ENGLAND
(Only England had games this week as Europe is on winter break)
Nikica Jelavić (above) nearly played hero on Boxing Day Thursday coming off the bench in the 76th minute against Sunderland. With the Black Cats up 1-0 late and Everton down a man as goalie Tim Howard was sent off in the first half, Jelavić drew a foul, managed a decent shot on goal and had a header on frame only to have all three result in blocks. It was a solid display in a rare appearance for Jelavić who hasn’t scored in eight Premiership matches this season. ESPN has reported that Everton manager Roberto Martinez may sell Jelavić in the upcoming winter transfer window as he has two teams looking at the Croatian. Jelavić remained on the bench in Everton’s 2-1 win over Southampton on Sunday with Romelu Lukaku once again scoring the game winner. With the win, Everton move into the top four at the halfway mark of the season, passing up Merseyside rivals Liverpool in the process.
After sitting out Thursday’s 3-0 win over Cardiff City due to illness, Dejan Lovren returned to the Southampton starting XI on Sunday to take on Everton. Seamus Coleman put the Toffees up 1-0 inside 10 minutes but the Saints would fight back to equalize in the 71st minute through Gaston Ramirez. However Belgian stud Romelu Lukaku would put home the winner three minutes later to send Southampton to defeat. Lovren was not at fault for either goal and has been a staple of the Southampton defense the entire season. Southampton sit in ninth place with 27 points halfway through the season.
Niko Kranjčar (above) and QPR had a rough week, only picking up one point in two matches. On Thursday, Kranjčar played the full 90 minutes against Nottingham Forest in a 2-0 defeat as he managed three shots, with none being on frame. On Sunday, Kranjčar played the lone striker in a scoreless affair against Watford. Kranjčar had four shots (off goal) as QPR only managed one on goal during the entire match. QPR fall to fourth place in the English Championship and are now one point behind Derby County for automatic promotion to the Premiership next season.
Poglavnik: “Come on FIFA, throw the fuckin book at him if you want to set the bar so high!”
So b/c Simunic’s and Croatians’ freedom of speech is being suppressed, your revenge is to call for even more suppression of free speech???
You are such a FUCKING MORON!
^ ^
BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Chelsea are goons!
Mourinho’s a little twat!
Skrew Arsenel. CHELSEA!!!!! WE KNOW WHO WE ARE!!!!!
Anderson lost to a mighty whitey twice.
Marinovic’s dad is the perfect storm of a militant no-nonsense Croatian dad and a messed up North American sports dad.
@Adame
Not true. Mandzo has made significant strides these past two years on his own.
I don’t know what happened, but he just simply blew up and has become an extremely efficient scorer…and no, it’s not solely because of Bayern’s system which is what EVERYBODY seems to be defaulting to.
His success near the end of his term at Wolfburg as well as his success with the Cro national team these past two years has been comparable to what he is doing at Bayern.
Someone pulled out some telling stats on Mandzukic recently and posted it on one of the discussion boards here (not sure who the poster was, but I think it might have been JM).
Yes, he definitely does have a limited skillset for a top forward (can’t shoot, not elite technically), but at the same time he does some niche things that you don’t often see strikers do (plays defence, constantly runs like a defensive midfielder, wears out defenders with his pointy elbows) and he is a specialist in some important striker areas like winning headers in the air (nobody comes close to him in this area) and having that Ivica-Olic-like right place at the right time awareness (or luck, whatever you want to call it).
Marinovich’s father seems to be the extreme version of the Cro dad.
Marinovich was doing was harder things than smoking doobs
CSR should be able to get a Marinovich interview. Svircic style.
I like this kid Federico Rasic from Argentina. FWD, Tall and is young (21yrs). Seems to have an eye for goal, is rumored to be scouted my spartak moscow and most important is identified as “the croat” by argentine announcers. Take a look
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmJU9WmvCXk
Mandzo is not a true striker in the sense that he cant do anything on his own. The only time i saw him score a true goal that you see top strikers scoring the the goal he scored u Belgrade when we tied serbia. Dunno if you all noticed but he has barely any skill on the ball. Granted he’s good in the air but i cant see that being the reason why he has a name for himself out side of Bayern.
Anyone see the organized afterschool fight club match over the weekend. Some dude broke his foot or ankle and the video of it was awesome.
ahhh here is a good one for you guys…
what’s the higher number?
the amount of women Carli has slept with
or
the amount of blunts/splifs/joints Todd Marinovich has smoked
tough one….
Todd Marinovich = Best diaspora Croat ever
I just watched an HBO Sports documentary “Trophy Kids”.
Todd Marinovich was on it, he looked pretty rough.
I don’t care how highly Lovren is rated in EPL.
So long as he plays well for us in Brazil and doesn’t red card tackle any Mexicans a la Boko Zivkovic.
@ JM
Yes if Lovren continues his current form for a full season. He can be in that top category
jm i would agree with that, and kovacic surely will be there one day
could one argue with sertic’s 2nd ranking i saw in french league, could one argue for at least this time he is in the top 100;) just going to stir up the sertic pot again;)
and yes lovren soon if have a full quality season needs to be placed in upper percentage of quality defenders
since its so slow, i pose the question if anyone wants to play. Does Croatia have 3 top 100 players in the world?
My answer would be YES!
Mandzukic, Modric, and Rakitic
possible to include Lovren as well (statistically best defender in the EPL might do the job for me)
@ lika joey 2012 when suker came to office and now i heard we aare not licensed In PES just like old pes games remeber that names like exapmle pletikosa is pelikoska
West Ham release Mladen Petric
Video game
What year did cro stop being in fifa.
@ majstore
really cool link with that football training machine. if you haven’t checked it out, click on the lnk majstore posted
After the brazil game real business begins love to se this lineup vs kamerun and mexico i think this lineup would kill both team imo if no injuries suspentions pletikosa-srna lovren corluka pranjic-modric rakitic kovacic olic mandzukic rebic.
why????? he is done. Nobody wants to take the risk of him falling down and dying on the pitch.
I really wish Klasnic could find a team.
.
He dinamo youth director is no longer at dinamo. He took a job with the savez as director of all youth teams.
@ Soul Champ – As far as I know, Primorac is still in charge. He is peculiar. He hardly ever sits with Wenger. You will always catch a snap shot of him sitting in a different seat in some area of the stadium from game to game.
I had read that apparently United had offered up a very similar role to the head of the Dinamo youth academy and that he had rejected their advances. If the Dinamo fans could conform this or have a link, I would like to hear more on this story.
@ Petar
Is Boro Primorac still in the set up?
The actual source of all the technical football at the club.
I like watching arsenal play and enjoyed those teams of yester year. The reality was that Wenger inherited some real men on those crews and some how has not seem fit to honor their presence.
You need young legs but a core group of soul champions is what brings home the hardware.
Van Persie showed up at Man U and they knew they were winning the league AGAIN!
Need to sign some Croatians if they want to win. I would start with SMM.
Cheers mate you will always have attractive football to watch!
Yea, Juve has been pretty responsible with their cash. They are not owned by some Arab or Russian oil tycoons.
Perhaps they think Bayern would let him go for less since Lewandowski is pretty much a guarantee to join Munich next season. Ze Germans don’t let anyone go for less.
Doubt it regarding Juvenus as they will have to spend big money for Mario.
@ Soul Champ – You do know that Arsenals player wages are third highest in the EPL, right? They may have not spent big on transfers recently, aside from Ozil. However, the club has a lot of guys on large wages.
Mandzukic isnt a true 9 that is the thing with Croatia we dont have a number 9 yes Mandzo is great but not a 9. we need to be a team if we are to score goals. Eduardo 2005-2007 was a true 9 striker so was Klasnic in his hey day. Im talking recent Croatia like 2006 to now. I hope Rebic gets playing time and gets confidence to make 11 or sub for croatia, Perisic is a on off player Ilicevic bits and pieces unknown basically. Olic on wing? i dont know not sold his crossing is bad some times commical, I really dont know Halilovic is too young and immature for me at this point in time. Niko Kovac like 4-2-3-1 all 3 teams we play are quality and Brazil is favorite so that game will be idemo na sve why not.
Niko Kovac like Perisic since he is only winger that he sees at moment, We need alot of work but i am not expecting much from Croatia at 2014 Niko Kovac has a handfull to do. to pick a winning and proud borben 11.
Pletikosa unless hurt is 1. Suba and Kale arent bad either.
Defense-Srna Corluka Lovren Pranjic/Strinic that what it looks like to me at this point and time.
2 DMs Modrc is only sure thing beacuse Rakitic Modric dms i cannot see vs Brazil maybe v the Mexico and Kamerun
Wings? I can see the mexico and kamurun game be the line ups v iceland minus Joe.
Happy 2014 and lets see what happens NIKO KOVAC!!!!!!!
@Poglavnik
Tevez has been very good this year but he can play as second striker or as a winger.
Vucinic hasn’t played much this year and wants to leave. He’s apparently being shopped and will probably be going out on loan in January.
Llorente is not that good. Mandzo is much better than him.
Who was the guy that was arguing with me that there was no way that Juventus would ever be interested in Mandzukic and that I was stupid for even suggesting it?
Man, I should start taking names and saving some of these discussion threads.
^ ^
Wow! What about Tevez, Llorente, & Vucinic?
That teams pretty stacked up top.
SMM to Juventus???
http://www.soccernews.com/juventus-shock-bid-mandzukic/132239/
I’d like to see halilovic go to bvb. I think they would do a great job in developing him. Love their style of play.
Anyone ever see this?
http://youtu.be/oU9EzFBBCiA
@ Petar
Modric and Ozil are apples and oranges.
I did witness Modric boss a game or two at the Emirates while he was leading spurs to top four finishes and champions league football.
I like Ozil but Modric shifts the entire field with his fiekd awareness.
Modric and Mandzukic would take Arsenal to the league title.
Giroud couldn’t hold Mandzukic’s jock strap.
You need big goals taken to win the big matches.
Then again Wenger likes his teenie boppers. The beast that is SMM will not genuflect to a professor type.
Funny as I watched Man U win trophy after trophy with 30+yr olds and Wenger nickle and dimed all of his 30 yr older players.
It takes men to win big matches.
Time to sign a couple !
Heard Trappatoni might get EMxico Job read that some rumor is going around net.
Croatian players transfers gossip
Rakitic to Liverpool
Halilovic to BVB Benfica Arsenal.
Jelavic-Crystal palace,West Ham
Eduardo- wants a move i heard
I’m pretty happy with my Arsenal fantasy players!
I’ve got Ramsey, Walcott, and Giroud.
Chamberlain’s on his way back soon!
I think I’m most impressed with Gibbs this year.
He’s developed into one of the better fullbacks in the league in my opinion.
Not saying I don’t like Ramsey. Thinking more along the lines that I am taking a wait and see approach with him until I see that this is real and sustainable. I wish that he does well. For the sake of my EPL fantasy team , he better. I was hoping that this would be the season that Chamberlin would break out.
Don’t know how you can not like Ramsey after what he’s been through. Probably the most popular guy in North London these days.
The guy plays with endless energy and fans like myself love that!
i don’t care how much class Ozil has in his left boot. He plays like a pussy compared to Rambo.
If you can recall Arsenal we’re famous for being “boring, boring Arsenal” and “one nil to Arsenal” until Wenger came along.
The man’s a genius.
Much more so than Ozil.
Nothing embarrassing about celebrating 4th place to me.
Especially when its at Spurs’ expense.
^ ^
I’m rooting for the guy but I’m just not blown away by him yet.
We all know what Ozil can bring.
A great left foot.
Awesome vision.
Unselfish with the ball.
etc.
But he’s far from a perfect midfielder.
Still haven’t seen him dominate a BIG game and that’s what worries me most.
He’s supposed to be the creative genius on this German team of bridesmaids.
Then I see him not applauding his visiting fans and not even seeming to care when one of his best friends Mertesacker chews him out.
He’s still got a long ways to go to justify that price tag in my books!
I guess we should agree to disagree? Only time will tell us what the true story is.
Wenger publicly defends anything Arsenal does and bashes others for what he wants when it suits his interests like most managers. I like his philosophy on offensive Fiotball. However, Wenger suffers from selective Myopia like most managers. The Arsenal disciplinary record under him is attrocious and he blasts others for red cards.
I take anything managers and clubs say with hesitation. I wait for their actions. Like spending 40+ million on the same position as Ramsey. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
Big Arsenal fan. I don’t recall Ramsey being that good. I recall them having the easiest possible schedule down the stretch and them capitalizing. Who can forget them celebrating clinching 4th place and acting like they won the World Cup. I like Arsenal, but it’s a lot different from the Arsenal I grew up watching. Contending for Championships and then embarrassing themselves by celebrating 4th place.
Not sold on Ramsey until I can see him create and lead when Ozil is not there. They have to buy both a LB and RB, a CB and a striker. Giroud is terrible.
Don’t recall Wenger stating he was going to sell Ramsey or half the squad either.
Pretty sure he’s public defended Ramsey many times and his choice to play him so often.
Also Ramsey carried Arsenal down the stretch last year to 4th place.
Probably their best player in the last 2 months of last season.
You sure you’re a long time Arsenal fan? 😉
Ummm, do you remember what Shawcross did to Ramsey?
That can take a long time to get over, not only physically but mentally.
Ramsey was playing timidly and out of position for long periods of time last year.
A lot of Arsenal fans were I’ve talked to were pretty disappointed with Ozil after that Man City game.
He was absolutely useless in that game.
No surprise seeing as it wasn’t against a team like Norwich.
Love Wenger myself.
I rarely criticize him, but I do think Madrid are the winners in that transfer.
Last year Wenger was on the verge of selling him and half the squad. Arsenal fans would viciously boo Ramsey every game. All of a sudden Ozil shows up and everything is roses? I have been an Arsenal fan for nearly two decades, there have been tins of talented teens that Wenger has lured away from other youth academies and were suppose to be destined for greatness.
Like I said, if Ozil is missing for any length of time I will be watching Ramsey closely. Far too much of a coincidence that he shows up and a team with a so so defence and no striker play so well.
I love Luka, but I will take Ozil over him any day of the week, twice on Sundays.
Wenger rarely spends large sums of money. It says a lot about Ozil that he would spend 40+ million pounds.
Also keep in mind Ramsey’s been a prodigy since he debuted for Cardiff at 16 years old. It’s not a big surprise he’s having this type of season. He works his ass off (unlike Ozil) and a lot of his goals have been individual moments of brilliance. We’re not talking about Giroud here!
“Ozil is the facilitator of pretty much anything positive that comes from Arsenals play.”
^ ^
Cant say I agree with this at all.
^ ^
I don’t know man.
I watch his touches very closely when he’s on the field.
He’s way too lazy for the Premier League.
The guy needs to play with more emotion if he’s ever gonna carry his team in big games.
Dude always disappears when it matters.
Even when he high-fives someone he does it all limp and faggy.
Just too soft for my liking, and not as good as some think.
I thought Arsenal looked awesome against West Ham once Cazorla was moved into the middle.
There’s a reason Madrid gave him away and I’m starting to see why.
I can think of a ton of midfielder’s I’d rather have in big games over Ozil.
@ Poglavnik – it is no coinsidence that as soon as Ozil arrived Ramsey began to have a breakthrough season. Ozil completely freed up the field for Ramsey and took the weight off his shoulders. Without Ozil I would be very curious to see how Ramsey would perform.
Ozil is the facilitator of pretty much anything positive that comes from Arsenals play. He can be as subtle as Modric is, being the pass before “The Pass” or he can just as easily assist, dribble through 4 guys and score. Mourinho admitted right after the buy that he was going to sell Demba Ba to Arsenal, but, that as soon as he found out Wenger bought Ozil he killed the deal because now Arsenal were contenders. I love Modric’s game, I do wish he would shoot a bit more or take on guys. You have to keep a defence honest and on their toes. Otherwise they will always just expect that he will automatically be a pass only player. I still love what he offers, but Ozil is way better than him. It’s not even really close. That’s not a indictment on Modric, he is world class. Probably the only world class player Croatia has right now. It is more of a commentary on just how good Ozil is. I got to see him as a young man, up close when he was playing for Bremen. A great game in the San Siro. You could see very early on he was going to be in the top 5 midfielders in the world. For me, Ozil is close to better. Love Luka though. Tremendous work ethic.
A little off topic here, but do any other Arsenal fans here think Ozil is way over-rated?
i never see him impact big games.
He’s never carried the Germans in any of their recent semi-final appearances that i can remember.
He just seems aloof and lazy to me.
Sure he racks up assists and scores the odd goal, but where is he in the BIG games?
Really wished Arsenal spent that 40 million elsewhere…
Modric > Ozil
FIFA oversees all Football Associations so they could put the heat on the English FA, no?
ummm, its not a FIFA issue. It’s an English FA issue. Different governing body.
http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/west-broms-nicolas-anelka-performed-an-anti-semitic-celebration-after-scoring-against-west-ham-picture/
Come on FIFA, throw the fuckin book at him if you want to set the bar so high!
yeaaaa, he’s gonna get in some trouble for that one.
Some kind of a reverse Nazi salute by Anelka as he celebrates a goal he scored.