Marcelo Brozović looked like a pure #9 Saturday when he made a beautiful run straight up the field to score the opener in the Milan Derby. Inter would fall to city rivals AC Milan 3-2 and now sit two points behind them for the Serie A lead. Brozović won “Best Midfielder In Serie A” last year; and this is exactly why. He not only holds things together defensively for his Inter Milan squad, but he also puts together gems in the offensive third with assists and rare goals throughout the season. Brozović was given a 6/10 grade from SempreInter.com as he “Scored the opening goal and was the only Inter player who looked like he actually wanted to play football. Still, he makes simple mistakes which he simply can’t afford to now in his role as a leader.”
Nikola Vlašić had one Premiership goal all of last season for West Ham. He already has two for Torino this campaign while on loan in Italy. Thursday evening, Vlašić played all 90 minutes for Torino and scored their lone goal in a 3-1 loss to Atalanta. He received an 8.4 score from FOTMOB. Is this the spark Vlašić needed since leaving Russia two years ago? It seems so.
Luka Modrić received a 7/10 from SBNation in Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory over Real Betis Saturday. “So fun to watch the little Croatian work his magic. Popped up in pockets of space all throughout the pitch and linked the midfield to the defense and offense. Had 3 key passes, 5 of 5 long balls, and 2 dribbles completed. One blemish will be his lapse in concentration on Canales’ goal.”
Mateo Kovačić received a 6/10 from SI.com in Chelsea’s slim 2-1 win over West ham. “This was the Croatian’s first start in a while after returning from injury and it is still clear to see. It wasn’t one of Kovačić’s best games but he will slowly return to running the Chelsea midfield.”
Bartol Franjić earned his first assist for Wolfsburg Saturday in a 4-2 loss to Koln. He played 74 minutes under manager Niko Kovač.
Vlašić making Ivan Jurić look like a genius.
Nothing better than coming through for each other.
Vlašić making big move to Torino to get his minutes and is mojo for the World Cup.
He offers that trust that is unique for us.
He took his goal with confidence today.
Leading his team up the Serie A table.
On a Košarku note:
Struggled to beat Estonia who looked young and hungry.
Matković looks like a legit talent.
Bogdanović – 4 pts?
Šarić still has credit card hops. Not sure who trains him but needs lower leg power.
Hezonja has some physical talent and skills but has no real game. Maybe Real Madrid move will get him some real confidence.
Random American point guard is bizarre.
Jebi ga at least we have a pulse.
https://www.football-espana.net/2022/09/05/atletico-madrid-confirm-jan-oblak-injury-update
Oblak seems to have avoided serious injury. Grbic will start this week’s Champions League game then return to the bench.
Vlasic scores again!!!
https://www.goalstube.online/2022/09/torino-lecce.html?m=1
Maybe he’s finally turning a corner. Nice goal.
I still cant believe colak only got precall and musa left off.
Also josip sutalo hasnt played a game and gets a call.
Goalkeeper ok 3 picks i think Kalinic Livi su rupe ivusic should be number one and grbic if he plays for AthletiCo should push kalinic imo.
It will be fun to see the lineup Dalic puts out there win these 2 games and you are in nations league semi-final next year why not i know it doesnt matter but lets win something hahah
Lots of wasted space on this roster.
You could easily remove Lovren, Vida, Barišić, and Kalinić without issue.
Especially since we already have a surplus of defenders called up.
Trying out Čolak and Musa should have been a priority since our striker position (outside of Krama) is a big question mark.
I have a feeling that Čolak will continue his scoring streak and will only get his first start against our opening match versus Morrocco.
(Gvardiol scenario v.2.0)
Euro 2021 was a waste because of Dalic and he still has same problem as in 2021 no keeper no cb partnership no right wing and no striker. Relying heavily on Modrić imo if hes off and if Perišić is off we are fucked
My thoughts exactly Miki. Why is Sucic not getting a shot he nearly scored in the 15 mins he played on the Nations League. Why is Majer not playing more often.
Most of the time when they get called it’s as a filler with no strategy. I just do not know with Dalic sometimes.
🤣
Rakitic’s Sevilla is not doing so well.
I think Livakovic is on a really short leash with Dalic. It’s evident given that Ivusic started 2 of the 4 Nations League games. I haven’t filled him much in the HNL but hope he’s been playing well enough to supplant Liva. Even Kalinic seemed to be regaining his confidence and playing decent the last few years after his awful time in England….
Either way we are weak in goal and hopefully someone can get hot. Grbic getting some time if Oblak is hurt would be great but might be too little too late.
Kalinić ruined whatever he had going for him with that howler against Villarreal.
Livaković lets in a bad goal per game, and Grbić also let in a couple when he lost his starting gig in France (although he will get a chance to play regularly in La Liga now to possibly recover).
I want to see if Labrović has a lower gaffe rate than our current misfit goalkeepers…but he probably won’t get a chance until a year from now (if ever).
For now, it’s a no-brainer that we go with Ivušić who has the lowest howler ratio among our keepers.
Yeah I get but neither option as a goalie is doing it for me. Let’s face it we don’t have a Courtois.
I’m surprised that more Hajduk fans aren’t making more of a stink of the Toma Basic snub. Dude plays for a good team and comes off the bench often as a closer which is exactly what we need. This call up has only 1 CDM which is pretty vital when you want to hold onto a lead in the late stages of the game.
It’s probably because we are so spoiled with Marcelo Brozovic, and a Toma Basic callup would only impact our bench and not our starters.
Broz is one of the best in the World at what he does, and he’s been our main guy when it comes to logging heavy minutes for us.
Nobody has a problem with him being there every single minute of each game…but if he gets injured, then we will be forced to have to experiment (and that’s when the knives will come out for Dalic). But that hasn’t happened yet, so it’s all good for now.
But most of us are still concerned about what the final starting eleven will be…and that’s why many of us are groaning about Vida/Lovren or Livakovic starting (and now more recently) Petkovic playing up top.
Broz is going to start no matter what…but right now, it seems like some of the newer guys who may be better fits to start (like Sutalo, Stanisic, Ivusic or Colak) won’t get that chance over players like Lovren, Vida, Petko, or Livakovic.
Looking at the squad list, Dalić could definitely form a solid starting 11. Is he going to? Nope.
I’m expecting Livaković and one of either Lovren/Vida to start over more deserving guys.
And I know everyone is thinking the same thing, but yes, not calling up DCC and Čolak is confusing. Not saying they’re world-class players or even starters, but they should’ve had a place in the roster.
I agree.
We’re all frustrated with Duje’s career plateauing these past few years…but he’s still a capable CB who was just sold to an EPL club for 18 million Euro.
Neither one of Vida, Lovren or Barisic could make it on an EPL squad right now, and nobody would pay 18 million for all three of them combined.
Also, before anyone suggests that Barisic fills a need at LB…he actually doesn’t.
I would rather slide Gvardiol at LB if Sosa needs to be subbed out. We have plenty of talented CBs like Sutalo, Erlic, and Stanisic that I would rather bring off the bench than to play Barisic at LB ahead of them.
The only surprise for me is that Colak is on the stand by list. I would have thought that on current form he should have been ahead of Petkovic, Budumir and Livaja.
Vida and Lovren are going to the WC for sure, especially now that the squad size has increased from 23 to 26. Dalic will not leave them out no matter what, apart from serious injuries.
DCC and Pongracic were poor in the last matches for the national team and they will need to improve big time if they are to see Qatar. In fact, I think that the only way DCC will get in, is if one of the central defenders ahead of him on the pecking order gets injured ? Pongracic in my opinion has no chance of going to Qatar.
Agree with all of the above.
Yup.
Dalic is a coach where a player has to “earn his stripes” to be on the squad.
Lovren and Vida earned theirs (several years ago) so it will take a lot to get them off the team even if they are currently on their last legs and cannot provide anything of value anymore.
A good coach must know when his player’s time is up and these two are well past their used by date. Time to transition to the youth CBs.
I can see a little bit of rationale in calling up one of Lovren/Vida to have someone with leadership/experience on the back line. Most coaches will do this.
What has to stop is the calling up of Petkovic/Livaja/ and other players who haven’t panned out in bigger leagues and come back home to play in the HNL. Why not try a Musa? Ljubicic? We need to think outside the regular box and give some of these kids a shot upfront.
I really wish Rebic and Dalic would figure their shit out. Rebic is obviously too stubborn to apologize buts it’s 100% on him. He offers something upfront that we lack….constant pressing, speed and being strong on the ball.
Krama will lead our front line in the WC…hopefully he can get hot. He’s actually been much better for the repka as of late and less selfish with the ball.
Lovren Vida i feel that they dont offer anything anymore Lovren is in russia no european football and hes a rupa.
Vida also watched the game live v france in poljud he was terrible.
Dalic mr.sreckovic imo. He still thinks Vida Lovren are bonucci and chiellini.
They wouldn’t even make the Ukrainian, Polish or even the Bosnian team hahaha, selection is diabolical.
Vida? Petkovic?
Isuse Boze.
Petkovic has a few decent games and he ahead of Colak. Colak has been way too hot to be left off…give
him a shot.
Anyone know if Musa is getting any playing time? He had a good stretch of play before his move to Benfica.
Also, I don’t get Ivanusec. Anytime I’ve watched him play he hasn’t shown much.
With the little amount of minutes that Musa has got with Benfica, he has been impactful.
In his debut, got an assist and drew a penalty. The next game he comes on and was having numerous shots at goal and also should’ve gotten an assist.
Musa has been completely swept aside and has been the best Croatian striker for the whole year, disgraceful.
Gotta earn ‘dem stripes, son
Gotta be in hdz hahaha.
What has Kramaric done to earn his stripes? He’s been hopeless for the last two years.
Vratari: Dominik Livaković, Lovre Kalinić, Ivica Ivušić
Braniči: Domagoj Vida, Dejan Lovren, Borna Barišić, Josip Juranović, Joško Gvardiol, Borna Sosa, Josip Stanišić, Martin Erlić, Josip Šutalo
Vezni: Luka Modrić, Mateo Kovačić, Marcelo Brozović, Mario Pašalić, Nikola Vlašić, Lovro Majer, Luka Sučić
Napadači: Ivan Perišić, Andrej Kramarić, Bruno Petković, Mislav Oršić, Ante Budimir, Marko Livaja
Pretpozivi: Josip Brekalo, Duje Ćaleta-Car, Luka Ivanušec, Marin Pongračić, Kristijan Jakić, Antonio Mirko Čolak, Nediljko Labrović
Looks like Domagoj Vida, Dejan Lovren and Borna Barišić actually are ahead of Duje Ćaleta-Car in the pecking order.
It’s also pretty telling that he called up five stoppers and went thin on midfield.
We were all just talking about whether or not Duje makes the team, and I said he will probably go thin on midfield just so he can call up as many of the defender veterans as he can , ha ha.
Bruno Petković gets the callup ahead of Čolak simply because he score one nice goal, lol.
Based off of the callups above, it seems like Dalic is gonna stick with the World Cup 2018 crowd as much as he can and Livaković will be starting for us in November.
Marcelo Brozović is gonna have to play all 180 minutes again lol.
Petkovic in and Colak on Standby for Nations League. Got to be kidding!
Screw Dalic, too fckn stubborn and needs calling out.
Really?
Dalic is just too slow of a coach to react.
He’s going to pull a ‘Gvardiol at Euro 2020’ thing again, where he will suddenly throw a couple of new players into the starting eleven because he wasn’t quick enough to try them sooner.
I wasn’t ever really sold on Colak as our #9, but he’s on fire right now, and he’ll probably continue to score regularly until the World Cup. He’s likely going to be our most in-form striker by the time the World Cup rolls around, and trying him out as a sub in Nations League would have been the right choice.
We’re either going to go with Krama up top, or someone who is red-hot and scoring regularly.
Petkovic is highly unlikely to start for us at the World Cup, and we already know what we are going to get with him. Him being called up over Colak was pointless.
Pjaca just signed for Empoli. Not a bad team for him to honest.
We still talking about mamic?
Vidovic a goal 12 mins in to his vitesse loan!
Offsides….
Ya reading online oblak looks pretty hurt
Not good for him
Potentially great for us
Huge opportunity for Grbic. Baptism by fire considering it’s La Liga.
Cilic is thru. I got a vibe here, he might go to the end. Hope I’m right
Unfortunately I think Alcaraz will be to strong for Cilic.
Niko Kovac is in trouble at Wolfsburg. Five games in and they have two points.
Needs to turn things around quickly or he could be out of a job.
Was there ever any doubt that he would have been fired within a season or two?
This Ivo Grbic news deserves its own article! What an opportunity if things shake out in a way that he gets 2 months of action!
The trade deadline has passed obviously, if the injury is significant it’s his job to lose
Maybe wait until he gets a couple of starts first.
You never know. He didn’t exactly light the World on fire in France last season, and Simeone never gave him any league starts the previous year.
We’ll see what happens.
Grbic has good fundamentals as a keeper, which is why Atletico had him in the team to begin with. Let’s hope he performs well there.
Nice run by Brozo
Wish he played more up front for us at times
I remember kovac used to do it
Marcelo peaking at the right time? We will find out soon. Great player who knows his roll and plays it perfectly!
Would our midfield be ranked as the best in the world at the moment?
It’s a strong possibility with the names and players we have at our disposal, at the very least one of the best I would say. Modric, Broz, and Perisic carry the torch pretty far for us, Kovacic in some ways too.
Then we are talking the rising talents of Sucic, Ljubicic, Majer, Baturina to potentially look forward too. Our midfield is definitely not an issue right now.
It’s more so goalie, offence, and potentially defence depending on the players who are fit to play.
The younger talent carried us to a fantastic result against France, and many people like myself argue that the older players on that side of the field (defence)should either retire or be substituted relief at the most (i.e. Lovren, and Vida).
As for offence, right now Colak and Ljubicic are the only ones who have scored goals recently, I am not sure if they will continue to do so. That traditional #9 type player and the goalie position is our ongoing problem.
Midfield we have it happening and then some.
The whole score goals by committee thing can only work, I think, if you have a solid goalie and defence. And both right now are a work in progress. So we do face some issues I think in the world cup. I didn’t think this before, but now I am definitely gonna say as well that we need a solid number#9 if one of our goalies does not step up.
Top 3 Pero
Off of topic with soccer for a second, I really hope that Martic can beat Azarenka I know that she has always struggled against her in the past.
She has come a long way and developed quite a bit in terms of her game and style, I hope that she finds a way to pull through.
Grbic getting a few minutes for Atleti. Oblak off late injured.
I would never wish him any harm, but boy, wouldn’t it be fortuitous for Grbic (and us) if Oblak was injured for a couple of months.
Brozovic puts Inter up 1-0, Milan ties it shortly after. Rebic on bench with injury.
https://www.goalstube.online/2022/09/ac-milan-inter-milan.html?m=1
What a great run and composed finish.
Rebic injured? What a shocker.
These past couple seasons Broz is turning into quite the player.
Yeah Mate1 he is so underrated it’s not even funny. Broz is just a solid player all around.
Franjić with an assist on his first start for Wolfsburg
****first Bundesliga start
https://www.goalstube.online/2022/09/wolfsburg-cologne.html?m=1
A beauty.
Forget Vlasic. Keep him away from the National team. Overrated and far down the list.
Excellent goal by vlasic. The guy is a real fighter and professional who never complained at his lack of playing time and has continued to work hard. He was the difference in our qualification for the euros, scoring important goals and being brave with the ball. Last season was an aberration and not indicative of his talent or attitude. His confidence will return and we will see a few great goals from him in serie A this season. He absolutely must and will be in the world cup squad. Ajmo Nikola!!
The kid was captain of hajduk aged 18 years old.
Went to everton and looked good but never got given a chance.
Went to CSKA and became the best player in the russian league, scoring loads of goals including some absolute bangers.
Signed for west ham for serious money. Again wasnt given a chance by a manager who is highly conservative with his selection. That’s one bad season in his career so far.
Continued to play for Croatia, rarely having a bad game.
This site!! Love writing people off.
And finally, just to blow my own trumpet, maminjo style:
I first came on this site In 2015 ahead of the euros, my first exchange was with a certain Canadian croat, who claimed that modric was a light weight player with zero impact, he continued to argue that Gareth bale is a far superior player to modric and the sort of player we need. I explained why modric is so good and so important, 3 years later we got to the world cup final and modric won the ballon d’or.
So when I tell you vlasic is good, you better believe it.
And just to show you what I mean I attach this clip of vlasic to remind you to use your eyes when judging footballers rather than statistics or media hype. Seriously underrated player:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PtzQ1Md-vxg
Modric is the best to ever put on our uniform. No one calls him lightweight on this site except ziva and that idiot is long gone. You keep pumping up Vlasic. Good luck with that. You seem delusional and so be it.
Bog I Hrvati
Before EURO 2016 and even before the world cup 2018 there was a lot of negativity, about the coach, about the players.
Modric yeah we all knew he was good. But in my mind he was always an extraordinary player. I never stopped believing in him from the time he first broke on the dinamo first team. I never doubted him for a second.
The media did. They said too lightweight for the premier league blah blah, not good enough for real madrid blah blah, doesn’t score enough goals blah blah.
And when the media talks it effects people, you hear people parroting what they hear in the media as if it’s their own opinion. A lot of people were super cynical and almost depressed on this site, not just ziva. Mental midget syndrome. We were seeing it in the performances of the NT and we were seeing it the doom and gloom negativity of many people on this site. Being losers, preferring to predict failure and blame it on others. Being the first one to predict failure, so that when it inevitably comes they can say “told you so”.
I think the opposite way. Positivity breeds success, it’s a cycle. We, as the hrvat diaspora, are not only spectators, we influence each other, we are a community, and someone we know knows someone in the vlasic household. So be positive where possible, and respectful.
In terms of being delusional, I’d say I’m the opposite. Because I analyse every touch a player takes, every movement, I love doing that. I love the game and I know it well, having played semi pro in 4 countries, and coached/managed 6 different clubs. I’m not saying vlasic is the next modric, different level. Vlasic has some weaknesses for sure, and we can analyse that if you like.
But he also has huge qualities: confidence, humility, work rate, flair, shooting ability, body strength, acceleration, determination.
He has two main weaknesses in my opinion.
Firstly, and its significant, his movement off the ball. He tends to switch off when he isnt on the ball or about to receive it. He makes one move, but if it doesnt come to him he stands and watches. He needs to realise football is constant tiny adjustments to make sure you are in the right place at the right time.
Secondly, he has two modes when on the ball: beast mode, and passive mode. That makes it easy for defenders to predict what he will do. So he needs to move between aggresive play and passive team play quickly. These are his main weaknesses. He needs to improve them if he wants to reach his full potential. Thankyou
You’re funny bro! Predicting that Modric would turn out to be an awesome player? Hahaha….I don’t recall anyone saying he wasn’t but I do remember you saying N Kalinic was phenomenal and “silky smooth”! After you said that he scored 20 goals in over 100 games jumping from team to team so let’s just say you might have predicted that Modric would turn out phenomenal but that wasn’t much of a prediction…it was already known!
Vlasic was given chances but he just couldn’t find his form. We all know what he’s like at his best but we also know he has several bad games in between his best games…at least with our National Team! Good players play good consistently.
You talked about the media influence and I agree with you. The media say a lot of untruths and many people just regurgitate it (Anthony Zoric) without really saying anything factual.
The proof is always in the pudding. Vlasic is a good player but in my opinion he’s never been great for us. Sure, he’s scored some timely goals but he’s been far more irrelevant than anything else. Usually lost in games and barely noticeable. I want him to be good and I don’t think I’m being too critical…I’m saying it like I see it and as much as I know he’s got what it takes I feel he needs more consistent good games!
Crnkovic, I think it would be best if you stay in your lane. If you’re not a full blooded Croat and are in truth a minority, you shouldn’t be trying to take first place on this site, it’s embarrassing, and quite frankly disrespectful to the full blooded Croat.
Drazen Petrovic wasn’t a full blooded Croat either, but I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t say something like this about him to anyone in Croatia right now.
Lots of diaspora Croats try to be a bigger Croat than one another, but most of them are just goofy gringos who wear checkered shirts.
Don’t be one of those.
Thankyou for sparing me the need to respond to that maminjo
We used to have “look at me Livaja” now we have “look at me Crnkovic,” and Crnkovic that is not staying in your lane, it’s actually the opposite of staying in your lane.
Again, stay in your lane, and wind your neck in. If I want to know something about the African teams I’ll ask you.
Petro was raised the Croatian way though, and we know what he thought of cetnik piece of shit Divac and what he did, so there is always the exception.
Now just go about your buisness, and I’ll keep my eye on this Crnkovic for you guys, just to make sure he stays in his lane.
Away from football for a sec. Tomljanovic who just beat Williams has absolutely no frigging Australian accent whatsoever. Why? Anyone know? Iggy?
Born in Zagreb, moved to the US at 13.
Roger Federer has no accent, he “says all the right things”, and has done the prerequisite to being a popular celebrity: opened a school in sub-Sahara Africa b/c “I believe the children are our future”. – LOL!
Australia gave her money and she took it.
Tennis allows for citizenship changes without ever living in the country.