroos, and played a pivotal role in Madrid picking up a point that looked unlikely when he entered the fray, with his passing and penetration.” In injury time, it appeared that Modrić was trying to trap the ball in the box. Instead, the ball flicked off his boot and went straight to Bellingham in front of goal for the game winner. Modrić will be credited with the game-winning assist against Barcelona, whether he meant to do it or not.
Modrić is now officially the oldest player to participate in El Clasico at 38 years, 47 days.
Luka Ivanušec returned to action this weekend in a 2-1 Feyenoord loss to FC Twente. Ivanušec came on at halftime and played the entire 2nd half. He has been out for over a month after rolling his ankle badly in a Champions League match versus Celtic in September. Ivanušec is expected to be part of the Croatian side that faces Latvia and Armenia in November.
Joško Gvardiol played the full 90 minutes for City on Sunday in a commanding 3-0 victory over rivals United in the Manchester Derby. Gvardiol received a 7.0 rating from Goal.com as he “Almost had a couple of costly lapses in possession early on but recovered and got stronger as the game went on. Ensured Fernandes was basically a non-factor.” Mateo Kovačić came off the bench late for City in the 87th minute and was a non-factor.
Beljo vs. Majer: Lovro Majer scored his first goal in the Bundesliga on Saturday, converting a penalty kick in a 3-2 loss to Augsburg.
Look at that list and name the players who are on form with there club teams. There aren’t many. They are either coming off of injuries or are not playing regularly.
well I think its about time Dalic pulled the plug on Vlasic and Barisic, they’re not national team quality and they’ve proved it over and over again.
I see the big complaint is surrounding M Pasalic not getting the call. I like the guy but if we are in a two game, must win situation, I say we go with some experience and I still put my faith in Krama, Petkovic and Ivanusec before I’d bank my money on anyone else at the moment.
If Sosa is our only left back my guess is that Dalic might use Gvardiol in that position if required…and thats ok in my books.
Overall, Dalic isn’t the one playing and we have most of our players back in the lineup (except for our best and most effective attacker, Perisic) and we shouldn’t have an excuse.
If we high press and demonstrate urgency, we will win with any lineup. If we sit back and wait for a mistake, then pass the ball around slowly…expect a to be biting your nails! This is not rocket science. we have the technical advantage and the experience, we need energy and effort!
Yea we should be fine just from getting back our injured players.
But Dalić deserves criticism for not taking our bench lineup too seriously, and calling up guys based on relationships with them or what part of Croatia they’re from.
Our bench lineup needs a revamp.
Too many non-factors on the bench like Vida, Barišić, Moro, Brekalo, Livaja, etc…
taking up spots but aren’t really options if we have key injuries (or if we’re planning for the future).
I’d rather we just call up the most talented U21s like Baturina, Beljo and Šimić to take up those 4-5 spots and try them out for the last 10 minutes of games. Build for the future. We may need them sooner than you think.
Agree with you 100 percent.
I’d also rather see Baturina, Beljo and Simic but like I’ve said many times before, its the mentality these coaches have that make them justify things in their own head. I believe he sees guys like Pjaca, Vlasic and Brekalo as players with experience he can count on while he doesn’t see that in the Baturina, Beljo and Simic. Its too big of a risk. on the other hand, we here at CroSports can be naive at times and expect Dalic to call up players the first sniff we get of a beating pulse. We’ve called for Simic, Ljubicic (ex Hajduk player), Musa, Colak and anyone thats scored a goal…I don’t think thats a smart way of selecting players either.
Šimić and Musa are rational callups because they fill a position of need, are young, and are starting for Champions League clubs. Sučić too.
Beljo plays regularly for a Bundesliga club (although not a starter) but you could justify the odd callup.
Baturina too, simply because he’s the most talented player in the HNL.
Dalić has a bit of that “seniority” thing about him which is holding him back from making the right call.
Seems to think a young player needs to earn his stripes to get a callup over someone like Vida.
He’s also a little too accomodating to the U21 coach.
None of the other top National teams are like this, and they’re bigger countries with a larger pool of players too.
Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, France all regularly call up and play youngsters.
Musa was on the bubble for over a year (since June 2022), never plays, then gets thrown into a do-or-die game with Turkey. Doesn’t play well, and is now off the team.
Benfica is fine with starting him, but for us, he can’t even make the squad now. That’s just poor integration by Dalić. We might actually need him in 2024 and 2026, but he will probably be thrown into a sink or swim situation again if that happens (similar to what happened to Gvardiol at Euro2020).
I think I’m somewhat realistic regarding our players. I’m usually not setting parade routes for someone unless I feel he’s the real deal. I was very critical of Perisic in 2012 and as he became more consistent I began to support him…I was the same about Modric…it took me time to really see his value.
Beljo was good even in Osijek, I remember thinking he’s gonna be tough for defenders to control. I felt the same for Simic, because he’s hard working and finds the net…the kid has a good mentality. Musa has impressed me at times but I just see him as nonchalant…most of the time. we need someone that can force defenders to make mistakes, someone thats got energy and work rate…otherwise we should only accept another Davor Suker or Eduardo Da Silva (prior to injury) type of player and Musa is neither.
you mentioned “Dalić has a bit of that “seniority” thing about him”…”None of the other top National teams are like this, and they’re bigger countries with a larger pool of players too.
Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, France all regularly call up and play youngsters.”
we don’t have major problems if one of our standard midfield gets injured but unfortunately for us, we don’t have replacements in attack…and we haven’t had anyone thats a real viable solution since Mandzukic. Bigger football nations usually have depth while our bench is made up of HNL or lower tiered players in lower tiered teams and leagues. I don’t believe our problem is 100% with player quality. we lost two games to teams that were not better than us on paper but they came to play while we had some mental lapse. they could have all worked harder, moved the ball around quicker, forced their defenders….no matter if we had Simic or Suker…playing at a dead tempo with no energy will get you bad results.
Poor list imo no fresh blood its gonna be same stale play boring slow play we can beat armenia latvia imo but poor if wales kiks and we qualify alot of home work needs to be done by Dalic since 2018 no perisic mandzo replacement has been found. Why not try sucic in the 11 mix it up a bit. Roko Simic should get called So should Ivanovic Pasalic and Bradaric
Yes I’ve been sort of hoping for Marco pasalic call up
He’s got a pretty sweet left foot when you watch his highlights
He’s not afraid to go for goal outside the box
Him and mario I feel both can provide some goals for us
I just noticed that Dalic demoted Borna Barisic to the standby list.
We only have one LB (Borna Sosa) which is good news in that we are likely going to commit to starting Sosa these two games…but it’s a pretty big risk (especially since Sosa wasn’t even on the bench in the last Ajax game).
In case Sosa is out of form or has a poor game…I wonder if Dalic plans to go with Gvardiol at LB.
We have nobody else otherwise.
Yes I wondered that too
Who we put In middle
Erlic and sutalo? Would be very plausible if Šutalo was in form
Is erlic having a steady year thus far?
Dannyj,
Re: Your question about Erlic….
Erlic is starting for Sassuolo. He got burned badly for the first (and only) Bologna goal this past weekend. Zirkzee gathered in a long ball that Erlic simply misjudged and Erlic was left looking lost as Zirkzee walzed in and scored easily.
However, Erlic was his usual steady self thereafter and the game ended 1-1. He is playing well. He is steady, he passes the ball effectively, sees the open player upfield fairly well; obviously he has good height and he is a physical presence. He can sometimes be turned around and left to look a little immobile by a skilled striker in Serie A. But he is starting for his team, probably still improving, and he is solid, if perhaps a notch down from the athletic skills of Sutalo and, of course, from those of Gvardiol. If you accept Maminjo’s observation that many Croatian players tend to round into top form a little later in their careers—late bloomers on the soccer pitch—there is probably still some room for improvement in Erlic.
I would also say he is a bit of a team leader judging how the other players on Sassuolo respond to him on the field.
Those are my thoughts, for what they are worth, but I don’t have a trained eye for the sport that some others here do…
Not sure if you would be interested in it, and you probably already know this, but Fubo at about $20 or so a month gives you the opportunity to see EPL, Eredivisie and Serie A in Canada each weekend. So you can easily follow Gvardiol and Kovacic at ManCity, Sosa and Sutalo and Medic at Ajax (a team that has been brutal to watch this year) and the Croatian players in Serie A including Erlic at Sassuolo etc. While some of the games start early for us in British Columbia (e.g. 5am), it has a recording feature and you can just record your games of choice and watch them over the weekend when you have the time. IMHO it is not a bad deal….
Small injury to Sosa. He was one of Ajax’s better players in their previous game which was a loss.
Pjaca plays one really good game in HNL and makes the roster. hahaha
Dalic also demoted our young strikers back on the pretpoziv list.
I guess Musa and Beljo couldn’t bail Dalic out, so he kicked them off the team haha.
I disliked this move while bringing up Budimir. Budimir seems like an older version of Musa and is not our future. He wouldn’t have done anything if he had the same minutes as Musa since there was zero service.
I watched him last season in serie a. He is playing well on the top team in Croatia. He is a pure winger and better than Brekalo. This ain’t a sympathy call up. It’s warranted. If he plays he will score. I called this move a few weeks ago. Pjaca!!!!!!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CzBT9nMqKhj/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Pongracic, Sucic, Pjaca and Budimir are the changes.
And Moro?
…and, of course, Melnjak is on the standby list.
Dalic isn’t going to legitimately call up any new or young players.
Just defaulting to players that already have callups in the past (like Pjaca and Melnjak).
At least Pongracic is back to give us added CB depth (but I still think Dalic would have him behind Vida in the pecking order, so it’s all moot anyway).
But I guess what matters most is that we get some of our injured players back.
How is pongarcic doing these days anyways? Haven’t seen his name pop up in quite some time
Starts every game for a midtable Serie A club and has a similar skillet to Šutalo.
Worth a callup.
Crazy how Luka trying to trap a ball that then bounces over his foot onto the foot of Bellingham turns into a “great assist!”
We are really stretching it here don’t you think ??
Kova riding the pine as he did at Real. That’s his best position, the guy is a lateral and back passing specialist suited to come off the bench when you have either won or are getting badly beaten. Most overrated player I have seen in the last 20 years.
As much as I want to disagree with you I can’t. He never really seems to make anything happen, just always makes the easy pass behind him. Kind of sad to see
Dinamo beats Lokomotiva 2 – 1 with two goals in stoppage time. Coach Jakirovic was minutes away from being sacked.
Baturina scored a good goal in the 94th minute to make it 1 – 1. The more I see Gabriel Vidovic play the more I’m disappointed. Dinamo uses him on the left wing, and he struggles there with lack of pace.
Just went to watch the goals scored by Dinamo and Rijeka over the weekend.
Wow. You’re right, Jakirovic was literally minutes away from being sacked. And in the 90th minute which is a few minutes before Dinamo equalized, Lokomotiva could have gone 2 up but they missed a big chance.
That was an exquisite goal from Baturina with the ball hitting the underside of the crossbar. Although Baturina is in a bit of a dry spell so far, I feel that the few goals he has scored were either meaningful or significant… the winner in the Super Cup… that goal after a mini-slalom vs Sparta Prague which brought Dinamo back into the tie (until they conceded again) and now this equalizer against Lokomotiva which is also Baturina’s first HNL goal this season.
And my word, that goal from Marco Pasalic (Rijeka edged Gorica 1-0)… yet another goal struck from distance and the ball hit both uprights on its way into the net. That guy has a wicked left foot!
Guys, I’d recommend you check out the goals scored by Baturina and Pasalic this weekend. Wonder if Pasalic will get a call-up from Dalic, but I feel he’s getting closer and closer to one..
Pasalic is in good form and yes that was a good goal that he scored.
I was hoping to see Franjo Ivanovic play, but the TV commentator said that he was bitten by a spider and was not even on the bench.
I think that Dalic will call Pasalic into the squad for the November matches.
I was watching STADION on HRT 2, which has highlights of all the weekend HNL matches and was amazed to hear that 40% of all the HNL players (first division) are foreigners. This is bad news for the development of all our youth players, our clubs and soccer in general.
Hopefully it was a radioactive one.
We need someone with superpowers up top.
Lolol
Haha😁 Years later, if Franjo Ivanovic were to pan out, I’d definitely recall this comment of yours.
Watching this city thrashing …is kovacic gonna be relegated to non starter permanently…still don’t think he shoulda went there …needs steady mins and pep won’t wanna play both croats together anyway …he showed how he feels about Balkan’s the way he treated ibra, mandZo…not even sure kova deserves starting 11 but we’ll see what happens …he’s getting subbed on now with 4 mins to go
That sucks
Most likely he would have done well going back to Italy
I don’t think it’s a “balkan” thing with Guardiola.
Ibra and Mandzo have alpha-male Croat mentalities. This probably clashes with Guardiola’s personality.
Kovacic is has a beta-male personality. He’ll follow orders and do whatever Guardiola instructs him to do, without question.
If this is the case, then he will get more opportunity.
Kova was getting plenty of minutes prior to his injury. He just played poorly for a couple of games. Pep always rotates, and Kova will get more time when he gets back into form.
BTW Croatia is not Balkan.
Some of the northerners aren’t. Put up a picture of our national team and look at it very closely through the eyes of a Brit or an American 🤣. Sure we are a little bit less exotic than our neighbours but we sure don’t look central European like Austrians or Germans. Dalic, Sutalo, Modric, Brozovic, Juranovic, Kovacic, Perisic are prime examples.
Croats aren’t “Balkan” in the sense that we are genetically similar to others in the region. We’re not. We’re actually pretty different from Serbs, Greeks, Bulgarians, etc.
Technically, Croatians are the most European nation in Europe when you take into consideration the percentage of European genetic material (haplogroups).
Those guys you listed are actually prime examples of European men. Don’t assume dark hair or having a larger nose is not a European feature.
Our NT needs a tactical coach like Carlo Ancelotti. That’s how we need to use Modric going forward. Unfortunately, we won’t get this with Dalic. He’s too motivational and biased. He’s done amazing but it’s time for change and take things to the next level like win a trophy.
Dalic is an absolutely shit manager!
He won’t dare to use this formation.
……………… R Simic ………. Ljubičić ………………
Ivanusec………….. Pasalic …………Juranovic
………………Lv Mayer………Lk Modric……………..
……….Gvardiol…..Vušković…..Stanisic………
…………………….….. Livakovic ………………………..
This is when we are going to attack –
the formation is quite formidable –
…………… R Simic ………… Ljubičić ………………
Gvardiol…………..Pasalic……………Juranovic
…….. Ivanusec….Modric….Lv Majer .…..……
………..…..Vušković..……Stanisic…..…………….
…………………….…. Livakovic ……..…………………..
Dalic is a low-tier tactician and absolute shit
He will never figure out this masterpiece line!
No Borna Sosa in the lineup or bench for Ajax in an important match. Any word of injury?
Please no Melnjak 2.0 for LB!
If we’re really stretched for an LB, I would assume Domagoj Bradaric would get a look since he starts in Serie A team.
Problem is, he plays for Salernitana (who are a relegation candidate) and Dalic probably values a Hajduk player more than a Salernitana player.
I actually liked Bradaric in the limited minutes he played for us during the 2021 Nations League. I recall in the Sweden game, Melnjak started and was getting killed by a young Kulusevski on that left side, and then Bradaric replaced him in the second half and actually fixed the issue. Then we scored the game winner 10 minutes later.
The problem with Meljnak is that he shares the same small stature as Juranovic, so he easily gets outmuscled for things…but he’s nowhere near as good as Juranovic offensively. Melnjak just isn’t good enough for the National Team.
The only other option would be to play Gvardiol at LB temporarily, until one of our LB players are back in form.
I remember Melnjak getting outclassed in his first go around with the NT. Bradarić makes sense, but I don’t think he’s under consideration and with Livaja retiring from the NT, Dalić will likely call on Melnjak to fulfill his Hajduk quota and appease the fans.
As far as starting I think Barišic is injured and and he’ll probably shift Gvardiol to LB for this round. However, we’re now short at CB with Šutalo out of form and playing like Šitalo for his club. Dalić doesn’t trust him as evidenced by him starting Vida during the last match. I see Juranović was listed as doubtful for his last match and isn’t 100%. Stanišić isn’t a regular for Leverkusen. Aside from Gvardiol, I really don’t know what our back line is going to look like this round with all the injuries and our out of form guys. Long term defense looks like a strength for us, but it’s a perfect storm right now.
We have a lot of CBs.
We still have Erlić and Pongračić who are both in good form and starting every minute at their clubs in Serie A.
Problem is that Dalić falls in love with his starters (and overplays them), and doesn’t know when to retire his veterans.
We’ve been playing Gvardiol/Sutalo every game for 90 minutes, and have had Vida as the main backup.
This was wrong to do, and now that Sutalo may be out of form (I’m still not convinced he is) our main backup option is the long overdue Domagoj Vida (who should have been retired from the team these past several years). We haven’t tried any other options since the World Cup.
Erlić has been part of our setup for a few years now, and Pongračić has a good thing going at Lecce. These guys should have been called up, with at least Erlić getting the odd start (or sub off the bench) during these qualifiers. Doesn’t really make sense that we have ZERO minutes for him in 2023, yet we start Vida in critical games (like this past round and in Nations League).
Had Dalić been better prepared, we would have had several options tried and tested during these qualifiers. But now that we have several injuries and out-of-form players, we have to gamble and try out completely untested options.
The good old Dalić delay. Always late integrating the youth.
It’s a bit of a gamble on Dalić part to always stick with his trusted guys. I believe that a lot of it is him trying to keep the chemistry and not rock the boat with the locker room. I think he was emboldened by Lovren performing fairly well during the WC (even though Gvardiol in beast-mode covered a lot of his sins).
That type of thing working out in his eyes made him want to stick with what was working up until the last round.
In my opinion, even with the injuries and out of form players, we should have the talent and depth to not lose two games in a row to Turkey/Wales. Lack of prep in integration of next generation, poor selection overall and tactics were all at play there.
We’re at a pivotal point for our NT and who he selects will give us a good indication on what direction we are headed.
It just sucks that if he is going to try out new players in the first team, they are getting put in a sink or swim situation in must win games.
relying on luck
only hope it works
we have great players
so……
Dalic is an absolutely shit manager!
He won’t dare to use this formation.
……………… R Simic ………. Ljubičić ………………
Ivanusec………….. Pasalic …………Juranovic
………………Lv Mayer………Lk Modric……………..
……….Gvardiol…..Vušković…..Stanisic………
…………………….….. Livakovic ………………………..
This is when we are going to attack –
the formation is quite formidable –
…………… R Simic ………… Ljubičić ………………
Gvardiol…………..Pasalic……………Juranovic
…….. Ivanusec….Modric….Lv Majer .…..……
………..…..Vušković..……Stanisic…..…………….
…………………….…. Livakovic ……..…………………..
Dalic is a low-tier tactician and absolute shit
He will never figure out this masterpiece line!
Luka Sučić looked good physically.
His stride running was fluid.
Actually looked to have even more power in his legs, especially on shot attempts.
Sometimes young players come back stronger from knee injuries.
Curious about Marin Ljubičić as he has the speed we need in the attacking third.
Re Sucic, good to hear!
Croatiansports think they can control proceedings by deleting “certain comments from me”!
FUCK YOU TRAITOR, EXACTLY WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO GO YOU MOMMY PROSSEFOR TRAINED TRAITER BITCH.
OH NO! A WHITE MAN ACTUALLY SPOKE ON BEHALF OF HIS OWN RACE!
Meanwhile as for the other Luka playing in Salzburg, I was looking at his stats on sofascore. He seems to be making a nice, steady comeback from his knee injury (knock on wood!).
Salzburg beat Altach 3-0 in a league match, with Sucic the highest rated player (8.2) according to sofascore. Played the full 90 min, created 2 big chances, completed 3 out of 3 dribble attempts and won 7 out of 8 ground duels. I’m looking forward to him making a goal contribution for Salzburg next. Something that he has done for the U21s already as he created and scored a penalty in the 2-0 win over Belarus. God bless Sucic and please keep him healthy.
Simic played 62 minutes but did not score/assist.
OMG the Croatian Government is censoring the speech of a “Croat-American”!
Why am I not allowed to speak freely on a site of my own people? WTF are doing bro??
Oh NO! The Russians are STOPPING at Russian territory! OH NO!
REMEMBER “when are we sending our boys?” was not deleted from this site? MY comment countering that SILLY ASS HORSESHIT WINDSOCK WHITE TRAITOR TWO FACED FAGGOTRY was though.
You wouldn’t block what I have to say if you weren’t terrified of me. The TRUTH is going to WIN VIOLENTLY.
WE CROSSED THE RUBICON DID PROWHITES. WE CROSSED THE RUBICON. ANYONE WHO DARES THREATEN VIOLENCE AGAINST US IS SUBJECT TO THE MOST BRUTAL PUNISHMENT TREASON ALLOWS.
Why shouldn’t Modric stay European instead of being shipped out for $ to some outpost who don’t really appreciate what Modric is about?
Modrić is still a difference maker on the highest level.
Kroos got his ass handed it to him. I love his golden right foot but to compare him to Modrić is sacrilegious.
I remember like 5 years ago we were preparing for life post Modrić.
It’s almost 2024 and he is still performing.
Tomorrow we watch Gvardiol and Kovačić for CroCity.
Just need a winger, striker and attacking midfielder to emerge!
I still say we call the Spaniard Raketa
You know he wants to give one more go for cro
All that taking care of himself in the Spanish sun and he’s as good as many midfielders still
Hmm… maybe given the following scenario… if Kova is unable to pick up his form while Raketa continues to rock, plus we fail to qualify directly, maybe it would be time to coax Rakitic out of retirement for the playoff games next March ?
I. Rakitic had a beauty yesterday to make it 2-2.
I think he would come if called
Sort of fills the hajduk quota since apparently his uncle is die hard and was trying to get him to come over;)
I’m actually really serious
I would love to see him and luka one more go at euro
Ivan playing high end footie at the moment
And if he was around against Spain…. We have a better shot at it
At least at the pks
We would all love for Rakitic to come back
But realistically he knows his body/mind best and would probably say he’s still playing at a high level @ Sevilla bc he isn’t playing for HRV
He can use the international breaks to rest his body, limit his travel, spend time w/ (demanding) wife/kids, etc
90min.com: SUB: Luka Modric (63′) – 8/10 – Changed the game when he was introduced. No other Real Madrid midfielder can do what he can in the middle of the park.
Set up the winner
Kind of looked deliberate
Similar to heading the ball into the ground for a bounce en route to the net for a goal
Modric just created yet another new type of pass (never done before) – as the young kids at Madrid have already picked up his outside of the boot pass – he’s like not done yet kids, more 4 u to learn from me !
Who is this Dino Klapija kid?
Some American Croat kid who is getting hyped up.
Too early to tell what kind of player he’ll turn out to be.
His team (NK Kutosija) is interesting.
It is a third division team that’s doing business with top clubs.
They sold some Senegalese kid (Mikayil Faye) last year to Barca’s youth team…and now they’ll probably sell Klapija to another big name team.
Wonder how this obscure team is able to do this.
[undercover Mamic project, ahaha]
A dijasporac from NYC. Aka Gods Country.
When is Petković coming back?
12th of November from what I have read.
Another tough match for Ajax. Sutalo has been making some major defensive errors for Ajax and is getting criticised left, right and center by the Dutch media and by the TV commentators. Let’s hope that he can turn it around quickly and find some form.
I watched that game and Dutch media are idiots. Ajax as a whole is the main issue. They were parking the bus the whole game and it was expected that 1 or two mistakes would happen in defence. It would happen to the best of defenders if the midfield and forward were sitting back and not pressing for 90% of the game. Sutalo is solid enough
Kramarić back in one week according to Hoffenheim’s coach.
Ivanušec and Feyenoord are playing Sunday against Twente. Big match there.
Getting these two back and in form next month is important.
Nice. Very good news
We’re back baby!