It was one of the slowest weekends for Croatians in quite sometime. However, we saw striker Nikola Kalinić make his debut for AC Milan since coming over from Fiorentina earlier in the week, coming off the bench in the 78th minute in a 2-1 win over Cagliari. It’s good to see Kalinić get some minutes with the club immediately after the transfer.
Other transfer talk this week revolved around Real Madrid’s Mateo Kovačić possibly heading to Liverpool. However, the 23 year-old came off the bench for Isco at halftime Sunday as Real Madrid dropped points in a 2-2 draw against Valencia. Kovačić was given a ‘7’ grade as “Madrid improved with him on the pitch, helping to push the team forward.” Luka Modrić played the full 90 minutes but had a “surprisingly weak game although still came up with a couple of superb passes.
Andrej Kramarić scored for a second straight game to start the Bundesliga season in a 2-2 draw against Bayer Leverkusen. One minute after halftime, Kramarić was sent a lob pass in the box which bounced high while the Croatian striker waited and waited to frame the shot perfectly. Kramarić would one-time with his left foot to tie the game up at 1-1. Hoffenheim may be headed to Europa League after being taken down by Liverpool, but they have had a strong start to the German season behind Andrej Kramarić.
Kramarić goal ties up the game for Hoffenheim
Inter Milan’s Ivan Perišić was supposed to be headed to Manchester United this summer, but as Inter wanted more cash for their winger, United backed away. Now, after two solid starts for Inter to start the Serie A season, Perišić’s stock is only rising. On Saturday, Perišić assisted on Milan’s last two goals in a 3-1 victory over Roma in the nation’s capital. Inter Milan wanted nearly $55 million for their Croatia; but if United still want him before September 1st, that number has surely risen.
Perišić assists @ 1:50 & 2:28
Former Croatia manager Slaven Bilić is on the chopping block at West Ham after a third straight loss for the club to start the season. Sure, all three losses have come on the road but he has to do better. West Ham lost 3-0 to Newcastle United Saturday and fans now want Bilic out, to be possibly replaced by Rafa Benitez.
We will be ok fellas. Relax. We will prevail the group we always do. When push comes to shove thats when we get going. Put your minds at ease!
Statistics have shown coaching matters very little with two exceptions 1) you don’t have someone simply incredibly awful 2) there has been an argument made that coaches who employ the bunker have improved certain performances of certain clubs
For all the other coaches, they are all within the standard error
Thanks idemo forgot about that with all this bilic talk haha.
Cilic up 2-0
Bilic has a say, but the pressure is there to continue making the side more competitive, therefore he is under pressure to sign more quality, but the players that have come in don’t give a clear impression of the direction Bilic wants to build West Ham, they are neither physical direct players, nor tiki taka masters. its just mix and match. there doesn’t seem to be a vision for the team style of play. this is what I mean about bilic weakness when building the team. they don’t press effectively, they don’t have the right players to play a quick counter attacking game and they don’t have enough quality on the ball to be a possession based team. that’s the problem. Collins would suit deep defence and counter attack, carroll would suit a direct approach, lanzini suits possession game. its all just mix and match. he should stick to one philosophy and only sign players who are suitable. instead the owners offer him various different players of different types and he takes them and tries to integrate a pragmatic flexible approach but it doesn’t work because there isn’t a clear cohesive philosophy of play. the style has to change whenever key players are injured because the guys that coe in are suited to a different style of play. that’s the problem with west ham under bilic. IMO
@Crnkovic
“to use the my cooking analogy again its like Bilic is cooking a nice pasta dish and the owners say here weve got some fresh top quality mangoes stick that on the pasta. it doesnt work. players need to be on the same wavelength. the manager needs to close his eyes and see his team as he wants it to be. thats called vision. then he builds a team that will fit that vision. you cant fry eggs in a wok.”
Are you saying Bilic has no say into which players he feels the club needs? You know Bilic isn’t the owner?
i hope bilic can sort it out. i think west ham have some very good players. ayew has the potential to be a top player, so too arnautovic, lanzini, chicarito, kouyate, zabaleta. the defenders are not good enough, i never rated ogbonna as a top player im not sure what bilic sees in him. the problem is that they are trying to get somewhere quickly so they just sign the best player they can get hold of in that moment. to use the my cooking snalogy again its like bilic is cooking a nice pasta dish and the owners say here weve got some fresh top quality mangoes stick that on the pasta. it doesnt work. players need to be on the same wavelength. the manager needs to close his eyes and see his team as he wants it to be. thats called vision. then he builds a team that will fit that vision. you cant fry eggs in a wok
Extremely under performing
I think they had injuries all throughout the pre season
4 missing “usual” starters in that first game vs United
Yeah.
Man U, Man City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton are all have squads that are head and shoulders better.
I’d also put Leicester above them.
And Southampton (mostly because of their good crops).
So realistically they should be happy anywhere around mid-table.
But they also shouldn’t be getting rocked the way they have been.
They’re good pog…..but they’re not top tier
I like the food chef Ingridients analogy
It’s crazy on some days you can clearly tell when a coach gets it right (as of recent Cônte vs Poch) then on others it’s just stardom and will who’s flat out better and wants it more
And then you have players who don’t listen to a word the coach says and just go out and ball
I wish it were cut and dry
I think I will add the farmer to the analogy with the chef and the Ingridients
Someone had to grow the crops right ??? (Youth coaches)
West Ham have plenty of good players.
Many managers have done more with less.
I’ve always loved Bilic but I don’t blame The Hammers if they sack him.
@LAknat
Are you saying that Cacic has the ingredients but no good recipes?
“players are more important than coaches, but coaches matter a lot”
West Ham need a chef that can make chicken salad out of chicken shit. I agree!
@Idemo
I agree, Bilic has tried to sign some good players but none want to play for a shit club like West Ham.
I think bilic is well suited to manage anywhere, not once has he managed a top club side, albeit anyone can put Messi up front. every player he bought this year is some mid tier player
as a manager at the highest level it is nearly impossible to express yourself without the best pieces.
its rare and people call it “cinderella stories/runs”
or harry redknapp
give cacic until the world cup, however far we get. after that if we don’t get to the semi-final at least, give the job to Bilic or Zuti or Kek or Halilhodzic or LAknat….or me…or ancelotti
if we don’t need a manager, so how to pick up the right players and use it in the right formation with the right order according to their roles and ability to look for ways of maximizing strategy. So how about the substitution, do you know how important is it? why FIFA would change their regulation about substitution> LAknat alway right!
You just embarrass your self -> The Truth, knowing your lower IQ sure makes me become more superior here as someone with a highly intelligent.
I think Bilic, is well suited to interntional management. he’s a great character whom players respect and like. he understands football, he understands life, he understands business and politics and sacrifice and passion. but he lacks something in terms of long term vision. his west ham team do not yet have a defining characteristic or identity on the pitch. he respects his individual players too much, some of them are not good enough and he doesn’t seem to recognise their weaknesses. with th repka he would not have the same problem. he would be fantastic if he came back to coach the NT. IMO
it’s like saying – Chef’s don’t matter, it’s all about the quality of the ingredients. Yes and No
players are more important than coaches, but coaches matter a lot..
^^
Crnkovic (AKA hugo scott)
of course coaches matter. that’s a stupid thing to say that coaches don’t matter..
badelj, goal, rog goal, lovren clean sheet…kovacic 45 mins
Ha! They should just prop up his 80+ year old body on the bench, pop a smoke in his mouth, and we’d be hoisting the World Cup come July.
Yeah he gets prank called once a month
Is Ciro still alive?
Now we comment how bilic is so up and down. How comical. He us up and down because coaches do not matter. Just teams. It’s a random walk for him because the quality of his team is constantly changing unlike a pep who gets to cherry pick his squads
Bring back Blazevic as a coaching assistant if the team struggle to win the group.
Kalinic on the bench? I despise coach moves where they treat new arrivals like students to watch the game.
Bilic is so ‘up and down’ as a coach, it’s comical.
Not sure what it is.
He was so successful for Croatia, Besiktas and West Ham in the early going, then fizzles out.
At Lokomotiv Moscow he just flat out fizzled. That was a disaster campaign.
Croatia always chokes in their international games before the summer.
Their minds are on the beach.
Bilic is a joke, He needs to stay from the national team.
The team that played Mexico would have done better on the day
Ante I agree I think we did play for a draw
But I also think we were poor in the attack, sure if we would have scored 2 their one doesn’t matter
But what can the manager do when in a team 11 players look unmotivated and lethargic and ready for Ibiza
6 subs that day wouldn’t have helped not 3
Surely the manager wasn’t the one in the box marking/not jumping
Wrong about hockey.
Placing too much blame on coaches is laughable. The educated know that like in baseball or hockey, a soccer coach makes very little difference. Instead, blaming a coach is the way a fan community makes themselves feel better that there poor results are the result of something other than the team’s mediocrity
Cacic is a foolish blindfolded man who doesn’t know about the potential of players. He chose from local sucking club and ditching the greatest name like The God of Halilovic and Godfooter Simunovic. This piece of crap should be gone immediately and look some foreigners for our new manager!
Cacic is a sweetheart. You will not meet a nicer man in your life. But tactics and substitutions are something he is not an good at. Iceland is not his to blame.
Players came out at 50%. Played for a draw. Iceland scored last second and that’s that.
If anyone is to blame for Iceland loss surely not the manager.
If he really has a stunning first half of the season he will cost 100m by janurary the way the market is
^ ^
Funny!
Bring Bilic back for WC. We should have left Cacic in Iceland after that result.
Agreed. Man U missed out, Inter now thinks they have a real chance to compete after beating Roma. No way Perisic goes for 50£ now. That said, Man U got a favorable CL league draw, so they thought Perisic was expendable.
Mandzukic draws penalty that Me-First Dybala buried.
Agreed man u missed out. Does anyone know how pjaca is doing? Any timetable for return?
^ ^
Agreed!
Man U. missed out.
Next transfer window his value will be even greater I’d bet.
Man U should have payed up
They gonna kick themselves
Ya perisic looks real good. Watched that whole game. He was outstanding.
Perisic with a classic assist
Vrsaljko started
West ham fans crucifying him
Bilic going to get fired
The more one looks at the facts, the clearer it is that Mamic is the John Snow of Croatia, the prince who was promised, to save his people
Taking over an organization in shambles: snow takes over night’s watch, mamic takes over dynamo
Overcomes incredible odds to defeat hostile foreign forces: John Snow defeats the wildlings attack on the wall, Mamic miraculously guides Dinamo to champions league two times in a row against other nations
Produces quality individuals: John Snow helped guide the development of Arya, Sam, Bran, and the night’s watch. Mamic’s guidance helped developed Croatian stars like modric, kovacic, mandzukic, lovren…the list goes on
Did what was right befriending foreigners for common good, to the objection of their people: John snow befriended the foreigner wildlings for the betterment of the realm. Mamic brought in foreign players to Dinamo and pushed foreign players on the national team to the betterment of both
Betrayed and assassinated by his own people for their objection to his acheivements: John Snow is betrayed and stabbed in the heart by rebellious night’s watchmen who took issue with his management of the wall. Mamic is shot by fellow croats leaving mass for objections to his management of Dinamo.
Rise from the dead: John Snow recovers from a stab to the heart. Mamic recovers from a gun shot.
The similarities are too great. It is clear, like John Snow, Mamic is the prince that was promised that will lead Croatia to greatness.
Kramaric goal