Re: Iceland.
Croatia has one of these matches every qualifying campaign. Sometimes it even happens multiple times.
In Euro 2016 qualifying, in the final stretch of games, Croatia drew with Azerbaijan and lost to Norway; in the same weekend! For the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Croatia didn’t just lose to Scotland once, but twice. Who can remember 2005 when the good ‘ol Vatreni drew with Malta?
It’s qualifying. No one remembers these games (unless you’re CroatianSports of course) as long as Croatia makes it to the tournament. And since Croatia started to ball in the mid-90’s, they have only missed the 2000 Euros and the 2010 World Cup. That’s a pretty solid résumé for a nation of 4.5 million people if you ask me.
But what bothers me most about the Iceland loss Sunday night is not the result, but the execution.
It was Portugal all over again.
And my main two culprits are manager Ante Čačić and striker/left wing/right wing/distraction Mario Mandžukić.
Let’s start with Čačić, who I have to preface, is one of the nicest guys you can meet. While in Los Angeles two weeks ago, I had the pleasure to speak with Čačić both on and off camera. He’s that soft spoken, cool Croatian uncle you have that gives you your first beer at the age of 12 and teaches you how to play cards at the table when all his buddies are over. Talking it over with the CroatianSports.com crew, we understand why Croatia has been successful under Čačić. He’s humble, knows his place and doesn’t micro-manage.
More than half the team made it to the quarterfinals of Champions League this season. At this point in your career, a coach isn’t going to teach you anything new. But based on what I saw in LA, Čačić more than likely keeps a very easy going locker room. Maybe that’s why it didn’t work with Štimac and Kovač under the Mamić/Šuker regime- too many ‘A’ type cooks in the kitchen.
And I can praise the man all day for his personality, but he still hasn’t learned the golden rule. The game of football gives you three subs: USE THEM!
Čačić was under the microscope against Portugal at Euro 2016 for not using subs correctly. The first sub Čačić used against Portugal came on in the 88th minute. And he did more of the same against Iceland.
After seeing how the first half went, an infusion of energy would have done the trick at halftime in my opinion. Mario Mandžukić (we’ll get to him in a second) should have only played the first half, however, he somehow made it all the way to the 88th minute, which was Čačić’s second and final sub. The other was Brozović for Kalinić in the 63rd, but the entire substitution strategy was faulted at halftime when no switches were made. Rog, Pašalić and Čop were all squandered on the bench with Čačić only utilizing two out of three subs in Iceland.
Croatia can beat 9 out of 10 teams with sheer talent on any given day. All the coach has to do it pick the best 11 and substitute correctly. Rinse and repeat.
But Čačić did not pick correctly.
Watching Mandžukić putter around the first 30 minutes of the match made me cringe. I for sure thought he was only making it to halftime. Sure, the guy played the all-important Champions League Final just one week ago (where he scored one of the most epic goals to date) but his energy from that game to the Iceland game was incomparable. It looked like Mandza had serious fatigue to go along with lack of interest. And if that’s the case, you don’t have to start the guy or eve play him the whole game, Juventus or not.
Čačić tried to play Mandza on the left wing, where he has been playing for Juventus, which shifted Perišić to the right side. Perišić is one of Croatia’s strongest players when he’s at his best position on the left side so you should’t tinker with that. Perišić and Kovačić were non-factors in this game alongside Kalinić. I’ll leave the defense alone as they got the job done for 90 minutes, just not 93.
I said before this game that a draw in Iceland would be fine. And it appears the players thought more of the same. And although it seems like Croatia is down and out, they are still in first place with four matches remaining in qualifying. At the end of the day, Croatia will be in Russia where hopefully all these mistakes will be corrected. This team has way too much talent not to make a run at some silverware.
@Croatianperson85
“Yugo’s/Commies trying to destroy Croatia via nogomet with this Modric fiasco/perjury and him possibly facing jail time.”
Great comment!
And all the while drawing the unwary BBB and Torcida fans (who support different teams) to themslves, uniting them in their hatred of Mamic!
Puppets everywhere.
Yugo’s/Commies trying to destroy Croatia via nogomet with this Modric fiasco/perjury and him possibly facing jail time.
Way to go to all the idiots on this site who can’t see that another Mamic will prop up or a bunch of Mamic’s who are half as effective as Mamic (see Hajduk). I agree he pulls shady moves but you’re naive in thinking it will be cleaned up. It’s all corrupt. At least he produced.
No different than Sadam and Gadafi being crazies but they at least were better than what’s happening now in those countries. You remind me of the same snowflakes who think care bear stares will solve the worlds problems. You’ll be the first pizde to cry for Martial law which is on its way. Pat yourself on the back.
(Not directed at everyone, only at some, you know who you are based on your opinions).
We don’t live in a utopian perfect world/society. Never have and never will. Read some books.
@Elvis
“Serb national identity needs to be destroyed for the betterment of Croatia.”
The Serbian unorthodox church is a national church, that’s a part of their identity?
Schismatic white Serbs should never be allowed to live in Croatia, that they do is proof positive that the Croatian people, at the behest of their masters, have been made to forget “that a little leaven corrupteth the whole lump.”
Croatia should be 100% Catholic
Serb national identity needs to be destroyed for the betterment of Croatia. However, they are not born with original sin and can be molded to serve us.
@ Ustasa
“Yugoslavia without the Communism” is National Socialism.
@ Ustasa
Skrewdriver was far from Christian. Great band! Should I listen to Polka music instead because it is Catholic? You like this current pope? The communist? My DNA is closer to England that some African Boban.
So what Modric said at the beginning of this saga was false, and what he said at this latest hearing was true, hence he committed perjury at the start?
So now they’re after Modric because they preferred what he said at the start when he perjured himself?
I gotta say, I find this quite amusing!
Prosecutor trying to send a message to Lovren ahead of his testimony by threatening to charge Luka with perjury.
@Elvis
“We have a black Miss Croatia. What else do you need to know about the state of the country?”
Is she Catholic, or is she protestant like most of your beloved white British people?
So you’d take a Yugoslavia without the Communism and Black people? You obviously don’t have a problem with the white schismatic Serb, because that would make you anti-white?
@bz kovacics wifes parents u mean
@sepp 23 is young in America
@Sepp- Kovacic’s wife doesn’t think it is too young. Perfect age. She got him young, dumb, & rich.
Whatever, so long as Kovacic can finally take that next step and become a poor man’s Modric I will be happy.
We’ll need him to do this soon, as Modric will probably be chased off the team soon. 😉
Did Modric have any difficulty in remembering the time and place of Kovacic’s wedding?
And 23 is way too young to get married. Especially if you’re a professional athlete.
He has warned before ……had to have been, I’m over Luka already bring on Lovren
Wow. They’re really going after Modric hard.
I wonder when Srna and Pletikosa are going to be investigated. 😉
If you’re gonna start enforcing something, you can’t randomly pick and choose based on which sporting director you hate the most.
Luka under investigation
We have a black Miss Croatia. What else do you need to know about the state of the country? Just give our identity away you assholes. Europe Awake was a song By British Skinhead band Skrewdriver. The guy died in the 1990’s but he had some good songs.
He was also singing “nemoze nam niko ista”
The stereotypical Americki Hrvat is dressed and acts like Tony Montana. Ante Montanic.
The Catholic match Portugal vs Mexico ended 2:2.
Mamic was at Kovacic’s wedding yesterday partying it up with Lovren, haha.
How is this even possible? LOL
Marcelo was there, and so was Ibanez (I was wondering what happened to that guy). A bunch of reprezentaci were there too.
@BZ
Interesting, Croatia should not covet Serbs, Serbs belong to Serbia?
So why don’t we return the Serbs to Serbia, if they’re Serbia’s belongings, why do we keep what doesn’t belong to us?
Like I said, Croatia is a puppet state just trying to impress their masters!
I don’t know when it happened, but at some point our motto became, Bolje rob nego grob!
It really is funny though seeing Croatian puppets complaining that Suker and Modric are puppets!
@Anonymous
“Europe awake, for the White man’s sake.”
I would say, “Croatia awake, for the Catholic man’s sake.”
The entire world of soccer is corrupt…but us Hrvati are the only idiots who try and take out our own team in front of the global media. DISGUSTING!
I hope Mamic walks free! I’m glad Modrić isn’t a rat!! Mamic helped a lot of players in a self serving way. Hajduk wishes they had a Mamic…now ruin a golden generation world cup for a bunch of lazy disloyal goofs! I can see the fans going nuts now.
@like joey
you are correct and that is what it comes down to, this is just to take down Dinamo by a jugo team called hajduk, thait is all
Samo naprid Mamic,
http://www.metrolyrics.com/europe-awake-lyrics-skrewdriver.html
i wonder if he would go to jail…..messi type situation non violent crime suspended sentence not a day bunch of fines ? Any1 fiddle in cro crime
What is great in life?
To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women!
If Mamic goes to jail dinamo will become a 3rd world team like hajduk…the academy and the national team will follow suit.
^ dawg if he beats the case…….sky is the limit
All this negative publicity towards Modrić, will destroy this team and it’s potential. I can only imagine the idiot fans reacting to this.
While you are right I hate to say that those are two pretty minuscule examples that boil down to sheer population size, of course it’s easier to be more personal when you know every cop in the kvart and when everyone knows each other’s business, of course there is more drugs killing murder brutality when the population is however many hundred millions it’s a pure statistics thing, quite inevitable.
Regarding family values, I mean what else can you hold onto here? Many many many many here go without, those you think have really don’t people go hungry here to have an iPhone 7 while their mom is an office cleaner. But you’re right you can’t buy this summer time anywhere but what’s your selo like in December January February? You don’t see a stray dog let alone a human
Hold onto your culture…..your language primarily growing up in America we didn’t speak English in the house but if u plan to stay there that culture will wither away through the generations particularly if u have daughters.
You can’t tell me there isn’t a divide between color religion etc here…..ever been to hercegovina….lol
But there are lots of positives you’re just a number in America u get 7 days off a day for vacation and have to go back to work 3 weeks after getting birth
whike I have family here that’s gets 28 days a year off paid off vacay
It’s different when me and you come here for the summer with American dollars, and it was really that good here “great place to Come in the summer” why wouldn’t they come year round? I don’t want to come off as money hungry and centered but let’s be real is that not a thing that matters in life
Ps. I know it’s not cro but I was in medugorje last week they charge and tow for parking on the Main Street
Nope that posted I will summarize
Cuuiiuck maminjo i wrote something as long as u and I don’t think it posted unless they have to approve
@Idemo
Yes, on your first question.
Also, re: the second part of your comment…
I was actually referring to the city life in Cro vs the city life in North America.
You may think that places like Zagreb or Split have lost that laid back attitude, but it hasn’t.
You will never get harassed or beaten by a cop in Croatia (unless you’re a hooligan who already started something). In North American, cops harass and try to intimidate regular people all the time (and I’m not talking about the racial part). They do it for any possible infraction, with utmost disrespect and intimidation. There is a genuine fear of police by most surveys in North America. In Croatia (assuming you ever find a cop) most people don’t bat an eyelash when one walks by.
Not just cops, but parking ticket enforcement is out of control and has become a full blown business. Anything powered by the state, is constantly growing in fees and taxes for everything now. If you can be squeezed, they’ll squeeze you.
It’s also impossible to live in North America and raise your kids properly, without working your ass off constantly on a dual income and hope to have time to spend with them. Unless you are a very well educated person, who has a great career that allows you to work from home, you will have zero chance for any work life balance…but at least you’ll have lots of cool stuff to buy at BestBuy for the “Christmas” season though. 🙂
Honestly, this life hasn’t hit Croatia yet. Family life still rules everything over there. Kids, for the most part, have very solid relationships with their families. In North America, it’s pretty commonplace for people to hate their parents (like it’s almost expected and just a ‘normal’ thing to do).
People are politically apathetic in Croatia too which, honestly, is healthier than people here who are extremely partisan when it comes to politics (to a point where it actually affects their pretty damn good life), despite not knowing anything about politics at all.
USA, Canada and Australia are the top three users of anti-depressant drugs per capita in the world. This, despite everyone always seemingly very polite and nice personality-wise from all three of those countries. You won’t see Croatia at the top of any anti-depressant drug using list, despite the constant complaining being a part of the Croatian psyche.
When we’re talking about the REAL things in life that matter, Croatia destroys USA and Canada for that.
My advice to anyone living in the States or Canada, is to do your best to attain that work-life balance, develop unbreakable bonds with your kids, and ensure that your identity is engrained into them as much as possible by ressurecting old world traditions that you stopped doing or just never did before.
Do you best to ensure they NEVER follow North American politics, ignore ideological battles between colours, genders, religions, and to be as cynical as possible (as it’s better than being a naive fool). 🙂
Teach them to be CROATS, and to identify ONLY with that. Nobody will take advantage of them in life after that…and they’ll have a pretty awesome place to go to ever summer too. 🙂
Maminjo
Sorry I’ve been at the beach lack of wifi yada yada yada
True but do the presidents of zenit and These other clubs hire/fire board members coaches and make call ups to boost their own pockets? If so then exuse my ignorance
Lastly, while the way of life here is great there’s a big difference in what you describe between zg and the selo, easier for that way u describe in the village but the city is already on a shift so Central/European/ American ways
Sve je šverc ili veza
@Soul Champ- LMFAO!
Just glad I got to speak to Drazen before he passed (in the halls at Brendan/Continental/Izod or whatever the fuck it is called.)
Happy Fathers Day to you too!
Re Yugoslavia without Communism, a recent survey showed that Croatians and Kosovar Albanians are the two nations who have the highest degree of loyalty to their own nations after the breakup of the Titoist state, with only 3% of Croatia’s population still feeling they are “Yugoslav”. Similarly, 97% feel proud of their national anthem and checkerboard flag. We can only guess who these 3% are…Still, 18% of the Croatian population regret the breakup of Yugoslavia…that number seems very high, but it makes up the core constituency of SDP for sure…
https://www.tportal.hr/vijesti/clanak/znate-li-koliko-gradana-hrvatske-zali-zbog-raspada-jugoslavije-20170312
http://www.total-croatia-news.com/politics/17452-18-of-croatians-regret-the-disintegration-of-yugoslavia
@ BZ
“BDS” life is the part of Croatia that needs to be integrated but NOT internalized.
BDS is the real treachery that was inflicted on the Croatian people during Jugoslavian occupation of our collective psyche.
The liberation of Croatia needs to go deeper than physical borders.
Mamić is Croatian Mercenary/Mafia.
Modrić being associated with him is upsetting because we want him to be our Croatian Knight/Champion.
Dražen Petrović was our Champion and we mourn his tragic passing.
Gotovina is our Champion.
@ Fathers
Thank you all for raising the next generation of champions!
@Ustasa- No Yugo without Communism, because I don’t covet (to use your fave term)dealing with Islam and slimy Serbs any more than we slready do.
@Soul Champ- Are you referencing the famous “Balkan Death Spiral” which is defined as:
Because corruption exists, then one should believe corruption exists everywhere. AND
Because I can’t prove corruption exists everywhere, then one should believe the first conspiracy theory which supports existence of supposed corruption.
@Anonymous
“Yugo scum the lot of you.”
What makes you say that?
I once asked a stupid Croatian person, “if I could give you a Yugoslavia without the Communism, would you take it?” He answered yes!
I was surprised that among all the other problems in Yugoslavia, the only problem he had was that it was Communist!
And I thought to myself, this dependent puppet state of Croatia is like a Yugoslavia without the Communism!
@American, Australian and Canadian Croats
Consider that you guys live in said countries, and be honest, would you take a Yugoslavia without the Communism? If No, why not?
“He was exploited by a man who offered him support when he had nothing. He paid his debt to him and wants to move on.
Asking Modrić to go after Mamić is misguided.”
So if anyone had reason to be angry at Mamic it would be Modric, but why isn’t he angry at Mamic? Because he is not a jealous man, and he is not jealous because he does not covet what Mamic has!
Maminjo,
You’re definitely educated in life, your explanations are thought out and present a very realistic view. Great comments!
Looking at a soccer game and talking about these outside of the games are two very different things. I respect opinions but have strong ones as well. We all see the game differently and it’s all based on our experiences in the game and from the points of view we’ve been exposed to.
I tend to believe I was lucky and had an opportunity in life that few from North America ever get to experience and it changed how I see the game forever. That’s why I am somewhat hard headed (just a little…;)…when it comes to discussing a game or our team) but I usually do take the time to see someone else’s perspective as well. In the cases where you and I (Maminjo) have disagreed on soccer related topics, I usually see your point but I don’t think you can see mine.
Many layers here …
Modrić layer gets a pass in my book.
Mamić is a Croatian problem … but at least it is a Croatian one and not Jugo/Serbian subversive issue.
Deepest layer is the core disfunctionality of the economy.
This dichotomy of Jugo nostalgia and heartless capitalism grips the Soul of Croatian life.
There is a prosperous path for Croatia within the collective group genius. There are so many talented people in Croatia proper. They need a little space to express themselves.
I understand the Modrić upset but fear displaced anger on him would be detrimental to the team.
If this blows up I can see him eventually walking away.
He was exploited by a man who offered him support when he had nothing. He paid his debt to him and wants to move on.
Asking Modrić to go after Mamić is misguided.
When you play for Real Madrid and turning 32 you don’t need the HNS headaches.
Carefully what you ask for ?
Psalm 36:7-8
Be subject to the Lord and pray to him, Envy not the man who prospereth in his way; the man who doth unjust things. Cease from anger, and leave rage; have no emulation to do evil.
Many would say the unjust man prospering in his way is Zdravko Mamic. But who are the people that Envy Mamic and have not ceased from anger or left rage?
You know, a wise man once said that the envious person is worse than the covetous person, I agree with that.
Think about it, the envious person is also covetous, but the covetous person that’s prospering in his way (in this case Mamic) is not envious!
People shouldn’t let the Mamic saga effect them in a negative way.
I agree with Maminjo, many things about the ways of life in Croatia are better than in many Western countries, we should try to keep the friendly, laid back attitude and infuse our political system with some younger people who are willing to change it, I mean for God’s sake it has happened in many other transitional countries so it’s very possible. And if Mamic gets sentenced, then it could send a signal and set an example to the other corrupts pricks who just try to fatten themselves on the backbones of the ordinary Joes in Croatia. It’s not ok what Mamic does, and it’s not ok what the other tycoons and corrupt fuckers do. Period. I’ve seen local politicians and hotshots driving around in their fat cars with their silicone botox gold digger gf, thinking they own the road and everyone else should just step aside, or they’ll run them over. It reminds me a bit of the Mafia, you know? Just hand me a bunch of kuna bills and you’re ok, kiss my ring and my ass and I’ll maybe remember you next time. Fuck me, it’s becoming worse each year. You wanna just punch their arrogant corrupt faces (and nick their gf’s ha ha)….
Still, Croatia is paradise to many millions of tourists and the majority of the population is normal, just trying to get by from day to day. But smth is seriously wrong when it’s expected that you give some present (bribe) to your local whatever for them to do what they’re already getting paid to do. I remember I talked several times to a guy who worked as a middle man, selling properties in Croatia, flying in people from abroad, looking at the properties, garden, whatever. Many foreigners were interested. But when in the end they wanted to buy, the local real estate agent wanted a fat bribe, thinking that Westerners have a pocketful of money. This way of doing things inhibit business investments, sale of property and you name it. Word quickly spreads about Croatia, and not in a good way. I’m not trying to paint a black picture, it’s just things take an awful amount of time in Croatia to change, and in the meantime the money people have invested elsewhere. There have been several big international corporations wanting to invest, IBM wanted to build one of their biggest int’l tech departments in Split, but bailed out because of the tax system and political inefficiency.
In the end, corruption is going on in every country on all levels, it’s just Croatia has probably the biggest grey economy in all of the EU because of all this nepotism and cronyism, and the high taxes. Taxes are too high, let small businesses get a tax levy and stimulate people who sit on a good business idea, don’t choke the economic development. Croatia could become a real paradise if things could be changed for the better.
http://m.goal.com/s/en/news/8/main/2017/06/17/36427692/modric-faces-calls-to-give-up-croatia-captaincy?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
Also, you have to remember this…
Some of the things that make Croatia great (like the laid back attitude and strong family values) are part of its downfall as well.
Just the other day, some Swiss dude almost missed his flight to Zurich with the airport gate being closed. He pressed the emergency door open and ran out onto the tarmac where the luggage transport car was taking back the Swiss guy’s luggage from the plane (as they always do whenever a passenger doesn’t board their plane). The Swiss guy explained to the driver that he was late and that was his baggage and if he could drive him to the plane. It wasn’t a security breach, as both the passenger and luggage already went through the checkpoints…so the driver was like ‘sure, no problem’ and drove him to his plane.
This has happened to me before in Cro, where I had my car towed and the cops and tow truck driver let me off the hook after I explained my situation.
These kinds of things don’t happen in Western countries.
There is nothing laid back about anything here, and it affects quality of life. We have militant style police officers, tightass rules, and constantly changing taxes to bleed people dry.
Croatia hurts people’s quality of life on the other end of the spectrum where things are too laid back that absolutely nothing gets done, and people favor their friends and families over everyone.
Croatia just needs to find that balance. Maintain family and friendships, have a good laid back attitude, but still try and ensure that things get done.
@Slavonac
But you generally always agree with my comments. I like to think of you as my son. 😉
@idemo
Not sure how special our brand of corruption is, but I don’t like this “boogeyman” mentality a lot of Croats are starting to show with Mamic.
He is not the boogeyman. Most of the country is guilty of either not paying taxes, doing business off the books, and taking advantage of unethical (but still legal) practices in business (like taking 30% of a kid’s salary).
We need to change some laws, and better enforce the ones that are currently in place. That first step is the hardest one (because most people in Cro have either done something like this themselves, or have family and friends that did).
It will take a very strong politician to force this change. I thought MOST might be the ones to do it, but it looks they already lost too much popularity with the public to ever get anything more than a few seats.
Should Mamic be charged?
Sure…and maybe he will, but it won’t change much, so long as the environment allows for this to continue and the much quieter boogeymen (who’s names you don’t know) continue to do their self-serving thing.
There is no escaping that the world of soccer is corrupt….but we’re a special kind of corrupt
Yugo scum the lot of you.
@Kralj Tomislav
You are bringing up the main issue that plagues Croatia in its challenge to evolve into a prosperous nation state.
Talent is exiting en masse because no educated Hrvat is consigning this Balkan BS.
@ American Hrvati
This same “me, my and I” Balkan BS is threatening to take down US as well.
Trump-Putin fiasco is beyond alarming.
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten we belong to each other.”
-Mother Teresa
Maminjo,
Im gonna copy and paste your comments, I haven’t always agreed with you on things but today you are rational, factual, logical and most of all….BANG ON with everything you said…I take my hat off to you!
I need Svircic and a few others I know to read your comments!
Thanks for the post, best comments of the year!
watch GREAT TEACHER ONIZUKA (1998) [12 episode]
you will be inspired by this such an amazing teacher ever!
Education is a thing in itself. It’s a way of fulfilling your potential.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqTTojTija8
They’re all fucking fucked in the Eastern Bloc. So many Eastern teams used to be really competitive continentally until the State stopped running them and they became privatized.
Check out a book called Behind The Curtain: travels in Easter European Football.
it will hamper Croatia from fulfilling its great potential…
@Maminjo “The administrative process suffocates honest businessmen (who try to do this the right way) from succeeding. This results in them failing and giving up…while the more ambitious ones will look at other ways (i.e. developing connections, which then becomes cronyism) to get things moving forward.
I’m not saying that Mamic is an honest business man who the system turned into a crook, but he’s probably one that knows trying to do things clean is a waste of time and money…”
This is the main reason for the honest & regular Joes in Croatia being piss tired of the whole corrupt system which is still prevailing in Croatia. No matter how much Regular Joe may love his home country, he leaves Croatia en masse in search of greener pastures elsewhere. This year, even Romania is rated above Croatia in living standard based on GDP per capita. As long as the corruption is maintained in the political system, legal system and local government, Croatia will continue to drop and lag behind, compared to other nations in Europe. Croatia needs to collectively get rid of corruption, which is hampering the whole nation’s development. You can say it’s the way things work here, it’s how we do it, you can come up with a thousand apologies to maintain the corruption, cronyism, nepotism and briberies. But this will only lead to a continuing brain drain and the better part of the work force packing up and going abroad. This in turn means that the Mamic’s and corrupt officials are better positioned to continue their corrupt way of doing things, because the more educated, resourceful and talented people have already left Croatia, just like the best Croatian footballers go abroad and become successful. The once large and well educated middle class in Croatia has shrunken to about a tenth of its size. As long as nepotism and corruption is allowed to continue, it will hamper Croatia to fulfill its great potential.
http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/kako-su-vrijedni-rumunji-preskocili-bahate-hrvate/977327.aspx
Also, re: your comment…
“name a single federation where a man who is not part of if it calls the shots in the federation”
Mamic IS a part of the federation.
Up until recently, he was the HNS Vice President.
But there are some of examples of other federations that are easily influenced by a small group or single individual.
Turkey is one example. Fenerbahce’s president keeps putting his own coach (Fatih Terim) as Turkey’s NT coach and (not surprisingly) they have more players called up to the National team despite being only the third best team in Turkey. This dude was also involved in many corruption scandals, but no charges ever stick.
Argentina had their football president physically removed from his post, with FIFA having to intervene and set up an emergency panel. I think this was related to that time when Messi threatened to retire from the National Team.
Russia had Zenit’s president also act as their NT president. There has to be some sort of conflict right there.
I can’t think of any others right now (maybe Rinat from Shaktar dominating Ukraine’s National Team?) but I’m sure there are more if you do some Google Searching.
With all the corruption scandals that happened in places like Italy, Albania, Romania, Greece…I’m sure there are some very influential individuals who impact the National Team for their own selfish reasons.
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t go after these Mamic types.
I just think it’s naive to think that removing Mamic is going to make a major impact. I expect nothing to change, even if they lock him and Zoran up.
@idemo
No, I hated the Sammir callup…but moreso because I don’t like calling up naturalized people from other countries. I prefer my National Team players to be Diaspora Croats or anyone born and raised in Croatia. Not a Brazilian dude who just played pro in Croatia for a few years.
However, if Sammir was born and raised in Croatia, then I wouldn’t have minded the callup. He was the best player in the HNL at the time, and no matter how hard you argue that he wasn’t good enough for the NT (which I agree) almost every Football Federation calls up the top players from their own country’s league into the National Team.
Fifa is run by rich outsiders with there bribes.
Idemo my delusional friend…you asked to name another corrupt federation…FIFA! Soccer is corrupt in every country…Mamic or not…Croatia won’t hire a real coach…
The only thing salary??? So you were fine with a Sammir call up?
name a single federation where a man who is not part of if it calls the shots in the federation (many which are in favor for his savvy business) and then you will know why our federation is fucked
Could you explain how our federation is “fucked” exactly?
Is it because…
– We don’t ever hire a foreign coach? (even though most federations don’t)
– We hire former players in positions like coach and president, despite having little experience? (even though many federations do this)
– There are too many links between Dinamo and Lokomotiva (even though more blatant examples exist in top leagues around Europe)?
– Our HNL teams can’t compete in European competitions because we keep selling our players the first chance we get? (even though the balance sheet is always positive at Dinamo as a result of this, and players and youth players are actually being paid)
The only thing that I see about our federation being “fucked” versus other federations is that we tend to pay too low a salary for our NT coach.
But at the same time, we have a perennial top-15 national team, a UEFA club coefficient ranking that goes up every year, and (most importantly) our first league players are getting regular paychecks with little to no risk of these teams going bankrupt.
The bad thing about Croatina football (much like the country as a whole) is the cronyism/nepotism and what is considered to be a ‘bribe’ or ‘conflict of interest’ in western countries being just a part of the business model in Croatian companies.
Mamic is just a savvy businessman who does what everyone does in Cro. The problem with him is that he’s too successful at what he does, and his macho and vocal personality has put a huge target on his back.
All those Hajdukovci like Igor Stimac and Fredi Fiorentini did WAY worse things than Mamic (but were quiet about it). Heck, Pletikosa and Srna literally screwed money going to Hajduk, yet these Torcidasi give them a pass and are going after Luka Modric. The Zuzul brothers did a lot of stuff ‘off the books’ with RNK Split. I’m sure Rijeka’s Nigerian Oil Tycoon owner (Daniele Volpi) and Istra 1961’s American owner (Glover) will probably pop up in the news for something eventually. Even outside of football, look at what Todoric did with Agrokor.
It’s a systematic issue and Mamic is no worse than anyone else in our football system (he’s probably better than most). To go after him, and think that getting rid of him will improve things, is ridiculous and naive.
Our federation actually punches well above its weight (considering there is literally no money coming in from the fans via tickets and merchandise) yet our league and NT are stable. Other federations have the same shortcomings. The issue is just a microcosm of the real issue overall, and it is the poor business environment in the country as a whole that essentially forces you to either become a shark (like Mamic) or just watch your business stagnate and fail.
The administrative process suffocates honest businessmen (who try to do this the right way) from succeeding. This results in them failing and giving up…while the more ambitious ones will look at other ways (i.e. developing connections, which then becomes cronyism) to get things moving forward.
I’m not saying that Mamic is an honest business man who the system turned into a crook, but he’s probably one that knows trying to do things clean is a waste of time and money (and probably pissed off quite a few people who wanted their ‘cut’).
@idemo. Well said. You said it all. Nothing to add!
Lovren caught amnesia with the I think my kids will be kadnapped line……. This has Mamic written all over it or his girls ex lover isn’t really her ex
Lika Joey you’ve completely lost it
Mamic is one of if not the main reason why our federation is fucked
Mamic, did a lot for Croatian football…even if it was all self serving.
I hope Lovren says nothing…fuck the disloyal fans…Mamic is better than the next corrupt prick who is waiting to replace him.
^ ^
I’m hoping he doesn’t.
I hope he blows the case wide open.
That would be a major way to endear himself to us fans.
Lovren will have amnesia too once its his time to testify.
http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/index-doznaje-lovrenu-provalili-u-stan-rekao-nam-je-da-se-boji-da-ce-mu-oteti-djecu/977258.aspx
I’d say Hajduk and everyone else in Croatia have valid concerns, all Croatians that are interested enough to know a bit about the politics in soccer are concerned…but the pressure has to be on the authorities to uphold laws and implement laws. for people to pour their concerns at an international soccer game or just plain and simply protest the team rather than the person/persons doesn’t make sense to me.
I used to argue with Ante B, he was pretty informed with Dinamo and BBB…he even showed me a website that explained a lot of the valid concerns the public has and had. the one thing I find telling is that Mamic was kicked out of Dinamo by Franjo Tudjman…but shortly after Tudjman died, they somehow invited Mamic back….and only because they did, was he ever enabled to be who he is today!
if we take into consideration all the money he’s basically stolen and all the scandals he was able to commit and get away with, I ask…who is to blame for him not being held accountable?
we all have to realize that the scale of corruption in his dealings is pretty big for a country of that size…and yet, he’s enabled. look at his behaviours at Dinamo, on TV, at soccer games…who gives him all that freedom to abuse people, abuse the system and abuse an entire Nation, without any consequence?????
that my issues! forget about what Modric did or didn’t do…he’s a good person that made a great career for himself, with the help of Mamic. ask Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi if they would throw Silvio Berlusconi under the bus? Berlusconi is 1 billion times bigger than Mamic and his crimes are 1 billion times bigger as well…you don’t see people in Milan disrupting soccer games…but you do constantly see Berlusconi in court and being investigated over and over…Mamic owns too many people, the system is corrupt to the core!
@slavonac
“lets talk about the swastika incident that is still a mystery”
“how about the fan walking casually on the field carrying a long object used to abuse the ref…or the chants of hate and discrimination with xenophobic banners…they were eventually fined!”
I think its good entertainment.
“once Hajduk self imploded and couldn’t compete anymore, they started putting blame on Mamic for their shortcomings…”
uhm, well to my knowledge, hajduk imploded like over a decade ago well before this mamic situation. Also dinamo frequently got shady penalty calls in the late minutes of games when they were struggling to get a result. on top of that, apparently mamic personally knew most of the refs.
Is whining as u call it valid or no?
Cigan,
what organisation, more than any other in Croatia, whines and cries about Mamic?
what organisation in Croatia, that has the best fan base in Croatia, disappoint their fans more than any other in Croatia?
what organisation in Croatia has been fucked by their management over and over and over…has proven to be incompetent…to the point where they couldn’t manage to pay the grounds-keeper for his services?
lets talk about the swastika incident that is still a mystery
how about the fan walking casually on the field carrying a long object used to abuse the ref…or the chants of hate and discrimination with xenophobic banners…they were eventually fined!
hooligans in Split are nothing new!
who walked out of the Dinamo stadium (Maksimir)?
Hajduk Split, in my opinion, used to be the best club to cheer for…I’ve been to a few games in Split, I saw the passion. once Hajduk self imploded and couldn’t compete anymore, they started putting blame on Mamic for their shortcomings…even though we saw fiasco’s like Tudor quitting 4 days before the season was to re-start after the Christmas break. that was one incident of many…nevertheless, the focus from their fan base and thugs is always the same…blame Mamic because they are nothing short of a shitty organisation lead by midgets.
do you really think Hajduk would give a shit about Mamic if they were somewhat successful?
I’m tired of Hajduk fans whining, I’d rather stop watching than sit amongst a bunch of sorry victims!
@slavonac from canada
Hajduk fans destructing croatian soccer cuz they have a miserable club??? I don’t think them being displeased with modric and mamic has anything to do with them having a “miserable club”. In fact hajduk averages 8k fans a game more than double the fans attending dinamo. Also im pretty sure dinamo fans dislike mamic as well.
@Slavonac from Canada
“I noticed Hajduk fans blew off Modric the other day, I find that hypocritical and not credible. those fuckers would do anything in their power to destruct Croatian soccer just to deflect attention from their miserable club…LOSERS!”
It’s just an excuse for them to cause more trouble. It’s the same as when they try to sabotage games … It’s just an excuse for them to do so.
Referring to them as LOSERS would be correct.
Pulisic?
quite honestly, if he doesn’t have the desire to play for Croatia, why waste a moment talking about him. for those of us that love Croatia, we do so because of our upbringing, not because of the sport. anyone that came from diaspora will tell you they love to wear the grb on their heart and for those that don’t feel that way, I really don’t waste a second of my time thinking about what we missed out on.
on another nore, to say Pulisic isn’t interested because of Mamic is plain and simply wrong. stop the bullshit, you sound like a Hillary Clinton supporter that can’t seem to accept reality so you blame everything else but yourself!
I noticed Hajduk fans blew off Modric the other day, I find that hypocritical and not credible. those fuckers would do anything in their power to destruct Croatian soccer just to deflect attention from their miserable club…LOSERS!
Pulisic is an American with a Croatian surname.
Pulisic, has zero desire to play for Croatia! He has no connection to the country at all.
Your made he used his ancestory for papers to advance his work life…..how many of your parents or you took American or Canadian citizenship to be able to stay and live, is that not the same? are you a traitor to the Croatian working class?
^^^^ this guy…..make him uncomfortable if he visits Croatia ……comedy
Christian Pulisic looks to be become a star and he doesn’t play for us. What a fucken joke. We can at least make him very uncomfortable if he visits Croatia. Fuck him.
You guys waste your time your days talking about a group of men running around in shorts. They have fucked many a match over the years. Nothing new. You should be more concerned about Africans who think they are Croatians or lesbian leaders of Serbia like that carpet muncher in the news.
Halilovic*
Why do you have a hard on for pulusic? Mentioning him is worse than mentioning Halovic? Hardly doubt his father knows who Mamic even is as they are Americans and is/was not a option for us.
@ Svima
I have enjoyed our Luka #10 debate.
How ironic that Christian Mate Pulisic is a bonified #10 as described here by some.
Ziva use to say that NO AMERICAN HRVAT will ever be good enough to play for the repka.
This kid should start at 18 years old as our #10!
Father saw this Balkan Mamić cirkus and said no thank you.
Halilovic fiasco has Mamić all over it as well.
Bilić is the ONE that recruited Rakitic.
With this cloud over HNS we will lose more and more top talent from the diaspora.
Croatia is a nation that spans the globe.
We need to maximize our collective talent on and off the ptich.
I just can’t believe Pulisic is a Croatian citizen, rocks out at Dortmund and does NOT play for Croatia?
He will become a mega-star with the USMNT.
Could you imagine Pulisic getting the Ronaldo through balls that Modrić provides ?
Šteta !!!
I’ve been to depressed to contribute to, read the discussion on this site or even think about soccer after that terrible game and result. Major Le Sigh. Very disappointing.
Trust me, getting ready for testimony weighs heavily on a person. Luka looked like he was more worried about this testimony than beating Iceland (not to mention his tax investigation in Spain.)
I give my man a pass. I don’t begrudge him for his testimony. If it is proven false, he will pay the price.
@Crnkovic
“even when he was a more attacking player at dinamo he used his movement to get into the box and score he didn’t play with his back to goal.”
I’m not sure what you mean here, by “movement to get into the box,” do you mean he was a “space user,” or he had the ball and created space for himself to use?
Fellas we gonna be ok. Let’s focus on the task ahead in September. Let’s hope pjaca and vrsaljko healthy and fit corluka as well. We good. This mamic crap will pass and we will be in Russia next year!
try kramaric or coric
modric plays with his head up always. fantastic. but true number 10 doesn’t need head up he feels the space blind
he can be a more attacking playmaker I agree but not the guy who finds the killer ball or the shot in the last third. central midfield playmaker. he runs away from defenders not towards them. even when he was a more attacking player at dinamo he used his movement to get into the box and score he didn’t play with his back to goal. numberv10 is half striker half midfielder. modric is creative midfield. striker shoots with no back lift in tight space off either foot
@Crnkovic
In my opinion Modric may fear or lack the confidence to play the No 10 role, but he definitely has all the attributes to play the role, you disagree, if so what does he lack?
I believe Modric, if he has the confidence, can be a player that uses the space that he creates for himself, if allowed to play with more freedom.
Guys I know this is random but I was just thinking when we play in a big game (knock out game or an important game when it comes to points needed to qualifier for whatever tournament) we always play bad when we wear the checkered jerseys
lift this burden means everything for Modric as He might say that compared to winning all prestigious trophy (Champions Cup, Best Player Ballon d’Or, even World Cup), released from Mamic’s Grip make his glory. Maybe just hope Mamic dies, and He will dance a jig and spit on his graveyard to celebrate it!
I don’t think your putting 1 and 1 together and I’m too tired to explain; ignorance is bliss
I live here.
Idemo, the repka boycotting and hooligans should be shot! That is not the way to represent Croatia. Dude I’m all in for a riot if it’s justified…but this Euro and what happened was embarrassing to us all.
Idemo, are you delusional?? Have you been to Croatia in the past 15 years? They want cash in hand to rush you into surgery…people boycotting the repka are unemployed bums…lets ruin out team’s run at euro and embarrass out nation.
People have been boycotting the repka? Mamic walks free?? Done well for academy players…..don’t think he did that out of good faith LOL
WITH THE FALL OF MAMIC WOULD HAVE CAME BETTER DAYS; Luka Modric getting amnesia just made it a bit tougher
I don’t think some of you quite understand how Mamic and his corruption effect the HNS…..why do u think flares flew on the pitch in France……
@w2
I wasn’t aware the Croatian media isn’t honest in all of their reporting a and doesn’t have journalistic integrity:)
@idemo-Eduardo sued Mamic.
@Lika Joey – agreed
Yes Mamic is corrupt. I’m not saying it’s fine. He did a lot of good for the NT while also promoting his own interest in selling players so it’s a double edged sword. Too many Cro fans I think are naive and gullible. If we didn’t have Mamic I doubt we would have pumped out the players to top teams like we did and people don’t understand that.
If it isn’t Mamic it’s going to be someone else. It’s like being in bed with the mob but they produce. Had we not had Mamic Cro fans would complain why we suck and can’t produce. There will alsways be complainers. Soccer is corrupt from the head down in most federations. Sepp blater admitted to corruption.
We are naive in our thinking that if we get rid of Mamic everything will be ok. If you don’t have Mamic you don’t have our players transferring to top clubs at this rate. So what do people want ? A corrupt leader but a decent team or an honest leader and shit team? We need to be realistic here folks. Hajduk sucks because they have too many Mamic’s who all have their hands in the pot. At least Dinamo has one guy.
Something tells me people who hate Mamic would be HIllary supporters and people who see there are two sides to a coin and aren’t too pissed with Mamic would be Trump supporters. I know it’s completely unrelated!
Now garbage like Truth will love slamming Modrić…How can people just turn on there own like this??? Modrić has to be perfect. Ridiculous!
Slavonac, brother I really enjoy reading your posting and agree with 90% of what you say…in regards to corruption in Croatia…its like a serious cancer you can’t cure…better Mamic than some other idiot who took and produced nothing.
I’m disgusted with the treatment Luka is getting. I hope Mamic walks free!! Sure he is shady…but he still did some good for the academy and development of players. Now all these retarded idiots will boycott Modrić and the repka.
Mamic corrupt? You think…lol people look at fifa…Sepp Blatter etc…
Idemo, who cares??? Modrić is the man! Period….
If it was not Lukas problem why open his mouth in 2015
Mamic funded Eduardo and Eduardo threw him under the bus?
regardless of what people think, I’m not one to hold Modric blame for not burying Mamic. That guy has been operating as a criminal for many many years, I’ 100% sure if they wanted to, they could find him guilty of something. on that note, imagine if Modric did testify against him and he still got off?
we shouldn’t put this on Luka’s shoulders to bear, its just not his problem…its been a corruption problem for years and years. what will they expect next, for Modric to testify against Suker…and the next criminal…I’m not buying this shit!
Mamić just fired lawyer and is now representing himself ?
Budala!!!
Fascinating inquiry?
Jugo’s run Hajduk into ground.
Mamić steals from dinamo and exploits youth players into success.
Jugo – soul stunting
Mamić – soul sucking
We debate lineups and deployment when our beloved HNS operates like a two bit pravi Balkan outfit.
We need to liberate the soul of Croatia.
Za Duh Spremni
Man little Luka in over his little elf head.
What a site to see Mamić and crew sitting right behind Luka.
@rafeal
show us the transcript that he said something contrary? did he really say it or was it someone reporting in the media?
Before people start saying stuff, show us.
@idemo
in 2015 he certainly did say something contrary but unlike 2015 this court case is very big vs Mamic and co. he certainly decided to change course during this trial. Doesn’t take a genius to understand why.
Luka’s immense talent got him to where he is today but Mamic made sure nothing was going to stop him from being successful at a young age. Mamic funded him and his family when they had nothing. I am not saying Mamic is a model citizen or a good human but Modric would never ever throw him under the bus knowing jail time was on the line.
@rafael
What do u mean he already ratted long ago and nothing happen to him and his family
He went back on his word
That goof Alexsander Holiga is having a field day! At least Modrić isn’t a rat…he got paid…Mamic made a few bucks…the NHL isn’t corrupt? Everything is to one extent.
Actually the events were that originally Luka could not remember all the details, who could remember back a decade ago and he corrected them.
That I’ve never said… that it… that… that it was drawn up afterwards. I told you then that I couldn’t remember when it had been done.”
Suddenly we have Hajduk fans along with Holiga that jugo causing trouble here blaming Modric etc, calling him a “little shit”. Maybe they need to protest management at Hajduk which drove that club to financial ruin.
Gentlemen,
Mamic is Mafia. What do you think would happen to Modric or his family if he ratted on Mamic? Gentleman, blast Luka all you want but he was never ever ever ever ever going to rat on him. Nor would anyone in his position.
No one will. Look at the contract Eduardo signed with Mamic. The Cro courts sided with Mamic and believed Eduardo wasn’t too young to sign his life away at 18. And Eduardo was literally illiterate in Croatian when he signed a LIFE LONG agreement. And the Cro courts said too bad Mr Eduardo.
These were young dumb naive kids with naive undeducated parents who signed with a calculated beast. And to speak against him in the court of law might make Modric a public hero in Croatia but boys it would come with some veryyyyy dangerous repercussions.
Maybe we should run that Luka Modric “best ever Croatian” poll again…
Not that I voted for him.
editors. you guys rock. thank you
All this negative publicity with Mamic etc will cause havoc for the team…bbb and torcida will go nuts!
no problem soul champ. the away games against Ukraine and turkey will bring the best out of our guys i’m sure.
get lost truth troll
I don’t think halilovic name needs to be mentioned here
Luka is done as a darling of Croatia if he ever was one. He cowardly changed his testimony against mamic. Now, his murals have been vandalized. The very hotel in his hometown in zadar has been vandalized. He likely can’t even walk in public and might have to consider permanent relocation from petrcane to Spain for the safety and peace of his family. I tried to warn you about these guys who pretend to bleed for the colours but when push comes to shove, we know where they stand
BIG PROBLEMS FOR LUKA NOW IN CROATIA
http://www.90min.com/posts/5138741-luka-modric-causes-outrage-in-native-croatia-after-changing-testimony-in-big-money-laundering-trial
@ Crnkovic
Appreciate the distinctions you are blessing us with!
I see Mateo as a “space user.” Aligned with your ethos he just needs to be grooved in that role.
Psychologically Halilovic needs to ground himself and create some stability. I was hoping he would be the 10 you have described.
Maybe not a 10 as you have defined but I still believe Modrić from Spurs is what Croatia need.
I understand when you play for the #1 club on earth you have to find a role. But Modrić has more goals and assists in him.
I am still bummed around the Estonia fiasco with Pjaca blowing his knee out. As we can agree he is a space user.
Where do you coach?
I love hearing about your experience.
…being successful involves a lot of HARD WORK. on the training ground. Tactically and strategically. it’s not just about putting the best players on the pitch. The best players can look average if they are not given the right structure to operate in. It happens all the time. players look world class in one environment and average in another. as an Arsenal fan I will always use the example of Bergkamp and Henry. In Italy they flopped completely because tactically the game is different there. I played in Italy. The coaches were always telling me off for moving around too much in the pitch. Balotelli is a classic example the other way around. because of his attributes people assumed he would succeed in the premier league. In fact despite his athleticism and flair he is essentially an Italian striker. Italian strikers don’t use the channels, they don’t move to create space for others they let the rest of team engineer occasional chances and conserve their mental and physical energy in order to exploit those moments. the premier league is more dynamic and strikers have to adapt to space opening up quickly and often. so at Liverpool Rodgers tried to replace suarez, who is constantly moving, with Balotelli who is a classic Italian 9. this is why it failed. people think it was because of Balotelli attitude but it had more to do with tactical compatibility. so these are the things which people seem to be unaware of sometimes. its complicated. its not just “oh yeah, we have a guy who plays for madrid, Barcelona etc” I say “oh yeah? what are their tactical predispositions?” how do they fit into a system together?
croatianperson85 One of the primary reasons for Rakitic success as a number 10 at Seville was that they played on the counter attack with quick striker and wingers. this gives rakitic space and passing options. rakitic is slow, mentally, in terms of ground speed, and in terms of adjusting his feet. the only way he can thrive as a 10 is if the other attacking players are very quick and we build a team to defend quite deep, resist pressure, then counter attack at pace. I don’t see that we have the mentality, or the quick forwards, to do that. because we like to keep the ball. so the solution, I believe, is to give number 10 to brozovic, coric, halilovic or kramaric. OR play 442 because it is the formation which doesn’t use a 10.then the space is left free between the lines, sometimes the wingers come into that space, sometimes one of the midfielders drives forward into that space, MODRIC!! sometimes one of the strikers drops in to that space to turn and play KRAMARIC. but I like epic brozo, so I say stick with 4231 and give brozovic the key role. OK uncle cacic? actually at the euros Rakitic played almost as a false 9 off mandzukic so it was kind of 442 for most of the time and it worked pretty well I must say. just giving my opinion guys. it’s frustrating to watch a team as talented as ours not quite achieve it’s potential. there is still time though and at the end of the day I believe in our guys to find the solution U BOJ
Soul Champ …the qualities of a number 10 are as follows. (1) instinct to move off the ball counter rhythm to open up a split second of space (2) the killer instinct to immediately use that split second to release a killer through ball or engage a defender in a one on one situation, beat them (in a small space) and then shoot or assist (3) the attitude to move off the ball in a threatening way opening space for other attacking players to use the space, then attacking the box as a second striker to score a goal (4) the technical ability to execute all of this under severe pressure against world class defenders, often specifically man marked. sorry guys, that’s not modric. Here is the technical point. I like sharing this as the more knowledge we share the more we know. plus it helps me clear my thoughts ahead of a coaching career. THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF DRIBBLING. one is called THE TACTICAL DRIBBLE, this involves moving with the ball expertly around the pitch, creating space and changing angles, eveding the high press and opening opportunities for the forward players. Modric is THE MASTER at that, kovacic will also become special in this TYPE of dribbling. The other type of dribbling is when you engage defenders in one on one situations, isolate them, then beat them. This is the type of dribbling which makes players the most valuable – Messi, Ronaldinho, maradona, mbappe whoever you like to mention. the only player we have at the moment who can do it is perisic, others potentially…. for example pjaca, halilovic, coric, vlasic, brekalo. at the moment only perisic, a little bit brozovic, and kramaric. another way to look at it is SPACE CREATORS vs SPACE USERS. modric is a space creator. the best space creator in football. we have lots of space creators but hardly any space users. even mandjukic, our main striker, is a space creator. because he occupies defenders which leaves space. so modric number 10 is not going to happen. its like one of the wheels falls off your car and you have no spare so you say “hey I have a wheel right here. THE STEERING WHEEL. I’ll just take that off and put it down there, then I’ll be able to drive again!! 😉
Also I think it’s a waste to have him sitting much more useful box to box
@ San Antonio
Hey big spurs fan here
If he can why haven’t we seen him since Spain? Because I as well agree that Badelj is not up to par but when it’s all you got its what you have to roll with.
“When did Croatia become a black country???????????????????????
We have a black miss Croatia now this guy. Get out all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Some dickhead wrote that comment, some one that’s to scared to write that under his regular username.
@anonymous. You know i respect your opinions. We all have them. But about losing our identity? Come on. Have to disagree. Leave the poor guy alone. Seems to be doing good things integrating into our society. Thats just how it is. Its international law. Yyo think the french hate zidane because he’s Algerian? I think not. Don’t be like that. Like you to much.
3-5-2 (if we had a solid centre back and left back. When Lovren is on he’s good but which Lovren shows up is the question? He’s better in a 4 man d when he can play hard because someone smarter plays next to him who should be more cautious) If only Charli had speed.
Mandza up top as the target man
Kramaric as second striker
Perisic left outside wing
Pjaca right outside wing
Rakitic in the middle between them (sub Kovacic) remember Rakitic played well for Sevilla in this position.
Modric and Badelj behind them as the 2 holding mid (sub Rog as the defensive mid/razbijac)
Centre back ?
Left back ?
Vrsaljko right back
Subasic goalie
Do you guys think Modric is better for the NT as a deep lying mid or up top?
Now if our D was really good AND Kovacic was tearing it up you could potentially play Modric and Rakitic together as deep lying mid with Kovacic as the attacking mid between Perisic and Pjaca. Only thing is they both have to attack and defend.
@Idemo
In the AFL we have utility players, does soccer not have utility players, why can’t Rog be a “defense first holding mid” if that’s the role Cacic wants him to play, are you sayng that Rog doesn’t have the ability to perform that role?
I thought he played well enough against Spain at the Euros, as far as I can recall he didn’t shirk any of his defensive duties!
I don’t believe Rog is defense first, he is not a true holding mid. So I ask you once again; other than Milan Badelj who is the CDM on this team.
The one transfer I am hoping to see is Kovacic moving to the English Premier League.
The style of play is more wide open than any in Europe and would be a perfect fit for him.
Not saying he would perform any better for the national team, but, in that setting, he would be a superstar.
Right now, Arsenal and Tottenham are being talked about.
@ BZ
Agreed.
Unfortunately for Badelj the team needs to get to the next level and Rog offers more speed, stamina, nasty and offensive thrust.
modric izdajnik maleni, mater mu jebo mamic, govno zadra
Luka can play any of the MF positions, the real problem is Badelj. He is not that good defensively and is non-existant offensively. Why everyone & Cacic keep forcing him in the lineup is beyond me. Modern day 6’s show up offensively, which is something Badelj never does. I think Rog is definitely worth a shot.
Let’s be clear …
No one is saying that Luka Modrić is Diego Maradona or Leonel Messi.
What we are saying is that he is OUR #10!
Given the squad we have right now he is best deployed as OUR #10.
Maybe Kovačić can grow into the flashes of #10 he shown while at Inter?
But from now through Russia 2018, we want to see more magic in the final third.
Perišić on the left wing, #7.
The rest fall into place.
Let Luka conserve his energy like Messi.
Stop asking him to run box to box.
Marko Rog is the #6 you seek.
Kovačić is the #8
Rakitic is the #5.
Kramaric is the #9.
Life is too simple for complicated Hrvati !
There you go Cacic haters.
Would you rather have a foreigner like that Nigerian coaching us?
Have you ever even been to Croatia…..^
When did Croatia become a black country???????????????????????
We have a black miss Croatia now this guy. Get out all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
we are destroying our identity.
http://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/2017/6/5937c4bb4/nigerian-footballer-scores-success-coach-croatia.html
We have a lot of should have would have could have what if performances in tourneys
2008 should have beat turkey
2012 what if Rakitc scores
2016 could have beat Portugal
2018……
Luka carried us against Spain in 2012.
Put their whole footballing country on notice.
If only that scrub Rakitic could’ve finished that perfect ball from him that day..
For what Modric does at real he should be carrying the team more often, few performances sadly dont outweigh his MIA in comparison to perisic who is our scorer and chance creator who shows up 85% of the time, while Luka is a coin flip.
Save the “he has all stars around him at real ” we have a champions league roster full of guys just injured
Luka is not a 10, would be a waste there
I need something in 2018.
It was disturbing to watch and the players were embarrassing.
A few notes:
-Modric is not a 10, Messi and Maradona are 10’s players that can take defenders 1 v 1 and score, also there is no issue with Modric getting the ball deep, otherwise he would never get the ball
– We need a “6” on the team, the midfielder who is a workhorse and wins balls
– Our back line is fine to distribute, midfield needs to collect it from them
– Team needs to pull its socks up and get results, these last 4 games, and Modric better start showing some passion.
Agreed.
Devise a plan that revolves around Perišić and Modrić.
They are our super star game changers.
@Soul Champ- Excellent points.
@Idemo-Luka has carried us several times.
Win vs England, vs Turkey twice…are just a few that come to mind. Perisic has carried us also, but has also gone MIA as well.
Luka Modric has not oncer carried the NT. Ivan Perisic on the other hand.
when I played soccer for the very first time, my opponent was someone who was incredibly strong. If he had gone easy on me. I wouldn’t love soccer the way I do now.
So if Modrić is not as good as Ronaldinho then he shouldn’t play the #10 role for us?
We have a bunch of midfielders in our squad of players.
They all can play various roles across the center of the ptich.
Luka has all the abilities to score and create goals.
Maybe he is 10/8 or 8/10.
We simply do not create enough scoring chances.
@ Marko
I like your tactics.
I would slide Modrić forward and put Rakitic back. Also put in either Rog or Kovačić for Badelj.
@ Svima
Luka Modrić has been used and misused for the repka for almost his entire national team career. He has competed and carried mediocre players and novice managers.
He has 2-3 years left at his world-class level.
Don’t burn him out with BS tactics and dysfunctional deployments.
3-5-2
———-Kramaric-Kalinic———-
—————-Rakitic—————–
-Perisic-Badelj-Modric-Vrsaljko-
——Lovren-Corluka-Jedvaj——
—————Subasic—————-
Badelj covers the left so Perisic can push up more, and not have to get back.
Funny huh? Just went on hns website. Not a mention about mamic trial! Odd!
@Bobby V
“Like I said before the game, Croatia and other countries with star players are at a disadvantage playing qualifiers in June – many of their key performers are playing deep into the Champions/Europe league.”
“The loss to Iceland had ZERO to due with formation, player selection or lack of proper substitutes.”
If star players are at a disadvantage (which I don’t agree with), then clearly player selection has something to do with the loss to Iceland!
Which star players (that Cacic selected) put us at a disadvantage and shouldn’t have played if that’s the case?
@NK Susak
“Bottom line is yesterday was unacceptable and both Cacic and the players are to blame and they both know it.”
Can’t argue with that.
@Idemo
I appreciate what you’re saying, and Modric obviously plays his role well at Real Madrid, but where exactly is Modric playing his Real Madrid role for Croatia gonna get us?
You acknowledge that he has all the attributes of a No 10, so what’s the problem, too much responsibilty for Modric, he can’t handle it?
Are you a Real Madrid fan, because I remember Zidane himself once saying that Modric has a good shot, and that he should shoot more?
Has he taken more shots, because I see he only scored 1 goal all season, maybe Zidane doesn’t know what he’s talking about?
True nobody jumped, nobody marked, but it wasn’t a world beater goal either. Don’t waste your time reviewing it, bc I accept your opinion that it was not as weak as I thought. Just something I wanted to say, that nobody really mentioned.
Ok I’ll bite anonymous.
It’s not what he lacks that doesn’t make him a 10 it’s what he has. He’s actually a good defender reads the game well great interceptions and decent in the tackle. Likes to come back for it instead of waiting for it makes him an 8 for me instead of 10 or 6. If you play him at 10 and he decides to work back you’re now screwed up top
But what do I and the back to back UCL coach know
I think ppl are staring to get tired of luka for the NT, it’s horrid that we can see what he does for real, would real spank the NT?
@bz ill to rewatch the goal but I was watching in a bar and I specifically remember not a single one of our guys jumping, it doesn’t take much from 4-5 meters
Just watched brazil flog the hackaroos 4 0. Scoreline flattered the ozzies.
Argentina playing a friendly with singapore.
Point is these players aren’t bitching and moaning its end of season were tired or why do we have to play these shit teams, bs like our team. Theyre pro’s they play for their country and they want to win.
Our top players simply do not play with desire or give 100% on the pitch. This has been proven time and again now for the last 12 – 15 years. Its now become an acceptable means to an end. THIS MENTAL ROT IS HERE TO STAY. They all believe that estonia or iceland etc should have stage fright playing the vatreni and they can get away with half arse performances. They all suffer from big fish little pond syndrome.
It would be better for us if the first 11 were sacked from NT duty. I for one am so sick of watching their lack of commitment on the pitch or wondering which match is the next shameful result. This is the new normal now. Disgraceful attitude.
If any player on the NT reads this post – please from me, go and get fucked!!! Im sick of your fucked up attitude towards our national jersey!!
Luka Modric has all the attributes of a No 10, he just has to utilise all those attributes.
First ask yourself, what are the attributes of a No 10? Then tell me which attributes Modric lacks?
“Point is we need to free him up from any and all defensive responsibilities.”
100% agree with Soul Champ, this is the way to allow Modric to utilise all the attributes of a No 10, attributes that he most definitely has.
@Idemo- you might be happy with a 1 good save to 1 weak goal ratio, but you know as well as I do, that is a losing ratio.
wonder how much Mamic paid luka
Let’s be honest, the play right before that he made an amazing save.
Ok, we played bad, but we have a Champions League roster of guys who were not available. Before I go blaming Modric & looking for Halilovic, I think I’ll enjoy my summer and watch us kick ass in the fall.
Vrsaljko
Corluka
Rakitic
Pjaca
Kramaric
Subasic-Let’s be honest, Iceland’s goal was a bit weak. No pace, not wide. Kalinic is clearly wrong footed, which was why he stopped attempting to save it.
You don’t collect and create in the final third where a 10 plays your expecting something impossible, he is freed up from a majority of defense hence Badelj, but for him to outright stop playing D is incorrect because he is an 8 I see no ronaldhinio in him
Luka is both our number 10 in jersey and stature.
No one else possesses his quality in the attacking third.
Kovačić may develop into that.
He may not be a “perfect 10” but he is the best we have.
8 or 10 really depends on who is lined up around him and where?
Point is we need to free him up from any and all defensive responsibilities. He needs to shoot more and often and he needs to collect the ball farther up the pitch.
Take all the rest of the squad and deploy them with the sole intention of supporting Modrić to create offensively.
Our goal scoring against quality opponents is weak.
Modric sides with Mamic in court!
Post before last is top notch about Luka not being a 10
just a follow up note. one of the problems of international management is that the managers are under big pressure to pick the high profile stars and shoe horn them into a formation together. it doesn’t work. this has been proven time and time again. balance is everything, that’s why badelj plays, but it’s not enough. look at the African nations for example, you see them line up sometimes with 4 defensive midfielders in the side, because these are the guys who have the biggest contracts in Europe and the biggest profile. but how can you creat with only defensive midfielders. they should play with 2 defensive midfieders and give a chance to a low profile or young player. doesn’t matter if the guy plays in the Romanian second division. for the team to work it needs true balance. individual players will be dropped. doesn’t matter its all about team dynamic
mitrovic is really good. modric is not a number 10, he is an 8. he can’t play as a 10. he might have become that player but spurs used him differently. pushing him forward will not help. our main problem (apart from mentality) is that all our players have similar strengths and weaknesses. good passing, good technique, good reading of the game, good creativity with passing and movement. rakitic, brozovic, modric, kovacic, rog, badelj etc etc the lst goes on. all of them are number 8, none is a true 10 and neither are any of them true defensive midfielders. the 433 relies on have an effective anchor man to drop between the central defenders, mark between the lines and win the ball back aggressively when we lose it. we don’t have that player, so we cant play 433. we don’t have casemiro or bisquets. so that’s why we usually play 4231 because each of the 2 can contribute to covering and tackling and playmaking from deep. it works better. the problem then is that we need a proper 10 to play in front of them. which again we don’t have!! Brozovic is the closest we have to that because he engages players in the 1 0n 1 situation is brave enough to try and beat his man and fire off a shoot. so either play brozovic as 10, or bring a proper 10 like coric or halilovic or even kramaric to play there. OR play 442 so that we have 2 strikers help each other 2 in the centre with a good balance ( which we have a ton of) let perisic and brozovic run the wings. like in the Russia friendly. is more dynamic with 2 strikers there is the option of going from back to front quickly so we avoid getting stuck in midfield with nowhere to go. these are the solutions to our tactical problems. ie (1) play brozo 10 (2) play another young skilful hungry player 10 (3) play 442. I believe any of these solutions would see us develop into one of the most feared teams in the world. but all of those decisions take balls, and……do we have them? does cacic have them? 433 in Iceland? wrong decision
Corluka has been great for us recently, but it really emphasizes our lack of depth on the back line that we’re so reliant on the 31 year old veteran. We have to assume that we’ll have injuries or suspensions at the WC. Any chance Simunovic is ready for prime time. I have not watched enough of Celtic FC to know if he has the goods.
Vida transfering to Besiktas. Modric testifying at this moment – Lovren goes tomorrow.
The truth is a half-turk aka serb. We all know their math stinks, it’s been proven time and time again. Inflated numbers, hyperboles, myths and fairytales told around the campfire while drinking and playing gusle, and their bearded grandma makes a striptease and lets everyone suck on her hanging titties. It’s a combination which is bound to make anyone go mentally retarded. The truth seems to be a Ziva Istina wannabe. He even made a copycat from his name.
“NK Susak says:
We really missed Corluka and his passing out the back like somebody pointed out. Our back 4 couldn’t seem to string together any passes and that’s a problem for a team like ours that thrives on the possession game. The importance of that first pass out the back is often overlooked. That sets everything in motion and Corluka is like a quarterback. Vida looks like he’s kicking around a brick out there and Lovren doesn’t have the vision and patience Corluka does. Pivaric is useless and Jedvaj inexperienced but has shown signs of promise. An in form Vrsaljko making his runs and Corluka really take a load off of our midfielders.”
Totally agree and have been arguing this for a while. This is our main problem and it has been the problem for years. It is why our expected midfield dominance never materializes. We don’t need another midfield talent, another wing star, another striker. We need a back end that is two dimensional and can create something, anything, a pass, a move, a dribble.
Like I said before the game, Croatia and other countries with star players are at a disadvantage playing qualifiers in June – many of their key performers are playing deep into the Champions/Europe league.
France lost to Sweden this weekend 1-2.
The loss to Iceland had ZERO to due with formation, player selection or lack of proper substitutes.
FIFA needs to do away with qualifiers in June. Interrupt the leagues in April instead. The quality of most of the games at this point of the year suck.
The trial against Mamic that starts this week can’t help either.
https://sports.yahoo.com/star-midfielder-modric-appears-star-witness-croatia-graft-014051774–sow.html
We really missed Corluka and his passing out the back like somebody pointed out. Our back 4 couldn’t seem to string together any passes and that’s a problem for a team like ours that thrives on the possession game. The importance of that first pass out the back is often overlooked. That sets everything in motion and Corluka is like a quarterback. Vida looks like he’s kicking around a brick out there and Lovren doesn’t have the vision and patience Corluka does. Pivaric is useless and Jedvaj inexperienced but has shown signs of promise. An in form Vrsaljko making his runs and Corluka really take a load off of our midfielders.
Siminic should have set the bench on fire to wake these guys up- we need to end the Croatian coach thing- our coaches couldn’t coach Hamilton – Croatia U6 team – get the best coach for the money and watch the boys fly- it will never happen but wishing is better than losing these mindless games
@razbijac.
You and the rest of the world would be calling for Cacic’s head if we lose this game with Modric, Mandza, Perisic or any of the big names on the bench. Any player you ask is of course gonna say that they will bleed for the repka. And I got news for you, these guys train at half pace, especially at this point of year, so it’s hard to say this guy is more hungry than that one. You have to ride the guys that got you to this point with the inclusion of some young legs and energy along the way. I’ve been a big supporter of Cacic throughout, but his lack of changing tactics and adapting mid game are really concerning. We still have our destiny in our own hands, but you would think the players would be up for such an important game. A win would’ve meant home wins vs Finland and Kosovo guaranteed 1st place. Now there’s a possibility of joining a playoff pool including teams like Italy, Spain, Holland, Sweden, etc. Bottom line is yesterday was unacceptable and both Cacic and the players are to blame and they both know it.
If you have the attitude to get a draw, then the possible result would be a draw or a lost.
If you have the attitude to win, then the possible result would be a win or a draw.
@ Slavonac
We did need a goal.
Brozovic was a positive move and timely.
Follow up with Rog in for Badelj right away. This allows for Kovačić to move up a bit and frees up Modric. I too would like to see the Tottenham days when scored big goals and sourced big assists.
Čop for Mandžukić MUCH earlier.
@ Mr. black
Santini ? Have to agree with BZ, no pop in those legs?
@ Svima
We need to get the entire pool of players and put the in form talent on the field!
If you play in a top league you are good enough to play turkey, Ukraine and what ever Kosovo and Finland are !
@Razbijac- please let that be the Survivor/Rocky3 ” Eye of the Tiger” and not that dumb libtard Katy Perry’s version. Unfortunately we played like the Katy Perry version this weekend.
@ Slavonac
“…who do you start?”
Who starts should be based upon one criteria only….whoever has the “EYE OF THE TIGER!”
They are all professionals, at the highest skill/technical level. So really at this point it’s a matter of putting players on the pitch who are hungry and have that tiger’s eye.
We’ve played our best football with players who were hungry and had a point to prove, such as against Spain in Euro ’16 and recently against Mexico. So you don’t need the “best” only men who can get the job done!
And outta 23 players, it’s Cacic’s job to find 11 real men who can do the job. In training, he should assess who has the most sharpness, fire, and hunger.
He should be willing to pull each player aside….look’im straight in the eye and ask “Are you willing to bleed the checkers on the pitch!??” The slightest hesitation, and that player belongs no where near the starting 11.
Surely, if we had a midfield and forward line that consisted of Rog, Bradaric, Pasalic–Andrijasevic–Santini, Cop…now these are players with a point to prove, I’m sure they would’ve given 200% and beaten Iceland (which has a buncha 2nd division players). Players like Kalinic, Badelj, and Perisic are on the brink of a major transfer and don’t wanna get hurt. While Modric and Mandzu are outta gas and wanna be on vacation…well you get the picture..
We are a possession oriented team and missed Corluka’s passing ability out of the defence. In fact, all of our defenders were poor in possession. It’s hard to start plays when the players can’t pass properly. With all that possession, neither wingback really went forward. We need to find a solution at LB asap! I blame our defenders for this loss.
One bright spot is this new line up Cacic is using. I like the 433 better than 4231. Maybe Kovacic keeps that starting spot over Rakitic.
Do third graders run montecarlo simulations? So far pretty much everything i say is true or comes true, and I’m persecuted for it. It’s ok though, I’ll carry the kriz
Truth troll is a 3rd grader. His math skills arent that advanced yet
@truth – show me your math
BZ, good comment…but it was Perisic that let his man go for the goal…so shouldn’t we assume we needed 1 goal?
@Slavonac- The problem is when Brozo went in for Kalinic, we didn’t need a goal. It seemed Cacic was ok with the tie. But even then, subbing off Badelj for Rog would have given us dome fresh legs.
When we went down 1-0, even the worst coach would have subbed off one of anemic wingbacks (who showed they can’t go forward) and brought on any of the following: Cop/Rog/Pasalic
Saying it now: Santini is going to be a National Team bust! He is lumbering, with no quickness. He is not good at the high press. Cop>Santini all day everyday.
@ anonymous
I am analyzing the game. The analysis is lets not pretend there is anything to analyze. This was a coin flip match as I predicted, and the coin happened to land on tails for Croatia. It is unrealistic to expect this team to look strong all the time. Combo that with some serious lack of bleeding for the colors by the some of the guys. and you get what you get.
Does anyone see any evidence for why this team should not lose a game in this group for all of qualifying? I surely do not.
I ran a montecarlo simulation to predict who will top the group, and I give Iceland the slight edge going forward as Croatia still needs to play at turkey and at Ukraine.
top spot chances
Iceland: 35%
cro: 25%
Ukraine: 20%
turkey: 20%
overall odds of 2nd place or higher:
Iceland: 40%
cro: 28%
Ukraine: 18%
turkey: 14%
I wonder if we would’ve played Modric that high with Rakitic in the lineup? Would like to see us tinker with that in the future.
ok Soul Champ…we needed a goal (although Kalinic missed a sitter), Broz came in and Kalinic went out. keeping on with this line of thinking, what should have been done next?
@ Slavonac
Point is illustrated.
I have to humbly disagree with squaring it on the players for yesterday’s match.
Čačić has a responsibility to put the horses in the courses.
He does a decent job in the first halves.
But we know money time is in the second and down the stretch.
We have the most depth in the repka then we have had in 10 years.
Luka Modrić is our captain and needs to be set up by Čačić to be most impactful.
To have unused subs with tired legs out there against Iceland is unacceptable.
To allow Portugal to beat us up is unacceptable.
My intention is to have Croatia become a world footballing power.
Any thing else is low self-esteem crap.
Budi ponosan !
You guys should have just went to the Zagreb pride parade instead of watching this. Clearly many of you belong there with your partizan hats.
Bring in Alen Halilovic.
Slavonac is bang on…always easiest to crap on the Manager and we do it with such regularity it is nonsensical.
Clearly, most of these guys have already booked their summer time-off and were eagerly looking forward to that instead of taking care of this last piece of business.
Zalost.
horrible game. cacic got it wrong. it was an end of season game, players tired and frightened to lose. thats when you give people a chance to prove what they’ve got. hungry players. brozovic should have started the game, ha has a point to prove and would have made the difference. kovacic bad choice in a game like that with no space on the pitch. rog would have been a better option. mandzukic clearly should not have played. I hate to say this but there are some drawbacks to modric basically everyone else just gives him the ball because he’s the man. it encourages players to leave responsibility to him. sometimes you have to take your star man out of the line up and say “ok guys who’s going to step up and show the world you’ve got what it takes”. without rakitic brozovic should have been given his chance in the number 10 role. he can actually shoot which is quite an important part of football. finally we miss corluka to start clever passing from the back. lovren didn’t do much wrong but certainly didn’t make a big impression. very disappointed
yesterday Poglavnik said we should have put in Rog, after thinking about it…he’s 100% right. Rog would have showed up and then some. the kid is energetic and feisty, just what we needed, I think his presence could have lifted the tempo a bit more.
with that all said, I ask this question: you have Nikola Kalinic, Ivan Perisic and Mario Mandzukic to chose from your starting 11. in reserve you have Cop, Santini, Bro, and Bradaric as attackers…would you sub any of the starting 3 for those listed as reserves?
also, we have Modric, Kovacic and Badelj in the middle…Rog and Pasalic on the bench…they were really the only viable subs. based on this season and based on only playing time at their clubs…who do you start?
this is where things get even more complicated. Jedvaj looked like he hated being there yesterday, he was the worst I’ve ever seen him. I had no idea he could be that useless. Pivaric is plain and simply afraid….he’s afraid to attack and he’s afraid to defend. what VIABLE options do we have for those 2 players? when we see Perisic and Mandzukic playing horribly, we’d hope that Jedvaj and Pivaric might send in a few quality balls…what we saw was Pivaric sending in a couple balls that were waist height and could’t get past the defender standing 10 ft in front of him.
budi ponosan was definitely not the motto yesterday. maybe I’ll blame Cacic for not bringing in Rog and for waiting too long to bring on Brozovic…but lets all look at what I’m saying here. I am making excuses for guys that play at Juventus, Inter Milan, Bayern Leverkusen, Fiorentina (Kalinic missed a sitter)…and yet the guy that scored yesterday for Iceland plays for Bristol City and the 2nd div of England. is there something wrong with this scenario? blaming konobar Cacic for these super stars not showing up? are we really that stupid to do that?
Mandzukic had a lackluster game as did everybody else. He needs a decent LB to play well out wide. Pivaric is not the answer.
@Ante- why blame Mandzukic? For 88 mins we sucked, but still were the better team. As soon as we sub him off our set piece team falls apart. He wasn’t great out wide, but there are about 10 other things to blame b4
“The truth”, people are just discussing the match and what went wrong, This is normal after a loss. There is no shock and awe, in fact we have seen this many times before. Stop trying to pretend you are superior to others, it is tiresome.
The best pick the ball up do you understand how crowded a 10 can get? You expect luka to receive the ball in the final third and create from there? He would be crowded immediately. The best players to ever play have always came and got the ball
Pivaric was a disaster.
Perisic was anonymous until he went back to the left.
Mandzu was useless on the left.
Kova and Modric were suffocating in the middle.
Badelj was shit on the ball.
These are the kinds of things that the coach should be able to see in tape of the match and make appropriate changes for the next match. Will he? That’s the bloody question, since he still refuses to take advantage of substitutions. =/
It continues to amuse me the shock and awe when Croatia loses. What makes you believe that Croatia is in anyway good enough to run the qualifying table like a Germany?. Don’t look for scapegoats here and there. The answer is much easier. Croatia is just an above average side that will win some games and lost some games. Not much more to it than that
I watched the game, but he was picking up balls constantly from the back 4….it didn’t work because we had no width, Iceland remained tight and compact and we didn’t stretch them side to side as Pivaric and Jedvaj sat back and rarely crossed the mid-field stripe.
Did you guys watch the game? Modric was more forward then I’ve ever seen him play for us. It didn’t work.
I agree with Soul Champ, in fact I got into heated discussions yesterday with family over this exact suggestion yesterday….Modric is by far our best player….irrespective of where he is utilized with RM with our Repka he needs to be the fulcrum upon which our offence runs….remember him with Spurs? He played higher up the pitch and put in lots of great games running the offensive engine.
They clearly were playing for a tie, but I was also very disappointed with the lack of engagement from our wing-backs or in this case full-backs….it is almost like Cacic and his coaching cadre have not watched today’s soccer where everyone bombs forward non-stop…watching us play it amongst our back four drove me craaaaazy yesterday.
Having said this, I do recognize this is our standard way of qualifying….nothing is ever easy, always requires one or two crisis to wake up the lackadaisacal element in the team.
And yes, I agree, Luka should be feeding pinpoint passes to our forwards, and Kova should be a true midfielder. When they both play in midfield simultaneously, it just doesn’t seem to work, and they are both world class players. Stric Ante should try Luka in a much more forward position. When Rakitic is back on the squad, he and Kova should be midfield generals. And of course, as always, what the FUCK is Pivaric the clown doing on the team? Pivaric OUT, Strinic IN.
The midfield play yesterday was among the more lacklustre and horrid I’ve seen in a long time from Croatia. However, the vikings were constantly aware and had 2-3 guys pressing on each midfielder as soon as Kova or Luka had the ball. This means that our defence or at least wingbacks should be more offensive when the midfield is under constant pressure, but that just did not happen. They looked like a bunch of elderlies shuffling about on a big field, not knowing where to position themselves and with no real interest and no heart for the game.
Cacic should have started with more younger and hungrier players, they’ve shown themselves to be very able, even beating Spain and Mexico, which the A team has never been able to do. So, when the elderlies are tired after long seasons and Champion League matches as well, let the youngsters play with their fresh feet and a real wish to prove themselves, hungry and attacking, like Croatia always played in ye olden days….
@Soul Champ,
That is a fantastic looking lineup. I would love to see it just like that. Kramarić is the goods. Dude literally lifted Hoffenheim out of obscurity.
I saw it time and time again in last night’s game, Kovačić has got the skills and pace to make things happen in the midfield, but his final ball is always lacking.
He creates an amazing situation by passing two or three players effortlessly, just to squander the whole thing with an awful pass. This is where he needs to learn from Modrić. He just doesn’t have the eye.
Stric or Konobar … Čačić ?
I am going with affable Konobar who shoots the shit with you.
While I enjoy pleasant service when I have my daily Marenda, not sure if the konobar should be the head coach of a multi-million dollar repka?
Players are physically and mentally exhausted after CL run and elite league seasons.
We all knew Iceland are tough and at home are extra-ordinary.
Play the energy guys in the second half and give your skill guys up top a chance to create something.
You simply have to use ALL three subs in a timely manner.
Until we produce a left footed Vrsaljko then Mandžukić can never play the LW for us.
Modrić has to play forward for us exclusively.
Work out amongst the other midfielders who is willing able to cover defensively?
I no longer want to waste his quickness of thought on picking up the ball from clumsy CB’s.
Back to the drawing board …
Play Modrić as true #10 behind TWO strikers:
4-3-1-2
________Kramaric ______Mandzukic
________________Modric
Perišić ________Rog _________Kovacic
LB _____ CB________CB______Vrsaljko
___________GK
SUBS –
Kalinic
Brozovic
Pjaca