Mateo Kovačić and Joško Gvardiol both had subpar performances for Man City Saturday in an injury time “come from behind” 3-2 victory over Newcastle. Kevin de Bruyne stole the show making his Premiership return (injury), coming off the bench in the 69′ to supply the 2-2 equalizer and the game-winning assist. Kova received a 5/10 from 90min.com as he “Couldn’t keep up with the tempo of the game. Seemed to get caught out once or twice by Newcastle’s aggressive press.” Gvardiol received the same love from 90min.com even though he was not at fault for either Newcastle goal. They gave him a 5/10 as he “Did not have a good time against Almiron. Another example of the fact he is not a left-back.” A bit harsh for both Croatians in CroatianSports’ opinion.
Lovro Majer received MOTM honors and a 8.3 FOTMOB rating with a simple assist in Wolfsburg’s 1-1 draw vs. Mainz Saturday evening. Wolfsburg remains a mediocre mid-table side in the Bundesliga, but it’s good to see Majer on the stat sheet with an assist and top-rated performance nonetheless.
Luka Sučić converted a penalty for Red Bull Salzburg Saturday and Roko Šimić scored in a 3-2 friendly loss to Elverberg (please post any highlights in the Comments section)
Andrej Kramarić missed a quasi-break away chance vs. Bayern Munich Friday night. A goal would have tied up the game at 1-1. Instead, Bayern jumped on Hoffenheim to win 3-0
Luka Modrić starts on the bench vs. Barcelona Sunday 2PM (ET) in the Spanish Super Cup Final hosted in Saudi Arabia
https://www.goalstube.online/2024/01/atalanta-frosinone.html?m=m5
Nice work from Pasalic for an assist off the bench.
True Croats like Kova love God and their fellow Serb. 😆
@Bila Lasica
You make a very good point. To this day in Espana we talk about the marranos, those Jews that feigned being Christian but kept Judaism in their hearts.
It is possible that Mateo has the Catholic faith on his lips, but keeps the communist doctrine in his heart.
It seems like majer making a bit of a turn around in form the last little bit
Maybe now getting to feel his role and team more
I’m still optimistic on him
He’s not luka but no one is
We need to always be aware
I think he has potential to be world class when he peaks in his later 20s/early 30s. Really liked him in our last two games and he was one of the only players that stood out in the October shitshow.
For the sake of Majer, let’s hope Kovac doesn’t lose his job as Wolfsburg coach. I think Majer is in good hands under Kovac and will continue to improve.
Majer also looks much fitter now as compared to how he looked last season at Rennes.
Lol. Gvardiol wasn’t beaten by almiron a single time. He made one mistake the whole game, played some excellent passes and was closing to getting on the scoresheet twice. The media have an anti Croat bias, and people on this site are agreeing. Crazy fools.
The short passes between rodri and kovacic was a specific strategy against Newcastle to draw 4 Newcastle pressing midfielders into a 10 yard square to leave the fullbacks exposed to doku and walker pace. It worked time and again. Yes I watched the game, not did I watch it, I understand it. That’s the difference x
*not only did I watch it, I understand it..
If you don’t believe me watch the game back and check. And then realise that at the time you had no idea what was going on, you didn’t know why they kept playing those short passes. You thought it was “useless” but it was 100% strategy and it worked
You are right, I watched the game also and cannot believe the bias on those player ratings. There was no goal that came from Gvardiol’s side. A Kovacic pass to Rodri set up the second goal and then a Kovacic pass to KDB set up the winner.
Ok frenchie. Firstly, I know you aren’t French I don’t know what game you are playing or why you don’t just tell us who you really are. But you are not alone in that regard, plenty of strange random posters on this site.
Ok, teams use strategy. They discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition and formulate a plan for the match. In this current era, pressing is one of the most dynamic and quickly changing strategies. Teams spend weeks working on passing patterns. Opposition teams watch hours of footage and formulate a plan to stop the other teams flow.
You can start by watching the positioning of the opposition forwards when a team is playing out from the goal keeper. What you’ll see is positioning which is radically different from the positions on paper. Newcastle put 3 players close to each other almost holding hands on the edge of Man City’s box at times to prevent any pass going into the CDM position.
They’ve done this as a specific strategy only for this match. In general, they tried to smother Man City in midfield with 5 players in close attendance. usually, when good teams are put under this type of pressure they play quickly into wide areas to avoid pressure. But this is exactly the trap that Newcastle set. When the ball goes wide they are able close off that side of the pitch, win the ball and counter attack into the channel.
So, What pep did is say, ok we will not go wide at all we will use kova and rodri to draw the press closer and closer to the middle and only go wide in the final third with Foden, bernado, or doku, or walker one vs one with the fullback. This was the strategy. It was a strategy that could only work if you have two players who are supremely gifted and intelligent on the ball in the middle, to play keep ball 2 vs 4/5.
Now, the point is not that the strategy was brilliant, the point is the kovacic was playing to the coaches specific tactical demands for that game. Rodri too. That’s why Rodri kept giving the ball directly back to kovacic 5 yards away, over and again. Both players can pass forward, but pep wants them to keep the ball in the middle until the right moment.
So that was what was happening in this match. If you don’t believe me, watch the game. And realise, that just because everyone has an opinion, doesn’t mean everyone’s opinion is equally valid.
I realise I’m being a bit of a blow hard right now, I’ve got no particular personal issue with you, I’ve even got brotherly love for the neo nazi idiots on here, it’s not their fault that they have been bullied and raised with hatred and fear, never taught how to use logic, given distorted historical narratives by relatives, grown up 500 years into white settler colonies, whose education systems and media are propaganda machines on an unimaginable scale, in the age of social media echo chambers and algorithms which feed them more of the same crap they already think. They are victims, just like the people they have been taught to hate. It’s called “divide and rule”, given you are CIA troll I’m sure you know all this, but I digress…..
The point is this: some people watch carefully and analyse, some people have education and experience in a particular field, and some people are just big mouths who have been brought up by ignorant parents and have learned most of what they know from Fox News and their drunk uncle.
Just saying. Next
Nice work!
Seriously no idea why simic is so highly rated..he is goal less for past few months for the club despite given many starting opportunities..just because he scored in a friendly and now we start considering him a call up for euro?
I think musa deserves more than simic..he is often benches but he still score goals at a more regular basis per min and he is playing in a more competitive league.
Beljo is given only 10min each match to turn the corner so it is not fair to judge him yet. Because he still play well during the short period..hence i hope kramaric budimir musa beljo can be called up
Any updates on orsic?
I personally feel stanisic is a passive defender when his team is the stronger team on pitch. He slacks in his play…he needs to play against high level opponents where he can step up his gear like against mbappe
Orsic is still about 5-6 weeks away.
He was always supposed to come back at the end of February.
Hopefully everything is still on track.
He’s the type that would get back into form within a few months.
We could use him as that left-sided joker off the bench for the Euros. He was invaluable in this role for us at the World Cup.
This is great from Dino! You can tell he really wants to beat a Serb.
Who are you commies pretending to be Croats going for in this one?
Unbelievable with Dino Prizmic winning the second set vs Djokocunt. He’s an 18 year old kid tipped to have a bright future but i expected him to lose this match 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 or something; not quite going that way. Still expect him to lose in 4 but he’s already blown all expectations out of the water and shown he will be a force when he gets a bit older.
Seeing Goran in the serb coaching box against a young Croatian talent makes him look like such a traitor, i have to say.
Goran is traitor for money, he’s getting paid. What’s Kova’s excuse he’s out there paying a Serb to perform at his wedding. That’s even worse. Goran is taking money from a Serb, Kova is giving money to a Serb.
Don’t care about what Goran does it’s his choice and he’s getting paid. That he works for an injury faking Cedo who’s mother is of Jug ancestry whose parents were born within Croatia but she was born in Belgrade. His father was born in Kosovo and his grandfather in Montenegro he was probably the first to be born Serbia from his fathers side. For a flog whose roots aren’t even from Serbia he’s the biggest Cedo going around. He’s a great tennis player and a scumbag of the highest order.
He’s a full blown Yugo.
He just panders to the Serbian side because they’ll destroy him in the media if he doesn’t.
When Filip Krajinović (Serb tennis player of who is Croatian Bunjevac background) got his Croatian passport, he was destroyed in their media.
You can’t blame Djoko considering he’s an ethnic Croat and Montenegrin, born and raised in Serbia. He’s always hanging around in Croatia…but he needs to counter it by being ‘extra’ Orthodox and all these other things to show his true Serbianhood.
Sinisa Mihajlovic did the same things when he was alive too.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C2FKKAqM3Nj/?igsh=cnUxZTN4djM5bzhx
Dino’s getting a lot of well deserved praise.
Not just in croatian media, today in aussie media the headlines, and i quote:
“Insane! 18 year old stuns Novak, blows world away”.
That was his first EVER grand slam match, he draws world nbr 1 on centre court on night 1, i was thinking please just dont be 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 !
What he accomplished was really amazing.
Sorry there ANOINTED.
I get what you’re saying, but I can never trust a man who celebrates Christmas two weeks late.
Eduardo coming out of retirement !!!
He’s obviously dusting off the boots so he can play for us for the Euro
A 40-yo Eduardo sadly better vs. anyone else we have at our disposal
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/25352892/eduardo-da-silva-arsenal-gillingham-transfer-leg-break-exclusive/
We should also keep track of son/Mateus in the following years as he progresses – would be awesome if he develops and plays for us one day
You obviously did not watch the game. Kova was his typical lack luster self. All he did for the entire game was take a short 4ft pass from Rodri and one touch it back to him. He is complete garbage. Not to mention the fact that he is so physically weak. Defensively he gets out muscled 9 out of 10 times. His shot attempts are so weak….he can not muster any power on his shots. He was bad today but that is his typical play. One Kevin De Bruyne is worth 11 Kovas.
More disappointing was Gvardiol. He played left wing back and looked totally lost.
Both of them should have to shine De Bruyne’s shoes after his performance.
ZDS
1 debrurye is 11 kovas? Ask Belgian people about that
Well done sir. That pretty much sums up Kova’s play in %90 of his games. And he’s a Serb sympathiser to boot.
Omg. This kovacic bashing is getting ridiculous. He was excellent today. He plays for the best team in the world. Football is not just about goals and assists. He doesn’t just pass sideways or backwards, he is an intelligent player who plays the right pass for the team. At Chelsea they played more counter attack and he played some unbelievable line breaking passses and forward passes. In the game against Liverpool where he scored the incredible volley, he was the best player on the pitch, he was everywhere, tackles, dribbles, passes. He is an amazing player. If you can’t see that you don’t know football. Now please stop
Calm down mate. He scored 10 goals in 10 years. All hail the great Kova! 😆
Tell that to pep guardiola. There are lots of midfielders who score more goals than kova, but they don’t play for Man City, there is a reason for that. He is a link player, one of the very best at his role, not an impact player. Ofcourse it can be frustrating because we want him to also score more goals, partly because for vatreni it would be useful, but he is what he is, an unbelievably technically gifted midfield link player. Enjoy the elegance of his game, the industry and the precision. People who have played the game, rate him, because they know how hard it is to do what he does. He is playing consistently for the best team in the world. And as with so many Croats he is yet to reach his peak. Watch
@crnkovic. Nailed it!
He played badly today… did you even watch…
Yes.. he has to play the system or else.. I found him effective and part of the process so to speak.
Dude will never score major crackers, that being said he’s very good at what he does
Honestly what is kovacic’s deal? Like he really does nothing on the pitch. Passes laterally and backwards. Doesn’t really run with the ball. I’m not trying to be a jerk but like what does he offer??
Runs well with the ball, retains possession, and decent defensively. He’s not my cup of tea but does serve a role. Let’s not mention De Bruyne’s name in the same sentence with Kovacic. KDB is levels above….
Kovacic provides stability in that he’s technically gifted enough to hang with guys like Broz and Modric and not mess up the possession game. He also runs a lot so he’s not a defensive liability like many other midfielders can be.
Remember the game against Spain in Euro2020, when Rebic was fumbling every pass and possession?
You’re only as strong as your weakest link, so he’s useful as that third best central midfielder out there.
But I agree with the sentiment here that he’s not impactful and rarely makes the difference.
We have other younger options for that in guys like Ivanusec, Majer, Sucic and Baturina…so I don’t think we’re reliant on Kovacic becoming the heir to Modric’s throne (and I think the Cro media’s pretty aware about that and nobody refers to him as this anymore).
He did have man of the match performances in qualifiers. Two goals against Turkey was it? On the road. KDB hasn’t done that for Belgium me thinks.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day. In 97 games for Croatia he has a total of 5 goals, 2 of which came against Turkey. If another mid had stats as bad as Kova for both club and NT everyone around here would be dumping on him but somehow Kova gets a pass from a lot of people.
I guess he’s not the only Sasha Matic fan. 😆
You have to look at the intangibles dude. He’s a good guy he goes to church, big Croatian (pays Sasa Matic to perform at his wedding). He’s a master of Cro ball aka trying to play keepings off. He also seems to be a Croatian media darling.
Not his job. Read @crnkovic post, that’s his job and he does it well or he wouldn’t be playing. Cmon
Kovacic is so lackluster for Man City, De Bruyne comes on and scores within minutes.
Bradaric assist. Nothing spectacular, but he plays regularly at Serie A’s last place team. At 24, he still has some potential.
https://www.goalstube.online/2024/01/napoli-salernitana.html?m=1
Lol, the goal he assisted was quite spectacular though.
Salernitana comes across as a rather plucky side to me. They narrowly managed to escape the drop two seasons ago (2021–22), thanks to a 7 match unbeaten run in the final weeks. Last season, they were the Serie A team with the highest number of draws (15 out of 38 games). In this game vs Napoli (just like their last game vs Juventus), they almost managed to eke out a draw until conceding a goal during injury time.
It’s good that Bradaric is playing regularly at Salernitana… if his team doesn’t manage to survive this season, I’m kinda hoping another Serie A team will come and sign him up.
https://www.goalstube.online/2024/01/mainz-05-vfl-wolfsburg.html?m=1
Majer assist. Nothing spectacular as the goalscorer still had a lot of work to do, but a very effective forward through ball nonetheless.