Hey guys, not to be a “Debbie Downer” here or rain on anyone’s parade, but when is it time to talk about the elephant in the room? Or if you don’t want to talk about the elephant because you’re still hopped up on Dida’s rakija from Croatia’s first ever victory over the French, I completely understand.
What Modrić and the boys did from a results perspective after the 3-0 loss to Austria is incredible- Nations League or not. They rebounded against a very good French B-Squad in a 1-1 draw before hitting the road and bagging two victories in Copenhagen and Paris. In the three matches post-Austria, the Croatian defense only conceded one goal total (to France). Fantastic! (More to come on Erlić, Šutalo, Stanišić later in the week)
But let’s talk about the anemic offense and YOUR personal concern for the lack of scoring. Croatia scored one goal each game after Austria. That’s three goals total. However, two came from the penalty spot. That means in four total Nations League matches across the last 10 days, our beloved Vatreni only scored one goal from open play in 360 minutes. And that was Pašalić’s nutmeg of Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
That’s not good. Not five months before the World Cup.
There were two things I said Dalić needed to get closer to figuring out these four Nations League games in June:
- Who is the best goalkeeping option for Croatia? Ivušić is my pick at the moment
- Who is the best option to play starting striker?
It’s a shame we did not get to see Petar Musa or Marko Livaja this month due to COVID protocols. I wanted both of them to put pressure on Krama and Budimir this summer while they lay on the beach and ponder their World Cup futures.
Krama was average over the past four matches in creating chances and Budimir was lackluster at best. Using Pašalić as a striker is not an option in my book so we’re right back to ‘Square 1’ from my perspective. Kramarić is still the best striking option we have as not much was learned this week.
Granted, Croatia did not have their best scoring/crossing threat on the field – Mr. Ivan Perišić – but c’mon, one open field goal in four matches. That’s worrisome.
On a scale of 1-10, how worried are you that Croatia will not have a proper striker at the World Cup in five months?
Hey, di je Frenchman?
I believe Frenchman and Laknat were the same person. He got the boot. I got tired of his bullshit.
Evo me
If we aren’t winning games by huge margins, no sense of panic due to winning games by lone goals or drawing against high ranked teams. We’ve never been a high scoring team. We don’t possess records in any major tournaments or in qualifying. The mindset we need to engage in is to have defence over all and control the middle or field like we’ve always had. The national team has made noticeable progress since that disastrous Euro tournament. We conceived 8 goals in four games. Ever since that close comeback against the Spaniards, only 7 goals allowed in 11 compatible matches. Scoring has been a main issue we’ve needed to address and his forums have been filled with numerous solutions, formations, calling up fresh talent from the youth national team. We know what works and what doesn’t. In momentous games, Czech 2021, Spain 2021, France and Denmark 2022, or the even sided game against Slovakia that could’ve cost us first place had be lost and not drew and come back twice. Look at those formations: either Kramaric upfront, Perisic on the left wing, Pasalic central forward. These our top players we have to commit to. Heading into the World Cup, whether we win by a one goal or manage to draw Belgium in a scoreless game. I’m satisfied with low offence production as long as our midfield and defence is on point. Let’s say we do make the round of 16. We’d most likely play Spain or Germany. I highly doubt Japan pulls an upset. Defence will the main key factor in those two realistic match ups. Spain has inflicted damage on us in a few games. Last two matches we’ve conceived 10 goals against them. Germany we haven’t met since that Euro 08 game. They still have immense offence power. Those two sides will be the most difficult, even more than Belgium. Erlic, Stanisic, Gvardiol and a few others are the strongest youthful defence that is better than prior generations. Ivusic or Livakovic are the only options in net. Knowing Dalic, I don’t think he’ll start Grbic without playing nations league and you can’t blame him. Finish off strong in September and then by October we’ll know the Euro Cup qualifying groups.
Never seen Italia so messed up- it’s so bad that all the TO Italians are jumping on Croatia now – love the Italians – so funny people especially when they rip their beloved Forza – oh God, some of the youtube is priceless on how they want to tear people apart – they talk worse trash than us-anyway, good to have Italia to give us humor
Seems like Mancini is experimenting with random mediocre players in the lineup.
Some of these guys are neither young nor talented. A few Dario Melnjak’s in there.
Man, he is taking his life in his own hands getting blown out- you can even talk to the Italianos . they want blood.
Italy got raped by the Germans 5-2
Italy’s goals came after it was 5-0 already
Think about right now If we got smoked by France like that
I get it we are getting results but aren’t playing sexy soccer
This is Denmark and France. Not gonna go and smash them so easy
Let’s be truly thankful where we are going into summer
The late World Cup will be fine
Gives time for ivusic to prepare and a striker to emerge
Musa with time in the fall as others have said!
Late World Cup was a blessing for us.
Had the tournament started this month, we would be without Perisic and we would have probably started Lovren in the backline (and Stanisic probably gets no time either).
It would have been a repeat performance of the Euros where we draw a half decent team (Morocco) and beat a crap team (Canada) while losing to the good team (Belgium). Then get bounced by a top-10 team in the Round of 16, but taking solace in the fact that we (apparently) put up a good fight.
With the late year tournament, we get our second best player back…and we get to build on the recent performance, fielding players capable of dominating possession with dribbling and passing without ever giving it away.
I must admit that I have been surprised by our results so far in the NL. After that loss to Austria, I honestly thought that we’ll be lucky to get a point in the next three matches against France and Denmark. Instead we got seven, with two away wins against Denmark, France and a draw at home v France.
I would say that the confidence in team is high and that is important going forward. The most pleasing thing is that our defence is looking strong with new comers such as Erlic and Sutalo looking impressive. A lot of credit must also go to our midfield and in fact the entire team for defending as a unit, keeping shape and discipline.
Budimir is ideal for matches where we have to employ defensive tactics like against France, using 5-4-1 or 6-3-1 formations. He runs and fights for every ball. We simply do not have anyone else ? Pity that Musa got Covid, but Dalic can try him out in September. Kramaric needs to play when we use more offensive formations in matches against so called weaker teams. We lack a bit of speed upfront, but with Perisic to return that will make a big difference to the forward line. As far as lack of goals ? A win is a win, I don’t care if it is 1 – 0 or how the goal is scored.
It really just came down to our team keeping the ball on the field, with short passes and dribbling…instead of constantly punting it forward in the air (resulting in a 50/50 possession).
The France draw in Split wasn’t a good game as we just kept punting it forward and tried to attack solely in a crowded middle. Ball just bouncing around stupidly, and even though we had Modric/Kova/Brozovic on the field…it didn’t matter because we weren’t using their skillset.
Modric was just jumping most of the time, trying to win the 50/50 high balls lol.
Last game, I don’t recall them even punting it into the air once.
Even under pressure, our backline didn’t want waste a possession and kept the passes short between themselves and Brozovic…so we can slowly but steadily bring it forward.
If that was Lovren or Vida in the back, the ball would either get punted forward, or passed back to Livakovic (who would just punt it forward, and probably out of bounds).
That last paragraph. I was watching it in my head in 4d
We can not keep doing that shit
This is the best we have looked heading into a June summer break ever.
Right now the boys are feeling good about Qatar only 5 months away.
Denmark and Austria matches will have a real intensity to them.
Budimir and Ivusic both looked good away to France.
Budimir made good runs all match and earned the penalty through his presence in the box. He scores in la liga on a regular basis. Start him and simply take him out when he tires or is ineffective. Also maybe a tactical choice who is up top due to the opponent?
Ivusic brings that size and presence. Routine catches that Livakovic turns into an adventure were made by him with ease.
I am curious to see who is on fire for the club this August?
Mate! Couldn’t care less if we won every game 1-0 with half the goals as pk’s. Lifting the trophy is the only thing that’s matters!!!!
Johnny V, I agree that at the end of the day it’s lifting the trophy that matters. I am definitely not trying to downplay the importance of this win and how the game was won through doth defence and midfield play. But adding that strength in attack and attacking play would really solidify our team. This would make it extra difficult for teams to deal with the Croatian side because now they have to worry about the counter attack even more so. One more added player with Perisic who would be able to score consistently would not hurt our chances in either tournament.
So I do agree with you that a win is a win at the end of the day.
This is what I’ve been looking for. Redemption and a result against a quality team. France to me aren’t the giants they’ve been in the past though. But we overcame the African colonial empire. We dropped points against Austria but that was a hiccup, since then we’ve played three solid teams with results in our favour. England got thrashed by Hungary and fir some reason struggle against a team that hasn’t made a World Cup save the 1980s. Italy got run over by the Germans. I firmly believe Denmark is a better team than England and France. Spain, Denmark, Switzerland and Croatia are all underdogs that can go far. Anyone see Australia beat Peru on penalties?
https://sportske.jutarnji.hr/sn/nogomet/hnl/klubovi/osijek/svi-su-poludjeli-za-ivusicem-zovu-iz-francuske-italije-engleske-pada-i-rekord-lovre-kalinica-15210574
Glad to see Ivušić gaining recognition.
Apparently, Lazio is interested in Livaković too.
Rebić is Rebić.
He can counter attack with the best of them.
He comes back strong in August and makes amends with Dalic.
I want to see him in September.
Brekalo is an asset as well.
Majer snap shot was impressive.
Modric gave perfect break away feeds to Rebic in Argentina , and other games in 2018 WC run. Each time he figured out away to mess it up. Always fishing for a red card by stepping on people’s feet. Rebic is all smoke no fire. Let’s Be honest with what we see. Very fun to watch like a comedy shop
Soul Champ admit it you’re related to Rebic…most of us don’t quite understand your love and adulation of poor misunderstood Ante?
Right now we got lucky and used psuedo Alchemy, changing 3 goals into 7 points. I pray we have chemistry, by the time WC rolls around , and we can make 9 goals into 9 points, and win our group to the final 16. Have a defense that can bunker and also delivery offensive accurate crosses when needed on counter attacks, sounds good to me.
Livaja gave a masterclass in how to play the striker position throughout the prva liga season, so he definitely should get a chance in September. Musa did something similar off the bench in Portugal and needs a good look. Kramarić had a season of basically trying to hold a disintegrating team together, and I think it’s made him a more well-rounded player. He looked good in both matches against France, giving the defenders a hard time with his foot skills and tenacity. Everyone knows he can score if given an opening, and it’s very unsettling for the defenders. It opens up the possibility of mistakes or opportunities for teammates. Budimir is just a workhorse in every sense. Not very skilled by professional standards, but knows how to play his position and put constant pressure on the defense. My prediction is that the team is beginning to take shape, and the goals will follow the chemistry. I predict Kramarić or Livaja as the right winger once all four strikers are back so that Budimir continues to start but with someone else to actually finish the plays.
A little bit of perspective here – France and Denmark allowed 6 goals COMBINED in 20 WC qualifier matches. Yeah, we were far from clinical, but no need to panic. There’s plenty of quality there to create chances. Just have to do better with them and continue locking it down in defence and controlling the mf. Speaking of which, our mf put on a freaking possession clinic against probably the best attacking team in the world for the last 15-20 minutes. We are blessed and spoiled, and will be for many years with Sucic and Majer coming up.
Also, let’s not write Brekalo off yet. He’s excellent dribbling, and created what should have been a tap in had anyone had the sense to run to the back side. We can all see the drop off from Perisic, but even he didn’t really hit his stride in a big league or the national team until he was 27. He needs to keep training.
4-3-3 Kramaric dropping as a false 9 to play in between the mid and strikers OR we go 4-5-1 but realistically Budimir is the only forward running at defenders and I don’t know what Musa or Sucic (should they try him there) look like.
I think Cro will play 4-3-3 false 9 if we don’t see any promise from a striker. We all know Krama is best just behind the strikers.
Engerand with a similar prob only scoring one goal from open play too. But they just lost 4-0 at home to Hungary so doing a lot worse lol.
NL is okay really, i know we trashed it before but it’s okay – and i realise im saying that since we now have some wins under our belt but i dont mind it.
I love how western media when the big boys lose say its a meaningless tournament bla bla. When they win its brilliant wc favorites hahah.
Has there ever been a player , outside of goalie , who was able to play in their 40’s maybe Pirlo , Rooney, or Zidane at a high competitive level? Is it possible Modric could still be playing, even just maybe as a sub in the 2026 world cup? I am thinking the 2024 euro will be his last tournament most likely, if he does not retire after the world cup. If Croatia wins WC 2022, I sure that will be it for him.
Well, considering Zlatan is still playing at a high level at age 41, and his mom being from Zadar…
I’m guessing there’s something in the water there that will keep Modrić playing beyond 40.
Thanks for that tidbit, did not know that
We still have a couple games left
I would give Roko Simic a shot
See what he can do
Budimir is not a prolific goal scorer but he showed an impressive work rate IMO
Kramaric is probably a better striker but probably has a lower work rate
Perisic is missed…his play is probably better linked to Kramaric than Budimir. He’s definitely going to score more than Mandza did, but I’m not sure if he’ll be around long enough to top Suker.
I don’t think Rebic is the solution, but I enjoy watching him play
Lovren & Vida out, no disrespect but the young kids are outperforming them
I am concerned that we don’t have a proper goal-scoring menace and I’m not sold on our keepers but Ivusic is probably our best option ATM
Defense wins trophies but you can’t ignore the issue of striker. Spreading the scoring around is great but we need someone up top that puts a little fear into the opponent’s defense.
Robert Jarni was really high on the connection between Budimir and Kovačić. It’s worth noting that two of the three goals the team scored were penalties drawn by excellent ball control by Kramarić and Budimir. Both of them created a few dangerous chances but ran into solid goalkeeping. One great chance against France was wasted by Juranović playing the beautiful game instead of just attacking the goal, and another was wasted by a poor hit from Vlasić. That’s partly just football, and the finishing may just come from the team having more trust in each other about when they can take shots versus pass the ball off. From my perspective the biggest problem in the final third has been miscommunication, or misunderstanding the movements of the other players. That’s why Jarni was so high on Kovačić and Budimir. They connected to create chances, and the more chances created, the more likelihood of a goal.
thats actually a good point about the communication/understanding near the goal. I do really appreciate Budimir’s movement up top. It’s annoying af to defend against that. lol
So the under 21s choked and finished second. I just hope Dalic doesnt send Stanisic Sucic Sutalo to Biscan need to build for 2022 i can live with u21s not going to euro A team is all that matters.
Could be a big blessing in disguise.
Biscan was touted as being a potential successor to Dalic, but he’s had a very stacked team in these U21 qualifiers with guys like Sutalo, Sucic, Stanisic at his disposal (and he had guys like Gvardiol and Sosa for far too long before this, triggering the whole Sosa to Germany debacle).
Qualifying for the 16-team U-21 Euros last year was considered a success…then finishing second in our group with 1 win and 2 losses was somehow considered a success too.
I think he’s just lucky he’s been given senior squad caliber players this entire time, and didn’t really do anything unexpected.
Probably would be better off if they lose the playoff, fail to qualify, and all the talk of Biscan being the ‘A’ reprezentacija successor could be put to bed.
We need to do a proper coaching search after Dalic.
Who knows what we look like 2024 and 2026?
2024 euro if i go by prediction
Goalkeeper ? Livakovic Ivusic labrovic Kotarski Cavlina Josipovic Sipic Grbic
Backline Sutalo Erlic Vuskovic Gvardiol CC Pongracic Franjic Soldo Smolcic
Sosa Colina Bradaric Juranovic Milicevic Stanisic
Midfield Kova Broz Pasalic Baturina Jakic Tolic Ivanusec Sucic Moro Zaper Babec Palaverse Ljepenica Vlasic Pasalic Majer. Zvonarek
Attack Simic Brekalo Marin Biuk Ljubicic Beljo Kramaric Matanovic Beljo Vidovic.
I think Kramaric will do well as our striker once Perisic returns.
Ivusic should be out goalie.
Juranovic and Vrsaljko can also be given a shot on the right wing. I’m sure Vrsaljko will be good again when he gets more playing time. These two would do far more on the right wing than Pasalic for sure.
Budimir sounds good to me on paper due to his size and other attributes but he doesn’t perform well enough.
I would take Livaja, Petkovic, and even the unused Musa over him. Kramaric is still our best option, what he lacks in height he makes up for everything else. Having him as a false 9 is nice in theory but other than injured Perisic, we don’t have much consistent striking power on the wings.
That said, Kramaric is best when he pairs up with another striker or plays on the wing. Having him as a second striker in a 352 or on the wings in our usual 433 would be best.
Given that Dalic will probably stick with the more comfortable 433, play Kramaric and Perisic on the wings having them switch occasionally to mix things up. Give Musa and Livaja a go in the middle.
I think Livaja needs a chance up front. He is the best goal scorer in HNL, which of course isn’t the best league, but he’s more aggressive than Kramaric and has shown he can finish.
Is negative 3 an option on the scale 😉
A decent striker in the World Cup? We haven’t had one for the past 4 years, so someone coming on before November is not likely.
Livaja has already been given some time upfront. He’s another HNL guy with better skills than someone like Bruno Petkovic. He’s more agile than Kramaric and I think he gets into open position better as well but another guy with limited skills who can’t finish.
There are still two Nations League matches so Musa can start as a striker then and keep our fingers crossed. We can’t keep hoping that the backline will do their part and get an own goal as we did vs Russia to qualify or get a PK call in the 3rd minute like we did vs France where most referees would have simply ignored the foul and played on.
PS- Man, we had Boksic and Suker on the same team at the same time many years ago and now we’re throwing out names of guys who are backups (at best). Yikes!!! 🙁
Yeah when you really look at our last few games against quality opposition.
1- Russia -own goal.
2- Austria- no goals.
3- Denmark – 1 goal from open play.
4- France x 2. Penalties x2.
5 games and only 1 goal from open play. I agree defence wins but will need more scoring than that.
We can all make up our own fantasy lineups but bottom line if you don’t have a legit striker and if you don’t have horses on the wings you don’t play 4-3-3. I don’t know how why Dalic keeps forcing this system.
If seem like the great 1990’s generation, bunkered on the defensive end, and scored solely on Suker style counter attacks.
Not at all. We didn’t bunker….didn’t have to with the talent on those teams.
I stand corrected then , but I remember them having a strong counter attack , and than focusing in on their defensive effort. Would you give me that as a truer statement?
Musa and Simic. Easy.
In the future sure… Simic is a long shot right now but Musa is worth a go
If we can start a Dinamo Zagreb player in our backline, we can bring Roko Simic off the bench for a try.
You can’t underestimate a player who is on a strong upward trajectory.
It was unthinkable to call up Gvardiol 18 months ago, and now he’s the best young defender in Germany.
If we want to go all out attack we can go 334.
Sutalo, erlic, josko;
brozovic, modric, kovacic;
brekalo, budimir, kramaric, perisic
Two things:
Firstly, tournaments are won on defense and midfield control. Not attack. In the tense knockout games 1-0 is plenty good enough
Secondly, yes we need more threat going forward thats why I believe in a change back to 4231. Because if you want to win 1-0 you need to have a viable attacking/counter attacking threat to make the opposition cautious about pushing forward. I’ve said it recently and I’ll say it again: 2 of modric, brozovic and kovacic is good enough to control midfield. Playing all three is a waste of either an extra defender or an extra attacker.
I’ve suggested perisic, kramaric, budimir and majer as a front 4. That combination gives us everything we need.
It’s a no brainer
“2 of modric, brozovic and kovacic is good enough to control midfield.”
During the WC against Canada and Morocco, broz and modric in the center is enough, anything more and we’re getting diminishing returns. If we’re playing for the draw against belgium last game, then 4-3-3 with kova in the mid is fine.
“I’ve suggested perisic, kramaric, budimir and majer as a front 4.”
Majer RW? So basically the right side of our attack will be nonexistent. Majer is slow, he physically can’t sprint past defenders. He should only play CM or CAM.
Yeah. The thing is majer drifts inside and either budimir or kramaric go into the right channel with the other one staying CF. That movement is hard to defend. With 433 you cant do that
Please stop with Rebic. Just watch his low/highlights of the past. He was the killer instincts around the of Kovacic. We don’t need the energizer bunny.
I respectively disagree, I think Kramaric, can do the job, and believe additionally he should be taking our penalty kicks, not modric. Every time modric takes the penalty kicks, the goalie’s hands are on it. He is are best player hands down, but not are best penalty kicker, not like Rakitic who had ice in his veins. I never have faith in modric’s penalty kicks.
Perisic and Mario, both scored goals in the last WC final, but Mario also headed a goal in for France, and Perisic hand balled in front of our own net.
What good are goals if they are giving them back on the other end. Have not seen kramaric make those mistakes.
I think if we are patient with kramaric will prove you wrong. This is the kalanic and Mandzukic debate all over again.
Some good points and don’t get me wrong – I do like Krama- he is such a patriot for Croatia and strong nationalistic views – I just don’t like he cant score from left foot and right- almost a must as a striker- I wish it will be him but i don’t see it- I say we go for Mandzu type- bigger and more left and right foot finisher- do I have a name for now- I’d say maybe Sucic but that’s far riskier than Krama.
All good points as well.
I’m sorry “what good are goals it.if they are giving them back on the other end??”
Players make mistakes even the best of players do they are human.
Probably the strangest comment I have heard. Kramaric is no where near as good as Perisic and Mandzukic. Especially not in comparison to Perisic. Perisic is the third best goal scorer for Croatia in general at this moment behind both Suker and Mandzukic. Mandzo has 33 goals and Perisic has 32. You cannot write off all of that over a soft handball call.
Not too mention it happened only once albeit in the finals of the World Cup. Perisic is easily the second best player on the team hands down. He nearly ended games for us on two separate occassion against both Russia and England prior to extra time he was just a bit unlucky and hit the inside.of the post. It’s called margin of luck.
Not sure what your basing that comment on.
Just give it time…when Perisic comes back people will eat there words. They will start to see more goals. The fact that he is not here is the reason we don’t score.
It’s sad because I like to see other players stepping up but it’s not happening.
I agree with soul champ. Rebic if he could just play his powerful press style play would cause so much problems. But can he humble himself to make right and to maybe just play a huge pest type role??
I got it
Gvardiol at striker;)
Big and presence and not many will push him off the ball
I only half joke cause I get the feeling he wants to play up front so much
Like others have said
If you throw just Perisic and sosa on that left side I don’t care how predictable it becomes that left side is gonna cause all sorts of problems and in turn open up space
If you have to double up on Perisic(when he is in beast mode) space opens
Crosses come
Sosa gonna hit something with a handful of opportunities in a match
There is an old adage in hockey that when you keep dumping pucks on net someone will put some garbage in
I believe we will start to score
But as others have said how anemic has some of Italy’s championship runs looked before
Kramaric- definitely not- that is a non-starter. The kids are the answer and unfortunately a few weren’t available- we have veteran midfield – the rest must be the kids- their better, faster and can kick with left foot or right foot- Krama can’t do any of that. Nice guy- but not a good striker
I am more concerned by the fact we are too reliant on modric kovacic and brozovic..once they are gone, we are doom..look at austria 3-0 loss..plus we do not have potent strikers..our centre backs are not playing for big clubs yet. Really hope ivusic can step up quickly
Most of our mids played against Austria lol
Yeah I think there’s reason to be concerned.
Winning 1-0 is great I agree I don’t need anything more.
But when more than half our goals are from penalties then that’s different. Both penalties easily could have not been given and had this been a meaningful game we wouldn’t have gotten those calls against France in a major tournament.
we can hope for all sorts of miracles to happen. I see the same comments today as I did 5 months ago…people mentioning Livaja and now Musa (who deserves a shot). Livaja is everything at Hajduk and everything is played through him, served through him while on the National team he’s been a victim of being lost and has very little impact on games. Musa might be more interesting, Budimir seems to work extremely hard and yet he looks like he’s running on sand.
Maybe at this point we should be looking for someone that can challenge defenders with a physical presence, a players thats always moving and looking for space and will draw defenders because we keep hoping for a miracle from the same 3 players and that miracle is not going to happen!
Yesterday our defensive 4 demonstrated a very disciplined and sturdy defense against 2 of the best attackers in the world…and they did phenomenal. The midfield was almost as perfect, defensively and between Broz, Modric and Kova…they did a phenomenal job staying compact and shutting down the passing lanes.
Krama, Livaja, Petkovic, Budimir, Vlasic…are all impotent at the moment and we need to look elsewhere!
Hope Musa plays for Benfica nunez got sold so he will get opportunities i hope.
Maybe beljo plays for osijek and has solid season Hnl gets a call why not.
Roko Simic i think is gonna get called for 2024 qualifiers unless he moves to A slasburg team and proves himself.
I still think Dalic wants Lovren Vida imo he feels he owes them which is exactly what Ciro did post 98 kept playing Ladic beacuse he owed him for the bronze
I am not worried anymore. The main point that I took away from these past few games, is that our team has strong “character”. The core of our team is solid, and confident. Our defence is finally strong. Our midfield is the best in the world. Our keeper is good (it would be better if he was great). Budimir works hard, and I think he does a pretty good job disrupting the opposing defenders. Just add some speedy runs down the flank, and dangerous crosses from Perisic, and I’m sure the goals will come.
A little worried but I predict the kids will be all over the field with 3 midfielders and we’re gonna go young with the magnets at mid – if we win in the final 1-0 will anyone complain? I say no.
France will be in beat down mode in September. They will probably blow out both Denmark and Austria.
With two games during the beginning of the club season will have our first team crew ready for Denmark and then Austria.
I think it is super cool to have meaningful matches with the UNL in September.
I’d like to see a 3-5-2 as it plays to our strengths and many of our players at club level.
Did you see that Majer snap shot in the second half?
He has goals in him and so does Sučić.
I would take 1-0 wins all day long!
How does Italy have 4 world cups? Or Greece when they won the Euro. Mostly on the back of 1-0 victories.
Budimir and Kramaric are better than average for what we need from them. The goals will come when necessary.
Most people here think because we made it to the final we should be crushing teams and scoring by the bucketful. Modern nogomet is a game of fine margins and the international games are a different animal from league play or champions league.
What we showed yesterday was how to win these types of games.
Just like in Russia, we have all the players to go far again, all we need is to maintain our winning mentality and composure.
Ajmo dečki!!!
Bog i Hrvati
Smart. I agree with tall this except for Budimir being better than average. He is not. But everything else you said is on point.
To be fair…we didn’t have Perisic, Sosa, and Gvardiol, and they are three of our most offensively impactful players.
We haven’t had them on the field together in a long time. The last time we had all three on the field together, was during the qualification stretch against Cyprus, Malta and Russia and we scored a total of 11 goals in three games. Even though the win against Russia was only 1-0…the game was completely one-sided, and they were playing in torrential rain…but these things happen and what mattered most was the dominance displayed in that game by Croatia.
If we continue to play the way we did against France, then we will score by committee (just like we did at WC2018).
What’s most important is that we remain true to our beautiful technical ability, like we did at the last World Cup.
Dominant ball possession, where we thoroughly control and outplay the opposition, no matter who they are.
People forget that we outpossessed, outshot, and outchanced every single team that we played in the World Cup (including Argentina and France).
We have the best central midfield in the World, and we need to continue to show that.
With this style of play that we displayed yesterday, you are only as strong as your weakest link.
At the last Euros, we attempted to play this style in the match against Spain…but couldn’t because of Rebic messing up every touch.
In these past few games, we had guys like Jakic, Vida and Barisic in there. These guys can’t play this game.
There is a reason why Adama Traore (who is valued at 30 million Euro) cannot start for Spain. They recognize that he cannot play the style they want to play.
We need to cut players like Lovren, Vida, and Skoric from the squad. They provide no value at all, and they hinder our playing style. We also need to relegate players like Jakic and Barisic to the end of the bench (and only use them as late subs if needed).
We were visibly missing our wing play last game, and you could see it.
Imagine having Perisic as a threat down that wing, or Sosa sending in 5-10 crosses to Budimir in the middle…
We would have beaten France 3-0.
My only concern would be Gvardiol getting too eager and wanting to join the attack too much, lol. But that’s okay, he’d probably score to make up for any defensive lapses.
Honestly, I don’t care if we lose. So long as we stay true to our style.
There is a reason people around the World respect Croatia, and it’s because of this fantastic style that we play which can take out anyone.
I predict Sosa will be the surprise of the tourney for Croatia- he’s got game and i like to see his cockiness revved up like the boys in 1998- that was fun to watch – don’t know if we can play Germany but imagine Sosa popping one for us against those buggers.
We cross over with the Germany/Spain group in the Round of 16.
I’m not worried. You need to consider the opponents. Beating the world’s best teams 1-0 is impressive. That’s more indicative of where we’re at. If we were playing some B or C league quality friendlies, I’m sure that there would be more goals. Beating France and Denmark in their home stadiums is infinitely more impressive than a 3-0 victory against Turkey or Greece. Also, generally, penalties are earned.
Am not worried…we played France twice…a powerhouse…and beat them.
Also, away at a very difficult (especially at home) Danish side…2 wins, that’s all that matters.
The defence is looking real dangerous, It’s causing good problems to have in the team in regards competition for spots.
Budimir showed presence and industry against France in Paris.
Actually happy that we have him as an option.
The real elephant in the room is how do you not bring Rebić back in for a look in September.
We have explosive wing issues as much as striker issues.
We have been talking about a 3-5-2 for some time.
We have the best midfield in the world. Add a solid defense and we can stifle teams.
Rebić is needed on the LW or as a striker option.
I have seen with my own two eyes with Scudetto AC Milan that he is the goods.
No one saying he is world class but he can be real effective.
He has played well on the World Cup stage.
There has to be an olive branch extended.
Boban should speak to Rebić, have him apologize to Dalic and get ready for September.
Rebić is here for power, pace and presence. We have the Majer’s of the world for technical quality.
Budimir caused the penalty from his sheer presence.
I’m pretty stoked about what we have for defence and hopefully ivusic emerged as fave
My concern is we will blow all the positives we got with keeping and defence and we go back to liva and lovren/vida
And wasting what we are learning
I pray we can score by committee somehow….
I’m down for trying musa and simic but doesn’t look like it will happen this go around
Musa for sure has to be seen
We know what we get from krama and budimir
I think that’s point being made above. Krama and Budimir are not showcasing very much and they didn’t show much against France. That is our issue. I think it would have been better if we could see a bit of Petar Musa and Marko Livaja.
This is a big worry not a small one. We don’t currently have this ability with the team we have. We don’t possess a strong ability to score goals whereas a team like Belgium do.
All the players we have with the seasons they have had, it falls to them. Players like Pasalic,Majer, Livaja, Budimir, Kramaric, Orsic to showcase their goal scoring talent. Mind you some of them are not present now.
It is not being shown.
Yes defence can win you a game, and win you many games in fact. However, you still need to put the ball in the back of the net few times to make it happen.
Had that result for us been 2-0 with France, I would have been more confident.
Regardless we are missing players, so it’s still a good result for me.