Italy
PHOTO: Juve
Juventus stay in first place as they get 3 crucial points away at AC Milan. Mario Mandžukić is a starter for the bianconeri and is old-fashionedly man marked by Alex. The duel between the two starts soon and is worth an alleged broken nose for the Croat early in the game. The former Bayern star though does not complain and keeps delivering his usual performance made of sacrifice, altruism and some mark left of the opponents. More importantly though he manages to find the net for the second time in a row for the goal that is worth the 1-1 in the first half. It is his 11th of the season, 8th in Serie A.
Mario Mandžukić goal
La Gazzetta dello sport rates him a 7: Old style striker. Fights like a lion, suffers many hits but punches back. Then scores the 1-1. He has the capacity to adapt to whoever plays with him: Dybala, Morata, Zaza makes no difference for him.
PHOTO: inter
Inter snap up a lucky 1-0 win in Frosinone on Saturday afternoon, having the frusinati hit the post 3 times in the first half. Marcelo BrozoviÄ and Ivan Perišić are starters for the nerazzirri. Brozović , played in a 2 men midfield, is as usual the player with more passes, though too many of them are horizontal ones showing he has no ideas today. The former Dinamo midfielder looks more comfortable in a 3 men midfield. Ivan Perišić starts well by making many runs that drive Rosi crazy. The former Wolfsburg winger is always involved in the most dangerous play, including the goal. Also almost manages to score at the beginning and at the end of the match. Perišić confirms that he is the best arrow for Roberto Mancini’s arch at the moment.
Ivan Perišić assist
La Gazzetta dello Sport Ratings Brozović 5,5: Maybe doesn’t like the field, but has not continuity plus too many bad passes completed. Perišić 7 MOTM: You will have to know that Mancini was in the right when he wanted him so bad.
Photo: ilnapolista.it
Sassuolo lost the chance to overcome Milan and get an Europa League spot as they surrendered to Genoa at home 1-0 on Saturday afternoon. Šime Vrsaljko is a starter for the neroverdi and engages a sort of personal duel with Gabriel Silva. The Croatian international tries to dribble him many a times and manages to do so. His first half is better than the second, while in the second suffers a bit in defense.
Photo: ilnapolista.it
Fiorentina ultimately see their Champions League hopes vanish as they surrender to Empoli 2-0 on Sunday in the derby of Toscana. Nikola Kalinić is a starter for la viola and went the distance. The former Dnipro star fights his way for the team and to support them. Being always marked by two men he finds it hard to finalize. Scores a goal in the 67 minute, but that is clearly offside. Milan Badelj watched the match from the bench.
La gazzetta dello Sport rates him a 5,5: That’s the brother of that Killer who wouldn’t miss a shot. He fights, yes, and runs yes… but he is is not scoring anymore.
Photo: ilnapolista.it
Verona lost to Napoli 3-0 as expected on Sunday. Ante Rebić plays as a starter up front and played 72 minutes before being subbed out. The former Fiorentina player tries to support the counter attack that the manager has prepared and even though is not as effective as the fans would have hoped he is still the best on his team.
La gazzetta rates him a 6: There is always a preacher in the desert in matches like these. That’s his turn today: tries to do something up front but nobody follows him.
Germany
Photo: EPA
Hamburger SV are flirting with relegation after suffering a 2-1 loss at home to Darmstadt 98 on Sunday.
German born Croatian international Ivo Iličević started and played 67 minutes for HSV in the loss. Ivo couldn’t get anything going offensively as Hamburger travel to Dortmund next weekend.
Bayer Leverkusen climbed to fourth on the Bundesliga table following a 2-0 win over Köln on Sunday.
Former Dinamo Zagreb defender, Tin Jedvaj started at right back and went the distance for Bayer in the shutout win. Jedvaj played well and finished the match without committing a foul.
Photo: EPA
Hoffenheim continue to climb up the Bundesliga table and are now out of the relegation zone after registering a 2-0 win over Frankfurt on Saturday. Former Dinamo Zagreb striker, Andrej Kramarić, started and went the distance for Hoffenheim in the win. The Croatian international played well but couldn’t find the back of the net on four shots on goal. Andrej was denied twice by Frankfurt keeper Lukas Hradecky.
Andrej Kramarić missed chances
SPAIN
After having the La Liga title all but wrapped up only two weeks ago, Barcelona have opened up the flood gates to Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid with their second consecutive loss this weekend to Real Sociedad. Ivan Rakitić was rested for the 1-0 loss but came off the bench in the 71st minute to try and wake up the troops. It didn’t happen. Now Barcelona only have 3-point lead on Atletico Madrid with Real Madrid four points behind. Barca play the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal with Atletico this week. It’s going to be one hell of an ending in Spain the way things are looking. Would you rather see a horse race or have Barcelona pull through?
Luka Modrić was left off the Real Madrid squad list on Saturday in a 4-0 victory over Eibar. Mateo Kovačić came off the bench in the 54th minute but all eyes are on their Champions League second leg with Wolfsburg this week. Real Madrid lost 2-0 in the first leg and are on the brink of elimination.
Alen Halilović came off the bench in the 69th minute for Sporting Gijon in a 1-0 loss to delta Vigo. The kid has been used more sparingly in 2016 than he was earlier in the season. Duje Čop played 68 minutes for Malaga in a scoreless affair against Granada on Friday.
ENGLAND
Another week. Another draw for West Ham. But this one was a bit more respectable. After falling behind to Arsenal 2-0 Saturday, Andy Carroll went on to rattle off a hat trick in only eight minutes. However, Slaven Bilić’s men couldn’t hold off the Gunners and conceded a 70th minute Laurent Koscielny equalizer to force a 3-3 draw. With the point, West Ham sit five points behind Manchester City and England’s last Champions League berth.
Dejan Lovren remained on the bench in Liverpool’s 4-1 victory over Stoke City on Sunday. Liverpool host Borussia Dortmund on Thursday in Europa League.
FRANCE
Danijel Subašić started between the pipes for Monaco as they were dismantled by Lille on Sunday, in a 4-1 away defeat. Monaco were outshot 7-6 in the match, which saw both sides pick up red card early in the second half and four goals in the final 25 minutes. Subasic was beaten on all four Lille shots on target, but was not at fault for any goals. Monaco are now tied for second in Ligue 1 with 55 points with five matches to play, two points ahead of Nice in the final French Champions League place.
Goals: 0:40, 1:50, 2:15, 2:45
UKRAINE
Shakhtar Donetsk conceded a 93rd minute equalizer to Stal Dniprodzerhynsk as they drew 3-3 on Sunday. Darijo Srna played the full match. Eduardo came on for the second half, scoring for the second straight week. His goal in the 51st minute was Shakhtar’s opener, and his 9th league goal of the season, tying his season high since leaving Dinamo Zagreb. Shakhtar’s title hopes are slipping away with another Dynamo Kyiv win, as they are 2nd in the Ukrainian Premier League, five points behind Kyiv and 12 points ahead of Zorya.
Eduardo Goal: 1:25
Domagoj Vida started for Dynamo Kyiv as they picked up a routine 3-0 home win over minnows Volyn on Sunday. Kyiv increase their lead at the top of the Ukrainian Premier League over Shakhtar to five points, with five matches remaining.
Vida Goal: 0:15
GREECE
Mladen Petrić played the first 61 minutes of Panathinaikos’ 0-0 draw with Asteras Tripolis. Danijel Pranjić was not in the squad. The match was fairly even, as possession was 50-50 and Panathinaikos outshot Tripolis 7-6. With one game left to play until the playoffs, Panathinaikos remain locked in third, two points points behind AEK Athens.
RUSSIA
Lokomotiv Moscow and Vedran Ćorluka will face Krylya Sovetov on Monday. A win will leave them third in the Russian Premier League, one point behind CSKA Moscow and three behind Rostov.
Next Matches:
Tuesday, 4/12
Wolfsburg at Real Madrid(UEFA Champions League),
Wednesday, 4/13
Barcelona at Atlético Madrid(UEFA Champions League),
Thursday, 4/14
Sporting Braga at Shakhtar Donetsk(UEFA Europa League), Borussia Dortmund at Liverpool(UEFA Europa League),
Saturday, 4/16
Frankfurt at Bayer Leverkusen, Hertha BSC at Hoffenheim, Napoli at Inter, Real Madrid at Getafe, Sporting Gijón at Las Palmas, CSKA Moskva at Lokomotiv Moskva, Dynamo Kyiv at Hoverla
Sunday, 4/17
Liverpool at AFC Bournemouth, Olympique Marseille at Monaco, Hamburger SV at Borussia Dortmund, Frosinone at Hellas Verona, Palermo at Juventus, Sassuolo at Fiorentina, Valencia at Barcelona, Panthrakikos at Panathinaikos, Olimpik Donetsk at Shakhtar Donetsk
~Ante Kvartuč and Denis Svirčić reporting from sunny Southern California, Zach Gilfix reporting from Minneapolis, MN and Salvatore Cagnazzi reporting from Italy
@Slavonac
You’re entitled to your opinion.
Lazio,
you are immature!
@Lovro
My apologies for not making sense.
Two friendlies in three days, hard slog against Israel.
The match ended up 1-1, you make a good point the subs might’ve sucked!
You hope Modric wins the Champions League, or better to have 1 less game before the big tourney in France?
If I had to guess, Lovren and Halilovic were being bitches. Good for Cacic!
Pay no attention to what a coach says before and after games. Means nothing. All lip service usually.
I have no clue why Druga Liga Cacic didn’t play Lovren. but, it was Druga Liga’s call. Halilovic didn’t get time because he was shit in training and wasn’t professional in camp.
…and maybe we lose the game outright if Cacic brought on Lovren and Halilovic.
Your post makes no sense – the more subs you bring on, the better chance you have of winning?
Can’t your have fresh subs who suck?
@Ziva
I do realise that.
So what changed? Croatia were up 1-0, Hungary bought on four fresh players to start the second half and two more later. That’s six subs, that’s more subs then we had players on the bench. How’d picking 20 players for the two friendlies work out?
Lovren is a welcome diversion for Cacic I would’ve thought.
Do you guys even read the stuff Cacic says?
“This was a really competitive match, unlike other friendlies, which is good. In the first half Croatia was the better team, and I was satisfied, but then the tables turned. Hungary started the second half more aggressive, and we were not good enough, we could not control the ball. Therefore, the outcome is fair enough”, said Croatia head coach Ante Čačić.
Maybe the tables turned because Hungary bought on four fresh players at the start of the second half! Cacic made one sub against Hungary after what he himself says was a game in difficult weather conditions against Israel!
That should be respected?
“Now we have to analyze the match and see where to improve. It was clear that we were not aggressive enough in midfield and made too many mistakes, but there were reasons for this, especially the Israel match in difficult weather conditions”, he added.
We need to improve in the coaching area.
How can you possibly be against Cacic on this issue? What coach in soccer history ever promised something like that to anyone?
So, even if you are playing like shit or have an injury that is affecting your game, you still have to start him?
You guys are fucking nuts.
The best thing about Lovren scoring today is that hopefully he will say something stupid about Cacic one more time to rub it in his face and seal the deal for him not going to Euro2016.
What if every player told Cacic the same thing?
What I would like to see is Cacic tell him let’s forget about everything, call him back for the friendly against Iran, put him in the starting lineup per his request and then substitute him after the first minute.
Neka ide u pizdu materinu.
You guys do realize circumstances change in games and sports just like in business. Cacic telling Lovren he would play and then not playing him is no different than a business changing course midway through a project. Same thing here.
Is Druga Liga Cacic a poor choice as national team coach??? Yes.
But, does Druga Liga Cacic have the final word while he is the coach? Yes.
@Talijan
1970 Italy World Cup runners up.
I don’t know how much Rivera played in 70, but if it was only a few minutes like you say, well then there’s not really much he could say considering they made it to the final pretty much without him.
Neka Olic jebe Cacica u guzicu!
Pusti Lovrena da drka kurac ako hoce za 15 minuta…imo momci…za Sukera!
Cacic is a shit coach. He told Lovren that he would start the 2nd half and he didn’t, he told Lovren to warm up for 10-15 mins and he did, remember at Liverpool when they warm up they either go play or go back to the bench (Klopp is top coach, no issues with Lovren & Klopp). Maybe they do it differently in Libiya.
Lovren played the full game against Israel so he didn’t know the way the former asisstant coach of Libiya does things. Looks like Cacic made a big deal about this, but it does take the attention away from the fact that we couldn’t beat Hungary.
Classic Lovren!
As soon as the final whistle blows he rips his jersey off and is flexing his muscles as if to say “the pool party’s this way boys!”
Great post Talijan!
Very well said Talijan!
He also set the pick on the 3rd goal
Lovren did his talking on the pitch today scoring the game winner in injury time of a very big game for Liverpool.
Lovren – this isn’t Libiya where you were an asisstant coach, I’ve been coached by Pochettino and Klopp and you don’t compare to them you bum!
Cacic – I can’t argue against that!
Sorry, who was the manager of those Italian teams?
Was it a manager as good as Cacic?
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha
Giani Rivera, Ante Cacic. Hahahahahahaha
Interesting to read this from abroad and ourside.
My personal take seen from outside (don’t know who might be interested in this, and I apologize in case somebody should see it as a disturbance):
When you play for your national team you play for your whole country.
You are not entitled to state anything like what Lovren said. It doesn’t really matter if from a technical perspective you might be right or wrong.
If you do think like that, you must speak to you manager eye to eye and solve it one way or the other internally.
The likes of Roberto Baggio or Gianni Rivera (both golden foot) were only given a few minutes (1970/1998) by the manager against the public opinion who saw them as heroes. Yet they never ever stated anything to destabilize the team back then, nor even after 20 years or more a word came out.
Each to his role.
The coach decides, the player executes.
If you can’t stand that it means that your ego is bigger than your pride for playing for your nation. End of discussion.
There’s no reasoning on this, it’s black or white.
@Ziva
At a club level, I am with you, each player is thinking about their careers and so on,
However, at NT level, they are playing PRIMARILY FOR ME and my fellow countrymen…
For as naive as it may sound this is how it should be like and what I expect them to do. They might fall short of result, but as long as they commit, they are to be clapped and supported. If they don’t realize that, not only they just can stay home but is the manager DUTY to leave them out.
Denmark, Greece (czech republic almost got it) showed the world that cohesion, pride, good will, unity and tenacity pay off sometimes even in spite of their technical skills.
If i had to romance everything in one line it would pan out like this:
Dejan boy: ‘I won’t go to euros unless I am a starter, coach..’
Coach: ‘What’s your name again son?’
My 2 cents.
Also it doesn’t matter what you guys think about friendlies, all that matters is what Cacic the coach believes.
“Always important to win.” – Ante Cacic
http://www.soccerway.com/matches/2016/03/26/world/friendlies/hungary/croatia/2188627/
Always laugh when I look at that! Everyone got as much time as possible!
So the ultimatum Lovren gave Cacic is a good thing?
If Lovren is true to his word, if Cacic doesn’t start him at the Euros he’s staying home.
Unless Cacic like a true moron caves in to Lovren’s demands we’ll be going to the Euros with a 22 man squad!
Lovren is the cancer of the team. Hope he stays home.
^ ^
Lebron James!
There are examples of players not wanting to play for a specific coach………
Magic Johnson got his coach fired with the Lakers.
Its all about professionalism and who has more power. If Messi came out and said he wanted his coach fired, guess what – he would be fired. But, most players are professional enough not to do something like that.
@Slavonac
Lovren goes from being coached by Klopp, to being coached by Cacic.
@Slavonac
Do you know the professionalism required to be at Lovren’s level?
I guess what I am saying is this. there are many players that do not like their coaches…few ever openly criticize….Holland is notoriously always arguing with each other.
Rot Keane was quiet and played…if he had issues, it was with his players. even if he didn’t like his coach, he kept his feeling to himself.
you do realize that Roy Keane was very respected and a captain?!
@Slavonac
Seedorf didn’t want to play for the Holland coach at one point, I think it was Van basten.
Roy Keane.
So the players respected Kovac!
Lovren omg
@Ziva
So we don’t want Modric in the Champions league final, that’s one game too much?
Lazio, I hope you’re joking about the “not respecting the coach”.
look, I’m not sure some of you realize the seriousness and professionalism required to be at that level. I think for someone to ask such a question…”What if the players don’t respect the confused coach?”…99% of people already know the response…people like my dad would have laughed a you and said…ma tko te jebe…tko si ti u picku materinu!!
never in my life, in any sport, have I ever seen players refuse to play for a particular coach…at least not like this. you’re obviously not involved in an organized sport Lazio…at least not at a decent level. your questions are a bit revealing…I gotta be honest!
@Slavonac
What if the players don’t respect the confused coach?
I got no problem with the ultimatum Lovren gave Cacic, it makes things simple for Cacic.
Lovren doesn’t want to go to the Euros if he’s not starting, if Cacic doesn’t want to start him he wont pick him in the 23 man squad, also Lovren wont be there to affect the team negatively.
Does Lovren have to play for Cacic?
Some of the players should’ve took this stance Lovren has taken with Cacic when they didn’t want to play for Kovac.
Do you actually believe that the players respected Niko Kovac?
Talk about a team that was affected negatively by others.
I don’t give a shit about Lovren’s outside of football activities, my opinion is not based on those things. My opinion is based on his honesty in this instance, I find it refreshing.
he will cancel out this goal with something real soon…the guy doesn’t have a humble bone in his body!
that was a well written comment Ziva, agreed.
Damn all that shit about Lovren and he scores the winning goal for Liverpool. LOL
Now we gotta take him back haha
@poglavnik…….yeah, that was shameful by Magic last night. Kobe was a great player, but he was a terrible teammate. And since when did Magic because the MC for LA. That jock sniffing last night was dreadful.
Back to Lovren for a minute. I’m not sure who posted it, but someone typed that Lovren only cares about his brand and Instagram.
Never change Croatian Sports Dot Com nation, never change………..You can’t complain about what Lovren or any athletes post on their social media accounts if you are actually following those social media accounts.
And so what if Lovren cares about his brand. Maybe his fashion line is more important to him than soccer. Not every pro athlete plays the sports because they love it, some play because they get paid very well and they can leverage the visibility for their brand or other personal interests they believe are more important. Now, I have no idea what or how Lovren thinks, but if he did care more about his clothing line than the national team……big deal. he is entitled to do so. He doesn’t play for you and he has never played for you. The sooner some of you guys realize they are not playing for you the easier it is to watch these games.
Well said JM.
I could see Rakitic being the scape goat. They’re not exactly gonna tinker with MSN up front. Thought Turan looked good when he came in yesterday too.
@Za drugu minutu!
Pretty sure Kovac used that brilliant tactic in Brazil.
@Ziva
I almost spit my beer when Magic told the crowd “kobe NEVER cheated any of us.” If I was the director I would have put a camera right on Vanessa at that point.
Bring back Olic against Turkey in place of Lovren and give him freedom to run like Marcelo at RM! He has a few months to grow out his hair so Luka feels at home…
Lovren will have lots of time to reflect and do some SNM with a BBC lol 🙂
I think you might be hitting the panic button. Yes, he was bad yesterday, but he job is not to score. And, it wouldn’t be a shame. Survival of the fittest in club football, especially at clubs like Barca.
Kovacic is about to experience that at Real.
What happened last night was good for soccer. Barca getting knocked at the QF stage is better in the long run. Now, I would have preferred a final 4 featuring Barca, Real Bayern and PSG.
How funny would it be to see Man City take out Bayern and their future coach.
i wonder what Rakitic status with barcelona will be given this loss
one can’t really claim he had a great season. la liga: 5 goals , 1 assist vs last year 5 goals, 7 assists
obviously he plays a deferred offensive roll to the suarez, messi ,neymar trident
but there are probably some concerning signs here. and rakitic could find himself on the bench i fear as barcelona looks to bounce back
the front 3 are there to stay, so it’ll probably be the midfield they look to improve (pogba perhaps!?)
rakitic already under threat by turan…he could be seeing a lot more bench time coming up which would be a shame
so true.
Only the elite stars can get away with bad behavior. I am not saying it is justified, but coaches have to pander to the star players. And Lovren doesn’t fall in that category.
Lazio,
soccer culture:
coach is boss 100% of the time. there is a lot of structure involved, similar to how things are in the military…respect level for your coach must be 100%, all the time and there is no room for one person to negatively affect the rest of the team. I believe this is the same in all sports, everyone does what they are told and they do it with 100% commitment, nothing less.
its not unusual for something to change during the course of a game. a coach may ask you to warm up and then over the course of the next 10 minutes, he can change his mind…everyone knows it can happen, he doesn’t have to walk up and explain anything to you. there must always be a level of respect and professionalism displayed towards your coach, end of story!
raki was invisible yesterday
@babazaba……..they also each had a once-in-a-lifetime crnac on the roster. I think that had more to do with it…….just saying.
@poglavnik……the love affair with Kobe last night was funny. i guess we just need to forget that he was a terrible teammate and threw a number of them “under the bus”
@Lazio…….at this point in the season the less games our regular guys play, the better. Rakitic going out is not a bad thing for us.
@Maminjo
Real Madrid are in the semi finals so at the very least they’re playing 2 more games.
You reckon 1 more game will make a difference?
Also in the Association tonight, one man made his 400th 3 pointer of the season while another man had 400 shot attempts in a single game!
This just in: Top two all time best regular season NBA teams had Croatians on the roster. Just saying.
FUTURE??????? Man do you know there is s tournament in 7 weeks
If Kranjcar keeps this up we’ll have to consider him for June! 😉
http://www.nasl.com/news/2016/04/13/team-of-the-week–spring-season-week-2
Kranjcar news
I’d have Vida as a LB.
Vida as a CB, not tall enough.
Corluka and Schildenfeld would be my choice for our CB pairing.
Who cares about Lovren. I hope he never apologizes. I’d rather focus on ensuring Vida and Jedvaj become our future starting CB pairing alongside Vrsaljko at RB. Lovren, to me, will always just be a depth player for us. Not a guy I would every rely on in a tournament.
Good to hear that Barcelona is out. Gives Rakitic less games until the Euros. I hope Real is knocked out soon too. I don’t want another situation where Rakitic and Modric go far in the CL and leave no gas in the tank for the National Team come June.
Lovren is done.
The way I see it is that he can only apologise for giving Cacic an ultimatum.
If we are to believe Lovren’s side of the story, he warmed up.
@Slavonac
What is this soccer culture you speak of?
at different times in my life I’ve met different people, there are all sorts in this world. at times, I’ve met people that I immediately get the impression they are successful, smart and have because they have an attractive look, they probably do well with the ladies.
Lovren strikes me as one of those dummies that has a lot of gifts but is just to damn ignorant to know it…and he was most likely spoiled as a child.
njemu treba batinu…a ne poklonit mu mjesto na repku!
@ everyone (here’s an interesting and trivial bet)
who thinks Lovren ends up apologizing and goes to the Euro’s ?
Just my honest opinion – I really don’t think Lovren thought for a second that maybe, just maybe, Cacic and the savez will call his bluff and tell him he will not give them ultimatums – based on his decision making.
Based on his past judgement with various things – blunders on the field, red cards, fouls, being naked, clothing, jovial/tattoo social media pics after losing (I understand he is a person too and is entitled to having his own social and personal life, fair, just poor timing) I truly believe Lovren did NOT expect to get axed.
Do you think Lovren really thinks he is that good and doesn’t want to go to France if he is NOT guaranteed a starter spot? OR is he preparing his apology speech at the moment?
If the media in Croatia is to be trusted with what was said and done (which up until now neither Cacic nor Lovren has stated they were misinterpreted so the story stands until otherwise) then Lovren is NOT going to the Euro’s as a player for the Croatian NT.
Sorry for going on and on with this, I just can’t believe this situation with Lovren got this far.
Simone that’s a coach we need! Imagine fag boy telling him he starts or he isn’t going lol.
Simone should be mentioned when talking about the best coaches in the world. Wow barcelona is out!
Slavonac exactly brother! Anyone who’s been on a rep team knows the coach is the boss.
I’m actually shocked when I read people side with Lovren, it shows the lack of soccer culture they have.
Ziva admit it….you wack of to Lovrens picture…lmao
Damn, everyone is piling on the guy. Almost makes me want to defend him…….almost!
And then there was this
http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/social/dejan-lovren-deletes-his-instagram-account-after-abuse-from-liverpool-fans-tweets/
And once again he has deleted his accounts lol
Seriously. This budala shouldn’t be missed.
http://www.jutarnji.hr/foto–dejan-lovren-prijetio-navijacu-zbog-mladeg-brata—slusaj-me-sad-dobro-idiote–obrisi-to-jer-ce-ti-bit-zao–/1451001/
Lovren is a tool.
From his social media meltdowns, to his naked swimming with other teammates, to russell brown, to his error prone ways to this most recent play me or else ultimatum. He is obviously an unstable headcase.
If he wasn’t such a budala he’d be ok to bring as a depth player but not with all of his accompanied baggage.
Forget about the guy IMO.
Fuck Lovren, I dont even use him when I play PES 2016.
Vrsaljko – Vida- Corluka – Srna
(Jedvaj, schildenfeld, Pivaric)
That should be enough
LOL. Well played by Druga Liga Cacic.
quote on the Lovren situation:
Čačić mi je rekao: ‘Nikad me nitko nije držao za jaja, niti će me držati!’.
Considering Lovren’s lifestyle, you could not come up with a better quote.
While most of the reports are for a halilovic there are a few of loan to a bigger club
Four Croatians under contract with Real Madrid and Barcelona at the same time is coming to an end quicker than I thought it would. Won’t ever happen again in our lifetime.
Halilovic and Kovacic will be finding new sides.
Was holding out hope that all four would be on the pitch at the same time for an El Classico, maybe at least at the end of a match, but, that dream is now gone.
@ Maminjo – agreed.
Lovren’s mental midget disease is way too big of a risk to bring into a short tournament in return for very little or no difference in talent with the other options Croatia has.
Lots of similarities here-
-Yes,does bring in a certain level of promise and talent.
-Is prone to being a bonehead a little too frequently.
-Is more interested in himself than the good/wellbeing of the NT.
-Ultimately better off without him.
@Lazio
I think this goes deeper.
Lovren hasn’t started regularly since Cacic took over, and by not starting in these past two friendlies, I think Lovren was concerned that he was going to be a benchwarmer behind both Corluka and Vida for these upcoming Euros.
It’s embarassing for a 20 million pound player who plays in the EPL for Liverpool to play behind a couple of less valuable Russian/Ukrainian League players.
He probably was told by Cacic that he will get some playing time, and Cacic changed his mind during the game. Who knows, maybe Cacic doesn’t value Lovren at all and wants him to excuse himself from the team. I dunno.
Personally I don’t care too much because I don’t trust Lovren to start either. This may hurt our depth a bit, but until Lovren can give us 10 games without a stupid red card or penalty, then I don’t want him playing either. Not a big loss at all.
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11669/10240274/dejan-lovren-and-mamadou-sakho-liverpools-weak-links-former-dortmund-star-says
@Maminjo
The problem with Cacic and Lovren comes from the Hungary game.
So the problem is with Lovren because he wanted to play at the start of the second half like Cacic told him he was going to?
If only Lovren knew that friendlies were a stupid waste of time.
Maybe it was Cacic’s insistance that it was important to win got Lovren all pumped up for the big Hungary friendly?
Sevilla would be an excellent place for Halilovic to play, if they are interested in him moreso than the 20 million euro they are receiving for Gameiro.
If he is just an asset that Barca is throwing in to sweeten the pot, then it may not mean that Halilovic is the type of player that Sevilla is looking for to plug into their team.
If it was a situation, like Valencia, where Sevilla approached Barcelona specifically for Halilovic’s services, then I would be more at ease.
But the Halilovic family are not stupid. They’ll have their discussions with these teams to figure out what the plan is for Alen and probably make the right call. They’ve done well so far.
Barcelona are looking to bring in Kevin Gameiro…they are reportedly offering 20 million euro plus Halilovic…Rakitic is telling him to go. He says sevilla is a good choice for him.
Fucking Lovren
It would be as if Gisele Bundchen was your girlfriend and some fat ugly chick came up to you and said “If you don’t go out with me, I’m never going to call you again”.
I’m changing the name I use on this site because it sounds too much like Lovren.
@Lazio
It was from some of the former players who left the team. I believe it was Eduardo who spoke about the “not being able to speak to each other” during practice. I think someone else talked about the “no sandals in the hotel” policy.
BTW, You need to let go of the Hungary game. You’re putting too much stock into a friendly. These friendlies did seem like a stupid waste of time, but I don’t put any stock into the result. Save your judgement for the only thing that matters. Tournament results.
Lazio lol…there was pictures of Lovren standing naked in front of Srna pool side in Brazil during the world cup.
@Maminjo
I don’t know if that’s true what you say about Kovac.
Where did you get that information about Kovac?
4W 2D start with Kovac in qualifying, didn’t seem to be a problem then!
Now we can’t even beat Hungary, the longest shot in the tournament!
Why did Modric want to see Lovren’s dick? this is very disturbing.
Lovren should keep his mouth shut. The situation is unlike a normal workplace, whereas if he truly believes he is good enough to start he could maneuver to negotiate a deal with another team. At the national level he does not have this option.. Only option is to hustle your ass off and show you deserve the position, which apparently, he thinks he is too good to do. No pity here.
@Lika Joey
I believe you are mistaken.
Lovren was showing his dick to Modric, not to Srna. Get your Croatian Football facts straight.
@Lazio
Kovac came in and started with the aggressive pseudo-German discipline with all kinds of arbitrary rules like “no sandals in the hotel” and “no talking to each other during practice”.
It was absurd, and it was all some attempt to legitimize himself as some commander, even though he should have focused on actual tactics and NOT picking his friends for the starting lineup.
Cacic actually has a more laid back approach and doesn’t focus on these little things, but Lovren sounding off on Cacic like he just did and giving an ultimatum is no little thing. Cacic has to react.
Didn’t some of you guys have an issue with Kovac wanting to be this big disciplinarian?
Cacic said, “it’s important to win.”
I wonder if he gave the team the best chance to win, 3 players 2 keepers on the bench?
Hungary ties the game at 1-1, know if you want to win the game, because it is important to win according to Cacic, of the 3 players on the bench, I would’ve bought on Halilovic!
What if Lovren started the 2nd half, would Hungary have scored? who knows. Makes more sense to put Lovren on at the start of 2nd half to hold on to the 1-0 result, then it does to bring him on to try win the game.
Like our friend Ziva says, it would be hard for these players to respect Cacic when they consider how he got his job. I guess Cacic has made it harder for Lovren to respect him.
I like the fact that Lovren told Cacic if he doesn’t start him he wont go to the Euros. If Cacic doesn’t want to start Lovren at the Euros, Lovren doesn’t go, nice and simple for Cacic.
^ ^
More hyperbole
Likewise Like Joey!
The money is definitely where it stems from.
And it’s only getting better.
These numbers are insane!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3381083/Premier-League-sides-eye-TV-cash-bonanza-worst-season-relegated-flight.html
Poglavnik barca,real and maybe bayern could complete and win the epl with there by b teams.
your coach is your boss. if its that hard for you to wait until after the game to ask him why he did what he did, you aren’t qualified to be a professional.
Lovren has an ego, his ego is bigger than his team…its really simple.
Lazio (if I don’t start i will not come to the euro) is that the heart of player?..bottom line lovren is a self centered dick. Regardless of Cacic being a dollar store coach he is the boss…at least we don’t have to read about Lovren showing his dick to srna in the newspaper this summer.
Cacic takes less players to the two friendlies so everyone can get as much time as possible, he tells Lovren he will be starting the 2nd half, next thing he’s got Lovren warming up, also we’ve got 3 outfield players on the bench to bring on as subs.
You must remember according to Cacic everyone is going to get as much time as possible, and the big boss man only uses one sub in the Hungary game. Cacic couldn’t beat Hungary after saying that it’s important to win, the same Hungary that is the longest shot in the tournament!
@Slavonac
Kovac was our boss also, I might be wrong but I don’t recall you taking this stance when the players questioned Kovac?
Poglavnik I like you brother! All I’m saying is the epl isn’t the same as it was 4 years ago. I’m not trying to fuck with you. It will bounce back the money and marketing is insane.
Read that again.
Madrid currently 6 straight and Bayern currently 5 straight.
And Barca have probably only had a hiccup or 2 in the last 10 I’d guess.
@ everyone
Do you guys think this is the media creating something? regarding the whole Lovren/Cacic situation.
Does Lovren really think he is that good where he really does NOT want to play for Cro unless he is in the starting 11?
Is Loven that dumb where he thinks he will just simply give Cacic an ultimatum (if the media is true) to start him and he thinks Cacic will give in and this whole thing backfired on him?
Does anyone think Lovren WILL be part of the team by the time the Euros roll around and the two will put their differences aside?
PS – I have read the latest articles, I just wanted to see what the CROSPORTS nation thinks
Ok. Im not in the mood to spew bullshit like “Dinamo is better than Sunderland.”
To each their own..
Your talking about almost 3 years ago
Madrid have made the CL semi’s 6 years in a row now.
Barca did 6 CL semi’s in row from ’07-’13
And Bayern are currently on a run of 5 straight.
Take those 3 teams and drop them in the Prem and do you really think they have those kinds of streaks while juggling the English League and their Cups?
Dinamo zagreb is tougher than Sunderland lol.
http://m.goal.com/s/en/news/1717/editorial/2014/06/05/4861228/which-league-and-clubs-have-the-most-players-at-the-2014
Aston Villa and Newcastle are extremely tough teams to play before champions league. Come on brother!
Bottom 2/3 of La Liga is shit.
Now that’s a league that’s regressed.
Awesome in the air. Very combative. Endless motor.
Maybe not super unique but it is very useful.
.what’s Mandzukic unique skill set…?
Ronaldoooooooo
Outside of Madrid, Barca, Juve, Bayern, and PSG, the best players are in the Prem. If they can cut it!
Poglavnik bottom line epl is not what it was 4 years ago. Talk about tough competition what about laliga?
So fitting!
Lavaja’s never even played for the seniors and at this point probably wont.
Even with our sad striking options.
You now its a real shame that a good striker with a unique skill set like Mandzukic has yet to find a complimentary strike partner on our Repka.
Back to Kramaric and the Prem v Bundesliga thingy.
This from quality footballer.
http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/man-city-winger-kevin-de-bruyne-clear-why-english-clubs-struggle-in-europe-4125076
@Poglavnik……….so true. How could have I missed it. He first the “Look at Me” mantra. He has dried ink on his arms and it is visible, that is one of the first signs of “Look at Me” syndrome. Plus, what is more “Look at Me” than running around naked with other grown men. Looking back, I should be kicking myself in the ass for missing the obvious signs.
leaving the warm-up is insubordination in a regular job, I don’t see how anyone can side with Lovren on this. if you’ve ever played for a level outside of the community level, you know your place or you will be gone…simple as that!
I’m going with D, Lovren trying to be a fashion designer.
Ziva, you should have saved the “look at me” nickname for Lovren. Suits him much better.
What is more Lovrening?????
Lovren going Lovren at the WC with his foul of the Brazilian in the box, Lovren going Lovren at the team hotel in Brazil and walking around naked, or Lovren going Lovren by refusing to listen or to the play for the repka.
Lovren gonna Lovren.
Wasn’t the first time. Won’t be the last either.
Why Fuck Lovren??????
If that is how he feels, then that is how he feels.
Nobody is forcing a gun to his head. If he doesn’t want to play for the repka, he shouldn’t have to play.
I’m not a huge Lovren fan, but I side with him on this one. Sometimes as a player, you have to put your foot down.
I meant to say without Perisic or Modric.
Good news.
Our team is not the same without Perisic and Modric. Every other player can be replaced.
I remember dreaming of croatia actually being a country…getting into fist fights for being called yugoslavian. Now a prick like lovren with only play if his feelings aren’t hurt. Fuck Lovren!
Agreed, circumstances change and can dictate a change in plans.
Face it, this is on Lovren.
“I was told….”
hard to argue?
come on man….things change throughout a game and at the end of the day, your coach is your boss! I’m curious to understand what some people think a coach’s role is? I think the confusion here may be that in North America, there may be more “rights” or “entitlement” for players whereas in Europe and South America, your coach is your boss, you don’t even have the right to question him…especially not publicly!
Perisic is fine for the Turkey game.
Lol @ JB
Too true.
Also
http://www.vecernji.hr/nogomet/ante-cacic-reprezentacija-je-ispred-pojedinca-nema-mjesta-ultimatumima-nadam-se-da-ce-dejan-lovren-prihvatiti-odluku-1075682
Knowing how the federation is run….expect him in the starting 11 regardless if he is suspended.
I may be wrong.
Some people online are saying red card suspensions are carried over to the Euros, not accumulated yellows.
Can someone confirm this please?
I’m pretty sure about that. I hope I’m wrong also.
Horvat
I hope you’re wrong! 🙁
Isn’t Perisic missing the Turkey game?
“I was told I would play the second half in Budapest. I was ready and also, the coach said we will all get a chance. And I didn’t.” – Dejan Lovren
Hard to argue with what Lovren had to say there. I remember that Cacic did say he wanted to give every player as much time as possible in those two friendlies.
@stipe……we have better players than Turkey and the Czechs, but that doesn’t mean we will beat them. All things being equal, we should, but all depends on the first match. If we lose points to turkey I would out much faith in our guys to beat the Czechs.
On paper, we are the second best team in this group.
That doesn’t mean we can’t beat the top team (Spain), nor does it mean we cannot lose to Turkey or Czech if they outcoach us and play us right.
Turkey cannot match our skill and will be physical and play dirty. Modric and Rakitic will FOR SURE buckle in that game. However, Perisic and Mandzukic should be enough to tear Turkey a new one by themselves.
Czechs should be easier for us, and we always seem to do well in game 2 of every tournament. But you never know.
@ ZIVA
How are turkey and the check team? Like are we a lot better then them. Or are they a lil bit better then us?
The starters on this team MUST be the following:
Forwards: Mandzukic
Midfield/Wingers: Perisic, Modric, Brozovic, Rakitic
Defenders: Vida, Corluka
Goaltender: Subasic
These eight players are undeniably our best and most reliable players at their positions (probably in the above order too).
All Cacic needs to do is pick a formation and fill in the blanks on the three remaining starting positions.
How many times does Lovren have to prove to you that he is a mental midget both on and off the field?
Like I said before, he would not play one minute for me.
…and like I said before, our forward line is desperately lacking talent. 4-5-1 is the only way.
You cannot start a Kramaric or Kalinic at the expense of keeping one of your talented midfielders on the bench.
No point in discussing who Cacic is better than or worse than right now. So far, he has made all the rightpersonnel moves.
Olic, Pranjic, and now Lovren out. Halilovic a reduced role – I told you all about him – great start and then started moving his playing style away from what has gotten him to this point..
Whoever the Savez hires will be considered a puppet, so, what’s the point of discussing that either?
Players respect coaches who play people in starting roles and in proper positions for the right reasons.
Exactly what Cacic has done so far.
In my eyes were are a nation of winners! I truly believe our time will come. Our first game in qualifying against italy had my heart pounding through my fucking chest. Pillow biter Greeks won one.. so can we! I was at a bar with a bunch of Italians watching the fear in there eyes was magical.
It is, but you are not playing the game.
Enjoy it, cheer for them do what you want. Just don’t wear a jersey with another man’s name on the back and don’t take it personally when we shit the bed. Us losing and being humiliated against Mexico doesn’t make you any bit less of a hrvat.
Guess what, we would still be a country if the 98 team had lost in the group stages.
Sports is a release from normal activities. Don’t buy into it and you will be fine.
you’re a good man Lika!
I remember being a kid and telling people I was croatian. They would laugh at me and tell me to find it on a map. My baba kaja would give me a broom and tell me to hit the cigan over the head. I was 11 years old. Croatia having its own identity gives me tremendous pride. I guess in my eyes soccer is our face to the world.
Lovren was told to warm up. He warmed up 15 minutes. HE decided that was enough. He was getting cold so decided to go back on the bench and sit down because he thought 15 minutes was enough. Trainer asked him why he was sitting down and he told him, I’m assuming in not a pleasant way, that he is done warming up. Trainer told Cacic the situation. Of course he wasn’t going to play him after that.
What’s fair is fair. Regardless of your opinion of Cacic he wasn’t in the wrong in this situation. Lovren’s fault 100%.
@Lika Joey……….I am saying the people in leadership positions are lazy and corrupt. The entire system at all levels of sports, government, entertainment, industry is a mess. How do you get rid of it??? That is multi-million kuna question. Do I still have faith the average Jozo from the selo is a good guy? I do, I just don’t trust the leadership.
And why are you taking losses personally? They are not playing for you. You think these players take it personally when you have a bad day at work or your wife bitches at you (Mama Istina in my case). After our guys lost in Brazil to Mexico, guess what they did. They still went on summer vacation and rented yachts and resided in some nice villas. Trust me, they were over the game and disappointment much sooner than we were.
We are a nation of front runners. We all say the right thing when winning, but as soon as we start losing the fans turn their backs and the players begin to mother fuck everyone. Enjoy the game. Yeah, I know its hard not to get attached especially when the repka is playing at Euros or WCs, but enjoy it for what it is……entertainment.
Cacic at the helm makes my stomach turn…but I can’t enjoy the shit show! I’m cheering for my team. I hope he does something.
I agree we have to accept and deal with the situation, there is absolutely nothing we can do to change things….not even Simic and former Dinamo players can do much. BBB have tried, the public has been trying and still nothing.
I’m not necessarily ok with Cacic at the helm, but I will live with it and hope that one day Bilic will consider coming back, but I’m sure that won’t be for a long time if his career goes well in England.
Croatia have a lot of good soccer minds, I know this for fact. we lack at doing the right thing and supporting whats best so I no longer try to tell myself …da ce bit bolje…bit ce bolje kad na kurac nokat naraste!
this doesn’t mean we’ll never see the right coach in place, but a lot has to happen before it does happen.
samo naprid
Bottom line the shit show breaks my heart! I don’t sleep when we do poorly. I had to return to Mexico for a work trip a week after the world cup. Let me tell you I took the loss personally.
Slavonac I agree…but from some of my personal experience with my family in Croatia etc…corruption is rampant…my mother sent her sister 1000 euros to pay the dr to rush her heart surgery. My point with Cacic and Mamic is….this is the hand we are dealt let’s make the best of it. Cacic certainly isn’t a top coach. But I feel he is more experienced than the last two. Mamic leaving dinamo wouldn’t just fix the system and deep rooted problems that infect croatia deeply.
Lika,
in my opinion, I believe there are good people that could take over Mamic’s position…but would they be willing to line pockets and help out people “under the table’ in order to get into the position of power?
I think that’s what people do and want over there. they want the extra $5000 or a car or a better job, regardless of if they are qualified. this is how the entire system works and is why corruption will always defeat correctness.
if you lived there and were struggling…and I come along and am looking for your support but with no guarantees you get anything out of it. then, someone else comes along and offer you $5000 and your kid a job, even though you know its wrong. desperate people take desperate measures.
I’m not siding with Ziva, I’m just telling it based on my opinion and how I know people live over there.
Ziva I thought you said there are many people with clean records who could take over Mamic and his position. What are you saying now? The people left in Croatia are lazy and corrupt?. So are you saying that the majority of the country is corrupt?.
@Slavonac………….regarding being raised the “Croatian” way. I agree with much of what you wrote. I think we were raised the Croatian way from the outside looking in to Croatia. The people who left did so because they wanted a better life for themselves and away from communism. They had a work ethic to take them to a foreign land without much in terms of skills and money, but boy did they work hard to make it. I applaud you, your family and others like you. I don’t applaud those in Cro who are lazy and corrupt. One just has to look at the number of people leaving the country.
Cacic is fine and no worries about him
what we have to wonder is will a few of these prima donnas show up or not, will they want to play, that is the question
what are we judging cacic off of to be that much better than then the last two?
4 wins and 1 draw in 2 competitive matches and 3 friendlies
vs Bulgaria Russia Malta and Israel x Hungary
cutting pranjic? a blind grandmother taking over the NT at that point would have cut him lets not act like he is a god send for that
waiting until after Euro to rate him
Lovren’s a tool and a homo!
That entitled loser is right up there with Pranjic and Sammir when it comes to players I don’t want anywhere near the team.
Ziva,
I usually agree with most of what you say but there are times I disagree. when it comes to some of the soccer topics, you’re pretty good at giving an objective and correct perspective. its usually when you carve people’s personal lives when I tend to disagree and think you are a bit unfair and judgemental.
you said: “it is a question of what came first”?
we all love our culture for many reasons. I feel that I’ve been successful in some part’s of my life because my parents raised me the Croatian way…to be worthy (vrijedan), to work hard, to not allow others to stop me at succeeding…and most of all, to live a life with principle’s and values. I may be a bit over the top when it comes to being principled, but I’d rather be that way than the other.
Croatians broke free from a massive Communist infrastructure, it was filled with corruption and controversies, they lacked in leadership and crumbled under the desire to succeed, using corruption and lacking in principles…at least thats how I see it. I don’t see any other reason why politicians wouldn’t do the “right” thing but instead do the wrong if it weren’t for power and greed. Croatia has a lot of great athlete’s and brilliant people but they usually don’t manage well at anything…its plagued us for years and is continuing to do so today.
@slavonac
Bravo, bravo, once again you are light years ahead of anyone on this site. You are not bias and look at the whole picture.
Well done.
Corruption is a deep rooted cancer all across the board in Croatia. If it wasn’t Cacic as coach it would another nobody. Cacic is much better than the last two. If Mamic was to go another crook would take his place. It’s a sad situation back home now.
Slavonac exactly brother!
@CroatianPerson85…………I agree with much of what you said. The country as a whole is run by idiots and this is what we get. No wonder anyone with half a brain and education is leaving the country.
Will we get rid of corruption in Cro? Nope, not as long as the two leading political parties are SDP and HDZ.
@Ziva and anyone else willing to read the rant
I see what you’re saying about Mamic. Agreed 100% BUT
Do you honestly think that in a country like Croatia, we will not have people like that running things? Most people I think would agree, yes, corruption should not be tolerated BUT, once again, do you honestly think that in a country like Croatia, we are going to do things properly and not have a guy like Mamic around regarding soccer?
Once again, is it the right mentality to say, hey it’s either him or someone else so let’s choose the arguably lesser of 2 evils? NO, again most people agree BUT this motherf$*ken Croatia Ziva and you are the 1st person on this website to remind all of us about that.
Ziva, you are usually pretty spot on with some things, some people see it as negative, others as realistic BUT on this whole, we need to get rid of Mamic and corruption to eventually do things the right way – short term pain for long term gain etc – I think you are way off.
In an IDEAL world, things would work that way but even you are the first one on this site to remind all of us of not being so naive, gullible etc. We do NOT live in a UTOPIAN society. Croatia is NOT some free liberal open Scandinavian country. There will ALWAYS be someone like Mamic there.
IMO you are 100% correct. Get rid of corruption entirely. Yes, absolutely. BUT do you really truthfully think that will happen in Croatia?
C’mon Ziva. You’re better than this. Correct me if I am wrong, and I am not being sarcastic here but I am sure you would be leaving messages on here calling us all naive and gullible children with mental midget disease if we ACTUALLY THOUGHT that in a country like CROATIA we will eradicate corruption in soccer and then the entire football federation can hold hands, skip to the games together, maybe even do a care bare stare while they’re at it.
This is the one time I would recommend taking a grain of salt of your own advice that you usually give on this website and for the sake of any followers of the ZDS lifestyle – no malice intended here BUT – don’t be so naive bud. This idea of getting rid of corruption in Croatia goes entirely against anything else you usually type – it’s completely inconsistent with your way of thinking, just a thought.
PS – WTF is Lovren thinking with the Russel Brown clothing line? Hideous. The only people that MIGHT buy that garbage is anyone from Zenica where he is from.
Good on him for doing what he loves, if fashion is what he loves, BUT I have a hard time believing that. He’s toolbox of a Bosanac who made a few bucks and now he wants to be some Giorgio Armani/ fashion model with a million tattoos and sleaves like every other beta fish in soccer. If you really want some attention nowadays just don’t get any tattoos.
his name and money is just in it, doubt he has anything else to do with it
@CroatianPerson85………nothing wrong in having other interests. You can’t believe a player only thinks about soccer 24/7, can you? There are branding issues. Who knows, maybe soccer is not Lovren’s first love and uses soccer as a medium for his clothing line. Nothing wrong with that. I’m sure some of you guys also have other interests beyond your professional life.
@Slavonac……. it is a question of what came first, the chicken or the egg. Same thing here in terms of cleaning up the savez and FIFA/UEFA. FIFA and UEFA will be dirty because the people selected to lead the federations from each country are dirty. So, how does FIFA clean itself up. Do you start from the top and work your way down or does it begin at home. Only problem with it back home is the political game that is played.
Its a shit show and will remain a shit show. Only hope is that we really do have talent to overcome that shit show. But, we will never have consistent success because of the lack of leadership.
http://www.russell-brown.com/
Does anyone even own anything from here? I can’t believe the guy has a “designer” clothing line. Neither Messi nor Ronaldo have designer clothing. Whatever makes you happy I guess, to each there own.
Lovren is a player….but to be a player that says I’m not going if i don’t play you have to be top…….and top plays just never have to say that because its known.
whats a national tournament without some drama……….
June 12 fuck turkey
actually, it was Ziva that revealed to me several months ago that many owners present and past, are criminals and have committed several criminal acts. the only reason we look at Mamic is because he is the best of all the corrupt retards. with that said, how many corrupt people behind the scenes have helped him and all these other criminals succeed?
we can stop here, the corruption starts alllllll the way at the top and has filtered its way right through to the core of Croatia.
we saw guys like Simic, Biscan, Maric and Sokota bring attention to the public…what came of it…zero!!!
Who is more out of place:
A. Cacic coaching at the Euros
B. Kranjcar at a salad bar
C. Mamic in church
D. Lovren leading a team-building workshop
E. Diaspora hrvati talking politics with people in Cro
So, that is your logic? Might as well stay with him because they all are corrupt? No wonder the country is run by losers.
Actually, we have had people with much cleaner records express interest in the federation, but Mamic and his people keep pushing them out.
If you get rid of mamic another version of him comes in and so on.
Dam phone
Ziva your a fucking idiot! If there was no Mamic there would be another corrupt prick just like him or worse. This is Croatia…sad but true!
Ziva your fucking idiot! If there was no Mamic there would be another corrupt prick just like him or worse. This is Croatia…sad but true!
@Lika Joey……….not true at all. I cheer for Cro and Cro athletes more than any person I know (it’s the “Za dom……spremni” way). I laugh at the shit show (how could you not) and I don’t get emotionally attached where my day is ruined when they do shit the bed.
Remember this folks………..if there was no Mamic there never would have been a Puppet Suker in this role, there never would have been a Strucnjak Stimac in his role, there never would have been a Kum Kovac in his role and there never would have been a Druga Liga Cacic in his role.
This all leads back to the top.
Ziva your just dream of a shit show for your personal gratification. You would be crushed if Croatia did well at any level.
If Lovren isn’t going to be on the national team this summer that leads to an opening on the squad. Who the hell is going to walk around naked for the repka this summer. Lovren had that role locked down in Brazil.
Regardless of our talented team…the powers back home are going to hire one shit coach after another.
Slavonac your last post is bang on brother!
My point is Cacic is better than the last two! I never said he will take us to the promised land. But it’s better than what we had before. We are talking about Croatia! They aren’t going to hire Mourinho! Some of you need to get your heads on straight. It is what it is and let’s see what happens.
Having said all this, I still see us making the round of 16.
We will get there despite our coaching staff not because of it.
Armada,
several months back when I was having one of many arguments with Ante B, he said something that has stayed with me. he said “you have given up”…what he was talking about is that I had given up on Dinamo and how Mamic took it over and has been able to do what he wants with Dinamo and Croatian soccer….he was right!
I guess you can say I have lost the will and energy to imagine that anything will change in Croatia. I have always said that it is their “system” that has caused such bullshit at all levels, nothing has changed, why should I expect it to now?
to my point…Cacic is not qualified to manage a sock drawer, I know that…but I live with the reality that he is what we get when we have muppets running the systems in a very corrupt country. I now see Croatia a bit differently than I did before. I no longer believe there will be change whereas I used to hope there might be.
you guys on here can battle it out for who made what decision and which one was worse, I stick to watching games and following the sport I have loved all my life. I know you are right, I am 100% sure this bullshit hiring is exactly what I called it, bullshit…but no matter how much I hate what has happened, I cannot change it and…I no longer have hope that it will change.
we have great individual players, we are definitely a nation with talent in many areas….but we lack in leadership qualities and we love to criticize everything. I’m trying to break that trend and live my life in reality. I don’t want to continue to have false hope that in my lifetime, we will see credibility in Croatian soccer or politics. why would it change if we’ve never seen it before? regardless of what era, its always plagued us and in hindsight, even Ciro wasn’t the right choice for the ’98 World Cup but evidently, he did well.
I love the game…all aspects of it…so when it comes to soccer in Croatia, I will stick to dealing with what we have and stop hoping for something I most likely will never see!
Couldn’t of said it better.
Hey, here is hoping Druga Liga Cacic pulls a magic trick out of his ass and gets us to the R16 – but lets not act surprised if Cacic makes a boneheaded decision along the way to screw up our chances.
Druga Liga Cacic IS better than Kum Kovac and Strucnjak Stimac in the same sense that Facebook is a better product than MySpace, in the same sense that Coke is better than New Coke, and in the same sense Barbie Hrvatska is better than Josipovic as president……………I mean, you couldn’t get any worse.
So, congrats to the savez for making the floor so low that there is no way to go but up.
@ Slavonac
Yeah, but think about Cacic this way.
You’re over there in a corporation. There is some high level opening, Director or VP level.
A guy is hired for the role, but everyone ignores his resume and has the “lets see what he can do mentality” – with a lot of revenue and $$$ riding on this guy “figuring it out”.
That never happens in real life. But it happened here. The guy got hired for a senior level role and if you look at his resume, it fucking sucks. I mean look at the teams he coached and his results? Yes, the “hiring process” was fucked, but why are you standing up for the savez? They made a major league fuck up in hiring him and I HOPE he doesn’t embarrass us in France, but if it happens – many, including me, won’t find it a surprise.
But, hey! Let’s waste away another tournament with possibility our most talented generation since the 90’s with some coach who is trying to “figure it out”.
@ Lika joey
Are you on drugs dude? They all suck. None of them have been a manager for a legit European team.
Yes, if you want to win the arguement, Cacic is “better” than say Kum Kovac, since Kovac had no senior team coaching experience prior to the NT. You got me there, bud. You win!
Let me know how it goes in the future with Cacic being your guy in terms of a NT coach… He’ll definitely be the one to lead us to the promised land LOL
regarding cacic and kramaric, i’m pretty sure cacic has every intention of calling him up. if i’m not mistaken, cacic told him he wasn’t going to call him up b/c he wanted him to focus in on in his new situation in the bundeslig
Nicklas Bendtner, Adebayor, van Hooijdonk, Tevez, Anelka, Cassano, Balotelli….this list goes on and on and on!!!
soo many topics to cover but I’ll comment on this one first. Lovren is a loser, plain and simple. If he had any credibility, he flushed it down the toilet…the guy has the ‘look at me” syndrome and I don’t care how good he can be, I’d send him to the “fuck off department” ASAP!
Kalinic, in my opinion, is a below average player that had a good streak…it was his version of what Jelavic went through for a year and a half and he may have enough experience to make the team and play…but that just shows us how thin our options are. It doesn’t mean I don’t think he can score….he’s a professional soccer player and has played most of his life, sure he can score…but he’s by no means an attractive or effective player.
Kramaric has talent, a lot of talent…his circumstances have been all over the place…from being bought by Rijeka and scoring goals in bunches to then being bought by Leceister and being in a situation where he had bad luck. The guy is good enough to play there but nobody in their right mind would play him over the guys that happened to catch fire at the right time.
We haven’t seen or heard enough to judge Cacic. he’s definitely not to be considered as some guru, but I think everyone deserves the chance before we judge them. he’s the coach, nothing we can do other than to see where this goes!
Cacic got rid of Pranjic…he should get an award for that alone! Lol
How is cacic not a huge upgrade from the last two?
Armada… I did say huge upgrade…compared to Stimac and Kovac it is a huge upgrade…kovac had 5 games with the u21 team…Stimac is a bird….but I’m not saying Cacic is the coach for us…on a European level he is a joke. But he is a huge upgrade from the other two. Kek and Zuti would of been ideal choices. But this fucking bird is better than the last two.
Don’t try and pull it back now, Lika Joey hhahahha
You used the word HUGE. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt on that slip up.
Just remember, Cacic was coaching NK Sesvete a few years ago… And I’ll answer the two questions that just popped into your heard. Sesvete is right outside of ZG and the team currently plays in 2. HNL. He also didn’t have a coaching job for a nice chunk of the late 2000’s.
And this is the guy that is leading a top 20 NT??????
But hey, an upgrade from Kovac or Stico is correct in a way….
Fuck Lovren….I would keep him home!
I said Cacic is an upgrade….he still have more experience that Stimac and Kovac…besides the fact he is a subpar manager.
yes, mental midgets. Yes, yes!!!
But, the entertainment factor is legit.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3533436/Dejan-Lovren-miss-Euro-2016-Liverpool-defender-warns-Croatia-manager-Ante-Cacic-start-m-not-going.html
that mental midget syndrome strikes again!
and did someone actually make this comment?
“Cacic is a huge upgrade from Stimac and Kovac.”
Yes, a guy (Cacic) who has been a journeyman HNL coach (with some of that coaching done in 2. HNL) is a HUGE upgrade from another journeyman HNL manager (Stico) and then a rookie manager (Kum Kovac) who coached at the academy level before taking the NT gig and is now coaching a BL team that is about to get relegated.
Did my wife sprinkle some weed in my Wheaties this morning…?!?!? Am I losing it? Or do we have some mental midgets on here too????????
So, what have learned this morning? Depending on what media reports you believe: Druga Liga Cacic told Lovren he will no longer be called up…….. or not.
You got to love this shit show. As promised, this is what happens when you have clowns like Mamic and Puppet Suker running the federation. They hire a coach who doesn’t command the respect of the players. Should players like Lovren know better? Yes they should. But, you know that among themselves the players are shaking their heads that Cacic is their coach. Tough to give respect when you know the guy who is the coach doesn’t deserve to be the coach.
Cacic meets Lovren in London for a heart to heart. All good.
Gets Milenko Rak to rejoin National Team
http://www.24sata.hr/sport/lovren-ostaje-u-reprezentaciji-cacic-otkrio-sto-su-razgovarali-469084
http://www.vecernji.hr/nogomet/ante-cacic-s-dejanom-lovrenom-sam-razgovarao-dugo-i-otvoreno-1075322
Hmmmm, I’ll get back to you..
@Poglavnik
Torres hasn’t turned shit around.
He was terrible at Chelsea, and was even worse when he left for that loan spell in Milan. He was embarrassingly bad in his return season to Atletico last year, and only now is he somewhat of a decent substitute striker this season (scoring 7 goals in 26 games for them).
This pattern has nothing to do with him leaving the EPL and suddenly flourishing in other leagues, which was the original point of our debate.
Sorry, you gotta think of another example 😉
@San Antonio
It would have been nice if he got more time but it seems like Ranieri got it right.
It would be awkward and potentially distracting to have your record transfer warming the bench. Good for all parties involved I think.
@CroatianPerson85
I agree.
So how was he supposed to earn his spot in the NT?
Does anyone think he should’ve been playing more with Leicester this season?
Let’s not look to the past with Kramaric, but look at what he’s doing now!
Kramaric was actually pretty decent at Leicester.
In all of his EPL and FA Cup games, Kramaric played a total of 971 minutes during his time at Leicester.
That’s the equivalent of a bit over 10 games played. He scored 4 goals in that period. That’s not bad at all, especially when you consider that he set up a few goals too.
When I watched him play, he was actually pretty solid.
But, he was a newcomer, so obviously the coach isn’t going to simply give him full starts when the rest of the team stepped up and Vardy starting scoring at an excellent rate.
Ranieri made the right call, and that’s just tough luck for Kramaric.
I think that Leicester are fully aware of all this, and they WON’T sell him this summer. He will be back at Leicester next season. Hopefully, things change and he cracks that lineup.
@Maminjo
I’m saying Torres looked all but done at Chelsea and has turned it around now that’s he’s left.
Yeah he was awesome at Liverpool but he looked burned out and done at Chelsea.
Now he’s seeing regular minutes and producing for a 2nd place team in La Liga and Quarterfinalists in Europe.
Makes it seem like La Liga is easier to produce in.
@ San Antonio
I see what you’re saying but no Kramaric should not have gotten more time considering Leicester is in 1st place and may win the league.
@Poglavnik
Not saying that at all.
Are you saying that two games for Kramaric this season is opportunity enough to see if he can cut it in the EPL?
Kramaric Leicester career 15 games 2 goals.
Vardy’s first 15 games for Leicester in the EPL, 0 goals.
It’s not that Kramaric couldn’t cut it, it’s that he wasn’t given an opportunity.
Even Ranieri said that Kramaric was a good player and goal scorer, but he wasn’t gonna get much time.
Should Kramaric have got more time with Leicester this season?
@Poglavnik
re: your comment…
“Maybe it’s not the most technical but many players that fail in England still do well in Germany and Spain.
Fernando Torres is a great example.”
Huh?
Fernando Torres was LEGENDARY at Liverpool. The dude was a league leading goalscorer in the EPL.
His career went to shit once he transferred to Chelsea, and continued to be shit despite going to Milan and Atletico after this. Either he mailed it in, or just lost his magic touch.
But this is a terrible example of a player failing in England, considering he is arguably one of Liverpool’s greatest ever strikers.
@San Antonio
“So to all you guys who say Kramaric couldn’t cut it based on 13 games 2 goals in the 14/15 season and 2 games for Leicester this season, thak God you ain’t coaching Leicester City.”
Soooo are you indicating that if the Kramaric fanboys had their way Leicester would be doing even better?
Riiiight…
Lovren was injured and couldn’t play in Euro 2012? We ended up going with Schildenfeld and Corluka instead.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/euro2012/article-2151599/Euro-2012-Croatia-squad-sees-Dejan-Lovren-miss-out.html
He must be really pissed off.
@Everyone – Ziva, I hope I you have a colourful answer
How did we forget to bring up Mamic ?!- Do you guys think Mamic is pushing Schildenfeld or has any doing ? Does Cacic think Lovren is that much of a possible liability ? Was Cacic just simply checking out different players, systems etc? Combination of them all? Are we all, including myself, over analyzing this?
PS – http://www.russell-brown.com/world/
For anyone that wants a t shirt
@San Antonio
And how do those stats look this year?
Id rather look ahead than in the past.
Fact is Vardy’s production for his cost is miles ahead of Kramaric at this point.
We’ll see if Kramaric comes back and bags 20.
My guess is not bloody likely!
I have no problem with not seeing Lovren on the team. Bitching and moaning is something Croatia needs less of.
San Antonio well said. When Leceister brought in Kramaric it clearly lit a fire under Vardy’s ass. In the few games I watched when Kramaric started at Leicester, he didn’t play all that bad ( in fact he looked to be the most talented player on the field)it was just they had NO continuity, which is expected with a new signing. Time will tell with Kramaric, but I personally think he deserves a roster spot now.
Maybe it’s not the most technical but many players that fail in England still do well in Germany and Spain.
Fernando Torres is a great example.
I’m really looking forward to seeing if Guardiola (I know he’s a manager) will struggle which is what I’m anticipating.
@San Diego
In 14/15 season Leicester were playing some good football, but their problem was scoring goals, that’s why Pearson bought Kramaric. Also Vardy had 0 goals before Kramaric came to the club. I guess you could say Vardy wasn’t cutting it!?
So to all you guys who say Kramaric couldn’t cut it based on 13 games 2 goals in the 14/15 season and 2 games for Leicester this season, thak God you ain’t coaching Leicester City.
Vardy 14/15 season 34 games 5 goals, wasn’t cutting it.
Cacic is a huge upgrade from Stimac and Kovac. Dude is not on the level we need or want. But we need a leader on the field and pitch to make up for his major weaknesses as a coach. I’m concerned about all the weak opposition we are playing in our friendly games prior to euro. We looked brutal against hungary especially in the second half.
Poglavnik I love the style of play of the epl. But the clubs as of late are not up to par. Leicester is the perfect storm. They are one injury away from disaster. But the English power’s…Liverpool…chelsea…man u…even man city…are not up to par in Europe at the moment. Tottenham could of rested a month and they would of lost. The epl schedule is the longest and most grueling.
All true, but entertaining for us fans to enjoy the shit show.
I think the whole blowup with Lovren really was poor communication. Lovren warmed up for 15 minutes, which is how long it takes him to get ready and then he returned to the bench. Cacic took this to be insubordination because of his own inexperience and feeling of inadequacy. Instead of addressing with the player, he goes and pisses all over him to the media. Then, after a week Lovren puts out this ultimatum.
Is Lovren right, no. But Cacic is at least equally responsible and now we are likely to be without a player that could really help us in the Euros. This tournament should be bigger than a couple of injured egos. They should be willing to put this aside for the love of country. Completely unprofessional display and not a good development.
For Leicester it really is a perfect storm. They have the most penalties given, least injuries, not cup tied anywhere and only recently their players are being called up internationally.
@Like Joey
Keep in mind Tottenham are the youngest team in the BPL and they had a real shot at catching first when Dortmund took them down so their focus was split.
The Prem is just too grueling. Throw in international breaks and it’s no wonder they can’t keep up.
Still say its the best.
Poglavnik exactly brother! Italian football is a snooze fest. But italy won all there world cups being boring. I have never heard a wop complain.
Real fans don’t give a shit about boring, it’s all about results. Problem is when you’re boring and the results dry up like Mourinho or LvG this year.
Barca is predictable…but for the love of God how can you even compare barca to any epl teams. Barcelona has the best 3 attacker’s maybe ever to play soccer. Plus every other position is world class. Barcelona is a beast of its own!
Leicester do it because the leagues big teams are in turmoil. Wait until Leicester plays in champions league next year. Tottenham is playing beautiful soccer in the epl. Got smashed in europa league. I’m a fan of the epl it’s just not up to par with laliga and bundesliga at the moment.
Good point by Idemo…………Barca is very predictable as well. But good luck trying to stop them. for national teams, a lot of it comes down to the culture of the nation. Brazilian fans bitch when their side plays unattractive but win 1 0, for example. Eh demand attractive soccer.
Idemo because the epl is a joke this season…man u..chelsea etc…mahrez is a fantastic player…they have zero bench or back ups…just my point…just shows how the epl has fallen in the last few years.
because no one wants to?
football is extremely lucrative and market oriented, the fan rather see a goal fest compared to that Greece team and Leicester, Leicester get away with it due to the fair tale story, when Mourinho or italy do it it’s boring
Why can’t anyone else executed said tactics?
My simple answer would be they are an extremely well disciplined “TEAM.”
I haven’t seen a team this well coached since Otto Rehhagel’s Greece in ’04.
extremely, but beat-ability and predictability carry no correlation……you can know which way messi is going but that doesn’t mean you can stop it, thats what separates the best from the good,
and leicester are the best in the prem this year, table position shows it
Sounds elementary huh?..
leicester is extremely predictable.
no intricate passing or possession, minimalist tactics?
staunch defending and knock it out to the runners, pretty sure they have the most fast break goals in the prem this year
Cacic is a genius.
He first cuts out our biggest weakness in Pranjic and removes Olic from the squad as well. The fact that he didn’t even call up a LB instead of Pranjic speaks volumes of what he though of Pranja.
He knows that Lovren is another weakness, but there is no way he can justify simply cutting a defender valued at 20 million pounds without receiving major flak for it.
So he gets Lovren to do it for him.
Lovren is mentally frail, so he knows if he even messes around with Lovren even a little bit, that Lovren will go off (and he just did). Now, Cacic is free to cut him from the squad, as he has justification to do so.
@Lika Joey
If Leicester is so extremely predictable why can’t no one beat them?
I’m very interested to see how they fair in Europe next year.
Especially if they can keep Kante and Mahrez.
Those 2 could step into almost any team in Europe right now.
Still say it’s better.
Pretty much since the 21st century.
Seems much harder to cut it in the Prem.
Nice to hear Lovren’s side to the incident. Always liked him as a talent, but now starting to appreciate him as a person. What was the point of Srna receiving any playing time against Hungary? This is his last tournament. No point for him to come on as a sub. Lovren has every right to be annoyed. What’s the point of training on the sidelines for more than 15 minutes?
Demanding????? Yes. Better????? No
Bundesliga get a month long winter break and play in one less cup.
Premier League is much more demanding.
Come on. Is anyone shocked some of our players have no respect for Cacic. Everyone knows why he was hired. The players know that as well and his is what you get.
Cacic has to drop him at this point.
If true well Lovren Is a fool. Unreliable player.
Wow thank god none of you are coaching the repka with this Kramaric talk, people stop with the excuses for his play at Leicester. Now we hear he is brilliant on a team heading towards relegation. Ok. Keep drinking the Kool aid.
As for drmic lol. His play has been brutal! Did you not watch the WC.
All of you need to take a breath before we start to proclaim who should play for the repka.
http://www.24sata.hr/sport/lovren-pao-mi-je-mrak-na-oci-necu-se-ispricati-anti-cacicu-468997
Who knows how true this is. There are other Croatian newspapers reporting the same thing.
I think the guy just has horrible decision making plain and simple. Messi wouldn’t even say that he needs to play so much time. What amazes me is that Lovren would not be talking like this a few months ago. The guy has been decent for a few months now and all of a sudden the world owes him something.
We had Schildenfeld playing pretty well at Euro 2012 with Corluka. Ok he’s slow. I think they just know how error prone he can be and they want to see what other alternatives are available.
As good as Lovren thinks he is or for anyone else who likes him. Yes he is a good athlete and can play well for 89 minutes BUT he always has that 30 seconds to 1 minute of crazy stupid in him that entirely erases all the good he might have done for the 89 minutes prior. Unfortunate. He does have a lot of great tools. Decision making is not one of them. Just MHO
Epl teams have been losing ground in Europe the past few years.
Allen exactly!!! Watch Leicester and there tactics and style of play in champions league next season. They will get hammered and humiliated. Extremely predictable and they will be ripped apart when they face more technical teams.
@Poglavnik
Are you sure about that?
Look at what Bayern, Dortmund, and Wolfburg are doing in year over year in Europe.
Even teams like Leverkusen and Schalke (who make the occassional appearance in the CL) will still make it to the Round of 16 whenever they do get there.
How many years did the big-spending Man City get eliminated in the first round before finally making it this far (after being given the easiest possible path to the quarters)?
The top teams in England would kill to have the success that these German teams have.
if you understood tactics and how English clubs (particularly Leicester) operate, those are reasonable claims not excuses.
Poglavnik the epl is much better at loosing to bundesliga teams….I love the style of play in England but the league is a shell of what it was 5 years ago…watch europa league and champions league…epl teams are sub par!
Thats a lot of excuses my friend..
Either way I’m pretty sure he wasn’t what they thought he was for the money they spent on him.
Still young and can hopefully turn it around.
For all of you in love with the Bundesliga, let’s not forget the Premier League is MUCH better.
He was there for a few months, when they were the worst. Obviously an adjustment period is going to take place for most strikers coming from a different country playing for a low-level English club, when service is lacking.
Okazaki offers more defensively and can hold up the ball well for a player of his size. Also never stops running. He meshes well with Vardy. Ulloa is a good target man to have against taller center backs, which many clubs have in England.
I’m not labeling Kramaric as some top class striker. Just think many of you are harsh on him. Kramaric is a similar player to Vardy when it comes to his attributes. Obviously Vardy’s work ethic, finishing ability, and speed is miles ahead of Kramaric. In England, you can’t afford to have many strictly offensive minded players on the pitch. A team like Leicester needs all the defensive help they need. That’s why Kramaric fell out of favor. Let’s also not forget that Ranieri is a defensive minded manager.
@Allen
Dont forget, he couldn’t cut it with them when they were the worst team in the league either.
Fact is they have more faith in Okazaki and Ulloa.
Epl has drastically fallen over the past few years. Epl teams getting hammered in champions league and europa league. We will see les city get smashed in champions league next year.
Wow shame on Kramaric for not cutting it with the best team in England featuring one of the most prolific strikers in the world.
Lovren on the bench
they didn’t go after Drmic because Drmic didn’t want to play ball and go with Mamic’s agency. The father said no from the start and after that the savez “lost” interest in him.
I think Kramaric has all the tools to become a very good player.
All he needs is some time getting used to playing at the highest level.
@ suffolk
“You are same guy who a few years ago was jumping up and down that the repka messed up by not pursuing Josip dermic.”
good memory! i completely stand by it
it was an absolute outrage that the savez did not aggressively pursue dermic (or pursue him at all!)
a bright younger striker who a) was amongst the bundeslig leading goal scorers at the age of 21 b) speaks croatian c) and wants to play for croatia!
as a country with a limited population to pull from, you need to try to seize these types of opportunities
whether drmic pans out is irrelevant. it’s about the savez’s process….and i still strongly believe that it was a failed process by not pursuing drmic. i hope they correct it and pursue the next drmic to come along…but they probably won’t
as for karmic, i’m not saying he’s ronaldo. but good process is for him to be part of the team…all irrelevant cause in the end i’m confident he’ll get a call up for the euros
Just watched the Hoffenheim highlights…beautiful nutmeg leading to the goal.
Kalinic would break his own foot trying that.
The guy is red hot right now and has been since he moved over to Hoffenheim. Whether it’s scoring goals, or just ruining other team’s defenders (leading to goals by his teammates) he’s just been doing great.
Unlike a lot of players, he actually plays well for the repka and not just his club only.
Why would anyone be opposed to him being called up?
Not sure why people would think guys like Duje Cop or Domagoj Antolic deserve a callup before him.
Ok Suffolk, who are you saying deserves a shot over Kramaric? After Mandzo, the options drop off dramatically. I still think we play well with two up top (occupies defenders & would open space for studs like Perisic/Rakitic/Modric) Over hyped? Yes, but doesn’t mean he isn’t a top 3 option up top.
@jm
You are same guy who a few years ago was jumping up and down that the repka messed up by not pursuing Josip drmic.
Drmic shit the bed the past World Cup and past two seasons has done shit. Kramaric is turning 25. As stated above over rated and over hyped. Remember with Leicester he could not cut it. Hopefully next two months we can see if he is for real on a consistent basis and if he deserves a chance with the repka. Now it is just silly listening to you and maminjo defend him.
i’ll continue to believe in kramaric
people who think he is undeserving of a chance with the repka are being silly
as maminjo mentioned, he’s already contributed quite nicely when he’s played for the repka
more relevant recently, is he continues to be a non-stop danger
several goals, and assists. and even when he’s not scoring (like the last two games), he is dangerous. his single man effort last week and shot that was barely saved, lead to hoffenheim goal
in this week, he nutmegged an opponent and drilled a shot, which the goalie only managed to deflect right into the hoffenheim player for a goal
video highlight link attached. (kramaric’s rip in the first half wasn’t too shabby either)
http://hoofoot.com/?match=Eintracht_Frankfurt_0_-_2_Hoffenheim_2016_04_09
the homers on this site with the kramaric talk, lmfao
Mandzo with the 1-1 against Ac Milan. Great performance so far. Mario’s 8 goal this season.
I don’t get this “Kramaric still hasn’t proven anything” rhetoric I keep hearing on this site.
It’s not like he hasn’t played for us in the past. He played for us in qualifying, and he’s played very well, scoring 3 goals and a couple of assists in games that actually matter.
He’s proven that he can play for the National Team when called upon. Not sure why he has to suddenly prove himself again before being called up to the National Team level. So long as he is 100% fit (which he is) then he should definitely be called up.
Re: his club situation…We can all agree that Kramaric was in an extremely odd situation where his near-relegated Leicester City team suddenly became the best team in the EPL. Of course they’re not going to change things at that point, and unfortunately for Kramaric, he was found on the bench. But now that he’s been playing at Hoffenheim and looks like he’s 100% fit, then why not call him up to back up Mandzukic? It becomes even less questionable when you look at strikers we currently have on the National Team ahead of him.
For example, what has a guy like Kalinic proven to be constantly called up without question?
Kramaric doesn’t play regularly, but when he does, he always scores goals. Whereas, Kalinic plays regularly, and DOESN’T score goals both for his club and National Team.
Kalinic has been hot garbage for 4 months now. If we want to go by club performance, then it’s Kalinic that we should be debating about whether he needs to prove himself now.
Kramaric still has not proven anything. End of this season we will see if he has done something meaningful in Germany. Good thing is at least he is playing and not riding the bench as he did in England. As of today he has been over rated and over hyped.
The four striker spots (not including wingers) for Euro2016 should be:
1. – Mandzukic
2. – Kramaric
3. – Kalinic
4. – One of Santini, Cop, Budimir (doesn’t really matter)
Kovac might. He probably needs to do so in the 2, Bundesliga. Stimac will be nothing more than a coach who will bounce around the middle east, Croatia and Slovenia.
That was a big loss for Kovac against a relegation opponent.
Kovac walked into a bad coaching situation (not that he had any other realistic coaching opportunities anyway). He will get sacked if they get relegated, or replaced sometime during next season (while he’s coaching in the 2nd division) when his team has the time to evaluate their coaching options in the offseason.
It’s a shame that we wasted a World Cup trying to kickstart Stimac and Kovac’s coaching careers, and neither one will even become a half decent one.
Kovacic getting some playing time in garbage time as Real looks to rest players ahead of bigger games. Playing time is playing time for him at this point.
Frankfurt losing today, which I’m sure most of the players on the repka are smiling about because there is not much love lost for Kum Kovac.
yeah, that last forward spot can go to Kalinic, Cop or whoever. If we have to rely on any one of them, then we are in trouble.
So long as Krama pips Kalinic in the pecking order, I’m happy.
Kalinic is a fraud. Had a lucky start to the season, and has scored one goal since. Dude has one goal since early December.
He will get a shot if he earns it over the next 6 weeks.
Doubtful he will get the starting nod over Mandza because we are going to play with one forward to start games.
Watching Hoffenheim v Frankfort. It’s half time but Kramaric had two excellent shots and their goalie saved Frankforts ass. Kramaric looks really good. I hope he gets a shot this summer.
Bad start for the handball team and their chances to qualify for the Olympics. Looks like it might be a down year for the Olympics. Handball team is in danger of not making it. The water polo team just suspended 3 players and the odds of the basketball team qualifying are slim.