After reports came out of Milan that there was friction between the club and Croatian striker Nikola Kalinić prior to the March international break, things appear to have been smoothed over (temporarily) as Kalinić came off the bench Sunday in the 67th minute with Milan down 1-0 to Sassuolo. In the 86th minute, Kalinić would receive the ball in the box with back to goal, spin around with a defender on him and strike the ball ‘top-shelf’ to equalize for AC Milan in a 1-1 draw. The 30 year-old Kalinić has been bouncing back and forth between starting XI and bench in Italy and should be considered a fringe striker for Croatia.
Kalinić goes top shelf for the equalizer
With Champions League quarterfinals this week, Mateo Kovačić got the start in the Real Madrid midfield instead of Luka Modrić for the Madrid Derby. Kovačić played 72 minutes in the 1-1 draw, coming off for Modrić. The match was a simple formality as both clubs will finish top four and neither are likely to catch first place Barcelona.
With only five matches remaining in the Bundesliga season, former Croatia manager Niko Kovač has his Eintracht Frankfurt side in fourth place (barely), which would be good enough to qualify for Champions League. Eintracht drew Hoffenheim 1-1 on Sunday but will need to edge out RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen for the last CL berth. It would be a huge accomplishment on all sides as Eintracht has perennially been a mid-table side in Germany. Hoffenheim’s Andrej Kramarić got the start and played 57 minutes in the match.
Bang on Maminjo.
This is true.
The players Kovač currently coaches are much younger than he is, and most of them probably grew up watching him play at Bayern. He’s done more than they have in their careers.
Meanwhile guys like Modrić have done more in one season than Kovač has done in 10. They also were coached by the greatest coaches in Europe, so it becomes a bit ridiculous when Kovač starts incorporating “no talking” sessions during training, and “no sandal wearing in the hotel” rules, just to stamp his authority.
It’s very easy to lose a team like this.
@Rafael – agreed on the discipline stuff. That doesn’t work well with us especially when Kovac played with a few of the guys which makes it even more difficult. Andre Villas Boas had issues with too much discipline especially when some players were older than him and he had no real metals. The strict discipline works if you have metals to prove it and it plays a role with culture. Also helps if you’re older. Notice how talented but headcase players rarely pan out in Germnay but in Italy coaches can work with you more as long as you produce. Glad it’s working better now for Kovac. In the long run it helps our NT the better our coaches get.
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.express.co.uk/news/world/943011/World-Cup-2018-Russian-football-hooligans-ultras/amp
Russian hools warning English fans already..sounds like there will be a shitshow in couple months..i just hope our team gets out of the first group..cant wait bbq pivo..frig can’t get here fast enough.
pretty good case for halilovic to be included in the squad there. LAknat, I like your 352 formation, its probably the best way to get the best out of our players, on paper. reality maybe different because new formation takes time to gel etc. plenty of good reasons for it though, for sure brother
@Gemist
halilovic plays LM, RM, and CAM. while rog basically just plays CM. Halilovic was injured for part of the season and still has over 850 minutes in this season so far, while Rog only has 200.
Rog is competing for a spot with modric, rakitic, kovacic, badelj, brozovic, while we have no starter RM. There is no reason not to call up alen. only reason not to call him up is if he acts like a brat.
@HNS CORRUPT there’s no space on the squad for halilovic on top of the fact that he just returned to nogomet. Rog made it because he’s more physical and can play more positions.
@maminjo
Was it Kovac who was the issue or the players? I would argue both but Kovac is currently coaching in a german environment where discipline, rules and order is normal.
Those types of things have never been normal for our national team.
Truth Troll can’t stop calling kids mran names on the playground. Grow up troll
Terrible weekend generally for Croatian soccer
Rog or haliloshit?
Probably doesn’t matter too much as neither is likely to play. But perhaps the argument could be made that rog can fill in where the squad is a bit lighter. One could also sat that perhaps rog has more tactical discipline played under the iron fist in Italy
@hns corrupt
careful friend
marko rog is a shoe in starter to some here…..with his 383 total minutes this year
If Alen Halilovic doesnt make the World Cup Squad it proves the HNS is corrupt.Even Marko Rog made the Euro 2016 squad and even the team you cant tell me he is a better player than Halilovic who is playing in the Spanish Primera Liga.
I don’t want to have an inefficient strategy on our flank. Giving room for the likes of Perisic and Vrsaljko can bring the flank up to its maximum potential!
……………????…………Kalinic…….……….
….…….…Modric…..…..Rakitic……………..
….Perisic….……Kovacic……….Vrsaljko….
..……D Vida….…Lovren…….Corluka………
………………….L Kalinic…..……………….
We need 2 typical strikers Infront
– catch run(dash) and shoot -> ???
– catch and shoot -> prefer for Kalinic
thanks to Crnovic for supporting me, also sorry I forgot to reply to your other messages. I’ve been a bit busy lately, how do you think about this one:
catch run(dash) and shoot players:
(0) Messi <- the player We dream of
1st Perisic <- He isn't the favorite one, but the best we have
2nd Kramaric <- He is not a typical runner but He has power for a shoot!
3rd Pjaca <- Good dribbling but lack accuracy, not that sharp at finishing!
…………..Perisic……….Kalinic…….………..
….…….…Modric…..…..Rakitic……………..
….Vrsaljko….….Kovacic………Halilovic….
..……D Vida…….Lovren…….Corluka………
…………………L Kalinic…..………….…….
I wonder what Kovač is doing right.
Like most people, I don’t watch Eintracht Frankfurt games, so I can’t see what tactics they employ or how Kovač reacts to the game with his subs.
All I remember about him are his horrible starting eleven selections, his random substitutions, and the childishly strict rules he insisted on (during practice sessions and camp).
I’m kind of curious.
Great touch and finish by Kalinic to get a result this morning. He cane off the bench too
PS that Madrid derby was great.
Sretan Wrestlemania.
kalinic jebote !!!
Let’s see what Farcenal does tomorrow. 😉
Lovren and Liverpoop draw against Evertank