Index.hr has reported today that 23 year old Croatian international Luka Modrić, will be out of action for at least six weeks after breaking a bone in his leg today after a harsh challenge from Lee Bowyer from Birmingham. What an unfortunate time to pick up an injury exactly one week before Croatia's world cup qualifier against Belarus and four days later in London against England. We will bring you more as this story develops.
Now the quesion remains: Who will replace Luka?
~ Denis Svirčić, reporting from Los Angeles
72 comments:
I knew it when it happened.
Hate to say it guys, but we are toast for the world cup....we don't have a hope in hell of getting anything in Wembley without Luka.
Well firstly Niko Kranjcar to Spurs in definitely gonna happen following this. Nobody can say who will replace Modric.
We have too many playmakers that are not disciplined enough to play centrally against England so that rules of Kranjcar and Sharbini playing in his position. Basically options are only
* Dario Srna as inside right with Vukojevic moved across and Rakitic as right winger.
* Daniel Pranjic as inside left, which is possible and could work. Simunic to left back. Corluka to centre defence and Srna right back.
* Play completely defensively with Ivan Juric and Vukojevic together. Seems a bit like what Otto Baric did in Euro 2004 though.
* Call up Milan Badelj as replacement and hope he has the game of his life.
* Risk Jerko Leko as replacement who has not played all season.
* Play 4-3-3 with Srna, Vukojevic and Juric in the centre.
I have been hoping for the second option for quite sometime, even when Luka was healthy. I feel it's the best thing to do for the D.
However, I feel losing Luka is worse then Dudu, because he is the guy who possesses the ball for us and creates.
We are really in a world of hurt right now, and the timing couldn't be any worse. We need for points from our next two matches to take care of second place, as England will most likely lay down in Kiev at the end of qualifying.
I have been hoping for the second option for quite sometime, even when Luka was healthy. I feel it's the best thing to do for the D.
However, I feel losing Luka is worse then Dudu, because he is the guy who possesses the ball for us and creates.
We are really in a world of hurt right now, and the timing couldn't be any worse. We need for points from our next two matches to take care of second place, as England will most likely lay down in Kiev at the end of qualifying.
Sorry for the double post guys.
Wow Birmingham is taking out our best players! First Dudu and now Modric!!
This is not a coincidence! Eduardo and now Modric!
Fucking flight for London and hotel is already booked. To use Jozic's analogy when we lost Tudor before the 2002 World Cup, our team is now at least 20% weaker!
Limey bastards!!!
Pozz iz Toronta
Really too bad about Modric, unlucky on a relatively harmless knock. A clumsy tackle for sure, awkward.
@Rob & @Croatiafan (from previous thread)...
I don't agree that the loss of Modric is as bad as the loss of Dudu.
Midfield is our deepest and most talented position. Of course none are Modric, and he'll be missed for sure. But if anything these injuries (Pleti, Modric, even Dudu dive bs) should serve to rally the troops for the England game. At least Bilic needs to use it this way. Overall we still have more than enough weapons to take down england again.
This hurts us BAD. No one has the creativity and vision that Luka has. I am in total shock right now. Things can't get any worse than this.
Dinamofan:), I'm not sure I understand, but by "inside l/r" you mean central midfield, correct? If so, playing Srna and Pranjic there is the worst idea I've ever heard in my life! Both are completely one-footed players! And to have two one-footed cmf's?!? I hope I misunderstood you, because you usually have very sensible comments...
Modric was always going to get injured this season, but it didn't have to be right before the two most key matches in the campaign...That said, I'm not sure it will change the results, at least on paper. We should still beat Belarus at home (w/o Modric) with relative ease. Getting something out of England was always going to be difficult even with Modric, but I still think we've got a chance. Kranjcar will replace Modric as the central playmaker, and while not as good, he's still a quality player who IS quite disciplined nowadays (he's a far more complete, fit player to what he was in the HNL). One possible indirect benefit of this is that vs England, Bilic (w/ Modric) would've likely played with only one cmf who can tackle (vukojevic). Now, Bilic may re-think and play with two holder's, which could turn out to be the smart decision since Capello plays 4-5-1.
Point is, so long as we put in good team performances, we should still end up in the same position as with a healthy Modric- ie, depending on England to defeat Ukraine...
Jp- I totally agree. Creative mids are our strength, while goal-scoring strikers are most definately not...Since we need a win v Belarus, Dudu's presense is vital (Besides, Dudu is a hugely creative player in his own right.). The simple fact is that if Dudu had played in the 2 Ukraine matches, Modric' injury wouldn't have mattered much...
Olic Eduardo
Pranjic Vukojevic Kranjcar Rakitic
Simunic Krizanac Corluka Srna
Runje
This is what I would do (perhaps even shift to a 4-5-1 and withdrawing Dudu a bit to help out Niko with his speed).
If BIlic insists on playing Pranjic on D (which he likely will), then it would be:
Rakitic Vukojevic Kranjcar Srna
Pranjic Simunic Krizanac Corluka
But, I prefer my other line-up, personally.
does that mean Eduardo can play for us,that ban is just for champisons league?
Bring Sharbini and Mandzukic into the team
I was watching the Tottenham game when Luka went down. I just thought he hit him in the calf. I had no idea it was going to be a broken bone. Its very unfortunate because Luka has been amazing this year. Other than Luka our team is healthy. You have to remember that Walcott and Ferdinand are both out for England. Unfortunately, injuries are part of the game. We will miss Modric but as some others said Eduardo will be key. No one can fully replace Modric but luckily we do have great midfielders on our team. I personally think we will be fine. Our team is much more quality than Ukraine and we'll finish second. Ukraine still has to play Belarus away and England at home. I don't see them getting more than 3 points in those 2 games. Capello wants this qualifying campaign to be a statement and he doesn't want to lose to anyone. Even if they do qualify before going to Ukraine the players will be fighting for starting WC positions. If somehow we finish 3rd in our group then we definitely don't deserve to go to the WC. Our team usually plays best when under pressure. Eduardo will take us to the WC just like he took us to Euro 2008.
@ Croat
I'm fairly certain that if Dudu is banned it will only apply for champions league matches, but I can't say that I'm 100% sure.
Come on guys.....how long have you watched soccer....If Dudu is banned it is only for UEFA matches (meaning Chmapions League). makes me think some of you guys have no clue about soccer.
Back to Modric....a loss we can not replace. Kranjcar will need to be perfect against Engalnd. We r still good enough to win the other two matches, but will need a perfect performance against England. Even with Modric this was a tough assignment because of the fact we cant defend, but this makes it tougher. Jebiga, anything is possible in soccer....
Dudu being banned will not impact his national team availability.
I actually wouldn't mind the ban, that way we could assure he is healthy! haha.
Dudu being banned will not impact his national team availability.
I actually wouldn't mind the ban, that way we could assure he is healthy! haha.
@ Ziva Istina
I agree with you about our defending. Defending has always been our strong suit historically, yet somehow it's gone to pot, since the Euros.
Bilic who was a defender should know better than this. His misuse of Srna and Pranjic is probably the issue.
Against England we should just attack attack attack, and try to get 3 in the onion bag. We're probably more likely to get 3 goals then we are to keep them scoreless.
Whaddya think?
@ JP
I totally agree, even without Modric our ability to score goals is significantly better with Dudu back. That would be the best course of action, definitely better than playing conservatively and trying to hold England to a low number of goals.
I'm going with a 4-3-3. Corluka RWB, Krizanac RB, Simunic LB, Pranjic LWB Defense, Srna RM , Vukojevic CM , Kranjcar LM Midfield, Rakitic RW, Olic LW and Eduardo ST Attack. I'd sub in Petric for Olic later in the game, Sharbini for Rakitic and I'd leave the last sub for later and sub someone out base the last switch on who needs to be taken out the most based off of their performance, stamina or if they are injured I would take them out.
@Vinko
Totally agree, that's about the best that we can do. Such a lineup poses a lot of problems for other teams offensively and defensively.
The only potential weakness that I see is if England targets Pranjic. But if our mid outplays the English mid as they should, then this weakness will become a weapon with Pranjic as the extra attacker.
Either way it should be a great match between two world class sides.
wow wtf is it with Birmingham?!? that sucks... my Luka will be disappointed but the Vatreni will continue on! This is no worse than Runje being the keeper, ok it's a little worse, but close and I agree 100% our defense is not what is was or should be!!!
It is true that midfield is our greatest strength. However, this still hurts, badly!! I couldn't enjoy my Saturday, I kept thinking about how this may kill our chances.
The boys have to step up now, this is time where Champions are made.
In the past, Bilic never call up people to replace injured players. I seriously hope that reinforcements are called in to replace Stipe and Luka. I think Ivo Ilicevic should be given some consideration, 2 goals in 3 games in Bundesliga 2 so far. The kid is young, but, he can pull the strings in the middle of the park.
Ideal Starting 11,
Runje
Corluka Krizanac Simunic Pranjic
Srna Vukojevic Kranjcar Rakitic
Olic
Eduardo
Or, something a bit more cautious.
Runje
Corluka Krizanac Simunic Pranjic
Vukojevic Juric
Srna Kranjcar Rakitic
Eduardo
Something a bit adventurous
Runje
Corluka Krizanac Simunic Cale
Srna Vukojevic Pranjic
Rakitic Eduardo Olic
Peter, I'm with the 4-2-3-1 v England. People say "attack, attack, attack" but the side that controls the midfield controls the game. With England likely in a 4-5-1, the idea of us playing only 2 central mids, in which only one of whom is physically dominant, is a near-guaranteed way to repeat the result at Maksimir. Plus, with Bilic playing Pranjic at LB, there needs to be an additional DM who can shuttle over when needed and play as the extra man in defense. We will be raped again unless 2 holding mids line up v England...
I know Pranjic and Srna are one footed players, but i guess at least they have better work rate than Kranjcar. It is a potential disaster to play Pranjic as a central mid, but Playing Kranjcar is also a potential disaster. We need a central mid who has stamina and runs. Kranjcar is always lost in central midfield. He is far far too lazy to do it. Basically what we are talking about is a central mid who can get from one side of pitch to the other. At the moment Kranjcar finds it hard even running from his left wing position to join the strikers on a counter. The guy just does not have the stamina to play the Modric role. Also can you imagine Rakitic, Kranjcar and Pranjic defending down the left. That'll be a potential disaster.
I think Pranjic could work, but also it might not. You need to remember that England are playing a similar player in exactly the same position. That is Gareth Barry. He is a one footed left sided central midfield player. I think if he can do it Pranjic should be able to.
However having said that the sensible option will probably be to select one of Juric/ Pokrivac/ Leko and tighten up the mid or to play 4-3-3. I don't think you can play Kranjcar in central mid. Anyone that watched him play there for Pompey against Arsenal will know what i mean.
Re: Radman
Slaven Bilic won't be aware of what Ivo Ilicevic is doing. He's started the season well, but i think him and Milan Badelj are on the same level so either really could be looked at.
Regards Ilicevic's form - if Bilic was really aware of Bundesliga 2 he would also know how bad Drpic is playing just now.
i'd go with your team with this adaptation
Runje, Corluka, Krizanac, Simunic, Pranjic
Juric, Vukojevic
Srna, Kranjcar, Olic
Eduardo
Olic play that position for Bayern and for HSV many times. I think he'll be alright there. Rakitic prob don't deserve to start.
Anyone that's worried about Juric in a 4-2-3-1 system i'd encourage watching a Genoa match. He is fine in this formation, similar with Vukojevic who has played it well at Kiev. I think they'd break up play and Vukojevic can pass it out to creative mids. Olic will defend and attack the left side in the same way he did for Pranjic in the Wolfsburg match. It should all work out fine thankfully. Sounds like Modric is downbeat about injury. Cracking your leg is apparently worser than a clean break like Eduardo had in terms of pain. Leg is just a lot easier to set when its totally broke. When its totally broke you almost can't feel anything - it just waves around. Pains about nervous so that must be really painful just to have one of the main leg bones kicked out of place. On the reply Bowyer is making no attempt to take his leg away. Its typical agressive play from him, but you know Bowyer is the pits of English football - he's done drugs, racism, fighting with his own team mates, bad challenges. He's incapable of normal behaviour. As i said in Eduardo row Croatia players need to wake up a smell the roses. There are players they need to be constantly wary of.
some of you guys are in fantsasy land......some of the players go guys mention: Pokrivac, Leko, Ilicevic wont see the time of day against England and wont even be called up to replace the injured. Pokrivac had to go to weak austrian league to get playing time while Leko is nowhere.
Bilic wont experiment against England especially with players that would shit their shorts in Wembley.
This was an uhill mission even with Modric.
Typical negative Croatian comment. perhaps we should just give up, forfeit the match and just let the players commit a ritualistic suicide to redeem some kind of honor.
Do you ever offer a solution? or is it just always negativity?
THIS IS TERRIBLE!!! I SAW Modric play against Birmingham! He played amazing the first half, he was considered the BEST midfielder in the WORLD by the commentators. They praised the crap out him. He was so dangerous when he had the ball.
When it was half time I guarantee the Birmingham coach asked to play rough against Modric. And of course this injury happend.
This sucks because this was modric's best performance i've ever seen. He was in an unbelievable form. If he played like this against England there would be no stopping us!!
Looks like initial reports of the severity of Modric's injury were a little off. Apparently he'll only be out 6 weeks.
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=ArzgaU2IBzX9qqDRx6KhXbAXwLYF?slug=reu-englandmodric_refile&prov=reuters&type=lgns
Still doesn't help us for the short term, but it hopefully he cheers up about it. He's only 23 so he needs to realize that its not the end of the world for him (as he stated yesterday).
He's got a lot of soccer in front of him, and he needs to focus on getting healed-up properly, and in form for next years WC.
i don't think me or Radman saying anything about Ilicevic, Leko being in the team. We both names possible sides and i didn't put them in mine and don't think Radman put them in his. To say Leko would shit himself against England is a bit naive, being how this is a player who played Champions League many times with Dinamo Kiev and appeared in many internationals. Leko is however out of condition and not our best option. Pokrivac, Leko and Simic are being offloaded partly cos they are on such massive wages. Monaco need money so they cashed in on Pokrivac.
As for Ilicevic if we are allowed to call up a replacement to squad i'd say as he has been called before he stands a good chance. If you want to know though who would prefer in central mid - Juric and Vukojevic in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
The sooner he is back, the better. Apparently all he will need is an air cast, no surgery. Lets solidify our hold on second place, make it to the 2 leg playoff and hopefully he will lead us in our midfield. The playoffs will be held mid November.
I dont fear the English. I do feel that we cannot come out with the same game plan. We need to strengthen the midfield with an extra defensive midfielder and hit them on counter attacks or set pieces.
This is when we need some veteran leadership on this team. Srna has to lead by example, Krizanac and Simunic have to anchor the back line and communicate well with Runje. Rakitic, Pranjic, Kranjcar have to run non stop. Stop Rooney and Lennon, then you stop England. A tie would be a great result. Maybe Petric comes on and fires in one of those long range shots that are constantly being played on GoalTV advertisements here in Toronto/Mississauga.
4-2-3-1 with Olic out left and Srna on the right- no Rakitic(he's turning into flop imo). Juric and Vukojevic as holding mids. My main fear is that Lennon will rape Pranjic...
Lennon won't rape Pranjic if Juric, Vukojevic, Simunic and Olic get onto him. Rakitic isn't a flop, but in these games he can't be counted on. Rakitic had too much too soon. He needs a period of calm. He is a excellant sub, but is too hit and miss to start the England game.
im just curios, does anyone remember what was our starting lineup and formation the last time we played england?
re:Matt
4-4-2 in our home defeat? Pletikosa, Corluka, R Kovac, Simunic, Pranjic; Srna, N Kovac, Modric, Rakitic; Olic, Petric
Looking back it was bit naive. We had 3 quite weak defensive players in the left side (pranjic, Raki and Modric). We also had an aging Niko and Robert Kovac and an Olic and Petric partnership that doesn't work. Plus Rakitic out of position. No Kranjcar, Juric, Vukojevic, Krizanac or Eduardo.
Before that we played a stronger line up of Pletikosa, Corluka, R Kovac, Simic, Simunic; Srna, N Kovac, Modric, Kranjcar; Olic and Eduardo that has great balance and protection and performed a great result.
there is no negativy on part. Just reacted to what some of the people post here and their off-base ideas.
Judging how the national team has played its last few times I am concerned about the amount of opportunities we will give England. If Belarus had any quality on their side, they would have done more damage to us and that is what I fear about England. Rooney is in great form and that is my biggest worry.
Dinamofan:) - That is why we need to play 4-2-3-1 with Olic out left. Yes, one of the holding players can assist Pranjic but even more key is that Olic will preoccupy and dominate the left so that Lennon and Johnson(?) won't be able to get forward as often and easily as previously. That would be the plan, at least...
As for Rakitic, he is turning into a flop. Schalke fans evidently feel he's been their worst player so far this season and his performances for us have been dismal since the euro's. Teenage phenom's are always hit or miss, though, and the attention he got swelled his head. I can see him as the new Silvio Maric. I hope I'm wrong, of course...
how do you know the attention swelled to his head? The kid had an oversized ego from the beginning. Maybe the kid is only a good, to an above average player. He is certainly not the first person that would be like that.
I agre teenage phenoms are usually hit or miss. But, who was expected this kid to become a great player. I always thought he can be very serviceable for the national team. He should only beon the right side of the field.
I believe his head swelled due to his comments and attitude at Schalke in 2008 when he had started to get a lot of attention from big clubs. He gave the impression that Schalke weren't a big enough club for him. Soon thereafter, helost his form (right after the Euro's (where he was pretty decent)). One thing I've noticed is that the older he gets the more he looks like he shit his pants when he runs...it's not promising...
Dude I remember when we beat England, you know who was on the squad!! BABIC. HE IS FUCKING AMAZING. I JUST watched the game again cuz I have it on tape. Babic VERY rarely lost the ball, and his passes WERE 100 percent every time!!! I think he should come back on the squad. He has lots of experience and never hesitates in BIG matches. We need to tell BILIC!!
RE: Alex
I agree on Olic and 4-2-3-1. I initially thought of Pranjic to replace Modric, but then i changed my idea (See Croatiafan:). I think some of your comments on Rakitic are harsh and some are wrong. He's scored 5 times for Croatia since the Euro and has assisted and played well in all games apart from the England and Ukraine matches. He is also completely out of position as he is right footed but on the left hand side. The reason success went to Rakitic's head was cos he had it going well at Schalke but then upset the coaching staff by saying they weren't a big enough club for him. Since then he's been unsettled and been toyed with by the management team and sometimes does not look motivated. This season Rakitic has assisted on goals for Schalke so he can't doing that bad. He is not a favorite of the Schalke crowd no more with the comments attributed to him so wouldn't read too deeply into fans opinion. Regards Croatia yes he is extremely useful, especially as a sub. I think as a 21 year old he's played more matches and had more success already than most 21 year olds so had a little dip in form, but will come back a better player in the end. Nobody can say the guy has no ability. He's clearly talented, but when it comes to the big games i don't think we should start him.
Regards Babic, Babic is a quality player. He was our BEST player in 2006 at World Cup. But his fitness levels aren't there. He's played barely 20 matches in three seasons. Just not good enough am afraid. Needs to hold down his first team place at Zaragoza and even then he's gonna be hard pushed to displace Kranjcar and Sharbini who are really the future.
The same goes with Igor Budan. I watched Budan last night and he looks a real solid striker. I think he'll be back in the goals sooner rather than later, but what players like this need is games and to stay clear of injury. If players like Babic, Budan and Klasnic get their act together and starting pushing hard against the rest of the squad for a first team place then that can only help Croatia. Babic, Budan and Klasnic all have ability, its just the fitness thats not on the level at the moment.
Re: Rakitic/ Silvio Maric comparison.
I don't buy this one. Maric was good in HNL and flopped abroad three times. Rakitic however has done well in spells in Germany and in big games. When i watch Schalke. There team looks a bit like organised chaos. Its not clear at times where anyone is playing. They have far too many floaty type players and this also can't help Rakitic. I've seen Rakitic down as one of a central three at times and that's clearly not his position. If he went back to being a straight right winger he'll be fine.
Also Glen Johnson - we need to get at this player. Last game Wes Brown played and did a good job on Rakitic. But Glen Johnson is a terrible defender. England and Liverpool already experiencing problems and regular concessions since he played. He's like England's Pranjic. Hopefully Capello's won't swap Johnson for Brown. Although i do think Brown can be got at as well.
We'll still beat England.
re: dinamofan:)
are you kidding me about glen johnson, he is being praised by the media as being on of the best right backs in the epl in the moment, and from the games i saw he looks damn good a real threat to the opposition, hes similar to pranjic, but he actually scores goals from the right back position and he can defend good.
We need olic to cause him problems to keep him out of the game and in his own half at all times, not making him able to join the rest of englands attacks.
Re: johnson
Yeah but thats not the job of a right back. Ryan Babel gave him a rotten time in Holland game and at Liverpool he is scoring and creating but team is conceding all over the place all of a sudden. Johnson is definitely not a solid right back. I think we can get through him easy enough.
I think against england we have to play with five in the midfield know,with the loss of modric we cant play 4-4-2, as we dont have an obvious replacement. Were gonna have to kill the game with five midfielders. just an idea
Runje
srna corluka krizanac simunic
vukojevic juric
rakitic pranjic
kranjcar
Da silva
Re: Vlad
I agree with your formation, but Olic has to play as Raki and Kranjcar can't be counted on to work hard enough. No room for Rakitic. Olic can play from left mid. Kranjcar can float behind striker.
I can see why you altered the defence, but its unlikely Bilic will do that. Everyones trying to pick something Bilic will do i think. I reckon Pranjic will be left back. Srna will be where you got Raki and Olic will be where you got Pranjic.
@JP,
I like your attitude kid. Lets stay optimistic. We do have plenty of telent in midfield and should be able to overcome the loss of Modric for a game or two.
Eduardo attracted double teams leaving Olic unguarded most of the Belarus game turning him into a star. Once Eduardo goes out, Olic goes to shit.
Lets take this step by step. Belarus are first on board.
@Ivica
"No one has the creativity and vision that Luka has. I am in total shock right now. Things can't get any worse than this."
I agree with your first sentence and disagree with the second. Actually, the second one quite frankly scares me. Never say that again. It can always get worse my friend.
@Ziva Istina
"Come on guys.....how long have you watched soccer....If Dudu is banned it is only for UEFA matches (meaning Chmapions League). makes me think some of you guys have no clue about soccer."
Easy dude! Lets not put down the uneducated football fans. Everyone is welcome.
"Pokrivac, Leko, Ilicevic wont see the time of day against England"
I agree.
@Dinamofan
I think for the first time in a long long while I agree with you.
Runje, Corluka, Krizanac, Simunic, Pranjic
Juric, Vukojevic
Srna, Kranjcar, Olic
Eduardo
Exactly what I was thing. However, I wasnt sure between Olic and Rakitic.
Also, are all of your formations same for both Belarus and England? I am only thinking about England.
For Belarus, take out Juric, throw in Rakitic, and move up Olic to partner Eduardo.
"Anyone that's worried about Juric in a 4-2-3-1 system i'd encourage watching a Genoa match. He is fine in this formation, similar with Vukojevic who has played it well at Kiev."
Well said.
Just a question for everyone? What happened to all those Ivan Juric haters?
Yes, Modric went out. If he were to play, I would still field Juric and Vukojevic together with modric Srna and Kranjcar in front of them
This is no time for hating on Juric. We'll leave that for another. Opinion is he should not start over Vukojevic, but for the England match we need to play an Italian type way sadly and Juric is much needed in this formation. The other options are a out of condition Leko or Pokrivac. Basically Juric is certain over those two. We also need a second def mid to protect Pranjic. Olic also needs to work hard down that left. I also think Olic must start over Raki as we need goalscoring power. I can't see Kranjcar and Raki getting in the box as much as Olic will.
Yes you're right there, we are forgetting the Belarus game which is after all first. To be honest i'm not keen on Kranjcar taking Modric's place. I just don't think Kranjcar is that type of player to play central. There is a lot of talk of it happening with Rakitic on left wing, but am not keen myself. Raki is not a left winger and defensively down the left we'll be feeble. Whatever we do will be risky as we have no natural replacement cos Badelj and Ilicevic was not called to the squad. We've too many defensive mids and too many wide playmakers or widemen. I would say Leko but he's out of condition so even thats a risk. Pranjic should be able to play there if Barry can. Vukojevic could also adapt his game and try to play attacking like he did at Dinamo where scored 8 goals in a season. Beats me what we do against Belarus. Ideally would help if we had a natural replacement who was fit. I'd prob say Jerko Leko is the most natural replacement who can defend and attack in equal measure. Anything else and we're playing people out of position.
I say we gamble and start the same formation for England against Belarus as well. Lets play with two defensive midfielders. Lets win 1-0, or 2-0.
The last thing we Croats need is a 5-0 victory. The media will have a boner and "convince" our players that we can compete with England.
Lets face it, our B team can beat Belarus in Zagreb.
We need a victory on Saturday, but we can use this game as a practice game for England. Lets set up a formation that we would use against England as well. Lets try Juric and Vukojevic together on the pitch. If it doesnt work, we still win against Belarus and change the lineup against England.
Theres talk of us playing Kranjcar in Modric's position and Anas Sharbini on the left. I'm not against Anas starting. He's better option than right footed Rakitic and has more speed than Raki. Kranjcar in central mid still worries, but they can try it if they want. See how it goes. Can't play Juric and Vuko in Belarus as would be bit pointless. Belarus also can still beat us. We have to take that game serious. We're in danger of taking our eye off the ball.
Considering our B team contains Vejic and Drpic i think it prob wouldn't beat Belarus. Croatia's B team of best players would, but not Bilic's B team.
To be honest this is why we need friendlies so we don't think of plan B at the last minute. In some ways i'm looking forward to us trying new player in Anas Sharbini against Belarus. We've been playing the same players for so long, its good to see a new player come in. Its a shame he's had no friendly match, but its good to see him there.
I also want to see us arrange a friendly and put Milan Badelj in the mid. I think we need a similar type of player to Modric to come in as Leko is the only replacement. Leko really should be sent out the squad and told to go and find a transfer and first team football. If he's not gonna transfer by 5pm and think we can't play him anymore. After 5pm he'll have to negotiate with Monaco to be released from the club. Bilic explained now why he leaves out Galinovic which is fine. He says he agreed not to call him unless he was first choice. Galinovic does not want to be called to be second or particularly third choice. I think its getting to stage now where we have to seriously look at Tomislav Dujmovic. His performances at Lokomotive Moscow are prob spot on for international duty. Friendly featuring new players need soon i think. Modric incident is a bit of a wake up call. Lets face it we barely have any faith in whats on the bench.
We have no faith in the bench because these are not guys that can perform at the top of international soccer. Most national teams would be in the same position if they were missing their playmaker. Only a few countries have the quality to make up for such losses.
I disagree. Our bench is deep and the loss of Modric for the next two games is bad but I'm not concerned. You'll see.
I think our bench is alright, but it could be better. I'd only keep Subasic, Petric, Mandzo, Rakitic, Pokrivac, Anas, Juric, Klasnic and Cale from what is on the bench. Many play at good quality clubs and are good players. The others we should be looking to replace. They are Vejic, Drpic and Leko. Time to look at Dujmovic, Badelj and Lovren.
I think Mandzukic is a fantastic playmaker. Maybe he should start as Modric's replacement. I think Mandzukic has the skills to play an offensive midfielder. Kind of a 4-3-3/4-4-2 formation. The game against Belarus might be a good place to try it to see if it has the potential.
When was the last time Mandzukic played offensive midfield. And you want him to do this against Engalnd.
Our bench is not deep, or at least I do not think it is deep. The guys who occupy the spots on the bench are mostly guys that can be spot starters and play 30 min on the international level without us being hurt too much.
When healthy we are a tough team. our first 11 can play with anyone, but when we lose a few peices the spare parts cant compensate.
Depending on how we do against England, I'll be the first to come here and say I was wrong about the bench. But, to say you are not worried about Modric being out, is a bit comical to me. Remeber the Ukraine game in ZG and how we played in the first half even with Modric before he woke up and showed up in the 2nd half. Luka is the motor of this team. We might survive and pull out a fluke win in England, but we are drastically better with him in the line up. Who will hold the ball and make the smart passes in Wembley with no Luka.
Re: Ziva
Agree regards Mandzo. Also am worried about not having Modric too as i'd prefer we didn't play defensively, but its something we have to do.
I'm actually mad at Leko that he turns up to national team without proper football when he had bids on the table. We may need him and don't even know if he's fit. As i say we need to freshen up the bench. We've had some guys there for too long who not pushed hard enough into team or have gone backwards and others who good knows why they even there.
Yes, there is no way to get around it- Luka is our most influential player, which is why it is important for Bilic to change the tactics accordingly and not just try to stick someone into Modrics position and attempt to play the same way as with Modric.
I know bilic wont change pranjic's position, but im a little woried of a repeat like in zagreb, araon lennon isn't the best in the world but his speed could dominate a defender like pranjic who dosent know how to defend, also regards olic playing the wing, im a little scepticle, ya he runs alot but its diffrent running alot playing striker, you can run bez veze playing in the mid with the loss of modric were gonna need guys wo can hold the ball and slow the game down, my biggest worries is that olic will give the ball cheapely, which will convert to counter attacks, also if he plays the wing then hell have to come back deep to help pranjic, olic is the last guy i want to have the ball in our 16 yard box.
Well, I guess time will tell. Although I think Modric is a great player, I also think there are some good substitutes to choose from. Plus if it comes down to penalty kicks, Modric hasn't shown the killer instincts. :-p
If we attack from the back, any sub will do. When it comes to making the midfield passes and midfield attacks, Modric shines. Klasnic and Rakitic are very capable. Leko is also more than capable and adds some fire to the field when he comes on. Like I said before, it would be great if Petric and Mandukic could be versatile enough to play the midfield too. That's alot of talent on the bench. I'm a defender by nature so I don't see the issues with a striker falling back to being an offensive midfielder. You see defenders score too, don't you?
Regarding the first comment, if we don't have a chance and the team depends on just 1 player, then we don't deserve to reach the World Cup. We just have to suck it up and do some tweaks. Look at Euro '06, we didn't have DaSilva and would have probably made it to the final if we didn't fall asleep in the last seconds and Turkey got a fortunate bounce. This is the time when the best teams make it happen. We'll have to wait and see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3kulkIRJVY
stick to defense..... many forwards don't have the technical skill to come back in midfield, hold the ball, make a quick move and pass to the open guy, and then move to the open spot. Last thing we need is to put people out of position, especially against England.
In an emergency situation Da Silva could do it, but none of our other forwards could.
Ziva, if you mean holding play up with back to goal, Mandukic is quite good. in fact that's one of his strengths. If you mean playing as a withdrawn striker/trequarista then no, only Eduardo and Kranjcar. Eduardo could easily play as a trequarista if needed although he's such a good goal scorer that that would be a waste (esp. since none of our other forwards can score). I've also seen Petric play there although I wouldn't take that route, personally. Yes, we need to play a bit negative and stifle their play. I imagine that if we can get to 60 minutes without them scoring their support will start to get on their case and they'll get frustrated and distracted.
pardon my croatian but does this mean Hleb will not be playing on Saturday
http://sportske.jutarnji.hr/index.php?cmd=show_clanak&clanak_id=13506
Yes, he is out.
We need him to be healthy so he can play against Ukraine.
In a perfect world I hope our guys win 1-0 or 2-0 on Saturday. I dont want a blowout win because that might destroy Belarus for their match with the Ukraine. I rather have them going into that match thinking they have a chance.
does it say they are saving him for the ukraine game?
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