Subject: [NT] Croatia

Another tough challenge this week.

RL Croatia

Located in Southern Europe, Croatia has a population of ~4.5 million, and covers 56k km2 of territory (approximately the same population as New Zealand on about 1/5 the land). 2/3 of their economy is derived from the service industry. Also have a decent agricultural base. The government is democratic, and the primary religion is Catholicism.

“Nogomet” ( ie., football) is (obviously) a popular sport in Croatia, and of the teams in Group Js qualifying pool, Croatia has by far the strongest RL football team.

Sokker Croatia

Added 2 seasons after New Zealand, they currently have ~400 users and are showing moderate growth. Being a relatively old and large Sokker Nation, they have a fairly mature squad with no obvious weakness. They also have tremendous depth – I have seen uncapped Croatian players on the TL that would be starters for either Canada or New Zealand. Their ranking of 11th is well deserved.

Midfielder Josip Karpić is the most capped Croatian player with 56. The most prolific scorer for the team has been Vedran Duvnjak. 26 year old middie Zdenko Plazina is a wide threat who leads the team with 23 career assists. Perhaps the most worrisome player on their roster is Oleg Malec, a 23 year old striker who has potted 41 goals in just 28 games for his country. Keeper Mario Plečković is as good as they come, and has 45 caps to his credit.

They are a strong side, and will be a difficult challenge. I believe this is the first time I have encountered Croatia (don’t think I ever played them with Canada). I am encouraged by BBall’s strong showing against them in the World Cup last season, and hope that with a few bounces New Zealand’s way, a result can be achieved.

Duvnjak is a pain.

Thanks for the tip. :)

Line-up is all set, save some last-minute tweaks. Managers of participating players have been notified.

Of all countries I've played beside Poland, Croatia has the highest technique strikers. Hmmm watch our last game against them.

I hear ya. :) I'm very concerned about Malec. He somehow went 0 for 5 shooting against Canada - I doubt he will be that gracious this Saturday. Duvnjak is no slouch either. :S

Go time.

Formation and line-up very similar to last week. I’ve changed things every week so far ... maybe we can surprise them by using the same thing two weeks in a row. :)

Thanks to Snowy11 and Bball for their advice. (If things don’t go well, it is by no means their responsibility). :P

Watts covers the two full backs in case of red card. Dawkins in for Edwards (to provide a little more finesse) at 50 if New Zealand is trailing. Robbens or Atkinson in for Richards at 60, depending on the game situation. Roza in for Hird at 70 if behind - I hate (potentially) using all the subs in a competition game - especially if ahead.

Going to need a few breaks or bounces to bring this one home.

Sorry lads, not a very good showing.

Croatia changed their formation for the first time this season. Not unexpected, but I still felt I had to prepare for the other one. The 3 forward counter-attack doesn't work very well when the forwards aren't positioned properly - in this case, off-side far too often.

The technique of the Croatian forwards was indeed an issue. A bigger problem tho was the overall play of the New Zealand defense. They had a great deal of difficulty handling balls in this match (fumbles led to several of the goals, and many other glorious chances). The defense also did not do nearly as well passing the ball as they did last match - instead of heaving it into the middle where the triangle of mids could fight for it, they routinely kicked it out.

I was really pleased with Atkinson, who played very well in his minutes. The back 6, perhaps with the exception of Watts, really struggled IMO. Richards also did not have a very good game, and Hird played more to his form level in this one.

Once again, my apologies. We'll give them a better go next time round. :)

I thought Bodger had a pretty good game, he had a nice little battle going on with #5 there too which he started to lose a bit more towards the end, but there was a lot more ball going to him which i was happy with. I would say that we were out-tactic'd in this one (i tried saying that out loud but its difficult..) and that would be the first time i've ever seen the coinjoined striker tactic work so well! There was also a lot of fumbled ball from the defenders, the kind that is commonly said bad tech is responsible for but there was way too much. I thought the defs were played a little bit too forward as well, kinda a halfway between offside and deep.

On another note, just thought i'd say i read the press announcements each week and really like them :P

Sounds like NZ needs more defenders like Watts who are well rounded rather than mono skilled monsters :).
(edited)

I saw Watts fumble a couple too :P

and get tackled! :O

Like I've told you before, bug in the match engine.

He's only 21. Not like that useless Bodger who is 24 and still as useless as he was when he was 21 :P.

I would say that we were out-tactic'd in this one

Fully agree. :) And all it really took from them was changing where they had their defensive line. As the lesser team (with no offense intended to the New Zealand lads) I felt it necessary to take a few gambles, specifically with forward positioning. They did not pay off.

I thought the defs were played a little bit too forward as well, kinda a halfway between offside and deep.

I understand what you are saying. I didn't mind where the line was. I knew it wouldn't work as well as against Canada, as Croatia plays their forwards much further forward. There is always a "line in the sand" where the defense digs in their heels, and does the "you shall not pass" thing. I wanted that far enough out from goal that if we did lose the mono et mono (which we frequently did), the adjacent defender might get a crack before the striker got to goal. Unfortunately, most times the striker drove straight through (as opposed to angled) and the adjacent defender wasn't able to complicate his attempt. If I'd had kohonis, I'd have played the trap. I think it's the right strategic move in that situation, tho I suspect it wouldn't have worked out much better.

Bodger was clearly the most dangerous of the forwards today, tho they were all hampered by my tactic.

Sounds like NZ needs more defenders like Watts who are well rounded rather than mono skilled monsters :).

I've watched alot of the New Zealand games, and the fumbling isn't usually the issue it was in this game. Even Kelly was having trouble controlling the ball - that rarely happens.

The New Zealand defense if kind of interesting. With the Canadian team, defenders were pretty easy to identify as "central" or "flank". The New Zealand group is pretty much interchangable, with the possible exception of Chadwick.

Watts had a decent game, but I fear what Duvnjak and Malec would have done to him had he been at the back. :)

Nothing at all no doubt :P.

He's getting some more defending for a bit anyway so eventually he should be ok further back.

Hmm Like I told you I did not expect you to win this game. Croatia are a really good team.
Their wingers are reallly really good and our defenders have too little pace to get to them.

I felt that we had no possesion of the ball at all. I reckon the defence was pretty nice. Ummm I thought the throw ins were a bit messy. Watch the game again and see.

16 shots against 4 hmmm I'm pretty sure we can narrow that gap down the next time we meet them.

I'm not disappointed at all about the result but I'm sure they is room for improvement.

Well done Seca you are doing really well! Dont let this silly lost get u worried. We still love you ;) No pressure eh?

Agreed - the throw-ins were very poor. I knew they would be. It is a deficiency of this kind of 4-3-3. Just don't have enough flexibility to do nice throw-ins without bringing a forward back (which defeats the purpose of the 4-3-3). :) I was counting on Richards winning a few balls from his opponent - he wasn't up to the challenge today.