Croatian NT Thread (3 Viewers)

[V]

Croatia v England
UEFA European Championship Qualifying Group E
6pm (BST), Wed 11 October 2006
Maksimir, Zagreb

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so....you english shi**ing your pants yet? j/k.

i know there's quite a few english around here, as well as croatians so i decide to open a specific thread for this game, instead of posting in the sticky, as i expect it to be really interesting.

anyway it's gonna be one hell of a fight. you can expect a sold out stadium, 40 000 people screaming and chanting for 90 minutes, me the loudest of course. england the favourite on paper, but sweden was one as well on the wc qualifiers, we all know how that ended . croatia is not to be underestimated, we have a solid squad which is looking good with our new coach slaven bilic. england with a new coach as well in mclaren. most recent news revolving around england is the call up of scott parker from newcastle.

england started off with 2 wins, 1:0 in macedonia and 5:0 andorra, they are leading the group with 6 points. croatia played one game and that was in russia. tough game, never easy playing in russia, and that ended 0:0. before we face england we have a home game against andorra which is expected to be easy. england will face macedonia again, this time on home turf, on the same day croatia face andorra, 7.10.2006.

so it is expected that england will have 9 points from 3 games, before the croatia match and croatia will have 4 points from 2 games before the england match.

this will be a crucial game for my side and i kid you not a draw will satisfy us, but that is not what we are gonna play for.

 

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[V]

this is what croatia fielded against russia, 4-4-2:

----------------Stipe Pletikosa--------------------

Vedran Corluka-Goran Sablic-Robert Kovac-Anthony Seric

Milan Rapaic-Niko Kovac-Luka Modric-Niko Kranjcar

-----------Eduardo da Silva- Ivan Klasnic----------

something like this is expected against england as well.


what is england supposed to field?

 

[peckface]

McClaren seems kind of taken from what happened to Sven so I bet he'll field whatever the public expects him to field.

Anyways he hasn't impressed me as a coach yet and I think the UEFA cup final was just a fluke. He seems to be a "rely on the players talent" kind of coach and perhaps fewer guidelines is just what the English players needs after the reign of Eriksson.

 

[V]

McClaren seems kind of taken from what happened to Sven so I bet he'll field whatever the public expects him to field.

Anyways he hasn't impressed me as a coach yet and I think the UEFA cup final was just a fluke. He seems to be a "rely on the players talent" kind of coach and perhaps fewer guidelines is just what the English players needs after the reign of Eriksson.

so perhaps this is to be expected, 4-4-2:

---------Robinson------------

neville--ferdinand-terry-cole

gerrard-hargr-lamp-downing

-------crouch--rooney-----

i put downing on the left cause i think he played against both andorra and macedonia from the start, though i'd prefer joe cole there. any injury reports for the english?

 

[Marc]

this is what croatia fielded against russia, 4-4-2:

----------------Stipe Pletikosa--------------------

Vedran Corluka-Goran Sablic-Robert Kovac-Anthony Seric

Milan Rapaic-Niko Kovac-Luka Modric-Niko Kranjcar

-----------Eduardo da Silva- Ivan Klasnic----------

something like this is expected against england as well.


what is england supposed to field?

Cheers Vlatko!

I still remember England kicking our arses in Euro 2004 in Portugal.

This will be a chance for a revenge.:eyebrows:

What do you think abt this formation.

I think we should try with Olic in attack he is in great form, Eduardo & midfield OK.

And we could maybe swap Seric with Babic on left back.

As for Corluka, we currently havent got better solutions on right-back, cause we always played with 3 players in backline.

 

[Marc]

so perhaps this is to be expected, 4-4-2:

---------Robinson------------

neville--ferdinand-terry-cole

gerrard-hargr-lamp-downing

-------crouch--rooney-----

i put downing on the left cause i think he played against both andorra and macedonia from the start, though i'd prefer joe cole there. any injury reports for the english?

Hargreaves is badly injured .

He is unable for this match.

Others I think more or less are ready for this match.

 

[V]

well that's one of the main reasons i'm happy we have bilic as coach. he brought in that modern element and a certain freshness in the squad. most importantly he dumped that pre-historic 3-5-2 and started to play 4-4-2. also he gave some youngsters like eduardo and modric their chance. also rapaic on the right and kranjcar on the left seem really impressive, i like wingers when they play on opposite sides(right footers on the left and vice versa).

and i wouldn't try olic at all, if it were up to me i'd kick him out of the nt.

yeah i forgot hargreaves is injured. carrick to take his place or newly called up parker?

 

[Marc]

well that's one of the main reasons i'm happy we have bilic as coach. he brought in that modern element and a certain freshness in the squad. most importantly he dumped that pre-historic 3-5-2 and started to play 4-4-2. also he gave some youngsters like eduardo and modric their chance. also rapaic on the right and kranjcar on the left seem really impressive, i like wingers when they play on opposite sides(right footers on the left and vice versa).

and i wouldn't try olic at all, if it were up to me i'd kick him out of the nt.

yeah i forgot hargreaves is injured. carrick to take his place or newly called up parker?

Agree.

I think Carrick will take his place.

We will see what he has to offer.

Personally I am afraid of their attack.

We saw what Rooney can do to us, and Crouch is in great form.

Hopefully, our new defence is much quicker and better organised, midfield is more creative than before, the only thing that troubles me is our attack.

 

[Marc]

Not to mention that we have to be afraid of English players long shots!

 

[Marko]

Come on...






...Croatia!

 

[sateeh]

i smell an upset here.

By the way i think Parker is going to fill that midfield position.

 

[V]

i smell an upset here.

By the way i think Parker is going to fill that midfield position.

yeah most likely. don't know bout the upset though.

 

[Cuti]

Agree.

I think Carrick will take his place.

We will see what he has to offer.

Personally I am afraid of their attack.

We saw what Rooney can do to us, and Crouch is in great form.

Hopefully, our new defence is much quicker and better organised, midfield is more creative than before, the only thing that troubles me is our attack.

but Rooney is in the worst form since he has joined utd. To keep Crouch quiet you just have to stop crosses going to him

 

[Nikolaus]

first difficult game for england and i don't really expect them to win...

 

[V]

first difficult game for england and i don't really expect them to win...

well i wouldn't be shocked, but i doubt they're gonna win it.

 

[Marc]

but Rooney is in the worst form since he has joined utd. To keep Crouch quiet you just have to stop crosses going to him

Update: Andy Johnson the leading goalscorer in Premiership is injured and unavailable for this match - Good news!

Agree for Rooney, Crouch will be tough to stop him as England have very good crossers.

I dont know what is wrong with McLaren not to play Beckham.

 

[Marc]

Come on...






...Croatia!

Cheers, Markoni.

BTW, who is Serbia opponent?

 

[Marc]

well i wouldn't be shocked, but i doubt they're gonna win it.

Agree , Go Croatia!

An update for you Vlatko, Andy Johnson the leading goalscorer in Premier League is injured and unavailable for Croatia Match.

 

[V]

Agree , Go Croatia!

An update for you Vlatko, Andy Johnson the leading goalscorer in Premier League is injured and unavailable for Croatia Match.

good, but i doubt he would have played anyway. it's gonna be crouch & rooney.

 

[V]

Bilic blasts England Cup display

Croatia boss Slaven Bilic has called England's World Cup display in the summer "defensive and boring" ahead of the two sides' Euro 2008 qualifier.

Bilic, whose side will play host to England next Wednesday, criticised the squad of former boss Sven-Goran Eriksson for failing to gel as a team.

He told The Sun: "They were no good - they were nothing. They were so boring.

"I have never seen in my life such a great collection of players play as defensively as they did."

England crashed out of the World Cup in the quarter-finals after losing to Portugal on penalties.
The team had had a long season, they were under pressure, there were big expectations on them - but they are all just excuses

But Bilic, who featured for West Ham and Everton during his playing career, said he was left lost for words by their overall performance.

"They just didn't play as a group, they played as individuals," added Bilic, who replaced Zlatko Kranjcar after Croatia's failure to reach the last 16 in Germany.

"And I really thought they had a great chance to win the World Cup.

"You can look back now and say the team had had a long season, they were under pressure, there were big expectations on them - but they are all just excuses.

"I couldn't even explain it to my nine-year-old son. I just don't know."

Even though Eriksson left after England's World Cup exit, Bilic is still not completely impressed by new boss Steve McClaren after the laboured 1-0 win in Macedonia last month.

"I can't understand why they played so defensively at the World Cup," he said.

"But they were the same against Macedonia, so I don't think it was all down to Eriksson."

Croatia head into Wednesday's match with one point from their opening Euro 2008 qualifier - a 0-0 draw with Russia last month.

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i don't think he said anything wrong, such a great team with fantastic players and they really did play boring. i just hope it doesn't end up in his face in Zagreb..