Mateo Kovačič and Joško Gvardiol both scored while having stellar games for Manchester City Saturday in a comfortable 5-1 victory over Luton Town. Both Croatians played the full 90 minutes with Kova absolutely blistering a half-volley into the corner of the net in the 64′ to make it 2-0 City. Goal.com gave Kova a solid 7/10 rating as he was “Reliable. Swept away the danger and kept running. Top-drawer finish to double City’s lead.”
Gvardiol was also given a 7/10 rating from Goal.com, albeit he was responsible for the lone Luton Town goal. “Deservedly got on the scoresheet. A fine display, posing a significant attacking threat throughout the match.” However, he made up for it in injury time with a wonderful curler from the edge of the box. It was Gvardiol’s first Premiership goal to go alongside his ripper from outside the box against Real Madrid earlier in the week. He looks more like a striker than a defender these days! Who would have thought Gvardiol would have more Premiership/Champions League goals than Kovačić at this point in the season?
Luka Modrić got the start for Real Madrid and played 86 minutes in a 1-0 victory over Mallorca. Modrić was given a 7/10 grade from Goal.com as he “Floated around, found cute passing angles, but didn’t have much luck against a disciplined defence. Should’ve had an assist if Diaz didn’t fluff his lines.” He received a standing ovation by the Mallorca faithful upon his substitution.
Congratulations to Croatia right-back Josip Stanišić on winning the Bundesliga crown with Bayer Leverkusen! Stanišić is currently on loan from Bayern Munich. Leverkusen is the first club outside of Bayern Munich to win the Bundesliga title since 2012 and are still undefeated with 5 matches remaining in their season. Let’s see what Bayern do with him this summer.
Andrej Kramarić assisted in a 4-1 Hoffenheim loss to Mainz
Sunce u Srcu ( pjesma )
Secure link ( https:)
A nice synopsis/attempt in song to encompass the Croatian Spirit.
If it makes one person smile than I am happy.
https://designerbrandsforles.ipage.com/5-24/Sunshine-in-My-Heart—Diaspora.mp3
[Verse]
Love is dancing in the streets
Like a wild fire
Burning so deep
Heart beats pounding like a drum
In this city where our story’s begun
[Verse 2]
God is watching from above
Guiding us with his eternal love
Through dark nights and stormy weather
We’ll find strength in our hearts together
[Chorus]
Oh
Sunshine in my heart
Shining so bright
Love
God
Soccer
And people by my side
We’ll sing and dance till the break of dawn
In this Croatian city
Where love is born
what is this ??
Christmas has nothing to do with Jesus!
The emphasis of Jesus’ teaching is not necessarily on how much or little one has physically, but on the reality that all people are spiritually sick and that they can be made righteous before God and able to stand in his presence. Not based on their own merit, but based on Jesus’ merit.
Sunce u Srcu ( pjesma )
A nice synopsis/attempt in song to encompass the Croatian Spirit.
If it makes one person smile than I am happy.
http://designerbrandsforles.ipage.com/5-24/Sunshine-in-My-Heart—Diaspora.mp3
[Verse]
Love is dancing in the streets
Like a wild fire
Burning so deep
Heart beats pounding like a drum
In this city where our story’s begun
[Verse 2]
God is watching from above
Guiding us with his eternal love
Through dark nights and stormy weather
We’ll find strength in our hearts together
[Chorus]
Oh
Sunshine in my heart
Shining so bright
Love
God
Soccer
And people by my side
We’ll sing and dance till the break of dawn
In this Croatian city
Where love is born
Sunce u Srcu ( pjesma )
A nice synopsis/attempt in song to encompass the Croatian Spirit.
If it makes one person smile than I am happy.
http://designerbrandsforles.ipage.com/5-24/Sunshine-in-My-Heart—Diaspora.mp3
What’s the time frame on mario vuskovic return?
He was picking up steam and thought he would be on our radar
Ironically the two brothers may battle for a spot one day
Mario is banned until next year. I think he’s back in exactly one year from now.
I haven’t been following him and if he is still appealing, but I figure by the time they go through all that, the suspension will be over anyway.
@Dannyj @Maminjo
Just had a look at his timeline, it says it’s from the 15th November 2022 to the 14th November 2024 then he’ll be back.
I’m not sure if he’s got a trainer at the moment to keep him somewhat fit but when he comes back, do yout think Hamburg will be willing to build him back up again?
They should, but Germans are weird. If they’re not f’king ladyboys in Thailand, they are letting their top players leave their clubs for free.
Either way, he will find a club that will take him on.
I wonder if they are testing him for dope while banned? Cause if not he should be juicing;)
I’m sure he is training and playing with as good people he can find
This will slow down his progress but it’s better this then another bad knee injury and surgery
Let’s hope he comes back strong.
He will for sure find a team. Guys do way worse, to me if anything it shows he wants to get better and win
Sure maybe it’s cheating, but I’m sure he learned his lesson and it still shows he is serious to get to a high level
My brother and 10 year old nephew just came back from split being caught in that riot , my nephew couldn’t believe what he saw and the first game where my cousin Petković popped in that goal was a nice treat. =U=
Your nephew grew some hair on his chest from that experience.
That’s good to hear. It’s painful to see how soft some of my friends’ kids are on this side of the pond.
Violence aside, it’s good for kids to go out and see some flares, yelling, singing, passion without pissing their pants. Living too long in a Western bubble makes people to soft and sterile. You have to get out often. Hopefully they had a good time and it will change them for the better.
“Who would have thought Gvardiol would have more Premiership/Champions League goals than Kovačić at this point in the season?”
Me and probably another million other people, but does make sense , fortunately, as well as unfortunately.
What’s a worldly goal? You mean a world-class goal?
ICYMI, nice Belinho interview month ago
Fluent in Croatian already !
Seems like good natured fella
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqk2TXkbu_I
Keep pushing young Belinho – we are all counting on you !
I think it is great that he is learning the language. Time to close this circus down, we did our best while it lasted. I am with you all the way. If you can’t beat the system, become the system.
We will show Belgium, France, Germany, Sweden, England who has the best foreign soccer players, as we sing the latest Marko Thompson New Song, ” Podji, Podji, Odustaj Vatreni, Naši korijeni su mrtvi.” Every international powerhouse who has ever won the World Cup not worth a damn plays this game. It is the only game in town, outside of Spain and Portugal. Who did we think we were? A people who are special? Bilbo Baggins? No one is special.
We tried 30 years to beat the system, and we were not good enough. Our gene pool gets smaller and smaller, it is time to join them I agree, Meanwhile, Christian Pulisic, and Zlatan Ibrahimović played abroad. Go figure, it just justifies our means even more, while Olmo plays for Spain. All our people live abroad, the Irish of the Mediterraneo.
Go Belinho go, go, we love you, our 14-year-old boy savior. Bring all your relatives as well, who can’t make it back in Brazil, we will take you, we are worn out. Please, please help us….. we are all counting on you! We just want to win! We are you, You are we! Everyone is invited to picnic on our jersey.
Pretty sad commentary though on the faith of our people when you think about it.
I still think Slovenia, might do, what we could not. The took down Portugal 3-0 last week pretty easily, less than 2 million people, most players are in the local slovene clubs. A bunch of grape farmers, who would have thought.
Croatia DID beat the system.
They are one of only six nations to medal at the World Cup three times in the past 26 years. Teams like Portugal have not medaled in a World Cup in 70 years (when World Cups were a joke). Most other medalists pulled it off in easier times. We did it when it was its most difficult.
Croatia is an elite football nation without the population size, money and outsiders.
Having one ethnic Brazilian kid on the team doesn’t mean they are suddenly adopting some French or German system.
Sure, there will be the odd person whose family move to Croatia to live in (like in Belinho’s case) but what fuels Croatia is their pride for the National Team and country.
The reason it is different in France and Germany, is because those players consider themselves African, Turkish, or Arabic first (French and German second).
These countries are largely only successful due to the overwhelming amount of money and population they have in the sport…and yet you still have Germany struggling since 2016. France has (by far) the deepest talent pool in the World, and should be clean sweeping tournaments right now (but choked to Portugal at Euro2016, Switzerland at Euro2020 and against Argentina at World Cup). If they even have the slightest dip in talent (or if Mbappe gets injured or declines)…they’ll end up in a cold spell like Germany too.
This is why I was never of fan of Da Silva playing for us, because he would have obviously chosen Brazil first (if he had the chance). In the end, we didn’t get benefit from him being on the team anyway due to his injury.
This current case is different, because Brazil actually wants this Belinho kid to play for them, but Belinho has already formally turned them down. This is the difference. He’s been in Croatia too long in his youth, and has been immersed in the culture. Being Croatian is a condition, and he’s now suffering from a permanent case of it. 😉
Also, look at Dani Olmo’s face when he speaks about Croatia. He simply lights up in joy when he speaks Croatian and about Croatia. You can actually see Croatian pride there. Dani was in Croatia from age 16, and in that short six-year period being there, he almost got immersed to the point where he would probably have chosen Croatia over Spain. I think if he came over at age 12 instead, it would have been too late for him and he would have ditched Spain.
Totally agree with your message I am pretty proud with what the people of Croatia and what the diaspora have accomplished. Being 3rd twice, and 2nd once, is beyond an amazing feat, that has surpassed all of my expectations for Croatia. Beating Brazil in 2022, Argentina in 2018 was amazing as well.
I hope we just don’t get carried away, that we need more talented people outside, to carry us across some fictitious finish line to make us happy. We are good, just as we are. We are enough. We tried our very best.
Thuram never scored before or after those to goals in 1998, what are the chances?
I think the HNS’s current strategy to focus on diaspora players as our outside source, is good enough.
Diaspora are proud Croats and would fit in with the mindset that makes us successful.
Halilovic is an example of a guy who is second generation Croat (Bosniak father) and he never struck me as a ‘Croatia first’ kind of kid (he seemed to love BiH much more). Even if his talent panned out, I don’t think he would be the type who plays better for country over club.
Congrats to Stanisic and Bayer Leverkusen for their first Bundesliga title. I think most of us were questioning his choice to go out on loan from Bayern. I honestly thought it was a huge mistake…but he proved me wrong. Once he started playing there regularly, i began watching the team casually…and it didn’t take long to become a believer. That team is all heart…they never give up. Alonso is by far the most exciting young manager in the world right now. Great move by Stanisic.
I know that would just be a mess if we started to think that way about every good player that’s not a striker because we need good players in all positions but… I can’t keep imagining Gvardiol in a position a bit higher, like somewhere midfield or as a striker, how cool that could be!!! He’s so gifted
List of Croatian transfers ranked by age
***.transfermarkt.us/kroatien/juengsteaelteste/verein/3556
The theme across these names is most of them were playing in HNL – than got called up to Senior squad – thereafter got their transfer
Said differently – w/out these Senior squad caps – many would have not have achieved the same kind of transfer (quality of league and/or team) – I mean beyond Gvardiol (but no way Man City would have bought him for that amount unless he performed at the World Cup) – so there is a “positive stigma” associated with being called up to Senior squad
For that reason alone with should call up Luka V (so Spurs take him/his development even more seriously)
As e.g.
Radosevic – Senior cap Sep 2012 (his only cap) – Napoli transfer Jan 2013
Seric – Jan 1998 – Parma/Verona transfer Jul 1999
Vrsaljko – Feb 2011 – Genoa Jul 2013
Bartulovic – Feb 2006 – Jul 2006 Dnipro (who were in Europa League)
Tudor – Nov 1997 – Jul 1998 Juventus
Biscan Jan 1998 – 2000 Liverpool
Simic Mar 1996 – Jan 1999 Inter
Luka dribble past 3 players w/ pass into box today
twitter.com/attacthespace/status/1779459982666150189
Luka 1-2 half-way line into box power run today
twitter.com/attacthespace/status/1779475227983876342
Luka overhead bicycle kick in box today
https://twitter.com/attacthespace/status/1779473645691080991
Ange is going to love this
Forget about inverting the FBs – Radomiak is inverting their CB !
Luka’s team was down to 10 man (2 goals) at this stage – but check out his positioning leading up to the goal
***.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1c3scjo/łks_łódź_32_radomiak_radom_guilherme_zimovski_901/
Lodz 3rd goal (Luka did his job – keep in mind his team was down to 10 men)
***.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1c3ryzv/łks_łódź_31_radomiak_radom_engjëll_hoti_71_polish/
Lodz 2nd goal (look at reverse angle on the replay – the LB was sleeping and his man crept behind him 10 yards ahead – Luka was well positioned w/ his man centrally – but than a long ball gets kicked over the top of his sleeping LB – so Luka needed to leave his man and to try to sweep up for the sleeping LB – Luka could have done better w/ the 1 vs 1 at the end)
***.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1c3ro1n/
łks_łódź_21_radomiak_radom_kay_tejan_55_polish/
Lodz 1st goal (LB didn’t follow his man after the aerial dual – Luka followed the other runner into the LB position – but the LB let his man run into space (b/w Luka as LB and the RCB) instead of tracking him – once ball gets played through Luka tries to catch up to LB’s man – but smartly didn’t try to tackle in the box as angle would have definitely led to a red card if he got it wrong – goalie could have done better – also the midfield let lots of space b/w the lines and made zero attempt to track back in the initial aerial dual – there is only so much Luka (or any CB could do) can do – with all of this around him)
***.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1c3ro1n/łks_łódź_21_radomiak_radom_kay_tejan_55_polish/
As a funny – welcome to the Polish league – where the offensive player gets a 2nd yellow card in the box for late tackling a defender after they clear the ball for a corner, lol
***.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1c3rqne/łks_łódź_21_radomiak_radom_rafał_wolski_second/
Vuskovic is still raw and lacks pace. I have not seen him for his polish team but I did see him play for the under19 euros. He was so bad against Turkey he was replaced after 20 minutes. He was making school boy errors as he couldn’t properly judge long balls which lead to Turkey getting an early 2-0 lead. He’s technically good on the ball and good in the air but he still needs time as his reading of the game is not there yet. With his lack of pace mistakes are usually costly.
Yea I saw that too. But that is only one game.
Things change on a dime when it comes to fitness and development.
According to almost everyone on this site, Josko Gvardiol was very bad for us at Euro2021…yet he became a key player for us in our World Cup 2022 qualifying matches less than 3 months later.
Based off his stats, he is doing very well in a league which is pretty much on par with the HNL.
If we were calling up our other top prospects (Gvardiol and Baturina) based off that, then Vuskovic should be included in the discussion.
I think if he continues to start and put in good matches from now until the end of the year, we need to start looking to give him the odd cap during the next qualifying cycle. Not asking him to start, but just a late cap with some injury time minutes to see what we really have here.
Vuskovic struggled at Hajduk as well. I watched him at Hajduk and he showed flashes of his talent but made quite a few mistakes defensively. He was never gonna be a starter for Hajduk this season as he’s still to raw defensively. Gvardiol took some time as well but he was playing some superb matches for Dinamo in Europe which is a much bigger level then the HNL. Gvardiol is still developing at 22 he struggled at city especially early in the season. Now Gvardiol seems much more comfortable defensively but still struggles with pace and he has much more pace then Vuskovic. Let the kid develop there is no rush with Vuskovic. Center back is not a problem with the national team with Gvardiol Erlic and Sutalo all young.
there is a GeoGuessr from Croatia _
battle for the Geo World Cup now -=
see you in Stockholm
Food for thought…
At what point does Luka Vušković start getting callups for the National Team?
He is technically our third most valuable CB (according to Transfermarkt), and he does play first team football for his club (scoring some goals and making some highlight reel defensive plays). He’s actually one of the top rated players on his team too, and if he continues to play like this…he’ll end up on Tottenham sooner rather than later.
He’s played 8 games (started 7) and has two goals and one assist already (with a high conversion rate). He has good accuracy with long ball passes and is a monster with aerial duels (better than any of our current defenders statistically).
Assuming he continues to play every game for his Polish club, is a callup worth consideration?
Gvardiol started receiving callups at 19 and he was still at Dinamo (on loan from RB Leipzig). This is a bit of a similar situation with Luka who is starting for Radomiak (on loan from Tottenham).
…Or does playing in the Polish league (or him being too young and not “paying his dues”) disqualify him?
Vuskovic should be called up.
He might, and I say might be ready now. Tough to say from a skeptical croat.
I agree with your assessment. Wtf do we have to lose?
We have a ton to gain though.
I might being a homer, but between us so far, if this dude scores we might be unstoppable for a long time
Glad to hear it! Earlier some were saying the Vušković brothers soccer careers were limited due to their height and size being an actual handicap. I hope they prove people wrong. I would think intuitively, it would be a big plus especially on set pieces, an area we could definitely improve on with Pasalic and Sucic soon becoming the facilitators.
No Luka Vuskovic is not ready yet to be called up for the seniors. In the recent U19 EURO Elite round EURO qualifiers he had a great match against Germany that we won 2 – 1. Next match against Turkey which we lost 2 – 1 he was poor defensively and the Turks were up 2 – 0 after 10 minutes. Vuskovic made some silly mistakes and left the field injured after 20 minutes.
However, our U21 defence is very poor especially our two central defenders. If I was Skocic I would call him up for our U21 side.
His getting first-team football on loan should be seen in context of all of Tottenham loans – most of them are busts (i.e. they aren’t getting playing time) save Joe Rodon at Leeds
But I’d almost frame it the other way around
If we want Luka to have a chance to make Spurs senior team
We need to call him up to the Senior team (So Spurs take notice)
His attributes could be show-cased perfectly when we play Albania – all it takes is one good performance in that game (and will help having Gvardiol next to him and KBM in midfield ahead of him) – we can even give him a warm-up for North Macedonia (if he is complete disaster – than he doesn’t have to play vs Albania)
Spurs are looking for a left-footed CB as back-up to Mickey VDV (which they will be in the market for this summer)
They signed right-footed Dragusin in January (he has only made 2 starts so far – lost 3-0 to Fulham and 2-1 win to Luton)
Next young CB talent in line at Spurs (ahead of Luka)
Alfie Dorrington (almost 19 – playing in the U21s – yet to make a start w/ senior side)
Ashley Philipps (19 in June – loaned to Plymouth in Jan in Championship – who were in Championship relegation zone – they just beat league leaders Leicester 1-0 – he was on the bench (he’s only made 3 appearances so far) so unlikely he gets a real chance rest of season). Sheffield United (who are going back down) just expressed interest in loaning him for next season (as they attempt to go back up)
It would be good if we start being more “strategic” in our selections – to try to help our young players get ahead at club level – as e.g. Lamine Yamal got his first two Spain senior side caps (in September) after only 3 starts for Barca (I watched most of the Barca vs Bayern game just to watch Yamal – was not particularly impressed (keep in mind Eric Dier – who couldn’t get a game at Spurs is now starting CB at Bayern) I was thinking I was going to see some “next Messi” type guy – he has a nice soft first touch – made a couple decent flick like passes (you can see how his vision might develop as he ages) – but didn’t offer much as a winger in terms of pace or directness (as was easily muscled off the ball) – but he starts for Spain and Barca already – each reinforcing each other i.e. once he gets Spain caps, Barca gives him more chance in their first team, etc – but does his actual play as a 16 y.o. actually deserve his first team selection – not sure – they are playing him because of his “potential”)
Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that Vuskovic remains at Radomiak until next season and continues to play regularly and perform well there.
In that case, as MART mentioned, Vuskovic should be called up to the U21s as the U21 defense badly needs reinforcement.
But post-EURO, say if Vida were to retire, that frees up 1 CB spot… I wouldn’t mind Vuskovic getting called up over, say someone like DCC.
My 2 cents 🙂
People used to speak bad about Mandzukic regarding his limited ability, with his footwork,…… he was no Suker. I don’t know what Budimir has to do, to be considered a viable option, other than he has no track record of success with the national team, which is a legit question mark, but on paper, outside of the national team, he is a league leading scorer. Give him a shot.
Right now, it appears, we have a 10 strong cylinder engine at every position holding pressure going into the tournament.
Taking the cue from Ljubicic, another two of our U21 attackers, Igor Matanovic and Ante Crnac also hit the target this weekend. Both leveled the scores for their respective clubs in 1-1 draws. It’s Matanovic’s 12th goal of the season, while it’s Crnac’s 4th goal for Rakow since mid-Feb. I kinda like Crnac’s goal because imo, it demonstrated his athletic/heading abilities again.
Paderborn 1-1 Karlsruher
25′ Matanovic
youtu.be/bZcuOR5r8k8?si=6UbDYIZp1UyUQMue&t=20
Rakow 1-1 Legia Warsaw
82′ Crnac – assist by Fran Tudor
reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1c3aerw/rak%C3%B3w_cz%C4%99stochowa_11_legia_warszawa_ante_crnac_82
We have a lot of these young strikers on foreign team, who are getting a lot of inconsistent minutes…but seem to show signs of life here and there.
You would think one of Matanovic, Crnac, Ljubicic, Beljo, or Simic could become a good striker for us in the future.
If not, can always repurpose Luka Vuskovic as one, or just callup the Brazilian (Belinho) ha ha.
Belinho is all of us.
“Who would have thought Gvardiol would have more Premiership/Champions League goals than Kovačić at this point in the season?” I’m not surprised at all. Kovacic has scored about a goal a year since he was at Inter. He scores less than a lot of defenders.
Yo yo .. MATEOOOOOOO !!
Just start him at the 6.
I am sorry that Saudi league plays at a golf pace.
Kovačić > Brozovic
Gvardiol getting that world class confidence mojo.
Modrić lays off assist to Diaz on a platter.
You got to finish a Modrić set up!!
Please explain how Gvardiol was responsible for the lone Luton goal???
Did you watch the game? The keeper gave a risky pass up the middle to Nunes (i believe) and he totally made a mess of it, lost the ball to Barkley, who stepped around the defender (either stones or ruben) and took a good shot to score. Gvardiol wasn’t anywhere near this play.
Anyway…he had another great game, and so did Kova. They are both improving game by game. Pep is really elevating them to new levels. I can’t wait to see how good they can both get. Even now, they are proving to be a huge part of this all-star team.
With all the players doing so well before the Euro is amazing. Can hardly wait for it to start. Let’s hope the ?? keep putting in these banger goals. ?
Tell me about it.
Since the last World Cup…migrants, racism, climate change, war/conflicts, and transgenders make up pretty much everything that is on TV (be it the news, movies or TV shows).
Can’t wait for a nice change of pace and for the Euros to begin. We might have to sit through some fake gestures from the tournament organizers (with armbands, banners and knee taking or what not) but once the game begins, it will be fun to watch.
100% agreed!!
Great strikes from them both.. both Josko’s long range goals off his weaker side too? Man be great for us to have a CB (or LB) who can score goals.
You’re exactly right @iggy.
If Gvardiol can play left back( I was skeptical) it would open a whole set of options for us. We all know what they are or should.
We have plenty of depth on the right side.
Like some English media are saying he might be the best midfielder on earth. Don’t know about that, but man we could use him in various positions according to our opponents. That would open doors for us we’ve never had.
I agree with you Kvartuč that Majer should be a starter for Croatia, but given that Guardiola makes Kovacic play (even if this time it was probably to make up for Rodri’s need of a break + last match for De Bruyne who was feeling unwell at the last minute) I feel like Dalić is going to make Kova start in all matches for the Euro if he keeps on getting a lot of minutes for Man City, no matter the real tactical needs of Croatia’s team… Idk, maybe start Kova-Modric and Majer, and bench Brozović as others have implied. Also read that he’s had some heated issues with some of his al-nasse teammates, doesn’t sound good from mental perspective on top of his less good form since joining them
I’m sure broz feels like he sold out. You can’t tell me a guy who is competitive and can still play champions league wants to be in Saudi
I doubt Saudi is his cup of tea
What’s best is they are doing it in England, where let’s face it hasn’t been our best league
Absolute bangers and mash cooked up today!!
Kova also doesn’t score as we know but can absolutely hit a world class one when he does
There was that article a while ago how sutalo missed Zagreb
Hindsight says, he probably should have stayed
This is the softest thing I’ve ever heard. He’s a 24 year old man complaining about being homesick. He is a 90 minute flight from home and is still in Europe. Kids in Russia come here to Canada to play JR hockey and live with a random family in small as towns and this guy is homesick? Picka
Every city in the Netherlands looks pretty much the same as Zagreb too.
Exactly. It’s not like there is some massive culture shock. Soft kid that’s it. Embarrassing, really. He should have kept that to himself. Modric should tell him what homesick was like when he was a refugee
I don’t think him being homesick is affecting his play though.
Ajax is a mess right now, and this was happening well before Sutalo arrived there.
These past few years, Ajax have been firing executives and coaches, gutted the academy, and are struggling financially.
Ajax’s CEO (Alex Kroes) is currently suspended for being involved in insider trading of the club’s shares.
Marc Overmars (who was the previous sports director and is now fired) ran the club pretty well, but he did it in a Zdravko Mamic way where everything went through him with no documentation or process. They got rid of him and now everything is a mess, with a big power vacuum and a lot of politics.
They are just going to go sideways or down over the next few years. Sosa and Sutalo need to get out of there.
The food in Netherlands sucks tho
Man, somehow I hope kova can hit a world class level for 3-4 consistent years
The problem is as we can see for so many years, even Madrid falls apart without luka for long
He is simply untouchable
But let’s hope pep can help kova like zidane took luka to the top level
Josko Haaland cooking away
Man to get a healthy Perisic back now…..
Most of the guys are really at their higher end right now
Except for maybe sutalo, JJ, Sosa
I’m intrigued about pongarcic’s development that’s been referred to this week, as the back line may need it
As I said yesterday… I wonder if pep is looking for more Croats….
Shoot the ball not that tiki tac crap paliiii
Kovacic and Gvardiol with absolute stunners for Man city today. Whatever Pep is doing with them, it’s working
https://www.goalstube.online/2024/04/manchester-city-luton.html?m=m5
Right footed again. Beauty.
Kovacic euro gol nice.
Alot of our players are in good form as of late which is nice to see
https://www.goalstube.online/2024/04/manchester-city-luton.html?m=m2
Absolute screamer. Beautiful. Very unlike him?. Maybe Pep fixes him after all.
Isak out-ran Mickey VDV from the half-way line (Mickey looked slow)
3-0
Someone will pay 70-80m this summer for Isak – what a striker
Arsenal 100m bid for Isak coming (makes sense – what a player)
https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/transfer-news/arsenal-learn-new-alexander-isak-28924131
Mickey VDV has ice skates on today
Ended up on the floor twice in 95 seconds
Newcastle 2-0
Who cares.