Chelsea absolutely destroyed Norwich City 7-0 Saturday afternoon. Mateo Kovačić had a huge game with two assists and an impressive 9.1 rating in his 90 minutes on the pitch. Chelsea will remain in 1st place in England through the first nine matches of the season with the win.
“Kova was lively in midfield throughout – and provided a lovely assist for the second goal, a similar pass to the one that set Lukaku free versus Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge last month, as well as the assist for Chilwell in the second-half. The Croatian now has five assists in the league, the highest tally in the Chelsea squad, and appears to be enjoying some of his best football in West London since joining in the summer of 2018.”
Josip Brekalo scored the game winning goal in the 77th minute as Torino defeated Genoa 3-2 Friday night in Serie A action. Brekalo made a run straight to goal and beat all the Genoa defenders to angle the sharp pass from the side into goal. With the win, Torino sit 12th in Serie A.
Luka Modrić and Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 Sunday in what could be Modrić’s last trip to the Camp Nou in his career. Modrić is now the oldest player in history to play for Real Madrid in El Clasico and received a 7/10 grade for his efforts in victory. “The oldest player to ever start El Clasico in Real Madrid colours. Could’ve fooled everyone with a sharp and unforgiving performance, regaining possession six times and constantly showing his cuteness to build play from midfield. “
Mario Pašalić was awarded an assist (easy pass not worth the highlight) and was ‘Man of the Match’ in Atalanta’s 1-1 draw vs. Udinese with a 8/10 rating. Pašalić had a good week for the Italian club after scoring against Manchester United earlier in the week. “The Croatian international had to play deeper than usual in the Atalanta midfield but he completed 67 passes successfully with a passing accuracy of 87% and he supplied the assist for Ruslan Malinovskyi to score for La Dea.”
Duje Ćaleta-Car played the full 90 minutes for Marseille in a 0-0 draw against Lionel Messi and PSG Sunday night. PSG went down to 10 men in the 57th minute but Marseille could not capitalize with a goal. DCC received a 7/10 grade as he had “A number of key interventions throughout, including a first half interception from a Verratti cross to Mbappé and a close range block from Mbappé on the counter in the second half.”
http://bleacherreport.com/post/real-madrid/92a1bf63-52db-4195-b734-ba649305bea6
$100 million signings come and go and Luka is still the money man in the middle at Real Modrić.
At 36 years young he is our best #10 option against Russia.
Free him up with Kovačić and Brozovic behind him to create his magic in the final third.
Be nice if we had a hard running #9 to stretch the D with vertical speed.
“Free him up with Kovačić and Brozovic behind him to create his magic in the final third.”
We do this already…. lol
From what I’ve seen, most of Vlašić’s highlight reels are powerful, accurate shots from distance. We seem to be lacking in that department lately, although Modrić and Brozo have had a few nice ones. I just hope that Kovačić can learn this skill too. He has learned to make nice forward passes, and now finds himself in goalscoring position more often. If he can develop a shot like his “kum Modrić”, he would be the full package.
I think vlasic will be fine.. he’s displayed one skill consistently that can make him an impactful player and that is his ability to quickly get strong and accurate shots off. That alone is enough to create some serious value.. the rest of his game i haven’t quite been blown away by yet
Pisses me off that Moyes isn’t playing Vlasic at West Ham..
Why pay 30 million to keep him on the bench.
Luka Modrić had his moments today and put in a professional performance for yet another Classico.
I do enjoy when farca takes an L.
@ Slavonac
Olić was special and was a joy to watch.
He would be prolific with this crew.
@ Svima
Kovačić has brick by brick progressed to a new level as an elite #8.
Both Croatia and Chelsea are not the same without him.
He is the heir apparent to Modrić.
No need to compare him to the greatest nogometaš ever, who happens to play the same position.
We just need him to be the best #8 for us post Modrić.
Brekalo can ball.
Rule #1 –
No nogometaš is written off before 28.
We are all late bloomers.
Speaking of which does Pjaca get a look against Malta?
Rebić have strained calf?
Oh I didn’t realize that our young gun (Gabe Vidović) was a second striker.
That just increases his value for me.
He’s very versatile. Can play SS, CF, AM, even on the wings if need be. I think he’s played a bit at CM in youth as well so that’s a plus too.
So we got Šimić, then Vidović behind him, and Sučić behind them alongside Šaranić and one of Kačavenda or Brkljača.
Dump the rest.
Uh oh, Nikki Vlassy didn’t play a minute today.
Burn him!
I get the impression this comment is directed at me.
I don’t know a single Croatian that’s happy to know one of our players isn’t playing well or playing at all. My weekly comments about Vlasic, Brekalo, Petkovic and some others are just my opinions. If we fo back to 2012 I was usually frustrated with Perisic and the guy eventually learned to put in consistent performances and he became a relevant player.
I’ve never boosted one of our players just because others wanted to believe they are some great player. I watch them play and see their good and bad points and if I think they influence the game positively then I say it. If I watch them play and do little or see they are in and out of the game then I acknowledge that. It doesn’t matter if it’s Luka Modric, Davor Suker, Lovren or Vida…it is what it is and that’s that!
Brekalo had a decent game yesterday and I’m happy for him but I’m not ready to setup a parade over one or two good games.
I hope Vlasic can find his way but I don’t buy the bullshit that he was a superstar in the Russian league and that makes him special…Kalinic was also great in Ukraine and he sucks and always did!
I think we need to be honest with ourselves and just watch how these players develop over time. That’s the real indicator.
…one more thing!
When Ivica Olic played I used to battle with people here non stop. A big majority complained he couldn’t dribble or control the ball but overall, there was a bigger picture to him. He was an engine, he created tons of turnovers for us. He scored many crappy tap-in goals snd at the end of the day, he was relevant so I supported his style of play.
Many ways to skin a cat. Not all players are full of skills and talent but they can get the job done and that’s what we need!
It wasn’t directed at you, lol.
It was moreso directed at everyone, since Vlasic has been solid for club and country until his injury before the Euros….and now people are writing him off for being average these past six months.
He still scored for us at the Euros, but he wasn’t 100% from that knee injury…and he had that transfer holdout period with CSKA in August (which resulted in him missing camp).
I’m just being a realist with Vlasic.
It will take him at least six months to get back to where he was after falling out of form with his injury and holdout period.
But nothing has changed with him, and he’s still a big part of our future.
Much like how Kovacic was mediocre in his first year with Chelsea (and is now a much bigger part of their team), Vlasic will do the same for West Ham.
It’s probably smart for all of us to be more grounded and not over-sell what one of our players are until we see them consistently playing meaningful games. We’ve had far too many busts and that should make us weary. Let the chips fall because it’s not easy for these guys to be big players on a regular basis. They also have their mental and personal weaknesses and all we can hope for is a positive and gradual improvement, stability and consistency. Once they get to a place where they’ve achieved their potential, they have to learn how to maintain that.
Said it before, say it again: Small thing, but would be nice/classy to include where the ratings/quotes come from. Plenty of sites do them.
Good to see Juranovic back for Celtic, scored from the penalty spot in 2 – 0 win.
Ivusic is having surgery monday i read so livi will play the 2 key games…
Grbic ?
Poor timing for Ivusic to get an injury.
It was a potential turning point in his career, and backup keepers have a very, very narrow window to gain exposure to become the #1.
You need to hope the #1 gets an injury AND you need to do very well in limited minutes.
This happened for Ivusic, and he had a solid chance of retaining the #1 spot due to Livakovic’s struggles…but then Ivusic himself got injured.
Liva is our #1 for the World Cup now, and Ivusic will have to hope that (maybe) Livakovic has some club struggles or injury that will give him another window in the future. But he’s also competing with Grbic now, and possibly others for this potentially very narrow window of opportunity to open up once again for them.
Livi will definitely struggle but most likely ivusic won’t get another kick at the can with a surgery
I sure hope livakovic makes me eat my words but I’m gonna say it
He is leaning towards bust for me
Mateo Kovacic – 8.5/10
Kova was lively in midfield throughout – and provided a lovely assist for the second goal, a similar pass to the one that set Lukaku free versus Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge last month, as well as the assist for Chilwell in the second-half. The Croatian now has five assists in the league, the highest tally in the Chelsea squad, and appears to be enjoying some of his best football in West London since joining in the summer of 2018.