It was a devastating blow to us all when we found out that Eduardo would miss the European Football Championships this summer. However, now that we know he will make a full recovery within 10 months and that his career is not in danger, we need to start talking about who will replace him for the rest of the year and most importantly Euro 2008. Here are the candidates given that we expect Mladen Petrić to keep his spot as striker in the starting roster:
Ivan Rakitić– The 19 year-old has been our attacking midfielder for his first 6 games with Croatia only scoring 1 goal. He’s more of a set-up man than a goalscorer but a very smart player who could capitalize on the move from midfield to striker. 2%* chance Ivan gets the spot.
Ivan Klasnić– The 28 year-old Klasnić has been left off the Croatian roster since 2006 due to 2 kidney transplants. He has 8 goals for Croatia in 26 appearences since his debut in 2004. He has had the reputation of coming up short for Croatia compared to his dominant performances in the German Bundesliga for Werder Bremen. Could this be the year of “The Return of Ivan Klasnić?” He has my vote! 33%* chance Ivan gets the spot.
Ivica Olić is probably the safest man to put atop with Mladen Petrić. He has the most experience with 9 goals in 51 appearences but has been known to be ‘shaky’ in the clutch. 45%* chance Ivica gets the spot.
Boško Balaban has been with Croatia since 2000 and has 10 goals in only 35 appearences. He’s never really been a consistent member of the team on the field. Balaban has the experience but I don’t think he has the finishing touch Croatia will need in Austria this summer. 9%* chance Boško gets the spot.
Igor Budan has had success with his Serie A team Parma since 2006. Budan has scored 14 goals in 35 games for his Italian club but has only been capped by Bilić 3 times since his February 2007 debut in a friendly vs. Norway. He could show results but has no goals or experience on the international level. It would be a crapshoot in my opinion. 4%* chance Igor gets the spot.
Mario Mandžukić is still a baby in terms of international football. The 21 year-old Dinamo Zagreb striker has only been called up once for the Croatian senior team; so who knows what he really has to offer until we let him play. 1.9%* chance Mario gets the spot.
Nikola Kalinić has been playing well for Hajduk and the Croatian U-21 team but has not yet been called up to the senior side. Could Bilić call up an uncapped 20 year-old for the Euro Championships?- don’t count on it. 0.1%* chance Nikola gets the spot.
Now, if coach Slaven Bilić doesn’t find anyone he particularly likes for the job, he can always play a 4-5-1 formation with Mladen Petrić as the lone striker. This option can result in Croatia playing defensive, Italian-style soccer but I don’t think Bilić would sink that low. Croatia qualified to win the whole thing; not play for ties! Chance Bilić plays the 4-5-1; 5%*.
I have set up a poll on the right side of the CroatianSoccerReport.com main page. It will run for the next 3 weeks and I would like all of you to participate in it. Who deserves the spot to replace our fallen Eduardo?
*- Does not indicate actual probability. These numbers were put together based on trends over the past 2 years.
that’s kind of what i’m afraid of joze. i think olic will be a bust. he wasn’t even sure that second goal against england went in. he had to check twice. i just have little confidence in him. Now, if rakitic does get the job from bilic which i still doubt, he probably would use a 4-5-1 but just let rakitic be a bit more adventerous up top and less responsible in the midfield for defense.
Bilic will choose Olic…just like he did against england when petric wasnt fit enough to play the whole match.
If i had to pick i would give Rakitic a chance.
I think it will come down to Olic and Klasnic being interchangable with each other based on fitness etc. IF Bilic likes what he sees from Klasnic I think he can get the starting roll. Every other possibility is very unlikely.
A 4-5-1 would be the perfect scenario for Rakitic. However, tradition my boy. Croatia has never played with a lone striker ala Italia and won’t any time soon. Eduardo role on the team was to run around like crazy. The only player on the list capable of continuing this is Ivica Olic. I was never to fond of Olic. However, he does have 10 goals in the bundesliga which is good enough to keep him in the top5.
Klasnic at best could make the team and come off bench. Budan is an excellent striker but lacks speed and experience. Kalinic and mandukic are way to young and inexperienced.
Croatia ideally two choices:
1) start Olic or
2) start Olic.
I also voted Budan, since I firmly believe he is the best choice at striker, considering Rakitic is a number 10, Klasnic has been nothing short of horrible for the national team, Balaban is done, Olic is decent at best, Mandzukic and Kalinic are not in leagues that are competitive enough, besides all that I believe Igor Budan is a great goalscorer and would go great with Mladen Petric, if not Budan id go with 4-5-1 which would mean Rakitic would take the number 10 spot.
I say you should make the 4-5-1 answer merged with Rakitic’s because it is the only way it would make sense.
i put budan on the poll, yet somehow left him out of the blog. i see you voted for him but dont think he will get any playing time in euros if he does get called up. it will be petric with klasnic/olic who are interchangable….hope to hear from you soon…sounds like you know your stuff -ante
Igor Budan’s not in the poll? Olic will most likely get the call due to Bilics fondness of him, but I’d go for Budan. I’d be surprised if Balaban even gets called into the squad for the euros…