Headlines:
- Modrić vs. Rakitić in El Clasico Sunday at 11:15AM (ET)
- Can Mateo Kovačić get on the scoresheet Sunday vs. Burnley?
- Ivan Perišić & Inter Croazionale take on Lazio in a top-4 Serie A duel
- Josip Brekalo scores for Wolfsburg in 3-0 victory over Fortuna Dusseldorf
Videos:
Brekalo Goal @ 3:50
Kovacic’s biggest downfall is his below average strength in his strong leg. He sends great weighted balls on the ground, but he can’t switch with strong, precise, long balls as well as others in top leagues.
That said, I am still hopeful he can grow into an unquestioned talent at CDM.
Vlasic- Havent watched any of his Russian games, but if it true that he can press as well as some are indicating, I would be ok with him at 9, and Rebic back at RW. I am reserving the #10 for Modric until he can’t run anymore. I love watching Rakitic and Modric pressing in between Perisic-Mandzukic-Rebic…just sublime.
Kovacic would have been a great friend back in the day because he would only pass his dates to you. He would never score.
I mean guess
Zlatan
Learn some logic buddy.
I said they could become world class or they could become a bust. Where does that imply that these are the ONLY possibilities. My point is that nobody knows for sure how good any young player will be down the road. We can gues, but many times we are wrong. That include me and that includes you.
Kovačić is kinda like Badelj offensively.
90% of the time, it looks like he’s trying to “pass” it into the net (which is why I knew his penalty would be saved against Russia).
Once in a while, both Kovačić and Badelj surprise us with a nice offensive strike, but it’s not part of their game.
I’ve already resigned myself to the fact that Kovačić will be a solid starter for us in the deep lying midfielder role, and anything he develops offensively is a bonus.
Kovacic would be twice the player he is if he could develop a shot or the mentality to shoot more.
You see the lazy, well placed left footed strike by Barkley form outside the box that he scored with? I’ve never seen Kovacic even consider taking a shot like that.
@Maminjo
I agree. Deep lying midfielders typically don’t get noticed much. Kova could easily replace Modric for the repka but he’d be a very poor version of him for now. It’s frustrating watching him as he does show flashes of brilliance only to be mediocre for longer stretches. Moving to Chelsea was finally suppose to be a spot for him to play and develop into a good player. That’s not happening right now given Barkley outplaying him.
Not really that black and white it’s not World Class or Bust its World Class Above Average Average then Bust. If you go and play in Asia in your prime you know your not good.
The same can be said of every young prospect. They can become world class or a bust. Nobody knows for sure!
All I am saying is that there is certainly potential in Vlasic.
So was Halilovic but look at him now benched. Vlasic could still turn out average or below average.
Vlasic scores again!
The kid is better than Modric was at his age.
Kovacic is like Modric.
He’s great defensively, can easily ensure your team maintains possession, and has a ridiculously high pass completion percentage in his own two-thirds of the field.
He’s not too offensively impactful. Rarely makes risky passes into opposing third. Rarely puts a shot on goal. Even though he’s very capable of making runs into the opposing third, he rarely does so, and when he does he tends to run out of gas (and botches the attempt on goal).
He’s an excellent player, but not a complete midfielder.
He has the potential to be one, but it’s unlikely.
For now, he can only play deep. Which is fine. Modric sucked for us for large stretches of his career, and we were frustrated with him (calling him invisible in games, until he finally scored a cracker of a goal against Israel).
Kovacic won’t ever be as good as Modric, but he will follow the same path. He is a good starter as an ‘invisible looking’ deep lying midfielder, who will win balls defensively, ensure we maintain possession, and start the play for us with his high completion percentage.
Don’t expect him to score goals and impact things offensively too much.
That will be Vlasic, Rebic, Pjaca and Brekalo’s job in the future.
Mateo has had seven years in top-flight football and still is a work in progress.
Kovacic is a jack of all trades master of none. Kovacic shows flashes of brilliance, but he is not even close to being a world class player. Kovacic has the ability to be a superstar…but he is running out of time.
I mentioned it earlier in a post but was anonymous…he’s losing his job to Barkley. Barkely with a goal and two assists today. That’s seizing an opportunity. Kova has loads of potential but yet to live up to it. Some of our other under 21 will pass him on the depth chart if he doesn’t pick it up. I think Vlasic plays like Kova should.
Kovacic on the bench.
Karlo Letica didn’t do well for Club Bruges. Made some serious mistakes this weekend and Croatian coach Leko told the press that he isn’t happy with Letica this season. The guy didn’t win one point for his team this season.
I think at this point, Livakovic is way better than Letica.
Started the play with a good forward ball.
Brekalo needs to be in the November squad.
His game is bursting with quality.
Lovely goal from Brekalo, very good composure
Ah .. the WWC..
Kramaric can ball.
His technical ability is underrated and he can finish well.
His future is as a second striker/attacking midfield #10 type roll.
Rebić up top provides the power and pace and can offset Kramaric lack of these two attributes.
The challenge for him is his ego.
He has the ability to create plays but shoots every time when the killer pass is on.
Modrić is #8 and is not getting any younger.
Kramaric can still score from this spot when the opportunity presents itself but every time he forces the issue he shots get blocked or sail way wide of goal.
He adds quality and depth to the squad but he needs to recreate himself to be more effective for Croatia.
Vlašić is a different level of attacking beast. He puts pressure on the D with relentless running.
Could be a good game changing one two punch in November.
Speaking of which .. Dalić stabilized things in October but now we need see some vision with the squad and team selection.
El Classico –
I am still thankful that we have two world class players relevant in the greatest league match on the planet.
Rakitic is building legend status.
Modrić is mythical.
Bog i Hrvati
We indeed need to press in order to open up the midfield. This is inevitable because our defenders have been so poor offensively for so long. Until we develop two dimensional defenders we need the pressing game.
The thing is, Vlasic has been doing really well at CSKA in the #10 position.
He does float toward the wing at times, but he’s not really as effective as a winger.
Not that it really matters that much, but if I were to start him for us, it would be in that exact position just not to mess around with such a good thing.
But deciding between which four out of Perisic, Kramaric, Rebic, Pjaca, Vlasic, and/or Modric (if you wanna push him up to #10) is a very good problem to have.
Vlasic and Rog are good pressers. If Kramaric plays attacking mid with Perisic and one of those two, with Rebic as striker, it would be a nightmare for opposing defenses.
Kramarić can work if he at least just presses the defenders.
He doesn’t necessarily have to be physical, just gotta press them when they are making their lateral passes.
I would still start him up top in the špica, but if he’s invisible on the defensive side of things, then I’d sub him out. We have the depth now, to do these kinds of things.
He played in behind the forward in an attacking midfield role at the World Cup against Nigeria and against Russia. I think he also plays well enough on the wing when he plays there for us. Another option could be a front 2 with Rebic and Kramaric. This allows Rebic to press and Kramaric to play more of a false 9 role. However, the downfall to that is that is pushes Perisic back a bit.
Where does Krama fit for us? How can we have Rebic Perisic and potentially someone else pressing with Krama on the field at the same time? Or do we not have 3 up top to incorporate Kramaric?
Because it’s 2 different styles.
Krama for NT hanging back didn’t work. We play best with all the top 3 pushing.
Mourinho recently stated he wanted Rebic and Perisic because they bully defenders.
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1032103/Manchester-United-transfer-news-Jose-Mourinho-Ivan-Perisic-Ante-Rebic-Inter-Milan-gossip/amp
We play best when Rebic, Perisic and hopefully someone else capable is pressing which Krama didn’t fit for us as technically gifted he is.
How come Krama can play so well for club yet look so tentative and scared for the Vatreni?