After two disastrous losses to Turkey and Wales this week, I feel Dalić’s Wednesday night speech to the team in Osijek went something like this: “Guys, we have a lot of veterans out with injuries and you younger players will get a shot to play this week. Take it easy. Nobody needs to be a hero. We will most likely get a draw or two and still be in control of qualifying going into November. Lagano momci, lagano.”
That’s the only logical justification I can put together for the last 180 minutes of Croatian soccer I watched. I felt like I was watching two friendlies more than anything else, where the players were going through the motions, making sure not to get injured rather than playing for the win. Absolutely nothing happened offensively in both 1st halves against Turkey and Wales this week and I have an inkling that Dalić told the team to let the game come to them as opposed to scoring first and taking control from the start. So what did we learn this week?
- Not one player stepped up. From Modrić to Beljo coming off the bench, not one Croatian international stepped up this week to lead by example. Unfortunately, even Modrić looked old and rusty. The entire team looked lost out there as if they were playing amongst strangers. I could not tell you one player that got the job done on an individual level. Majer looked decent coming off the bench against Turkey but then did absolutely nothing against Wales. Modrić and Kovačić looked uninspired. The defense could not figure out long ball after long ball coming into their zone. Two goals this week came way off deep passes into the Croatian zone.
2. No Perišić, No Party. If Modrić is the engine to the Croatian national team, Perišić is the transmission who helps change gears and speeds throughout the game. I believe it was Slavonac who told me years ago, “The Croatian team goes as Perišić does.” And I have agreed with that sentiment since that day. Perišić runs fearlessly at opposing defenses and is constantly swinging in crosses into the box. Imagine if Musa got some of that service this week. Because he certainly did not.
3. Still no #9 to rely on. We all know Croatia does not yet have a true striker to run the offense through. However, I thought Musa would show up this week and have a Croatian senior goal to his name. Instead, he had an awful week which actually brought his value down. It doesn’t help that he received absolutely zero service in the box from his teammates. Beljo should have bagged a goal as well. However, Beljo showed me much more from a tactical “ground game” perspective this week and has officially jumped Musa in my “Croatian Striker Power Rankings”.
4. Defensive mismanagement. I don’t care that Borna Sosa has a few holes in his game defensively. He can make the Croatian offense purr (when he’s in the zone) with crosses in the box with Perišić out. Isn’t that what Musa needs as a tall, prototypical #9 in the box anyways? So how the hell does Dalić start Barišić over Sosa, not once, but twice?! That’s absolutely absurd to me. On top of that, Dalić gave Vida the nod against Wales rather than play Erlić next to Gvardiol. Big, big mistake. And as we all saw, Vida got absolutely burned on the first Welsh goal. Skeptical tactics, indeed.
5. Croatia played with fear. I saw Croatia pass the ball backwards more than I ever have in the past week. They did not play for the win in either match. The wings (minus Majer vs. Turkey) never looked dangerous down the sidelines and were scared to take chances. Both matches screamed, “We are okay playing for the draw.” And here we are. Croatia could have wrapped up Euro 2024 qualifying with 4 points this week. Instead, they are now on the outside looking in. Luckily, even if the Vatreni do not qualify automatically through the group, they will receive a life line through the Nations League qualifying route after the new year. Remember, 3 Euro 2024 berths are handed through Nations League qualifying. Croatia is eligible.
P.S. Can somebody please explain to me how Turkey qualified already? If Wales and Croatia both win out, all three aforementioned teams will end the campaign on 16 points. Croatia owns the tiebreaker against Turkey with a +1 goal differential in both games played against each other. So how have they already punched their ticket in the scenario where Wales beats Turkey by 3+ goals in November?
Can some pls explain why Brozovic has to drop back to within 3 feet of Gavardiol & Sutalo to pick up the ball while under no pressure from the opposition and than provide another short pass to either Kova or Modric. Gvardiol doesn’t need his tattooed skinny arms anywhere near him, he can distribute the ball himself. Every time I see Brozovic do this it drives be crazy. Basically when he plays we have 5 defenders on the field. The guy thinks he is Pirlo. Stay in central midfield and let Gvardiol distribute the ball from the back. Broz offers nothing in offense as well. He mostly runs around a lot and then causes a foul. When we are down a goal he is the first player that should be replaced but Dalic is afraid of getting bitch slapped again in the locker room like he did in the last Euro’s.
Baturina & Susic should be automatic call-ups for November and they should both get playing time.
all the permutations about qualifying.. ppl saying “if we win our last two” then such and such needs to happen..
i legit have ZERO confidence we will win our last 2 games.. maybe we beat latvia but fail to beat armenia, can easily see that happening
It’s quite possible.
Denmark looked like they were about to lose points to San Marino today.
Ukraine was down 1-0 to Malta as well.
Anything can happen, and we could end up screwing up…but so can Wales.
Armenia leapfrogs Wales in the final standings with a win at home against them and they have a very real chance to qualify.
That’s going to be an insane game, and I’m not convinced that Wales can pull off a full 6 points against both Armenia and Turkey.
These will be coin toss results.
I predict that we qualify in embarrassing fashion, end up as a Pot 3 team (behind teams like Slovenia and Albania) then top our group at the Euros, lol.
What i want to know is: the permutations if we get FOUR points from our last two games cos i think that is more likely than us getting six. Yeah i wouldnt expect Wales to win both of those games but who knows.
Man and Dalic was talking about we want to qualify asap for this tourney lol..
only positive thing i can say is this: generally we have done well in tourneys where we just scraped into them so let’s just hope this is another one of those times (if we do in fact get in at all).
That sounds like Croatia, just when you think they are done, they rebound. How many qualifying campaigns do they squeak in through playoffs and then turn it on in the tournament? In 1998, had to go through playoffs, got 3rd place. In 2018, playoffs again and made the final. Even last year, they needed an own goal against Russia to qualify directly, otherwise it would have been a playoff again.
I like that the Wales vs Armenia game is at 9am eastern time on November 18 and Croatia vs Latvia is at noon. Croatia will know that if Wales drop points, they just need to win out. That will be quite an interesting Saturday.
After losing to England, Italy will need to beat Macedonia at home and get a draw away to Ukraine otherwise they will be heading to the playoffs v Poland.
Italy usually have Ukraine’s number.
They always seem to beat them.
Hello Truth, when you get back to the office, can you have one of your highly paid employees run the models and percentages of Croatia qualifying for this upcoming Euro please? It doesn’t have to be today, but sooner rather than later please. Very interested to see the outcome and I will have my fingers crossed! Uvijek vrjerni i Hvala Bogu!
SLO (North of Croatia) plays Northern Ireland today in a few moments I believe. SLO is leading their group right now. Last time N. Ireland played SLO, Slovenia won 4-2. I think NIR is on a two-game winning streak and is playing well for the 2nd half of the qualifying tournament. I don’t think Slovenia has ever been in the final sixteen of any tournaments to date. Josip Ilicic I believed they loss to a broken heart, but they have a pretty good new striker in Sesko. Oblak their goalie has been a mainstay for quite some time, so if they can score, Kek’s team can keep the momentum going today with a win against the rising fighting Irish team, otherwise they will be drowning their sorrows in Cvicek, while the Guiness will flow. Fun game no matter.
Oblak, Mlakar, Stojanovic, Cerin rains down on the Northern Irish 1-0. Slovenia in driver’s seat. Beating Denmark, in November secures grouping. Irish, had their backs to the wall down a man due to red card, half the game.
I’ve made a couple warnings recently that I hope are not coming to fruition but they may be
The first was that the wheels can fall off quickly from being a top football team and there are signs of that happening.
The previous midfield trio that let croatia dominate of modric-bozo-vic and kovacic is in disarray. Modric is constantly fighting father time and no longer playing regularly. Brozovic is out in Saudi Arabia playing terrible competition and with no legit infrastructure in place is probably letting his lack of discipline get to him and drinking and smoking, and kovacic had an injury that he just doesn’t seem back from. Compare that to where these players were 6 months ago.
I’ve highlighted that the final third players have been sub standard for some time. Obviously their substitutes would be even worse.
And then I raised flags about the defense. Gvardiol is solid but injury prone. Our expected back field cornerstones of Sosa and Sutalo are instead playing back bench in a non top 5 league.
And then we all have thought the clock would strike midnight and Livakovic’s ball would be over. I thought outside of his bone head goals allowed, he actually did ok. But we need to watch him carefully. He can lose confidence really quickly
Finally, I warned also about the huge talentless void between the 20 to 30 year age range for Croatia which is where a soccer team’s strength should be. I’ve been assured of the up and comers, but I really don’t see it taking fold. It could all result in an ugly time for Croatia.
But rest assured, Croatia is still likely to qualify. And if the midfield trio can regain form, things will be better. For those thinking Croatia would win the Euros…I wish it were true…but Croatia looks closer to joining the rest of the pack than joining the elites at this stage
Always about you, you, you and your told-you-sos…borrrrrrrrrring. I got 25 per cent of the way through it.
it’s not so much that the truth is boring…its the truth is sometimes hard to read…i get it.. i gotta highlight all the accurate calls backed by data and facts that Ive made, because many times the site thinks I”m simply trying to troll. Instead, I’m trying to tamper down the homerism and have people look at things objectively. I’m open to sensible counterpoints like the ones maminjo makes from time to time.
I think everyone saw in the past two games things I’ve been saying. The wheels are at risk of coming off, our final third has been terrible for a long time, and we’re not as deep as we think.
I just saw it was truth and skipped over and didn’t bother. Much easier. No need to read drivel.
Yep.
Folks, these two losses were because of several variables and the first variable was that we do not have any game-changers in the lineup…I’ve said this many times when I talk about the relevance of players and their roles.
Dalic said in an interview yesterday that he’s had intentions to make changes but he’s been struggling with that decision because the team has been functioning well and winning. I understand that thought process!
In these past two games we lost our two most prominent goal-scorers in Perisic and Kramaric! Pasalic is great as a secondary scorer but after him, who do we really look to? This is why I am soo harsh on certain players…ie…Brekalo, Vlasic, Musa, (in the past) Budimir, Livaja…if these types of players aren’t going to score then they have to be part of creating…otherwise we can put pilons in their positions and we get the same result!
Calling out Brozovic but not calling out Modric is hypocritical if you ask me. Modric was below average in both games, Kovacic was BRUTALLY BAD, Sutalo was bad, Vida was bad, Barisic was a nightmare, Brekalo was shit, Stanisic was 50/50…and we expect Dalic to be responsible for their performances? Come on people…we were gutless, nobody took matters into their own hands…Brekalo was a DAMN pedestrian and that was shocking considering he started after almost 2 years of being out of the team…I mean WTF else does he want?
Do not blame the coach, the players need to accept they are out of form, they didn’t display any urgency…soo many balls passed backwards and none of that is Dalic’s fault…he did what he could with what he had. I’ll blame him if he doesn’t make changes going forward.
easier to change the coach than the players
I think Dalic has earned the right for us to have tolerance with him. he explained himself and I see his point. now he has a new task and if he fails then we have to re-assess his position as head coach!
If you ask Dalic he will tell you that himself. The man thinks every decision he has made has been the correct one. Nice little ego he has developed in recent months.
Every coach has a short self life. His has expired. The bronze at the World Cup covered up a lot of flaws. Outside of the Canada game we never outplayed anyone. He found ways to win even if PKs were needed, but we played ugly soccer in Qatar. He deserves credit for it, but he lacks any desire to change tactics.
“Outside of the Canada game we never outplayed anyone”
vs Saudi 59%
vs Morocco 65%
vs Canada 48%
vs Belgium 48%
vs Japan 59%
vs Brazil 51%
vs Argentina 61%
vs Morocco 51%
I understand possession doesn’t equal “outplaying” someone but we weren’t outplayed either. keeping possession or as Dalic calls it…”hiding the ball” from the opponents does help us not being under pressure and using up lots of energy defending.
I think you’re missing something important and Dalic can’t change the situation. we do not have a striker or a right sided attacker so he’s had to help look for other ways to win and I think he did better than most would have. two out of our top three attackers aren’t suited for that position so we aren’t nearly as dangerous as we should be.
Saudi. Are you stupid? We didn’t play them in Qatar. And possession means nothing when it leads no scoring chances
warm up game I accidentally added
Our central midfield trio played poorly when we had injuries at every other position. These were the two games when we needed them most.
Broz and Modric made a lot of mistakes…but man, Kovacic was bad. He was our most disappointing player over these two games.
It also didn’t help that Turkey crowded the middle and we did nothing to try and go wide. Maybe the last few minutes of the game when we added in Majer at RW.
Sosa did well in the Wales game with several crosses in a short period of time, but it was too little too late.
I feel like Dalic should have just said ‘eff this’ and gone with a 3-5-2 and just bombed crosses all game with Sosa and Juranovic into the box to guys like Beljo and Musa. But it’s easy to say this in hindsight.
I think Dalic has his philosophies and he has a hard time to change his thinking. Sosa was horrible in the last World Cup and I see Dalic doesn’t trust Sosa…and…Sosa has sat on the bench for his club the last 3 games in a row. in Dalic’s mind, I think he believe’s he’s out of form and irresponsible defensively.
Majer was poor in the Turkey game but better vs Wales if you ask me. I still notice he gets into trouble often and then loses the ball.
Broz and Modric probably gopt more passes intercepted in two games than they did in the past two years.
They also didn’t win any balls either.
In the Armenia game last month, the feisty Armenians couldn’t take two steps with the ball without one of Modrić or Broz taking it off thrm.
Defensively, I didn’t see anything from our central midfield these past two games.
Re: Broz
Pls stop saying him playing in Saudi league is the reason
Ronaldo has scored 9 goals for Portugal in last 7 games (including 4 goals in 2 games this wk) and he’s 38 y.o.
Agree. This just proves what I’ve been saying for years. Brozo is the most overrated Croatian player ever. Was NEVER anything better than average at best.
Ignorant.
Broz had 2 bad games. So did Luka…is he overrated too?
It’s not that Brozovic or Modric are bad. It’s that other teams can easily counter Croatian strategy since Dalic has shown time and time again the exact same form of play:
1. No offense
2. Base the team movement on keeping it in the midfield
If your opponent keeps doing the same thing game after game, then even your U21-23 players can easily outplay that opponent.
Broz two bad games.
Luka no overrated. He is old/
Especially since Broz was solid last month.
I guess this means that playing 6 weeks in the Saudi League is perfectly fine…but when you cross that 10-week threshold, that’s when you fall apart completely, lol.
Everyone is just very upset, and are just looking for any rationale to understand what happened.
The youth levels in croatia are a mess hajduk champions league run last season under 17 was nice they will ruin that generation.
Since mamic is in Bosna dinamo skauting is terrible.
We should enjoy this run this was in making since 2008 a strong croatia.
Dalic is calling for change i really dont see him changing much he too conservative only wonder kids get chances with him media pressure like gvardiol in starting 11 only moron leaves him out.
I see Kotarski as goalkeeper call up
Defense people calling Meljnak Sarlija from hajduk. Domagoj Bradaric
Midfield Moro Ljubicic Misic Sucic Baturina Zaper
Attack Frigan Pjaca Frigan Ivanovic Pasalic Simic
https://sportske.jutarnji.hr/sn/euro/nakon-sp-a-2026-krece-zima-za-vatrene-tad-cete-vidjeti-sto-se-radilo-meni-su-ogulili-kozu-15384994
Bad news Kramaric out for 6 weeks.
Can someone comment our top 15-20 best young players say under 22?
Some individual talent, but nothing top tier. The U19s just lost to Bulgaria a few hours ago.
The U21s tied Greece a few days ago. They play Belarus shortly. That will be an easy win. So expect people who don’t know the game to hype up a few of the U21s.
We are going to take a step back, possibly two or three steps back. That is how it goes in sport. If Germany is having struggles. We will have struggles.
Thoughts on Vidovic, baturina, sucic, simic, beljo, vuskovic? Surely a few of them will be top talents?
You can’t base anything on our U21 or other junior results.
Our Modric generation did nothing in any of our youth levels. They got embarrassed at the one U21 Euro they qualified for, losing all their games (including Serbia), meanwhile Serbia actually beat Brazil in the U20 World Cup final and came runners-up twice at the Euros (with nothing to show for it when these players were promoted to the senior squad).
I’m almost positive that you thought Gvardiol wasn’t top tier either (when he was first called up to our senior squad for Euro2020) but less than two years later, he’s one of the most expensive defenders in history.
It’s just way too soon to make predicitions…especially after two bad losses (where both our young and old players are either out of form or injured).
Since you asked
Vidovic – If Bayern believed in him he would be at Bayern
Baturina – very nice player. Will eventually be in a good league. Rough start to this season. My gut feeling is Dionamo had an offer for him and it was rejected. He wanted to leave and you can tell something is not right in his play this season.
Sucic – coming off a very bad knee injury. Will be another Pjaca.
Simic – decent, but wont ever be elite. Will bounce around Europe as a player
Beljo – same as Simic
Vuskovic – Prevara
Biuk – same as Vuskovic
lol man you are being depressing. have to have some more hope than this.
I think Sucic can definitely still be elite. Some great footballers have had ACL tears and it has not affected their game.
Simic is still so young and in the small sample size at RB he has been lights out.
Others on the list still have potential but truly need to step up. It sounds weird to say but to be considered elite by around 22-23 years old you have to be scouted by a top Euro team
So essentially, none of our U21 players and none of our U19 players will turn out to be anything special.
Ok got it.
Will you still be posting with this name in 3-4 years from now?
Or will you change it like most people here who though that we were finished after our disappointing Euro 2020 campaign (then we proceeded to get two medals immediately after that)?
Bring back mamic. How many unbelievable talents did he find while at Dinamo? Politicians should be praising him not trying to lock him up. Free mamic
Geez tough week….
2 busted games with non starters as different roles everywhere with little time to prepare and test out? Injuries everywhere. No motivation? no spark ⚡️ No striker?
No game plan
I wasn’t shocked we lost both games.
Now everyone blames Musa like he’s done and damaged.. talk about the worst time ever to start him with all the pressure and weight on him. I think he’s still an asset and needs to be used correctly with the right pieces.
Anyways let’s win the rest of the games and qualify for the euro tournament ?️ and look at this as a learning experience and experiment…. If Dalic doesn’t make the euro 24 then we can talk about a new coach until then he’s still the General.
Pasalic showed up, Beljo wasn’t bad either, he certainly positioned himself much better than Musa did. Created a lot of chances, just was unlucky
I refuse to believe this is the end of our beloved team’s success. Yes the past two games have looked awful. The writing has been on the wall for a while that we need to produce more goals – just look back at WC 2022. Yes we finished 3rd place but on two penalties and Lakaku being the worst finisher in the world.
All that said, I look at some of of younger talent and I see hope. Am I alone on this? Simic, Sucic, Baturina, Gvardiol, beljo, Majer, Ivanusec, Sutalo, Vuskovic (yes I know he is still very young). Am I wrong in assuming that we have lots of talent to look forward to?
I think there will be a transition period where we might not have a good couple of years but I am hopeful we are not far off from being quite competitive again.
We have been relying for too long on our older players. They will always be heros in our eyes but they are past their primes. I have seen a lot of people commenting here about Perisic and Kramaric being out and that impacting our results. The fact is they are almost 35 and 33 and are at the end of their careers.
I hope someone can provide some re-assurance here? Am I out to lunch? I would always prefer to be optimistic vs pessimistic
Lastly, what the hell was Buik thinking going to MLS. What an absolute joke.
Agreed ? We’ll said ??
Excellent comment!!!
I feel the issue is no youth have been brought into games. You have other national teams who bring 18-25 year olds into the game. Those youths can determine games, set up scoring, turn the tide, or defend a lead. I don’t know their status with club teams.
Pasalic is one of my favorite players, and he demonstrated something important. The team has been built around Modric, instead of Modric changing with the team. No disrespect to Modric. But my point is, what’s the result of controlling the midfield if you can’t score; and you can’t score more than a goal? Ensuring the other team doesn’t score? I think Pasalic is a great symbol of the change that is needed.
I hope something happens moving forward. Because it has to. And because I’m not waiting another 20 years filled with disappointment, pain, and hopelessness for our team to become good again.
Dalic needs to become a different coach within the next 30 days, or they need to find someone from the outside (which has been mentioned by others in their comments).
We’ll be fine.
Dalić doesn’t like integrating youth unless he absolutely must.
It’s why we did so poorly at Euro2020, and if you remember, many on here were bashing our young players (specifically Gvardiol) as not having what it takes to be a good footballer, hahaha!
I dont think anyone was bashing Gvardiol. Just questioning young player playing well. Gvardiol didn’t have a good Euro. Go back to the Spain game.
Everyone was bashing Gvardiol.
People freaked out just the same as they are now (after these two losses) and thought that he wasn’t going to be anything special…and he proceeded to do exactly that.
If they hadn’t of forced that water break in extra time (right? That water break was then?), Croatia would have beat Spain in Euro 2020 because they were building that momentum and then they didn’t have it once play resumed.
It probably would have a different game as well if, once again, Perisic wasn’t out (for testing positive for COVID).
Not only was Gvardiol being punished in the comments, but Petkovic was taking a beating as well.
With Brozovic being suspended for the next match I hope that Dalic will give Majer a run in the midfield rather than wasting his talent on the RW.
Roko Simic also needs to be called up, we are just wasting time on Musa.
If Petkovic is still injured, I would also recall Budimir who seems to be playing OK at the moment in Spain. I know that this might be a step backwards, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Budimir is just awful. Stop it.
@MART
I know this is pretty irrelevant given the current situation with Vatreni but we were wondering the other day what’s up with Vuskovic. According to this SN article, perhaps he’s still with Hajduk juniors…
https://sportske.jutarnji.hr/sn/nogomet/hnl/klubovi/hajduk/evo-gdje-su-danas-srebrni-hajdukovi-juniori-iz-zenevskog-finala-zanimljivi-napadac-prihvatio-izazov-iz-italije-15384714
And I just wanna note that, besides having poor CBs, the U21 team also doesn’t seem to have any natural fullbacks hence my question the other day if Bukvic was filling in at LB after Perkovic moved into CB position. Anyway hope the boys will beat Belarus tomorrow.
***
All right, back to the main topic. Sorry to have digressed people.
Yes, I also read the article in SN. Vuskovic is at Hajduk, however he has not been playing for the youth team in recent times.
Correction, went on HNS website and checked junior results and lineups and Luka Vuskovic has been playing for Hajduk youth team.
Got it ?
Poland almost assuredly will be in the other playoff game in Croatia’s bracket. Assuming Italy gets 2nd over Ukraine, I’m seeing Croatia vs Estonia and Poland vs Finland. If Ukraine gets 2nd, it’s Croatia vs Estonia and Italy vs Poland. Can you imagine a one game playoff for a Euro spot if it’s Croatia vs Italy? Betting the “draw” for the 2nd match would give the home game to the Italy/Poland winner.
I think Finland would be in line to end up in the League B playoff. They are the #5 ranked team in League B, and Scotland (ahead of them) qualified directly. So Finland would take Scotland’s spot in League B playoff.
I’m thinking Ukraine (#6), Iceland (#7) or Norway (#8) would be the ones more likely to go to League A (along with Estonia I guess).
Interesting interview with Dalic. He basically said he wanted to call up
other players but given they kept getting good results he stayed with the status quo. He says there will
be changes and new players called. Let’s see what that looks like.
Any other LBs that could take Barisic’s spot? Maybe Bradaric now that he’s playing again?
I think Vlasic is gone (call
up Baturina) as is Brekalo (call
up Vidovic). Hopefully a Simic to take Livaja’s spot. What a douche for ghosting Dalic like that.
We need to bring in some of the new hungry blood to inject some pace and aggression.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CyeMgANtguz/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
We shall see. I don’t like how he’s handling himself. Questioning his own decisions. Very wishy washy.
I’d say Pasalic showed up in the Wales match.
Everyone is writing Estonia in the first game.
But do we know for sure that (as the group winner in league D), Estonia would be bumped all the way to the League A playoff?
They for sure wouldn’t be bumped to League C playoff instead? (and then someone else from League B be bumped up to League A to play us)? I don’t know the rule there.
Think so
Tried to post the link before but wasn’t approved
Google Wiki + UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying – u’ll get the link
See below:
“If one of those leagues has fewer than four non-qualifying teams, spots are taken first by the best group winner from League D (unless already qualified), and then by other teams based on ranking.”
Yeah, I saw this somewhere else too.
Maybe we’re assuming that both league B and league C will already have 4 teams each that will make up their playoff. So Estonia would have no choice but to go compete in League A? .
I’ll give up on Musa when Benfica does, and he’s doing very well there, so I have doubt that he is the sole problem. That said, Beljo was clearly in better form this round and has earned more minutes.
Barisic for me is too afraid to dribble. It felt like he sent each pass he received back to Gvardiol. Sosa is at least assertive and tries to create chances.
I still have high hopes for Majer, but not as a winger and probably not behind the striker. He is more of a creator with his diagonal balls. He should play more while Kova regains his form.
Unless Vlasic is injured, he appears to have fallen out of favour with Dalic. That’s fine with me, as he’s never put together his game with his physical attributes.
You need at least one player with power and pace.
We have relied on Perišić too much over the years.
Ante Rebić is disappointing on many levels.
You can’t tell me that he could not have provided an outlet on that LW this past week.
Dalic has had an unparalleled historic run with two world class players.
Now we need some real coaching and development.
Vida ?!
Barišić ?!
Beljo looked a lot more active than Musa.
He should scored both chances.
Actually like this predicament we are in because a shift is needed.
November is demanding a new vision.
Which 11 can win two games?
Power and pace is needed in the final third.
Stipe Buik ?
No I am serious.
He can run.
We need that C team that bum rushed Mexico in LA.
In regards to our possible playoffs ? good result with the Dutch beating the Greeks. This means that we will come up against Estonia at home and most likely the winner from Poland v Ukraine or Italy. Ukraine and Italy meet in November in a decisive match.
Yep, mentioned that in the previous thread. Makes the path a little easier if that’s the case. We should call up Pjaca for that one…
Are we really surprised that we can’t score? Besides Perisic & Kramaric these last few years, who has stepped up? Modric, Pasalic, Petkovic, and some others time to time but that’s that it. No offence upfront.
Petkovic is 29 and so slow
Perisic will be 35 next year with a long road of recovery
Kramaric will be 33 next year
Modric is 38
Livaja, Rebic, Budimir, Orsic are contributed very little and won’t be brought up. I keep saying it and I’ll say it again. You can’t win a major championship without a top tier striker! Mbappe was for France, Messi was for Argentina, Ronaldo was for Portugal. And guess what? We lost to all of them the last 3/4 tournaments so it goes to show. We’ve never had any players near that level and I don’t think will. Unless you are Italy and can defend unbelievably good then there’s a chance. But we only have Gvardiol at the back who’s top notch as of now. We can’t compete with any recent champions with our lackluster d.
Come on now.
You can be upset and criticize the team, but you’re starting to make things up to justify your point.
Orsic contributed very little?
The guy (in limited minutes) contributed more than anyone in the last two tournaments…against top opponents too like Spain and Brazil. We don’t win that bronze without him.
Also, who cares what our C squad players (like Budimir and Livaja) are doing. If they were scoring, they would be starters.
Yes, we don’t have an elite striker who does all the scoring for us….so we score by committee. Lots of people have scored outside of Krama and Perisic.
I agree that having an elite striker will help you win a tournament…but so does being gifted a PK in every single game (just ask Messi). The ridiculous amount of Messi PKs were the reason Argentina won this tournament.
Ibrahimovic and Lewandowski are both All-Time greats and they missed more tournaments than I can count. Haaland is the best striker in the World right now (and has Odegaard feeding him for goals) and his team just got eliminated. He’s 0 for 3 now for tournaments.
Holland/Suriname? beats the greeks late…whew, avoid the dutch for the playoff if it comes to that…
So who could we potentially play if it comes down to playoffs.
I think Estonia first game…then winner of Poland/Czechs
Haha.
Such extreme hyperbole with these comments!
The same people who whine about our players being mental midgets are crying and breaking down mentally with their own mental midgetry.
Netherworld late PK. Muzzi attack in Brussels.
Mile mentioned the 2014 WC match against Mexico below. I remember what the TV commentator said during that match when Croatia scored their lone goal after being going down 3-0. The goal was from a well worked combo between Rakitic and Perisic. Commentator said to the effect, “I don’t understand how a team that is capable of a beautiful goal like that can have such a lackluster performance.”
It seems like we are slipping back to those days of disappointing performances despite being capable of so much better. Sigh…
Good thing we’re not playing Canada again in our next match. I feel like we would lose to them and be embarassed. Well, back to wearing a paper bag over my head like Sylvester the putty cats’ son.
Canada just got smoked 4-1 by Japan so give your head a shake.
Japan also smoke Turkey 4-2 and Germany 4-1. Maybe take your head out of your Canadian ass eh? Japan’s a great team bubb.
You guys are disgusting! The biggest Croatians in case of a win and the biggest haters once we lose. Fck off! Leaving this shitty Insta group…
Go back to the kitchen and cook and clean
0-0 halftime between Greece and Netherlands.
Netherlands with the missed PK.
Would be a pretty Greek thing to do to have the Netherlands dominate all game, then the Greeks win in extra time (sending the Netherlands into the playoff).
Apparently Dalic first messaged and then called Livaja and Livaja ignored him…didn’t reply!
UNPROFESSIONAL little bitch! I’d never offer him a spot!
I am not believing anything Dalic says at the moment. He contradicts himself as he tried to explain that situation.
if he said this publicly and during an interview I’m pretty sure he tried to contact Livaja.
I don’t completely blame Dalic for these poor performances in the last 2 games…I’d say he’s 50% responsible and the players are also 50% responsible.
Agree. Player selection which leads into our tactics (defense minded Barisic vs offensive minded Sosa as an example) was definitely to blame.
As many others have mentioned Dalic is not a great tactician.That being said the players selected do have to put in a much better effort. It’s that’ simple. It was almost like their were defeated before they played both games. Sadly it took them to go down 2 goals to light the fire under their ass. Sramota.
Agreed.
Both games reminded me of the 2014 WC game against Mexico and the 2016 Euro game against Portugal. Constant back passing, no pushing forward, waiting for something to happen, no creating chances. And for the Mexico game, we had to win, and there was no urgency. Then Mexico scores a couple, and we are screwed. Very similar the last two games.
Mexico game was pathetic, because we had our most talented-ever team, with everyone in their prime (and Kovac had us playing so poorly).
That was a tournament where we could have gone very far.
Portugal game was not as bad, because Portugal played anti-football and were getting away with brutal red card-caliber fouls (and the ref decided to let it continue). There was something like 38 fouls that game and only one yellow (despite there being at least 3 cleat stomp plays).
Previše umišljenih zvijezda, sebičnost i velika egomanija. Nekima je vrijeme da se oproste da ne koće prilike i napredak nadolazećih mladih igrača ili će za neke moguće biti i kasno da se uklope.
Adrien Thomasson wants to play for Hrvatska. Bring him in.
Nah
Croatia still a live go through and will qualify euro 2024
Someone, anyone walk me off the figurative ledge.
Is it really over now?
Lets not kid ourselves, Turkey and Wales are garbage. And we couldn’t do anything vs them.
No Perisic and we have nothing….
Broz going to Saudi ended his world class level..its a joke there and we could always count on him but now is crap, huffing and puffing, losing the ball cheaply.
With no strikers, opponents know and have no fear Kova, Broz or Luka will take long distance shots…even though Luka over the years has had a few….
And I was thinking, when is the last time we scored a lob goal on someone? Suker vs Denmark Euro 96? Well, we just gave up two in two games a row that cost us 6 points and we are done.
I can’t see us even winning in Latvia at this rate…which will then end it for us as I have a feeling Wales will choke to Armenia away.
Praying Holland beats the Greeks today…no chance we can beat the Dutch in a playoff without Perisic….and no strikers…..
Maybe the Poles or the Czechs we can squeez out a win depending where the game is and if Ivanusec and Kramaric and Petkovic are fit….
Brekalo I wouldn’t put on my Friday night beer rec league team….nor Vida….or Barisic…and they all started and all were s.hit.
So back to the orginal point…walk me off the figurative ledge…we will work magic and qualify some way or somehow? And keep this going?
Or is it really the end and descent into about 8 years of wilderness and no qualifications?
Realistically, all we have that is world class 2 years from now is Josko. That is not enough to be competitive.
I barely slept last night….so mad, angry, sad, worried, I love this team too much..it means the world to me and I don’t want this magical period to end….
We aren’t done because as soon as we slot Ivanusec/ Petko/ Kramaric back in we are a decent team. Fingers crossed they get healthy and return to form.
Correct. Plus, Majer is in much better form than Kovacic (and is naturally a central midfielder, not a right winger).
You can sit out Kovacic, and pair Majer with Modric and Broz (with Majer taking on the offensive load).
Sosa and Juranovic on each flank will give us the width we needed these past two games.
Especially because Juranovic was not 100% and Sosa was not in form. If we can get them going we will give us the width we need to get some crosses in and create chances. Stanisic was off the first game but wasn’t too bad going forward the second half vs Wales.
We just need our players to play more and get in form…not too mention get healthy for those who were hurt/banged up.
I am lost for words. Part of me says these results were always forecasted. We celebrated the world cup but if Lukaku hadn’t missed a sitter we would have be done in the group stage in Qatar. I only say this because our lack of attacking power was evident then and even more evident now minus Perisic, Kramaric, Orsic, Ivanusec and even Livaja etc…
We have no goal scorer. Brozo, Kova and Modric will pass the ball endlessly and beautifully but without Perisic those 3 looked old and slow.
I do feel our golden run is done and the future doesn’t look all too bright. The next generation of kids simply aren’t that of Rakitic, Modric, Mandzukic, Perisic, Brozo.
Gvardiol is in their category, Majer? I don’t know… Who else? Ivanusec?
Kovacic looked absolutely useless these past 2 games. Late in the game yesterday he was close to the 18. Prosinecki or Boban or hell even Asanovic would have allllll shot the ball and he attempts a limp chip cross. WTF! He has such wonderful tools yet close to the 18 he is a 3rd league HNL player.
I love Brozo but like others have said. Another 6 months in Saudi and he will be even worse. I don’t blame him for taking the $ but his worth to the repka will diminish. He thrives off of being in intense environments (IE Serie A title race or Champions league).
In our last two games if we have a front trident of Ivanusec/Petkovic/Kramaric we should be fine. But I really do think the good times are over for a while. We shall see.
Dalic? I have read we should can him but let him finish this out. Who would be next? Bjelica maybe? Tudor wouldn’t want it as he deserves a big $ job next….
I needed to sleep on this and I think I feel worse now than I did yesterday. I feel like I’m realizing my worst fears and I ask myself if “its really over”? are we done with competing at the highest level?
we’ve had the pleasure of some nice people here at Croatiansports providing us with details of our “up and comers”. every few months we get a new updated list of players and then everyone goes crazy for the next several weeks. I’m stuck on this current batch of players that should be producing by now and those are guys like Vlasic, Brekalo, Musa…these are guys we’ve been debating about for the past few years and I have zero confidence in all 3. I don’t think I want to hear more about them unless they each scored 25 goals/season.
we need Ivanusec, Baturina, Sucic, Simic, Majer and Beljo to not be flops, otherwise we will be talking about our past teams like we used to only talk about our ’98 team. I am not counting on Biuk anymore and Ljubicic doesn’t seem to be on fire anymore. watching these prima donna’s yesterday made me sick to my stomach and I just can’t watch useless players and whats even worse is when someone says “they weren’t soo bad”…as if we are now debating between bad and terrible 🙂
we need to face reality. if we approached yesterday’s game with more energy and our wingers actually played like wingers instead of always moving to the inside, we could have done a lot better. we wouldn’t beat Hong Kong with yesterdays display, never mind a European team. both Majer and Brekalo weren’t taking anyone on down the wing…I can’t believe we have resorted to this type of game, its soo hard to watch.
The worst was Wales right-back kept pushing Brekalo after every play (and stoppage of play) and yapping at him – Brekalo didn’t do anything about it – just took it – no words back – no push back – was painful to watch
yes I noticed that as well. no fight in him…he’s a pedestrian!
Easy fix.
Just play Sosa over Barisic.
I think 9 coaches out of 10 would do this, and the wing problem is pretty much solved.
Sosa does bring us energy going forward, I do agree with that. Barisic is indescribable…he looks terrible on offensive and defense.
I was trying to say that our outside attackers were not attacking down the wing in these past two games which makes it a whole lot easier for the opponents to defend. all they have to do is block us from cutting in and we end up going backwards.
“Ivanusec, Baturina, Sucic, Simic, Majer and Beljo”
Agree – put all of them in starting line-up – with two strikers up top if needed
Gvardiol will be 22 in January – we need to build the team around him – and try to have a new core generation that can have 5 tournaments together – build chemistry, etc (like that Euro 2008 squad – as painful as it was to lose to Turkey on penalties) – we should only pick players +/- 2 years of Gvardiol (with preference for younger vs older i.e. 20 y.o. better than 24 y.o.) to try to achieve this (of course there can be the odd more senior player in 1 or 2 positions – but only if they a meaningful step up i.e. well above average)
With this in mind folks we have 25 thru 32 that are average/below – need to be dropped – just bad luck for them we have Gvardiol – and they might have missed their chance bc of their birthday i.e. too young when our old crew around now / told old when new crew around Gvardiol
e.g. Beljo was much better than Musa yesterday – better movement – presence in the box – better positioning / trying to pull defenders, etc
He’s 20 vs Musa 25
Musa gets dropped
*21 (not 20)
yeah regarding Musa and guys like Budimir….they really have messed up their chances with low energy performances. Musa looks like he struts on the field!
I agree.
Beljo was a pleasant surprise.
We created almost no chances in either game, yet the guy managed to get himself into scoring position a few times.
We really needed a guy like him up top these past two games, that we can just bomb crosses into (since we weren’t dribbling into the opponent’s box). He seems like he has a bit of that Mandzo in him to get into the right spots.
I feel like if he started the full 90, he would have probably ended up with a goal.
its impossible to build a team based on +/- 2 years of age but I get your point. teams need experienced players as well. defenders can usually be a little older as long as they keep their speed.
Of course it’s impossible – I mean it more as a framework to work from (there will be exceptions)
Gvardiol is getting up there w/ experience (25 caps vs. Lovren 78 / Vida 102 ; learning from the best @ Man City & playing in CL (hopefully they make a deep run this yr again), etc) – but I know what you mean an older presence (like Niko Kovac @ Euro 2008)
Players 25 and above need to be dropped? Go ahead and do this. We would not qualify for any tournament.
How come Brozovic always gets a pass from everyone. I know im probably the only person who doesn’t rate Brozovic but surely after this past year everyone see’s what ive been seeing all along ? Brozo is washed and if he ever was good that ship has long sailed.
He’s a Ballon D’Or nominee. He made the short list.
But yes, I think his smoking and drinking may catch up to him prior to this next World Cup. Kovacic isn’t alpha male enough to lead this team.
We’ll have to rely on some combination of Majer, Ivanusec, Broz, Baturina, and Sucic with Kovacic as a passenger.
Brozovic will take a step back playing in the sand. You can’t argue that. Play the young kids, but expect to have setbacks.
Majer the last year? Has he been good?
Sucic tore his knee. He might never be the same player. Look at Pjaca now at Rijeka. Same issue.
Perisic will be 35 in February
He has been a tremendous contributor for 12 years now
But we have to move on
Before the injury he was playing limited minutes @ Tottenham (mostly coming off the bench late every other game)
We’re “addicted” to the old crew – they will all retire at some point – that’s life
By keeping them around – we’re stifling the next generation – the biggest issue with Vlasic, Pasalic, Brekalo, Majer types (even Kovacic) – is they’ve always had Modric to rely on / defer to – none of them have had to take the game by the scruff of the neck and make things happen
I think Majer is actually being held back by Modric/Broz/Kovacic.
Majer’s role on our team reminds me of Brozovic’s role on our team at Euro2016…when Cacic just slotted him at RW.
The same thing is being done with Majer this past year with us, where we want to play him, but we don’t want to bench or touch our central midfield trio.
The moment Brozovic was given a full time role in our central midfield (during WC2018) he took off for us.
We need to slot Majer at the #10 spot right behind our striker.
Injuries hurt, but that is part of life in world football. Wales had injuries and also played a number of players who don’t play too much at the club level.
Are we sure we have a pipeline coming up? Anyone watch the U21s against Greece on Friday. Not much coming up.
If Wales beats the Turks and loses Armenia, are we top of the group if we win both of ours? I can’t see Wales getting anything more than a draw in Armenia. They are inconsistent.
Yes, Croatia wins both, Wales beats Turkey but drops points to Armenia, Croatia is first.
I don’t think Turkey will lose.
They got themselves a new Italian coach who is trying to make a big splash.
They’ll go all out in their friendly against Germany and will want to win against Wales. Keep the momentum going until the Euros (where they have a huge Turkish diaspora cheering them on).
I feel like the game in Cardiff between Turkey and Wales will be a draw though.
We still need to win our games against Latvia and Armenia.
Big game for us today with Netherlands playing Greece in Athens.
If the Dutch lose today, then Greece stays in second with a large cushion.
The Netherlands would be our playoff opponent, should we fail to finish in one of the top-2 spots next month.
Otherwise, it will be one of Poland or Czech.
@Maninjo
See below – under Play-offs
<<>>
Looks like we’d play Estonia first (one-off match)
Than winner Netherlands vs. Poland (another one-off match)
No ?
Of course this can/will change – but we’re pretty much guaranteed to play 1st team in Group D (first one-off match)
Yea you’re probably right.
I was just picking who the top team would be that we would play as the deciding match.
Probably Poland (assuming Netherlands don’t mess up in their final three games).
This team fared well only a few months ago in Nations League v. Netherlands and Spain. We are not deep enough to keep keepin’ on with a bunch of injuries … and the struggles up front remain either way, it seems.
I blame the blue kits.
It’s like some sort of Yugo curse.
Gotta wear the NDH black ones where we almost won a World Cup in.
I agree. These Blue Kits are too close to Smrdoslavija Navy blue worn in italia 90. Back in Black is the way to go.
Things i learned
Livakovic great saves but makes same mistakes he doesnt know when to stay and come out of goal.
Barisic out
Kovacic waiting 10 years for him to become a player
Broz can tell he doesnt play elite football
Vida hvala dovidenja
Dalic doesnt trust sutalo erlic as cbs
Modrić is 38 not 28
When handicaped we are not a team no perisic no party
Too many injuries orsic petko koka ivanusec and krama are attack looked terrible.
I cant see replacement players at moment and Dalics luck has run out imo great tournament coach but overall coaching skills minimum to me. He has no replacement for his core guys.
Pasalic had the vest post game interview you cannot find form through the national team 70 percent of the 11 Dalic put out dont play first team minutes
Maybe luck stikes again we qualify and make a euro run all this is forgotten
They looked old and slow BOTH games. A LOT needs to change and fast!!!
I don’t know what the frequency is of national team coaches being dismissed, but I think Dalic needs to do some searching and decide if he wants to focus on “family” or if he wants to focus on “winning”.
Between 2018 and now, there really hasn’t been any focus or emphasis on bringing in the future to replace the present day and eventually the past.
At the same time, I don’t know any other nation who has celebrated this level of success in a short span.
These last two games have perfectly demonstrated Dalic’s coaching method of letting it ride; hoping for something to happen. And having it completely break down before his eyes, our eyes, and the eyes of the world.
He’s done some great things. But he needs to decide what to do. A sudden big mess that can have payoffs for the future, or just going with the same thing which will doom the future for possibly decades.
I was honestly taken aback of the upcoming talent. I really have had passionate convictions that the youth coming up would build off the current generation and evolve into the top flight team we have been waiting for and holding our breaths for. Instead, it has gone the opposite. And some horrible pain needs to be endured through some quick actions to correct the future, or he keeps sticking with aging players who now have shown they are past providing what is needed on the national team level. But then again, Dalic needed different formations to adjust and make work what was available. But again, he just let it ride. And the other teams ounces on it.
I’m beyond sad this day has arrived. I hold a lot of the team as heroes. But at some point, even your faithful dog who saved your life and has been there for you through thick and thin has their day come when it’s time to lovingly let them go.
I’m just a guy who sits on a couch in his checkered jersey and roots him team on however while watching however. I really don’t know anything other than the love for this team and nation. And Dalic has brought consistency. I have a lot of friends who consider themselves “honorary Croatians” and follow the team.
The day has arrived. I hope an answer is received.
@Josip
You brought tears to eyes, my Brother. Very well said.
I’ve always felt this way regarding the Repka, it seems we always had trouble with giving fresh blood an opportunity.
It seems that many players are given opportunities way past their expiration date. I often wonder if they were called up earlier would that have made for a better transition.
Let’s hope that we can continue past success and this is just the latest rendition of the Cardiac Croats. Lol ?
Well said agree
Hope we can’t make it to Euro 2024 ~
fire Dalic’s fucking ass and follow my advice:
……………… R Simic ………. Ljubičić ………………
Ivanusec…………… Pasalic ……………Juranovic
………………Lv Mayer………Lk Modric……………..
………..Gvardiol…..Vušković…..Stanisic…………
……………………….. Livakovic ………………………..
play this lineup and we lose all 3 games at Euros.
Agree but his head is in the right place.
More like this i think.
……………… …………R Simic ……….………………
Ivanusec…………… Pasalic/Vlasic ……………Kramaric
………………Kovacic………….Modric……………..
Sosa………..Gvardiol…..Sutalo…..Juranovic…
……………………….. Livakovic ………………………..
In a three team tie scenario, it comes down to total points amongst the teams involved.
Assuming Wales beat Turkey (by whatever score line), Wales beat Armenia and Croatia win both their matches, it would be:
1. Wales 7 pts
2. Turkey 6 pts
3. Croatia 4 pts
Turkey have not clinched first, just a top two finish. Croatia could win both of their final two matches by 10+ goals, and it won’t matter UNLESS Wales drop points somewhere.
On the face of it, the most likely scenario is Croatia finishing on the outside looking in and heading to the playoffs.
The opening match stoppage time draw at home to Wales in a match the Vatreni dominated will ultimately cost them.
Uboj, spot on with your explanation.
In a three team tie scenario, the 1st tie break comes down to the total points obtained in the matches against the two other teams.
1. If Wales beat Turkiye they will have obtained a total of 7 points in the matches against Turkiye and Croatia.
Most likely scenario is still Wales losing points to one of Armenia or Turkey
Wales is a lot better team than Armenia despite losing to them 4 – 2 in Cardiff. I saw the highlights of that match and Armenia scored some stunning goals that they won’t repeat in another 10 years.
Best chance is Turkey however I have read someone that prior to the Welsh match they are playing Germany in a friendly. Hopefully they will rest their better players against Germany ? but somehow, I don’t think they will.