Jakov Arambašić

Hobby football/sports writer (HRV/ENG). I (also) like data.

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

Hello, I tweet and write about football in both Croatian and English.
https://t.co/7IoZG0ym5O - the whole blog
https://t.co/AHNdN2zn0R - articles in Croatian
https://t.co/P4ZWr1VBBj - articles in English

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

Ponekad komentiram curenje postava ili neke dvojbe, ali vrlo rijetko radim svoje postave prije utakmica. S obzirom na rezultat protiv Engleske, dobio sam želju da se malo zaigram te napravim svoju verziju prvih 11 protiv Španjolske.

Želio sam ovo napraviti prije nego li se pojave informacije u medijima. Postoji mogućnost da barem jedan od trojca Kovačić, Perišić ili Modrić završi na klupi zbog energetske istrošenosti, ali ona je mala.

Ne predviđam što će Bilić napraviti, već samo dajem svoje skromno mišljenje kako postaviti ovaj igrački kadar nakon uvjerljivog poraza te najtežeg poraza u povijesti protiv dvije reprezentacije iz višeg kvalitetnog razreda.

Ako De La Fuente ne bude odmarao Yamala i s Baturinom na toj strani te njegovim ulascima u sredinu, lijeva strana postaje dodatno obrambeno propusna. Međutim, puštala je i u prvoj utakmici kada su po njoj ordinirali Perišić i Gvardiol.

Petar Sučić može igrati istu ulogu kao i dosad, ali s drugačijom i nižom početnom pozicijom koja bi mu omogućila da pripomogne Stanišiću.

Pandur i Livaković su mi na 50-50. Ovdje se više radi o bacanju Pandura u vatru nego kažnjavanju Livakovića zbog loše forme. Također, Yamal je rekao da je već shvatio Livakovićev način branjenja zbog zajedničkih treninga.

Ja bih osobno malu prednosti dao Belji ispred Muse, ali smatram da je Musa zaslužio više minuta na Svjetskom prvenstvu i u ovom ciklusu Lige nacija.

Smolčić zapravo mijenja lijevog beka. Partnerstvo Gvardiol-Vušković nije započelo dobro, ali ja ga ne bi razdvajao postavljanjem Gvardiola na lijevog beka jer je ono naša dugoročna budućnost.

Volio bih vidjeti Majera na klupi umjesto na tribinama. Žao mi je Luke Sučića, ali jednostavno ne znam umjesto koga bih ga ubacio u ovakvoj koncepciji.

#NationsLeague #CROESP

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

@l_aaaaal65 Ja imam drugačije razmišljanje, ali te u potpunosti razumijem.

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

Unatoč 4-1 i 7-0 porazima te logističkim teškoćama i skupoći, otići ću pogledati utakmicu protiv Španjolske uživo na Poljud.

Bilićeva strategija protiv Španjolske sada izgleda kao, blago rečeno, potpuni promašaj. Lako je ove stvari analizirati kasnije i puno je teže donositi odluke, ali ništa drugo se ne može reći u trenutačnoj situaciji.

Mislim da teško možemo spasiti ukupni dojam ovog ciklusa protiv Španjolske, ali možemo spasiti bodovni učinak jer bi 4 boda bila prihvatljiva, pogotovo ako Češka uzme 0 bodova ili 1 bod.

S jedne strane će Hrvatskoj biti lakše, ali s druge strane će mi biti žao ako ne vidim i Rodrija i Yamala uživo u igri.

Obojica počinju protiv Češke pa se bojim da bi De La Fuente mogao rotirati protiv Hrvatske ako ne bude iznenađenja večeras. Češka je Yamalu treći start u ovom ciklusu, dok je Rodriju drugi.

#NationsLeague #CROENG

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

@TrollFootball Before the World Cup, I told a foreign person IRL that Gvardiol was our best player, injury aside. Just in case anyone does not remember, he was one of our worst players at the World Cup.

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

@ElegantListen @TheHateCentral2 Ma dobar mi je ovaj profil, ponekad zna biti vrlo smiješan, ali moram malo braniti svoju reprezentaciju od rulje u komentarima, kad već imam volju za pisanjem.😅

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

@NealGardner_ Our both old and new manager is using the Nations League as a trial run for his ideas, some of which are vastly different from Dalić's principles.

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

Hrvatska - Engleska 0-7

Ovo pišem odmah nakon utakmice, ali se u potpunosti ne sjećam niti jednog gola i akcija koje su im prethodile, uključujući gol iz 87. minute. Pogledao sam cijelu utakmicu bez prebacivanja programa i gašenja TV-a.

Već nekoliko mjeseci to mislim, ali prije utakmice protiv Engleske prvi put sam pročitao novinarsko pitanje i/ili mišljenje koje izražava stav da Hrvatska dugo vremena nije pobijedila jednu veliku reprezentaciju u natjecateljskim utakmicama.

Ovdje nije bitno da ja ispadnem pronicljiv, nego razdoblje kroz koje Hrvatska prolazi.

Pobijedili smo Francusku u četvrtfinalu Lige nacija 2025. na Poljudu, ali u uzvratu smo uvjerljivo izgubili 2-0 te ispali na jedanaesterce.

Zadnji veliki rezultat Hrvatska je ostvarila pobjedom protiv Nizozemske u polufinalu Lige nacija 2023. te se naknadno ispostavilo da smo nakon odigranog finala tog natjecanja ispali iz prvog razreda europskog nogometa.

Ako nam se prethodno spomenuta pobjeda protiv Francuske ne računa kao veliki rezultat jer smo ispali, onda se po istoj logici pobjeda protiv Nizozemske treba računati kao takva. Nizozemska je 2024. igrala polufinale Europskog prvenstva.

Naravno, Liga nacija se ne može uspoređivati sa svjetskim i europskim prvenstvima, ali ovo što se događa Hrvatskoj služi kao vrlo korisna referentna točka.

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

@IvanMlinaric4 @CroatiaFooty Ako ćemo mijenjati vratara, ja bih više volio vidjeti Pandura.

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

@CroatiaFooty Maybe Bilić should consider playing Smolčić at RB, Stanišić at LB, and Perišić on the right wing, since we are building the Gvardiol-Vušković partnership for the long-term.

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

Belgium - Türkiye 3-0

Shots: 17-23
Shots on target: 10-8
Shots outside the box: 6-13
Touches in the opp. box: 28-40
Clearances: 25-18

#NationsLeague #BELTUR

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

@Utdbeni This post makes it seem as if Modrić somehow underachieved for Croatia. He won 2 World Cup medals with us, and we have not even been an independent country for 40 years.

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

3-1 would have been acceptable, but the fourth goal makes this defeat kind of painful.

Livaković got 4.5 on Sofascore. It seems a little harsh, but he could have done better for all goals except Pubill's. If we look at all four games combined, he did not have a great World Cup either.

I agree with CroatianSports' claim about Bilić prioritizing both games on home soil over Spain away, though I would add the game against Czechia on that list.

We'll see whether the points tally at the end of this cycle will justify this approach. One more point should be the bare minimum of expectations, while three would be good.

#NationsLeague #ESPCRO

[CroatianSports @CroatianSoccer]

🇭🇷🇪🇸 Spain defeat Croatia 4-1 in Nations League

But don’t you worry, Bilić rolled out a C-squad against the World Cup champs consisting of Pongračić, Smolčić & Mišić. Modrić and Baturina did not start.

Unpopular opinion: this was a “throw away” game to keep the Vatreni fresh for two huge matches this week against England and Spain on Croatian soil.

October 3rd: vs. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿England in Rijeka
October 6th: vs. 🇪🇸Spain in Split

Big props to Beljo on his goal which made things interesting for a few minutes in the 1st half. The Dinamo striker has been on absolute FIRE this season!

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

Montella had truly done an excellent job at helm of Türkiye before this year's World Cup. They seemed stronger and more coherent compared to the 2021 Euros side.

Individual losses can be the players' fault, but in international football failures that span for more than one game are almost always the manager's fault.

If we put the dead rubber against the USA aside, Türkiye are currently on a run of 4 defeats with a goal difference of 1-8. This is sackable even without flopping at a major tournament.

Allowing Montella to continue after this cycle would make little sense, regardless of what happens in the last two matches.

Despite having precisely zero connections to Türkiye, I wanted to see this team perform to the best of their abilities.

#NationsLeague

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

Serbia have just lost to Greece in Belgrade, while putting up worrying stats in some categories, especially relative to their opponents' numbers.

Shots: 9-26
Shots on target: 4-9
Shots inside the box: 7-16
Big chances created: 4-3
Touches in the opposition box: 20-43
Clearances: 32-14 (less is better)

Before the end of the current international window, Serbia are scheduled to play Germany twice with a trip to the Netherlands sandwiched in between.

I got the impression that a large portion of Serbian fans were happy when Paunović was appointed as their national team's manager, but things are looking terrible at this point in time.

The fact that it was basically Serbia C who convincingly lost to Cabo Verde and Mexico before the World Cup does not change their A team's gloomy perspective under Paunović.

#NationsLeague #SerbiaGreece

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

@fiago7 I am a Liverpool fan and adore him, but I have a feeling that Klopp will shout at a member of the refereeing staff tonight.

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

If Raphinha were to continue this form, he would end the current LaLiga campaign with 65 goals and 16 assists.

#LaLiga #SevillaBarça

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

Hapoel Be'er Sheva - Dinamo

Udarci: 15-7
Udarci u okvir gola: 2-1
Stvorene velike prilike: 1-0
Posjed: 66% - 34%
Udarci iz kuta: 6-2
Dodiri u protivničkih 16m: 29-11
Otklonjene opasnosti: 17-27 (obično je bolje imati ih manje)

Hapoel je bio bolji u svim statističkim kategorijama koje sam naveo, ali rekao bih da je loš dojam Dinamove predstave i gori nego što ove razlike u statistici pokazuju.

#UEL #HBSDIN

[Jakov Arambašić @3PointsWP]

I absolutely loved Liverpool's UCL Matchday 1 performance versus Atletico, not because it was perfect, but because they resolved multiple issues, turned the tide around, and established control.

Out of 14 of Liverpool's total shots, 12 were taken inside the opposition's box.

#UCL #LIVATM