ENGLAND
It hasn’t been about the Croatian players in the Premiership this season, rather the Croatian coach.
Former Croatia manager Slaven Bilić slayed yet another English giant this weekend in Jose Mourniho’s Chelsea. West Ham defeated last year’s Premier League champions 2-1 at Upton Park after both manager Jose Mourinho and Nemanja Matic were sent off. Substitute Andy Carroll would score the game winner 10 minutes after Bilić inserted him in the game (69′) and West Ham would roll to another huge victory. A quarter through the season, the Hammers sit in third place, only two points behind leaders Manchester City and have already defeated Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea.
Next big boy on their list: Manchester United at Old Trafford on December 5th.
Although Bilić and his boys are riding high; it’s a long season and anything can happen. Not trying to be a ‘debbie downer’, but remember that every Croatian high followed with a low with Bilić at the helm.
He defeated England twice in Euro 2008 qualifying-beat Germany in group play-then the Turkey game happened. Next qualifying campaign: got crushed by England twice and couldn’t beat Ukraine-didn’t make the 2010 World Cup. Last qualifying campaign under Bilić: couldn’t beat Greece, squeaked in with playoff win over Turkey and then ran into Italian and Spanish brick walls at Euro 2012.
If Bilić can ride out this momentum. Great. However, history says otherwise.
Not much else going on in England. Nikica Jelavić remained on the bench for West Ham. Andrej Kramarić rode the bench for Leicester City in a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace. Dejan Lovren remains sidelined for Liverpool with a foot injury. Liverpool played out a 1-1 draw with Southampton.
SPAIN
Luka Modrić and Real Madrid got a huge road win on Saturday defeating Celta Vigo 3-1. Modrić got the start and played 80 minutes while Mateo Kovačić remained on the bench. First half goals from Ronaldo and Danilo were enough for Real to remain in first place as Barcelona stay level on points with their rivals in La Liga. The thigh injury Modrić picked up against Bulgaria did not keep the midfielder out long at all.
Ivan Rakitić and Barcelona kept pace with Real Madrid; defeating Eibar 3-1 on Sunday behind a Luis Suarez hat trick. Rakitić played the entire match and was cautioned in the 50th minute. Duje Čop rode the bench as Malaga defeated Deportivo la Coruna 2-0. Alen Halilović and Sporting Gijon host Athletic Bilbao Monday night.
Germany
Photo: EPA
Hamburger SV moved up to tenth on the Bundesliga table after shutting out Hoffenheim 1-0 on Friday night. German born, Croatian international, Ivo Iličević, started as a left winger for Bayer Leverkusen and played 64 minutes in the win. Ivo struggled to find his shot and finished with only one shot on goal in the win. Ivica Olić looked on from the bench in the win.
Former Dinamo Zagreb defender, Tin Jedvaj, missed out on Bayer Leverkusen’s 4-3 win over Stuttgart on Saturday because of injury. Jedvaj has been ruled out for the rest of the calendar year with a thigh injury. Bayer’s manager, Roger Schmidt, wasn’t thrilled with the news: “It’s terrible news. Tin was fit again and we’d already planned his comeback in close coordination with the medical department. He’s suffered a recurrence of the same injury, so we’ll have to take a close look at that. When young players like Tin suffer the same injury three times, you also have to keep their careers in mind.”
Tin told Jutarnji List: “I have received so many phone calls from family and friends. The manager’s words have been twisted. My career is not in question, everything will be ok. I clearly don’t have any luck. We will try a new method of recovery and I think that after this I should be ok. I’m not sure how long I will be out, but I think I should return by the start of the new year.” Hopefully, the future Croatian right back can return much stronger and have a successful footballing career.
Italy
PHOTO: Juve
Juventus picked up a valuable three points by dominating Atalanta and registering a 2-0 win on Sunday. Former Dinamo Zagreb striker, Mario Mandžukić, started and played 77 minutes for Juventus in the win. Super Mario finally reached the back of the net for Juventus by scoring a typical-Ivica-Olić-like-goal in the 49th minute of play. Mario was in the right place at the right time to smash in a Paulo Dybala cross from the left side. Hopefully, this is the start of a new beginning for Mandžukić as he has struggled thus far to adapt to Italian football.
Mario Mandžukić goal
Photo: EPA
Ivan Perišić scored his second goal of the season and fourth goal in his last five competitive matches as Inter Milan and Palermo split the points in a 1-1 draw on Saturday night in Sicily. The former Hajduk Split prospect started at left wing for Inter and went the distance in the win. Ivan played well and scored a typical-Ivica-Olić-like-goal just after the hour mark. However, Inter couldn’t hold on to the lead and dropped points for only the fourth time this season. Marcelo Brozović looked on from the bench in the draw.
Ivan Perišić goal
Photo: Milan
Šime Vrsaljko started and played 90 minutes at right back for Sassuolo in a 2-1 loss against AC Milan on Sunday. The former Dinamo Zagreb defender wasn’t at fault for either of the two Milan goals and played well in defeat. Sassuolo were outshot 21-4 as Andrea Consigi picked up a red card that led to an AC Milan penalty kick in the 29th minute. Should Vrsaljko start at right back for Croatia?
Photo: AP
In a battle of top dogs, Roma came out on top with an impressive 2-1 win over Fiorentina on Sunday. Former Hajduk Split striker, Nikola Kalinić, failed to get his sixth goal of the season as he finished with four shots in 90 minutes of work. Roma were clearly the better side and pipped Fiorentina or the top spot atop the Serie A table.
Photo: Reuters
Milan Badelj started and played 61 minutes for Fiorentina in the loss. The former Dinamo Zagreb captain wasn’t at fault for the Roma goals. Ante Rebić looked on from the bench for Fiorentina in the win.
Stipe Perica looked on from the bench for Udinese in a 1-0 win over Frosinone.
FRANCE
Danijel Subasic kept a clean sheet for Monaco on Sunday as they won 1-0 at Reims. Subasic made five fairly easy saves in the match and picked up a yellow card in the 90th minute for time-wasting. Mario Pasalic also started and played the full 90. Pasalic had six shots, but was not able to put any on target. He created one chance completed 34 passes. Monaco are now tied for 6th in Ligue 1, four points out from 3rd.
Save: 2:41
UKRAINE
The Ukrainian Premier League had the weekend off, as teams will compete in Ukrainian Cup Round of 16 early this week. Domagoj Vida’s Dynamo Kyiv and Darijo Srna and Eduardo’s Shakhtar Donetsk both take comfortable leads into their second leg matches.
RUSSIA
Lokomotiv Moscow and Vedran Corluka will take on FK Rostov on Monday. CSKA Moscow were held to a draw on Monday, and Loko can bridge the gap to three points with a win.
GREECE
Mladen Petric came on late for Panathinaikos as they dropped a road match at PAOK 3-1 on Sunday. Petric was subbed on in the 83rd minute and failed to make an impact. Danijel Pranjic was an unused substitute. Panathinaikos remain second in the Greek Super League after eight matches.
Next Matches:
Tuesday, 10/27
Internazionale at Bologna, Ternopil’ at Shakhtar Donetsk(Cup), Obolon’-Brovar at Dynamo Kyiv(Cup),
Wednesday, 10/28
Bayer Leverkusen at Viktoria Köln(DFB Pokal), Fiorentina at Hellas Verona, Juventus at Sassuolo, Barcelona at Villanovense(Copa del Rey), Levadiakos at Panathinaikos(Cup),
Friday, 10/30
Shakhtar Donetsk at Zorya,
Saturday, 10/31
Liverpool at Chelsea, Leicester City at WBA, Bayer Leverkusen at Wolfsburg, Torino at Juventus, Roma at Internazionale, Las Palmas at Real Madrid, Barcelona at Getafe, Metalist at Dynamo Kyiv
Sunday, 11/1
Angers at Monaco, Hannover 96 at Hamburger SV, Frosinone at Fiorentina, Sassuolo at Udinese, Málaga at Sporting Gijón, AEK Athens at Panathinaikos, Lokomotiv Moskva at Kuban’ Krasnodar
~Ante Kvartuč and Denis Svirčić reporting from sunny Southern California, Zach Gilfix reporting from Minneapolis, MN
Molim everybody.
Happy to hear you enjoy the update! ^__^
Thanks Talijan
Thank you, Talijan.
It’s much appreciated. Also thanks for beating Norway.
Good stuff Talijan!
Talijan, thanks for your post!
Should Vrsaljko start at right back for Croatia? Yes
Morning guys,
As i see you are commenting on Vrsaljko… this is what ‘La Gazzetta dello Sport’ makes of his performance:
Decent first half vs Bonaventura, then he steps back and the opponent has the best of him.
Vote : 5,5 (which is slightly below sufficience (6).
I personally think that hough he faced AC Milan most solid player (Bonaventura) and the team was one man down for 60 minutes he stood his ground and delivered an overall solid defensive performance. Even when Bonaventura had a real go at him, Vrsaljko forced him to change his way and never was dribbled. Nothing to say in terms of offensive contribution, but that was his manager who kept him from having any go.
Regarding other players
Milan Badelj
Fiorentina lost but kept possesion and dictated the velocity for the vast majority of the match. It was possible also thank to Badelj contribuiton. He did not touch as many balls as he is used to but even if he didn’t shine, I would say he played a solid match.
Ivan Perišić
Dedicated, attentive and generous in terms of defensive contribution. Besides the goal not such a great night in the opponents half. He missed a few dribblings due to static 1vs1 situations. The team played a slow game therefore he was not put in a position to show his quickness. At lest Mancini seems now to have understood he should be played on the left flank and not as a center attacking midfield. Baby steps for Mancio…
Mario Mandžukić
Morata had some problems and so the chance came for Mario from the first minute. Missed a couple chances in the first half. He gave the impression not to have the killer instinct that his career goal tally would suggest. Then scored one of his goals in the second half, which bust his confidence. During post match interviews Allegri said that he is overall happy with the player but he should improve his mentality. In other words missing chances should not affect his game.
Nikola Kalinić
He Always do the right thing for the team. This time his finishing wasn’t precise. Almost scored another cracker: Lacked precision on the final lob but his backheel control was just worth the ticket price. Also missed another good chance cause was too rushy. All in all if I was a manager he is the type of forward I would love to have in my team any day.
Some mentions from serie B
Ivan Jurić
His team are topping serie B table deservedly. Even though that’s usually a quite equilibrated tournament, and surprises are to be expected year in year out, no one would have bet a dime on Crotone chances. Some would have said that avoiding relegation could already be a tough achievement.
Besides the positive streak what’s more surprising is his team play. A 3-4-3 formation, made up by many young players on loan, always playing direct and quick football that is proving to be entertaining let alone productive. If they keep this pace, serie A might have a Croatian manager in their ranks next year. (Nenad Bijelica also doing quite well at La Spezia)
Mario Šitum
Besides reading news here I do not know much about HNL, therefore I honestly ignore the current situation with left wings in Croatia. However this guy is surely worth a look and if I am not mistaken Kovać called him up once during this euro campaign.
His dribbling skills are above average and his tactic awareness is growing. At the moment he needs to level up his finishing. He is delivering far too little goals and assists compared to the amount of superiority he is able to create on constant basis. Should he manage to improve that he can really step up and become an interesting player. I personally rate him already above Rebić as a wing.
@ Svima
I found it funny that Halilovic can go from not being called up into the squad to becoming the OBVIOUS choice at RW? As if he improved over night ?
Some on this site saw him NOT deserving minutes over this past qualification cycle.
Ofcourse the kid deserved to be in the mix from 2015 on.
If he was integrated sooner we beat Bulgaria and blow out Norway again!
At least now the kid will have an opportunity to shine for us.
How about these u17 kids who take on Germany this Thursday.
There are about 5-7 elite prospects.
Borna Sosa at LB has been a revelation and he is barely top 5 on the team!
He will be ready sooner than later for us.
If these boys make a playoff run then they will be writing all their tickets for big contracts at big clubs.
We should take ZERO old scrubs for France.
Depth with YOUNG talent !
I pray we can make a playoff run in France and become world beaters in Russia.
i agree with u guys but i doubt srna is going anywhere before the end of euro
look at the bright side at least pranjic ain’t starting on the left
if anything getting rid of kovac just for that was worth it
Srna still runs alot, so that’s good (I guess).
But yes, his good crosses are far and few. We also have too many good deadball options on the team to justify never having Srna take another free kick or corner ever again. Couple all this with the odd defensive lapses, and you have yourself a benchwarmer.
I like the guy, but IMO, he’s done as a starter and will be a liability for us at the Euros. I just hope nobody takes advantage of us on that right side like Norway did recently, and Mexico did back in the World Cup.
Srna is not even a good crosser of the ball lately. It seemed to me that he squandered all of the opportunities he had in the last couple of months of qualification. Obviously he had a nightmare game against Norway in defense and was generally a liability at the back (his position). Only positive thing I can say is that he appears to show leadership qualities on and off the pitch. I just don’t think that justifies his inclusion though.
I would love to see Vrsaljko and Alen starting together…only a matter of time…
Honestly, it’s looking like Halilović will be our starting RW at the Euros.
He will likely have an excellent season, and we’ll probably be already be starting him in our next few friendlies.
There is no way that they bench Srna, and Halilović as an offensive player (with a highlight reel season) will be a lot harder to justify not starting. Personally, I would love to see a right sided RB/RW combo of Vrsaljko and Halilović, but it will very likely be Srna and Halilović (with Vrsaljko first off the bench if Srna’s age really starts to show).
Rakitic should take our set pieces.
Well, you usually don’t bring in a RB at the end of the game unless you are looking for an offensive-minded player. You certainly would not bring him in to protect a lead.
I get your point, you can kind of hide him in MF and not have his defensive weaknesses exposed. But, Beckham was still producing from set pieces.
Take srna out of the starting line up….integrate Vrsaljko give srna 15 to 20 min at the end of the match…33 when the tournament starts…reflexes are not the same…dead ball is no longer his specialty…time for a replacement!
So let’s say right now Srna’s defending isn’t that good and we see it wouldn’t it be the smart thing to put him on the right wing and make him our David Beckham? He can’t defend doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how to cross still.
Mandzukic scores himself a signature Mandzukic goal. Hopefully this triggers a return to form.
Also, good to see Hajduk in first place.
Šolta is a good coach. He spent 10 years in the Bundesliga as an assistant coach for teams like Freiburg, Leverkusen, and Werder Bremen before this. A very smart hire by Hajduk.
It’s remarkable to see what he’s done with Hajduk with them still somehow being in this title race, and we’re almost at the halfway point. Hajduk’s key players are EIGHTEEN years of age. I don’t care what league you’re in, that is very, very impressive. Dinamo should easily be 10-15 point ahead of them considering salary, age and experience level of their players. It’s not like Dinamo is playing poorly either, it’s just that Hajduk has been that good.
We’re starting to finally see some positive coaching developments in Bilic, Tudor, Šolta, and even Žuti. Nice to see some potential future NT coaches here.
Stipe belgium has a lot of talent…but an inform Croatia can play well against them…some of there players are world class…but a few are over rated…actually more than a few…I would rather face belgium than Germany,Spain, even portugal!
HAJDUK is in 1st.
dynamo is in 3rd.
Stipe,
I live in Belgium and I’d like to avoid them. They’re very confident and even some injuries won’t hurt them since so they have so many good players. Even the Belgian players already start to say that they could win Euro 2016.
@ ANYONE WHO WANTS TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION lol
I would like to be seeded with Belgium, they are from pot one. But I really haven’t been paying attention to Belgium . I know Hazard is a beast but he has been playing shitty for Chelsea . Sounds like The coach hates him. He hasn’t been playing well for Belgium. I think Belgium, is our best option from pot one? What do you guys think? And what teams from pot one do we not def not want to play besides the obvious like Germany.
@ZIVA
but do you think Vrsjalko is ready for the big stage at the Euros? I know he is playing well for his club and played well when he had the chance at the World Cup. I would still stick with Srna. He has so many caps with the repka, he is so much more experienced. I know he looked horrible against Norway, but the guy is a fuckin horse. He PLAYS EVERY SINGLE GAME FOR COATIA SINCE HE FIRST STARTED WITH THE REPKA. He never misses a game, even against shitty teams like Faroe Islands. I truly believe he LOVES playing for Croatia. So I don’t know.
@ ZIVA
What do,you think about Moro? Captain of u-17 repka? You think he will make it to the men’s team eventually. Kovacic’s first start with the repka was against the Cetnici in Zagreb, and he was only 18 years old wasn’t he? And what you think about number 7 from that U-17 team, I forgot his name. He looks good
Mandza with a goal……typical Mandza goal. He knows how to be in the right spot. Kind of shitty defending, but he was where he is supposed to be.
@stipe…..to answer your question, I don’t think he can play that spot at all anymore. I want my MFs to be horses on the field and run around for 90 minutes and I just don’t think he can do that. At RB he can pick and chose when he wants to make a run. Plus, he is very one sided and I prefer my MFs to be able to play with both feet. So done like Perisic can easily move over and play the right side becaus he can play with both feet, Srna can not.
From what I have watched of Vrsjalko, I think he is ready. We wouldn’t be dropping in production by having him replace Srna.
I don’t think Srna is good enough to play midfield on the right side. I find him to be very limited now. Cacic will have a decision to make moving forward. One o the hardest things for a coach to do is tell a player he no longer has it and is good enough to play in the starting XI, especially the captain.
The day is coming – hell, it might be here now – where that discussion has to take place. Tell him he has a spot on the bench, but no longer is a starter. If he is fine with that, cool. If not, then remove him all together from the repka. Chemistry is a big thing on a team and can be a missing element from putting the team over into a legit outside challenger role or an average side.
So what you are saying is that hezonja parents failed him. They let him cheer for partisan or maybe encouraged him.
I disagree much difference to football. Partizan is partizan and no difference. Shame on him.
@ Talijan
DARE!
Vrsaljko is NOW a much better option at RB and should start.
It’s not like Srna has been the Paulo Maldini of Croatia. We have not been out of pool play since Niko Kovac was captain in 2008.
@ Maminjo
LMFAO
Svaka čast brate !
@ Stipe
Exactly !
Some of us have been saying that RW would have cut down on his running and he would have been like David Becham for us.
He still has some magic in that right foot BUT that display against Norway was embarrassing for him and devastating for us.
Plus Vrsaljko would be able to over lap on the right flank has Srna will always cut in as he is not taking anyone LB to the end line.
At RW he can still give you something of value.
If he is not down for a reduced role then he needs to get cut.
@Allen Outraged
Yes, everyone is surprised by Kalinić performances. I saw him playing for Dnipro, in the last Europa league, and I agree with you about him being limited. However, it might just be a matter of good form, but he looks totally improved: scored a cracker vs Napoli and made a couple stops that made people go ‘oooooh’.
@ matrix
Determining who is the biggest one is part of the fans nature. I think we do the same with our national team, so nothing new.
I just hope I am able to give you some more news on some players, given that I follow the league on daily basis and that I am not biased towards any of them.
@ Soul Champ
Maybe Vrasljko suffers from not playing in a hyped team. Though Sassuolo are very organized and to me they could even manage to content for a Europa League spot this year.
I would not dare say he should be played over Srna, but he might represent a good backup nonetheless.
@ Kro Kappa
I didn’t know Valentina Nappi. Found out that she is originally from my area. Looks quite hot if you ask me, but I prefer blondes.
Regarding Kovačić : I would agree with you. Moving at Inter for a player that needs development is never a good idea. They saw him as the next big thing that should’ve led the team, which sometimes he even managed to. However I reckon that you can’t expect that from a 19 yo, no matter how talented he is. Every time results didn’t come, he was being blamed. That’s not the right way to develop a talent and eventually they sold him. As we say they ‘burned’ him. In Madrid, though the pressure will be bigger, he will benefit of other players being in the spotlight in case of bad results and, he will be playing with other skilled players. At Inter he was the only quality player, which made the task even more difficult. Granted everyone in Italy rates Kovačić skills very high, and many inter fans are still complaining about his transfer…
@Ziva
I remember when Darijo Srna used to play midfield when he first played for Croatia . He wore number 2. During the Euro 2008 qualifications the game against England he played RM. Durign the World Cup 2006 he played midfield and in the Euro 2008 I think. Why did they put him at RB? I guess cause we had rakitic coming up I Dont know. What do you think?
@Maminjo
Ha!
Asshole…
I thought moving to Dubrovnik sounded weird too.
Go Hezonja then!!!
Sorry bout that Mario…
One more basketball item…….I was reading over the changes taking place for qualifying for future Eurobaskets…..starting after 2017 all qualifying will takes place during the regular season, which means no Europeans in NBA will be able to play in the qualifiers. Should still be able to get in, but interesting change.
I’m just fucking with you. 😉
Hezonja is a full blooded Croat. Both parents. There’s also like zero Serbs in Dubrovnik due to Dubrovnik historically enforcing a single state religion of Roman Catholicism, and Austria kicking out all those ‘Serbian Catholics’ after that.
John Denton is just an idiot writer who, like any American writer, doesn’t know the difference between Croats and Serbs.
Also, to Hezonja’s defense regarding Partizan…if you’re a kid from the region who grew up watching the Adriatic League, it would be impossible not to be a fan of Partizan (as pretty much every other team sucked). He’s not from Zagreb anyway, so it’s not like he should give a shit about Cibona or Cedevita. Yes, as a Croat, he probably should be supporting them over Partizan, but he was probably like 10 years old watching these guys, and basketball is different over there than football. Nobody cares about basketball enough in Cro to bat an eyelash when Partizan or Zvezda’s basketball clubs come to town. Much different than football, that’s for sure. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t be saying he’s a fan of Partizan if they asked him which FOOTBALL team he supports, lol.
Oooooh-kay… fuck Hezonja then.
Had no clue………I guess that would explain why he did come out a few years ago and said he was a fan of Partizan. Should have put two and two together.
Although with the name Mario, that is not a name you see with Serbs. Strange, no?
Actually, Hezonja is Serbian. Both his parents are originally Serbs from Hercegovina who moved to Dubrovnik for work.
This is why the writer says that he ‘grew up’ in Croatia but ‘speaks’ Serbian. The Denton kid is a good writer. He doesn’t mess up on things like this. He did his research.
Not soccer, but basketball here……..
NBA starts up on Tuesday and Hezonja has looked good. Check out this article………good read…….http://www.nba.com/magic/news/hezonja-showing-great-poise-early-stages-nba-career
Although the end of the article gets into the languages Hezonja can speak and says he speaks Serbian…….WTF?????? Probably an honest mistake, but wow…..
Agreed on the U20s……still a big deal to win it, but much less prestigious than the U17s. 17s are bigger indicator than the 20s.
@ Talijan what’s your opinion on Valentina Nappi Italian pornstar. @ Marko try Youtube for the Euro 2008 games they were the Croatian Glory Days Games. @ Allen Outraged you should be watching the Italian Catholic League. Now it’s proven that Mateo Kovacic is just a bench/squad player at Real Madrid and that it was a bad idea to go there. Maybe they just signed him because of his wife or girlfriend.
Anonymous yes serbia won the u20 world cup…because that tournament is the easiest to win…now a days top players are at big clubs at that age…and are not allowed to play at u20…Croatia has kovacic at real madrid at 21…if serbia won that tournament shows the quality there…albania is ahead of serbia in Europe and soccer lol.
Mexico beat the Krauts so it’s us against Germany in the U-17’s.
Love it!
footage of all the middle eastern, african and arab filth and scum invading europe, they’re self serving anti-civilizational migraines not migrants, just looking out to milk as much as they can from out of their enemies before the rule of the wiry haired brownies and afro mud ducks, strange foreign smells and sounds all over the place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8qFshkxVws
Moron
@zvonimir
good post and agree
bog I hrvati
@ Talijan
Please right to Cacic and let him know who Vrsaljko is!
mamic je kralj!
did any one see those under 17s play. filled with the ranks of dinamo players?!
once again, get down on your hands and knees and be thankful for zdravko “soccer savior” mamic
b/c of his Dinamo factory, we can all continue to watch the croatian national team have pseudo-relevance for the next 15 years
budi ponosan
@ talijan
thanks for the analysis and info. with a single post, you have contributed more to the site than 90% of general posters focused on determining the biggest hrvat
Talijan
Awesome for you to check out the site, despite not being Croatian. Also cool to see you post some analysis. I don’t follow Serie A during the fall/winter because of NFL season (most Serie A games are on Sunday and I just don’t have the time). Really been surprised by Kalinic. I wrote him off two years for being very limited. He still is limited, but seems to be using his size and positioning himself to score better.
Hope you keep posting here.
SSUPPPERRR SLAVEENNNNNNN
Well the Serbs won the U20 World Cup this year, so yea, maybe 😉
’87 Chile, ’15 Chile
’98 France, ’16 France
Is history repeating itself?!
Anywhere i can watch the full euro 2008 games? It would be much appreciated.
Hi Guys,
This is the first time I post on this website, but I have been lurking for some time !
I like football in general and though I am not Croatian I have grown some interest in it over the last few years. As this website has always kept me up to date with the latest from the other side of the jadransko more, I hope to be able pay pack with some more contributions and insights on croats playing in Italy!
Regarding this weekend:
Kalinić for sure is the biggest surprise of the whole summer transfermarket. He was known to be an intelligent player and tactically wise (highly rated skill here), but nobody would suspect his impact could be so big.
So far he’s , together with Higuain, the best forward of the first 8 days hands down. He’s set to start for fiorentina tomorrow and hopefully keep on his good streak.
Fiorentina are also playing Badelj, which looks to have become pivotal for P. Sousa.
He is delivering quite consistently, stole the spot that should’ve belonged to M. Suarez, and is for sure one of the best 10 midfielder of this season start.
Mandzukić on the other hand, ha’s failed to impress, and some juve fans are always tagging him as a bust even if his commitment has never been argued. He is poised to be sitting on the bench tomorrow, which is a pity as Atalanta might be the right opportunity for him to bang in some goals, even if I reckon Juve stile will hardly ever suit him this year. Maybe the second half will bring him some good luck…
I am personally really impressed with Peršić crossing skills. He’s probably the best crosser in the whole league. However he’s not played yet to his standard and who knows if he ever will in that mess named FC Inter. Mancini is by far the most overrated manager and is still looking for a stable formation..
As a side note. Last week Vrsaljko was the best right full back of the week.
How is Duje Čop faring in Spain? (besides numbers I can read over the internet)
Such a shame he left, though relegation at Cagliari last year was unavoidable. Though he showed some glimpse of a good player that could make his spot in serie a.
Bilic is a BEAST!
Congrats to Bilic…so happy for the guy!
Yeah, very unlucky. Reading the Cro media they are making it appear this could be a big one that he suffered. Not sure if it is hyperbole or not because I don’t thinkt hey are doing anything more than reporting on what the German media has already reported.
He was showing some real progress when he was playing consistent minutes.
Going into Euros, if you want to make some noise we need 17, 18 healthy options. You cant play the same 11 guys every game as injuries, cards and being tired will catch up.
Tin Jedvaj injured again, poor kids been very unlucky!