Andrej Kramarić ended a long drought with a penalty kick Saturday against Hertha Berlin. Kramarić got the start and played 83 minutes; converting the penalty in the 38th minute for the game’s opening goal. But Hoffenheim couldn’t manage the lead as the match would end in a 1-1 draw.
The draw puts Hoffenheim on 28 points; six points behind a Champions League berth. If Kramarić plans to be a vital part of the Word Cup team this summer, he must finish the season strong in the Bundesliga after a long, cold winter on the stat sheet.
Kramarić penalty
Dejan Lovren looks to be back full time in the Liverpool starting backline alongside new signing Virgil van Dijk. On Sunday, Liverpool conceded an extremely “soft” penalty in the last minute of extra time which Harry Kane converted to force a 2-2 draw. The result hurts Liverpool but Lovren was not at fault for either Spurs goal. If he can keep up this form without any mistakes the rest of the season, he will be an asset for the Croatian defense in Russia.
Inter Milan’s woes continue. On Saturday, the club dropped points once again in a 1-1 draw with Crotone. Marcelo Brozović assisted on Inter’s goal from a corner kick but Ivan Perišić has been ice cold and is now again rumored to be headed to Manchester United this summer.
In Spain, Real Madrid drew again; this time in a 2-2 duel with Leganes. Luka Modrić played the full 90 minutes while Mateo Kovačić rode the bench. Ivan Rakitić watched on from the sideline as Barcelona drew city rivals Espanyol 1-1 on Sunday. Their lead on second place Atletico Madrid is only nine points. Šime Vrsaljko played 90 minutes in the Atletico backline as they defeated Valencia 1-0.
Susak, he misses a lot of easy chances, more than any meaningful goals. He’s just not my type of player.
The fact that he plays at that disaster known as AC Milan doesnt help either. Seemed much more potent and confident at Fiorentina.
Yes, Kalinic can be as streaky of a player as there is, but you cant deny some of his goals were huge for the repka. 2 that come to mind are against Georgia in euro 2012 qualifying, and against Ukraine this past qualifying cycle. Both goals came when we werent playing our best football and without these goals, it can be argued both tournaments couldve been missed considering it took a playoff just to get there. Hes the type of player that can show you 89 minutes of absolutely nothing, but has that moment of brilliance in him that can save our asses, and already has. Is he a 90 minute every game type of guy, no. But he is not as useless as many think, considering our other options.
I’m laying into the guy because of how many people were insisting he plays and Mandzukic sits, cause apparently Mandzukic is washed up!
Regardless of that, he really is NOT a good player. Sure, he’s scored the odd frnjoka goal here and there with a cheeky flick or heel but for all honesty, he’s nowhere near a good striker/attacker/goalscorer!
A good striker/attacker/goalscorer is someone that will make you pay the price for losing concentration for a second. They’re opportunists that can even put you to sleep and then in a fraction of a heartbeat, they score from a half chance. Kalinic seems like he’s battling himself all game long! He can’t get to through balls and is usually beat. He’s usually flopping as soon as he receives the ball when his back is facing the opposing goal. He doesn’t get into positions to create a play….so, his only real value is in front of the goal….which in my opinion, he’s not nearly good enough at converting! someone like him should at least score once every 2nd game cause they do absolutely nothing else to draw attention to himself…its like marking a free man who’s never a threat…why even play him!
Guys like Kramaric aren’t easy to let them out of your sight…he’ll make you pay for that, or you disagree with me?! About Santini…I’d never bring him or Cop to the NT, I don’t think either of them are the calibre. I’d probably rather see Pjaca in the middle or even someone with speed and overall physical strength like Rebic….even though he might not be in form, his abilities make him dangerous! If we were thin on an overall attacker, I’d first have one of the guys I mentioned, then I’d even go as far as some player thats on the fringe in the Croatian league…someone young and hungry and desperate for an opportunity! One of the U21 players could surprise us all!
Slavonac, you really like to lay into the guy, does he owe you money or something?
You can say the same things about Kramaric and Santini when there not playing well. No reason to single out Kalinic.
And no one Deserves to play! They gotta earn it. And right now I would say Mandzukic is our most in form CF. So I go with him up top.
@ Dannyj
Krovinovic got operated on today, so he’ll be out for awhile. My point being is up until his injury he was having a better season than Kovacic and Rog. And also midfield is our most deepest position, and we have plenty of options there.
Idemo, there’s a whole lot of people here that think and say Kalinic is a good player and deserves to play. I think he’s very useful ONLY when he’s in top goal scoring form otherwise I feel like he’s weaker than a wet paper bag thats constantly late to the open space and is flopping all game long! I’ve never seen anyone miss so many easy goals than him…and I’ve never seen anyone act as if they’re running in mud like he does! Its painful to watch….the guy is terrible!
@slavonac
Why does Kalinic get castrated for poor form while it’s ok for others to be in the bench prior to tourney?
Didn’t krovinovic have a bad injury??
Strinic to AC Milan this summer! His solid performances for Sampdoria this season earned him the move.
https://acmilan.theoffside.com/ac-milan-transfers-rumours-news/2018/2/5/16974736/ac-milan-complete-their-first-summer-signing
Nice by Halilovic BTW!
Also, the situation with the national team isn’t terrible. As long as players like Badelj, Mandzukic, Modric, Rakitic, Perisic, Vrsajko, Subasic, Vida start consistently that’s all that counts.
Players like Kovacic, Rog, and Jedvaj are role players and not pivotal. True it would be great if those 3 were starters, but it’s not the end of the world if they aren’t. Besides in midfield we have Krovinovic, Brozovic, and Pasalic who start consistently and I would actually favor them over Kovacic and Rog right now.
Nice
He looks like he maturing physically
Let’s hope mentally as well
https://youtu.be/D0meXypeGaE
Uvijek Vjerni !!!
we have almost 4 + months before the World Cup starts and Ziva is hitting the panic button?
There’s only 1 player I want to see get into scoring form because if he ends up being in Russia and not in top form, we may as well bring a different forward. Kalinic is just proving how crappy he is and I can hardly contain myself from criticizing the guy….when he doesn’t score he does absolutely zero else to contribute except miss clear chances and fall all over the field, I can’t watch the guy play!
A couple of months ago I mentioned how much I think he’s a shitty player, so many here stood up for the guy…well, he’s barely playing and then when he does play he’s damn terrible!
Halilovic rules! Lol
Halilovic withthe winner after coming off the bench!
Halilovic goal!
i read a comment here saying its good that our guys are sitting on the bench they will be fresh
this is biggest crock most under achieving most participation medal sounding comment ever
what use is fresh legs if you SUCK
not good enough to play but ur fit
might as well go and get the 11 fastest people in cro and let them play
Breaking news
Rog and Marko pee ass a are looking to go into a business partnership together. There is even talk of mateo crotch-does-itch joining
The business will focus on producing benches. Rog and pee ass a have been gaining incredible butts-on experience with the Italian product. Throw in the experience pee assa will now get with German wood with that of mateo crotch’s years of experience with the Spanish product, and these guys could form a global empire soon enough.
There is even rumor of ante zizic and ivica zubac joining the effort with all they have learned about North American carpentry
That ‘kiks factor’ comment gave me a good chuckle.
We will be fine guys
Just a slump
Let’s hope they can peak tho before Russia
The veterans know this is it
They will leave it all on the field that’s all we can ask for cause if they do god willing we will cause some damage
Wow this is a depressing Croatians around Europe.
I hear marko pee ass plans a move to Spain next to try out the benches there. He hears they are made from a very fine cedar wood and he simply must try it out first hand. Where to from there you ask?! Tough call… But maybe it’s time he broadens his horizons. There are some really exotic tree material if he moves out east. If he plays his cards right, he could even experience Japanese maple out in Tokyo some day
So who’s our 2 cbs without lovren
If we don’t go far in the world cup it will definitely be because our strikers will miss some sitters.
Yea, if we don’t go far in the World Cup, it will definitely be because of Lovren.
Kiks factor with him is AT LEAST one per game.
Just one is enough to end your tournament run. I guess he was lucky in today’s game that it wasn’t enough of an impact, but it was there.
Kane dove????? Lol
Lovren played well but if Kane scores that PK this conversation is different. He mishit with his clearance but made contact putting Kane onside. Today’s game was the quintessential Lovren performance. He did his job for 90 minutes. He made one error that could have changed the game entirely at the worst possible time.
We can always argue who gave up possession, the pass took a deflection, Kane was offside, Kane dove etc but at the end of the day no matter how you look at it, when Lovren is on, he is capable of playing well but it seems he is always more susceptible than the average player of making a slight to large untimely error which can more often than not prove costly.
Again, I know we can focus on other errors further up the field but errors of that kind carry more weight the further down the field you go. There is a bigger magnifying glass on defenders and keepers because any slight mistake could mean a goal.
All in all he played well it just irks me that there’s always that 1 % of anything is possible with Lovren.
yes very true maminjo but it was a cheap pk
lamely did well to get infront of vvd
lovren did have a gaffe on the first pk
swing and a miss
but up until then he was very good positioning was perfect
Wait… Am I reading this right?
Liverpool gives up an injury time penalty and it WASN’T Lovren?!?
Can someone verify this?
@crnkovic
… Or like when your dad dumps you, and you go home to mama and have some nice jerk chicken, before finishing the day smoking some kid for his new Air Jordans.
😉
I’m just messing with you. I know you love me.
Lovren doing well
The Croatian national team roster is in shambles
Complete loss of form and playing time from kramaric, perisic, mandzukic
Others still riding the pine. Kovacic, brozovic, vida, pjaca, rog, vrsaljko,
The one constant modric is leading a calamitous la liga campaign. This guy doesn’t fill up stat sheets but is supposed to make you win. Not very good when he can’t do that with a stacked squad
Really glad pjaca is getting to try out benches in Germany in addition to Italy. Some real fine wood is grown there
It’s better that way.
They’re still fit and practicing with their teams every day. Less chance of injuries and exhaustion (especially since they all largely play on big clubs with long seasons).
Our 98 team was largely benchwarmers who were hungry once the tournament began.
sometimes i think it can benefit an international team when players are not having their best season at their clubs. players end up fresher, lees fatigue, less injuries and crucially with a point to prove. it’s like when your girlfriend dumps you, you remember how much you love your mum and go straight back home for Baka soup.
Don’t look now, but, we have a shit load of players that aren’t getting any playing time or coming off the bench for 15 minutes. Not looking good for this summer. Dalic is aware of it and mentioned it yesterday.
stutter steps at PK are cheating imho
Yeah it is pretty douchie.
Especially since the refs are all over keepers for stepping off the line early.
Santini is our best at pk. He never fucks up.
@poglavnik
I just saw highlights. It was not him who drew the foul, so I wondered like you, if he threw a tantrum in order to take it. He placed it well after a stutter step which I can’t stand when players do. I hope that anyone that stutter steps while taking a PK misses because to me, it’s a douche move. You see it more and more nowadays.
@Susak
Argentia are are awesome up top but susceptible everywhere else.
There should be goals from both teams when we play.
Did you see Kramaric’s PK?
Is he the designated taker or did have to convince his teammates that he’s taking it?
2-1 to us in Davis Cup : )
Sadly, Aus is losing 2-1; was hoping for a Aus v Cro final tbh
Kramaric with a PK goal. Pjaca came off the bench for the last 20 minutes or so and hit the post with a nice curling effort from just inside the box.
Supposedly Perisic and Icardi (Inters top player), got into a heated on-field argument that carried into the locker room after the last game. Its been reported that Brozovic came to Perisics defense as well, so it should be interesting to see how things play out for Inter. Icardi, who has a shit load of talent and can score goals with the best of them when he wants to, is also known to cause rifts amongst his own teammates, which has led to him not being called up to the Argentine national team, despite being in top form in Serie A.
On a side note, I always knew Argentina was talented, but if you look at that potential roster, it is scary good. Messi, Aguero, Dybala, Higuain, DiMaria, Icardi (when hes not a dick), and the list goes on… Talk about underachievers. They struggled all through qualifying. I am not comparing our team to Argentina. They have been and will always be a soccer power. We are a small and young nation that has punched above our weight regularly. But where we are similar, is that we both have rosters that consist of players from major clubs, that have controversial federations running things, and can beat or lose to anyone on any given day. Cant wait till June gets here. Our guys need minutes and to stay healthy . That being said, these next couple of friendlies are huge for us. Who does Dalic bring on a long trip that will piss off club teams despite being a FIFA window?
LAknat is almost right in his prediction,
and in my opinion or we could say I got a hunch,
anyone just getting too much expectation from Perisic, you guys overhype toward this guy, he won’t do much for the rest of the season. Meanwhile, The God of Halilovic needs more attention to improve his fortune. Clearly, He got stuck in Las Palmas by riding their bench.
This is what I predicted: (progress/declined from last year)
1) Perisic is no 1 issue with his sloppy play (declined 40%)
2) Halilovic could do much this season if He got minutes
3) Mandzukic is not that bad (prolly 20% better)
4) Brozovic could be better if He outside of Inter
5) Kovacic, this man will fit for Man U. elsewhere = wasted
6) Pjaca, Brekalo jinx up, and their team’ll have got whooped
Rakitic after the new year looks lìke our best player. Maybe I’m wrong. Nobody else stands out besides mitrovic. Who scored. I dunno. Not much action in the transfer window. Anybody got any insight ?