Written by Markus
Let’s admit it – we all have a sweet spot for Zlatko Dalić thanks to Croatia’s 2018 fairytale run. But fairytales always end, and i’s time to start a new book…and a new book means new characters.
Dalić’s first game leading the checkers was a crucial one, and he delivered. A Kramarić brace against Ukrainian sent the Vatreni into the playoff round where they made quick work of the Greeks. Croatia continued to stomp through opposition at the World Cup with a solid 2-0 win over Nigeria, a 3-0 dismantling of Leo Messi and Argentina, and a historic Mario Mandžukić strike that sent the team flying past England.
Despite the heartbreaking final loss, Croatian fans had the best summer of their lives. This was the end of the fairytale however, and we have yet to start the new book. New characters were not introduced, Dalić held onto dear life to those ‘momci’ who gave the world a bang. And we all know what happens when you try to extend a story that has ended…it goes stale. A 6-0 pounding at the hands of the Spaniards, a 2-1 defeat to the Hungarians, a stalemate against 108th ranked Azerbaijan, a 4-1 trampling from the Portuguese, a worrisome 2-1 defeat to the Swedes, and now this, a 1-0 loss to Slovenia in the opener match of World Cup qualifying. Do those look like losses that would normally be suffered by a World Cup finalist?
If I were to blindly look at those score lines I’d think they’d represent a team in the talent pool of your Bulgaria’s or Montenegro’s. Dalić is like a director who keeps using the same actors to perform the same storyline over and over and over again. And everyone is just plain tired of it. We need new players and new tactics to get Croatia out of this mess. Lovro Majer, Toma Bašić, Joško Gvardiol, Luka Ivanušec, Borna Sosa, and Domagoj Bradaric are just some names that come to mind when I see the old guard struggling. Why does Croatia always have such a hesitancy to play young players? Dalić seems to favor Barišić and Melnjak over Sosa and Bradarić; Lovren and Vida over DCC, Pongračić and Gvardiol; Badelj over Bašić; Pašalić over Majer, and the list goes on!
Today’s lineup average age was 30. Alongside Belgium, we had the oldest starting XI in all the qualifying matches today. Weren’t we the oldest team at the WC as well? Yep! So why are we still one of the oldest teams three years later? Why are subs from the WC like Badelj still hanging around instead of guys like Bašić, Majer, and Moro?
This Euro will be Dalić’s final shot, and if he continues his “safe” lineup of the old guard, it will cost him in the end. While Dalić might think this is his safest bet, I think it’s his riskiest, because if it doesn’t work against Slovenia, it won’t against England. The prayer of every football loving Hrvat is a total revamp after the Euros. Assuming the current squad will be the one for the Euros (we’ll substitute Rebić for Lovrić), here are the age comparisons.
The average age of the Euro squad: 28.2
Keep in mind this accounts for Brekalo (22), Vlašić (23), and DCC (24), who lower this number drastically, and only one of them seems to be in Dalić’s XI.
Now let’s take a look at a potential (and wanted by most fans) squad comprising of:
Livaković, Grbić, Šemper
Sosa, Bradarić, Ćaleta-Car, Pongračić, Gvardiol, Lovren, Vrsaljko, Uremović
Modrić, Brozović, Kovačić, Vlašić, Majer, Bašić (you could even make an argument for Moro or Ivanušec here)
Perišić, Oršić, Rebić, Brekalo, Kramarić, Petković
Their average age: 25.7
I know, I know. It’s not all about age obviously. But wouldn’t you say that the second squad looks much more energized, revitalized, and skillful? I don’t think Dalić has the ‘jaje’ to drop Vida and make Lovren our fourth centerback. At this point, we’ve seen that “playing it safe” isn’t working…so what are we waiting for? A disappointing finish at the Euros until we realize it’s time to make some changes? Dalić is a good man and a good Croatian, and I hold every part of that 2018 team close to my heart…but that story has ended.
Who will replace Dalić? The consensus seems to be Nenad Bjelica or Igor Bišćan. Bjelica is currently the manager of Osijek, who is in a tight title race with Dinamo, and Bišćan is the Vatreni U21 manager. Both coaches have many upsides. Bišćan has worked with every promising Croatian talent, and will obviously integrate the younglings into the senior side if he is appointed manager. Bjelica has coached the likes of Lovro Majer, Luka Ivanušec, Joško Gvardiol, and many other Croatians at Dinamo Zagreb. If it wasn’t for the Mamić mafia, he would probably still be the manager of Dinamo Zagreb. Bjelica has lit a flame in Osijek’s squad this season, and has the potential to do the same with the Vatreni.
CroatianSports Experts’ choice: Nenad Bjelica
@Hal
That’s a bit harsh, isn’t LAknat allowed to believe whatever he wants as long as he’s white? You should work on your liberalism, maybe the racist guy can help you, he’s very liberal that racist, as long as you have white skin.
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@LAknat
Are you white?
Laknat
Shut the hell up you idiot. Where is your halilovic. Your God. Keep your mouth shut you moron.
Wow, you guys are all way too sad about a single game!!!
This happens EVERY SINGLE TIME we are in Qualifying!
Calm down. Slovenia is not a bad team and they beat us at home 1-0 by grinding one out. nothing to freak out about. We will get it together in time. Chill boys!
people who told us that we are gonna scores more than 2 goals – and win by easy – absolutely abstract and stupid: L
they don’t count their friend | as stupid as them | named -> Dalic. so they delude themselves > so please be real –
LAknat is always Right _ and Dalic really needs to be sacked before it’s too late!
If our offensive strategy is to try and send in crosses against teams that bunker, then let Stipe Perica start.
Lmao when did I say to start the 16 year olds? You in France aren’t hyping up Cherki, Camavinga etc? We have some solid young talents and I’m putting it out there that when they develop they can be integrated into the squad. What’s your obsession with my comment about the Cyprus game lol I can’t tell what you’re trying to get at there. Croats really are living rent free in your head huh! By the way those 16 year olds are playing against higher age groups 😆
@Robert
Maybe bring in the 16yr old talent that Markus is talking about, you can see their undeniable class when playing against other 16yr olds and with Markus I don’t see no reason why that can’t translate to the senior squad.
Maybe throw a bunch of ’em in for the “meaningless” Cyprus game to see how they go?
Lot’s of feedback boys, yesterday felt like a transition year where the the older group was uninspired and old. As usual hype of younger was unwarranted. This is a rebuild where younger players in U-21 need to be considered, this will be a 10 year rebuild like 2005 except we don’t have up and coming 20 year okd
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That was me Markus, just in case you couldn’t figure it out.
@Markus
Anyway, what do you think is the Cyprus game still “meaningless”?
I know you want Vrsaljko rested for that game to not get injured for Euros, but what other experiments would you try in that game my French brother?
Frenchman, you seem awfully obsessed with croats, hop off our dicks a little why don’t you.
@Maminjo
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So because Ademi was born in Croatia he could’ve been considered for the Croatian national team even though you’d say he’s not Croatian?
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Good to see that you’d consider non-Croats for the national team!
Arijan Ademi came off the bench for Macedonia today, and scored.
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Then they scored a second goal after that, tying the game in Romania…only to lose it in the end.
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He probably would have been a decent bench player for us, to give us something different.
Hrmic, I totally agree. Dalic is not the guy to play a 3atb so we’ll have to wait for another coach to try that formation.
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On another note, I was very impressed by Vuskovic. Prior to this game I had only seen him play once and liked his style of play. In the next year I desperately want to see us playing with a 3atb of Gvardiol-DCC-Pongracic or Vuskovic. He’s gonna be a star.
What do you muppets/armchair quaterbacks mean when you call games “meaningless”? Which is what your best commentator Maminjo calls friendlies and the UNL. Do you mean that the result doesn’t matter?
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My French brother Markus believes the Cyprus game is “meaningless,” so I wouldn’t be getting rid of Dalic if you lose that “meaningless” game. Wait ’til you lose a meaningful game is when Dalic should get sacked.
We saw yesterday that the team played too slow; slow ball movement and slow player movement off the ball. There was too much congestion in centre midfield with little wing play. Too many players were played in the wrong positions and then getting in each other’s way. This made for very little team chemistry.
In hindsight with what we had, maybe we should have played a 3-4-2-1 formation. This would have given us one more defender centrally, 2 centre midfielders, 2 wingbacks, 2 attacking midfielders to play off of our target man.. Our back 3 could have been Lovren, Caleta-Car and Vida or one of our other younger centrebacks. Then in midfield play Vrsaljko and Perisic as wingbacks, which would get us some width that we did not have until half way through the second half. They are both usually good crossers of the ball. In centre-mid you have Modric and Brozovic with Kovacic coming off the bench when these guys tire. In attacking-mid play Vlasic and Kramaric. Kramaric is not a target man. I watch a lot of Bundesliga games and Kramaric plays mostly as an attacking-mid or a second striker. Vlasic also has a nose for goal so he would be good to play with a target man. Ideally, Petkovic would be the first choice target man but with him out, Budimir would have done the job. This line up would have given us more balance and shape to our team. Too many times we have no one in the box when crosses come in but with a target man and 2 attacking-mids, we have someone to look for on crosses and players there for a knock down. I think this line-up would have been more effective.
@BZ was talking about Perisic to LB for the nt 2 years ago, well before Conte tried it!
someone plz send this lineup to dalic
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…………………..Budimir…………………
Perisic…………..Vlasic…………..Orsic
……………Brozo………Modric………….
Barisic…..Caleta….Lovren….Vrsaljko
………………….Livakovic…………………
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Subs: Krama for vlasic, pasalic for budimir, brekalo for a winger, kova for a CM
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyQpscpSrjw – stream on YT for U21’s
Something must be clear here…good players doesn’t equate or make a good team. Yes we have top class players but look at the Belgium team sometime ago! Like the euro 2016 when they lost 3-1 to wales. They had top players but no good team…now Belgium is the team to BEAT.
Dalic is not trying out better tactics and systems…same old 4-2-3-1.
Let’s not Panic yet…but I think Dalic sometimes is clueless.
uefa.tv
anyone have a link to the u21 game?
Vida ?
@ARMADA
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Yea, if we do drop points to Cyprus or Malta, then Dalic is in trouble.
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I agree that with such short notice, the only reasonable coaches to come in would be Biscan and Bjelica (and either one, especially Bjelica, might say ‘no’ and not want to walk into a situation like that). You could be left with Ante Cacic again. 😉
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It would really come down to whether or not Dalic actually lost the team or not. I don’t think he did, but the HNS would have to chat with the captains of the team (Modric, Perisic, Vida, Lovren) about this, before they do anything rash.
@Bobby
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So long as Vida, Lovren and Kovacic continue to start games you can forget about the “quick set up and finish”.
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When we retained possession, these three did NOT move the ball forward until every last Slovenian was bunkered nicely onto their side of the pitch.
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Only other option is sending bombs from the flank into a crowd, and hope Budimir gets a head on one, or someone like Vlasic cleans up a mess in front of goal.
To add to that, I think its fair to give him a basic ultimatum of that we need the full 6 points from Cyprus and Malta. With respect to both countries, neither has any business taking points from us and if they do, that throws a huge wrench into qualification and I think that is enough ammo to let Zlatko go.
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We’re also playing in Rijeka and between Rujevica and Kantrida, we’ve never lost a game in Rijeka (17 games total). Interesting stat, now that I’m looking at the data, but counting all NT games played in Rijeka, we’ve played more NT games in Rijeka (17) then in Split/Poljud (14). I’m sure this will jinx us, since I made a comment the other day about how we never lost to the Slovenci…
I don’t think a decision has to be made today on Dalic’s future. He’s had some highs (WC silver medal) and lows (yesterday’s game, being one).
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I think some on here lean too much on the fact that he got us to a WC final and others have a ‘what have you done for me lately’ mindset. I’d take a middle stance with those 2 sides; the UNL games were a shitshow, this last game was a trainwreck but we ended 2019 (pre-COVID) on a good note with our Euro qualifiying.
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My stance is that Dalic is under the microscope now. There’s not a lot of games between now and the Euro, but the main thing I will watch for is his adjustments. Does he change up the tactics? Does he switch up the personnel? It’s obvious that changes are needed, if he makes those changes and leads to results, he can get back to ‘safer ground’ but if he ‘sticks to his guns’ with what he has been doing and we continue to drop silly points for the WCQ’s, a change is needed and we should go into the Euro with a new coach, ideally Bjelica or Biscan.
I think everyone is needlessly panicking.
Dalic qualified Croatia for both the Euros and the WC.
We had a very unlucky game. Croatia dominated that game by every metric except the lucky bounces. If Croatia continues to play like they did against Slovenia they will qualify with ease.
These things happen in soccer, it’s a game of fine margins.
Dalic is transitioning the squad slowly-Brekalo, Barisic, Petkovic Vlasic and Livakovic have all become regulars now. What you discount is the importance of experience and depth.
@Maminjo – Our crosses into the bunker box yesterday were useless. Slovenia headed away everything with their height.
You beat them with quick one-twos outside the box. Almost worked a few times with Orsic, on one occasion, one split second away from breaking in.
Formations? We were already given freedom on 75 percent of the pitch to move the ball near their box.
Its learning how to quickly set up and finish that Croatia has never learned to do against bunkers.
The problem with this cycle is that it’s so condensed.
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You lose a couple of key players to injury, and you’ve lost them for three games.
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If you’re going through a bad spell for a month, then that could span through half of your qualifying games (since they’re so bunched together in Sept, Oct and Nov).
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I fully expect 6 point these next two games. The Euros are a coin toss now. Don’t know what to expect.
I’ll give my quick take on this game. If we scored early like we had chances to do so, we win by 2 or 3 at least. We were always going to struggle if we let them score first. Lovren and Vida were quite shaky and provided nothing in the build up. I can’t blame Livakovic for the deflection.
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The formation honestly wasn’t a horrible idea. It was just the personnel and execution that didn’t work. It seemed like it was a two striker with Perisic and Kramaric up top. They were not meshing at all and both would complain when the other would make a bad decision. Both of them wanted to drift deeper which left no one up top and often times Vlasic was the furthest forward. I agree that the midfield was way too crowded and Modric and Kovacic at this moment in time don’t work together. Both of them are best utilized as outlet players who will receive a pass and find an open man. The problem is, when you have two players both trying to do that it’s just overkill. It’s the same thing that used to happen with Modric and Rakitic together before we finally pushed Modric further forward. Because Modric is better than Kovacic and the leader of the team, Kovacic just lets Modric do all the actual creative work and just makes quick short passes. I honestly think Kovacic will start to shine a little more once Modric is gone, but obviously we don’t want Modric gone until he is ineffective for us. And that’s still a few years away which will leave Kovacic with just a few years to do that. I just wish he would play aggressive like he did when he was young. I just think he is almost scared to mess up nowadays.
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Also, as for Perisic at LB. I wouldn’t hate if he started there for now until we get the younger guys up there. Barisic is a good player in my opinion, but I think he is out of his element when we’re chasing a game or playing better opposition. He’s been playing at wing back at club level and we won’t need him to defend so much against Cyprus and Malta so why not? But I will say Dalic likely didn’t consider it an option during Nations League for a few reasons.
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1. He only started to play well there once his attitude about having to defend more changed. He was getting benched at Inter towards the beginning of the season because he clearly looked uninterested when played there and was often played as the back up striker. Dalic probably didn’t want to piss him off even more.
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2. Our attacking threats were all injured/not fit at some point. Rebic, Kramaric, and Petkovic were all not truly available which meant Perisic was carrying some of the attacking load.
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Now, do I think Dalic should go? That’s difficult. There are times when he really seems out of his element and I think that he knew he wasn’t going to be able to replicate the success of the World Cup so he was going to leave and try to get good money at a club. But we insisted he stayed and he did. I think the only way he goes is if we lose one of these next two games or if we do badly at the Euros. Or maybe he will just resign at some point, who knows.
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I’m not going to be panicking about this qualifying cycle unless we lose again. We can afford to have a draw or two against Russia and Slovakia, but if we lose a game somewhere it’s going to be tough and we’ll likely have to try to get to a play-off again.
This has nothing to do with yesterday’s results we just don’t have the talent sorry to say.
Quarter finals would be miraculous in the EURO’s but I don’t see it happening.
We will qualify for the World Cup but do nothing there as well.
Pero we are in the bottom 10 of Europe.
Respectable but we should beat teams like
Slovenia and Hungary.
@Pero
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So I guess Holland and France are done too?
Budala
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Sure it does.
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If we had Petković, we could’ve just played a two striker formation, and sent balls into the box with all the wingers we had at our disposal.
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Bradarić and Oršić on one side, Perišić and Vrsaljko on the other (with Brekalo off the bench) and just send bombs into the box. I’m not a Budimir fan, but he could be very useful in a game like this.
A guy like Vlašić is good at cleaning up the mess too when there’s chaos in the box.
Ćaleta-Car Car could send some long balls into the box too.
Modrić would have been free from providing support on the right wing too, and could play him game.
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We had the personnel. It was just the wrong call by Dally boy.
Compare our line up Mano o Mano to the top teams in Europe.
Do you honestly THINK we stack up to them?Most of you need to give your head a shake,and when the rocks settle lower your expectations GREATLY!
Not one of you had Slovenia winning ,I think one guy said a 1-1 draw.
If you can’t beat them on talent you better play like your life is on the line,something we are lacking.
Prepare yourself for misery the next few years boys.
@Anonymous
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I agree that it’s just one game… But it’s actually three years worth of games if you consider the UNL and friendlies.
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We’ve been led to believe that those games were all just experimental. Fine.
But now we lost to Slovenia in the same fashion as those games (with some obvious formation and player selection gaffes).
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This “one game” loss, essentially confirmed that it’s actually a three year long drought.
This is what concerns people, and we’ll have to watch these next few games closely and hope Dalić can correct this.
@Slavonac
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The Perišić at LB thing is nothing new. He was played there at the beginning of the season for Inter. There was even someone on this site that kept saying that we should try it. We probably should have, but in the UNL games first.
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Let’s face it, the reason why Dalić tried Perišić at LB yesterday is because he botched the decision to call up Bradarić.
He realized that he needed some creativity and offensive ability on that left side, and Barišić wasn’t bringing it.
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It doesn’t give me confidence that he couldn’t anticipate this, and thought that he could roll with Barišić and Melnjak. Funny how he didn’t sub in Melnjak. Kinda confirms for me that he doesn’t truly have faith in him, and actually is just trying to help him out in getting a contract.
Wasted 7 games with Melnjak, and it amounted to nothing.
Formations mean nothing when you’re playing a team that parks the bus.
Start three of your best futsal forwards with quick dribbling and shot taking ability.
Petkovic and maybe Brekalo are the closest we have to that.
I’m not joking.
Grab the lead and substitute them out.
It’s the only way to stop teams from bunkering. Anything is better than what we witnessed yesterday.
Slovenia got an early goal and then parked the bus with one of the top 3 goalie s in the world too protect them from the few chances that could be created. Croatia always has a slow start in qualifying one tough game is not a reason too start panicking.
This team from Slovenia will take points from other teams as well. Finally an early loss is a good wake up call for the team that no games can be taken for granted.
Maminjo…
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“Why are we (only now) trying to see how Perišić at LB would work?
If this was on the table, why didn’t we try it in UNL first?”
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I think the answer to this question is that Conte has gotten Perisic to play this role and he realizes this is now an option for Perisic.
Markus and Doom, good input guys…thanks!
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Markus, with regards to Vida…I am not saying he deserves a spot…I was trying to say we should remove him and Lovren from the conversation because we spend tons of time debating whether Vlasic, Krama, Barisic (vs Melnjak), Kovacic…should start…and they all did so yesterday…and I didn’t really get the impression we focused on those guys while everyone just lambasted Lovren and Vida….there’s no argument about it, they are a sub at best but our other issues don’t disappear!
@Razbijač
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Yea, there was just far too much crowding in that central area.
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Kramarić was too deep, and Vlašić was also playing in that central area too (even though we had Kovačić, Brozović and Modrić in the lineup).
Several dudes just crowded in that middle area, which played perfectly into Kek’s hands.
Dalić is too scared to bench some of these guys (because of their talent level and seniority), but they can’t all start.
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Only guy running up the right wing was Vrsaljko (who is still getting into form) with occasional support from Modrić.
Left side was just Perišić, and nothing really from Barišić. Then Perišić got moved to LB, with some support from Oršić later.
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I shit on Lovren and Vida alot, but they slowed our counterattack down. Hesitant to pass, and just punted it forward whenever they were pressured (which then became a 50/50 ball). Kovačić also didn’t help, when he ran back to support them… As he also takes his sweet time when trying to initiate.
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Dalić wasted those UNL and friendly games by “experimenting” with players and lineups that he would never use in a serious game.
Today is a perfect example.
Despite the different players he used in UNL, he still went with the most experienced/seniority players anyway (regardless of position).
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It was said a few times on this board that Dalić SHOULD have experimented with formations and lineups that he would ACTUALLY USE in a tournament or qualifying game.
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There is a lot of data out there to show that Krama doesn’t work in our usual formation… So how come we never tried him in a different one?
Why are we (only now) trying to see how Perišić at LB would work?
If this was on the table, why didn’t we try it in UNL first?
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I wish we drew instead of lost, then it would have been a good wakeup call for Dalić without giving Kek a nice head start on us. This qualifying group will probably be the same as the last one now, with four teams in it, right up to the last game.
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Hopefully they take it out on Cyprus and win big.
If we still struggle a bit with them, then we really need to evaluate whether Dalić is the man to lead us at these Euros and remaining WC qualifiers.
I’d love to hear what Modrić and the team think.
@ Slavonic – I think it’s right to question the contribution of Vlasic. We’ve lost a lot of matches with him on the field. His spot is not a lock, considering that Pasalić plays the same position on a Champions League caliber team in a more competitive league. You also have Kovacic and Modrić there to run the center of the midfield. He wasn’t ineffective yesterday—he set Kramarić up well on at least one play—but maybe he isn’t the best option we have for taking apart 10-man defenses.
@ Franjo – We always play our worst games against these bunker-defense teams. The difference at the major tournaments is that few of the teams who actually qualify play that style. We always do better in open games. The biggest struggle for this squad is going to be scoring goals in this group where there is not a single stylish team. They all will spend 90 minutes trying to break the flow of the game.
Also, Vida made a bad tackle with gave the ball directly to Lovric’s feet who buried it.
@Slavonac
1) I hardly noticed Barisic was even on the field. He offers us nothing to be honest. Doesn’t make mistakes, but doesn’t do anything.
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2) I’m a Vlasic fan, he’s aggressive and nimble, good athlete with an eye for goal. If you compare him to anyone else on our team bar Modric he’s a top player. I didn’t think he necessarily played bad (almost scored a goal, beat Oblak but hit the post) but it wasn’t a good game for him either. I really think all our other issues are just affecting his game as well, if the team plays shit, so will he. Not sure why he plays like that but whatever, he is only 23.
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3) Everyone always talks about how bad Kova is for us compared to club but Krama is Mr. Invisible for us compared to his amazing Hoffenheim performances. I’m telling you, Petkovic needs to start for Euros. Krama didn’t do anything today, just jogged back and forth till he was subbed.
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4) No, the fault today was in the attack. HOWEVER, with the very few chances Slovenia did get, they were VERY shaky. I had 0 confidence in them whenever the ball was anywhere near. If we made any of the chances Slovenia did on us, their defence would’ve made swift work of it.
Not being able to score on bunker teams has been
our problem for the past 10 years. We just don’t have
a talented forward.
@ Slavonac
Vida slipped which enabled the Slovenian Lovric to pick up the ball and score. So he was culpable.
@ Doom
Agreed, Dalic was playing checkers, while Kek was playing Chess.
In WC ’18, Dalic had the RIGHT players, the RIGHT tactics, at the RIGHT time.
Now, he has the WRONG players, the WRONG tactics, at the WRONG time.
To be a great coach you have to modify and adjust, which he’s not capable of doing.
It seems he only makes changes to the starting 11 when a player retires (ie Rakitic, Mandzukic, and Subasic).
He’s got weird tactics. He started Perisic as a Striker (which he is not) and partnered him with Kramaric who is also not a Striker. Kramaric was often dropping back to pick up the ball getting in the way of Vlasic.
3 CM in Kovacic, Brozovic, and Modric???? Again, we didn’t need all 3 to maintain possession as the Slovenians would have given it to us anyway.
Lovren and Vida, you know my thoughts on that–no need to further comment.
Dalic could have AT Least played this formation: 4-2-3-1: (Livakovic–Vrsajko, Lovren, Vida, Barisic–Brozovic, Modric–Vlasic, Kramaric, Perisic–Budimir.
Perisic and Vlasic on the wings to stretch out the Slovenian bunker. Kramaric as a 2nd striker were he’s more comfortable, and allowing him to drop back and pick up the ball.
Budimir as the big target man to harass the Slovenian defense. Ok he’s not great, but good enough to play against Slovenia, Malta, and Cyprus.
His tactics were just odd yesterday. A 4-1-2-1-2, “Rhombus” as they’re calling it in Croatia–WTF???
If there was anyone to blame yesterday, it was Dalić. The problem wasn’t really the lineup (the players on the field did well, generally, even our past-prime CBs). Thé problem was tactics. Dalić did not find the solution to unlock Slovenia’s 10-man defense. That was not an easy game to win, but considering how much of the time we spent in Slovenia’s defensive third, we should have been able to score at least once.
I don’t like to disagree with everyone else, but I just don’t see Brekalo packing enough of a punch in intensity out there. Pasalić, Kovacic, and Budimir raised the level of intensity a bit, but they didn’t have a clear strategy for getting a good angle on goal. It was a good move to take Barisić out, especially given Slovenia’s extreme weakness on the left side, but it seems like it took the whole game to figure that out…
You can’t really blame the players. Even Perisić and Kramarić finally were linking up together. If you even can blame anyone for this result, it’s the coach. Kek outcoached Dalić.
“Weren’t we the oldest team at the WC as well? Yep! So why are we still one of the oldest teams three years later?
Why indeed. These lines sum up not only that game yesterday but the entire situation with the HNS.
I understand the human nature aspect of not wanting to mess with success but ironically, that’s EXACTLY what needed to happen.
Remember what happened with the Germans when they tried to hold on too long with the “old guard” Yep! Yet it seems we’re going to chose to ignore that lesson. We were asking too much from those old, tired legs in 18′ after those extra-time games to go and win a final on heart alone. Heart and experience will only get you so far.
What’s going to happen with all those old, tired legs at the Euro now that there’s 3 more years of mileage on them?
Its not hard to guess.
Jangs, you can most definitely blame the coach for not only this result, but for the extremely poor performances we’ve had in Nations league as well. Dalic sets up the lineup, formations, strategy…its his sole responsibility to create the environment on the field and if he experiments, he should learn from it as well…something I feel he hasn’t done!
We can’t blame the coach we had the better chances but like typical Croatian fashion, we get hurt if we don’t finish our chances. unfortunate, I didn’t see anything crazy about Slovenia besides they played great defense. I am a bit worried as to why we can’t score goals and feels like we just are a grinder team. Senseless crosses to box like we have a Lewandowski or Ronaldo on the team. lol. Not bashing but just honestly confused why Perisic and everyone on the team is trying crosses all game and not 1 worked…we need players who can kick ball outside the box and manover into more threating spots for shots on goal. Not getting 3 Points from Slovenia is shocking to say least.
Dalic’s tunnel vision is hurting not just him, its hurting the entire chemistry of our team.
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Yesterday I saw tins of focus on Lovren and Vida and my questions got washed away in the storm of comments…today I’m asking some questions I think need to be answered.
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1) did Barisic play well? was he a support up the left side? did he provide quality balls?
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2) we constantly debate of Vlasic…many here think he’s the Messiah and I’ve said it several times…he disappears for long periods of the game and unless he scores a goal, I often feel he’s almost irrelevant in many of our games. How did Vlasic do yesterday?
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3) Krama is a total goal-scorer…does he bring anything else? Does he battle, does he create scoring chances for himself and others? Does he draw attention and pull defenders to make space for other players?
.4) an honest question here. Sure, Lovren and Vida should not be starters…especially not together…BUT, this loss was not on them, we created almost zero chances after the first 10 minutes of the game. Why are we focusing soo much on them when overall I don’t think this game was lost because of them.
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Dalic is a good man with some interesting perspectives. we owe him a debt of gratitude for bringing out the best of our squad in 2018…but that ship has sailed and its yesterdays news! I believe he should be scrutinized for his extremely poor decisions.
Slovenia’s defense was excellent or our attack truly sucked? The way we played we could’ve made any defense look good. If we can’t beat Slovenia how are we going to compete at the Euros? The UNL games were a good indication of what’s to come unless something changes before it’s too late. This is not looking like a team that were 2018 World Cup finalist.
@Suba – not blaming anything – just stating a fact that club teams would never have a problem with. Only national sides.
By inserting a 25-29 prime age and in form Kovacic, Dalic did a little of what your asking. This meant that Kova and Brozo played the double pivot CM positions allowing Modric to play the AM position that Vlasic previously occupied. However, Modric was given more freedom to roam. And he did roam, in fact dropping deep much more than Vlasic normally would. Having that Vlasic type player occupying a position in between the opposition’s defensive line and midfield is critical in creating chances. We had 3 players dropping deep and not enough occupying threatening areas which resulted in less chances.
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Now let’s give credit to Slovenia’s midfield because their defensive was excellent and their team has been in excellent defensive form since late 2019. Limited practice time and playing a quick away match against an excellent defensive team and only conceding on a lucky deflections; no need to panic just yet. And don’t worry, Bradaric will be at the Euro’s instead of Melnjak.
Can we stop blaming the war please
Let’s move on
I have no idea why Orsic or Brekalo didn’t start
Didn’t dalic watch the Dinamo game
In fact he should have just played the Dinamo
They would have 4 zip
@BobbyV. Have to agree. That 25-29 age group should make up the majority of your starting lineup. Can’t have just two players in it.
Like I’ve warned about for years on this site. Not enough players with World class talent in the most important age group 25-29, which coincides with our homeland war 1991-1995.
It is here.
Our birth rate was hit dramatically – something a country of 4 million feels immediately.
Brozovic – that’s about it – and Kovacic, but he was born in Austria.
Take a look at who is considered our top players and you’ll see they are in their 30’s, past their prime, or in their early twenties- not quite ready to make an impact at this moment.
Croatia will struggle to qualify and probably miss the next few tournaments but will be back soon.
Can’t wait to watch the U-21’s the next few days.