All-around center

On August 29, Croatian internationals returned to their home country one after another, preparing for the ninth round of the European Cup qualifiers, playing against Greece at home.

As long as they win this game, Croatia will be able to advance to the 2012 European Cup as the first in the group, so it is also a very crucial game.

"When did you buy the plane?"

"How much did you buy it for?"

"I want one too!"

With the return of the players, the training base gradually became lively.

Suker, Modric, Srna and others gathered together to chat and gossip.

Of course, there was also Rakitic who was resentful on the side.

Some people took a private plane back to their country to participate in the competition, and these guys forgot about themselves completely!

Are they still teammates?

Can we get along well!

I will definitely go back!

"Where is Daniel?" Suker suddenly asked.

There was no sign of Planic this time, and there was no reason why this guy would not come.

Hearing this, Modric sighed; "I'm injured, and I heard it's very serious, so I may need to rest for a while."

"Serious injury?" Suker asked. Modric nodded; "He has already had surgery. I went to see him on purpose. He is not in very good condition."

It would be strange if he was in good condition if he got injured at the beginning of the new season.

And Planic is already 30 years old, which is the most embarrassing age.

His physical recovery ability is not as good as before. A serious injury during this period may really affect his subsequent career.

Planic is injured, but fortunately Croatia has Joel Luka to replace him.

The previous Croatian lineup had a low tolerance for injuries.

But now, with these young people playing, the bench is deep enough.

After all, Joel Luka is also a player in the top five leagues, and is the main full-back of the Premier League BIG6 and Tottenham Hotspur.

In fact, Joel Luka had already threatened Planic's position before.

Now, after Planic was injured, Joel Luka is expected to be able to officially take over.

Suk also shook his head. This is the problem with their current group of players, especially the older Planic, Srna, Vukojevic and others.

Once injured, the consequences will be disastrous.

Croatia's match against Greece was on September 7, but they gathered for training a week in advance.

This time, Besic organized a training camp for the purpose of not only further running-in, but also to adjust the back line.

Simunic's state has plummeted.

In the latest evaluation of the Bundesliga's defenders, this guy is at the bottom of the Bundesliga.

Especially after joining Hoffenheim, there is no barrier in front, the shortcomings are exposed, and coupled with the decline in his own state, the overall performance has been very bad.

Nowadays, Simunic is a substitute in Hoffenheim most of the time. In the club, he was pressed on the bench by the 21-year-old young player.

In the national team, Besic also plans to demote Simunic and Kovac's partner.

Besic doesn't play that kind of step-by-step drama!

The back line that combines the old and the new allows the veteran to lead the newcomers.

In Besic's view, the central defender partnership also needs to run-in. After the split, it takes a lot of time to rebuild.

In addition, Lovren's recent performance is very eye-catching, and Vida is also stable enough.

This young central defender duo can support Croatia's defense very well.

Of course, they also need to further integrate with the team, so there is only one week of preparation time.

Croatia's entire defense line.

Simunic and Kovac were downgraded.

Planic was injured.

Except for the captain Srna, it was almost a major change.

Besic didn't plan to make adjustments so quickly, but under various emergencies, he also made substitutions decisively.

Intend to use Greece to test the abilities of these young people.

In addition, with Srna's command, Besic believes that there will be no major problems.

"Lovren is a center back who can steal the ball. He moves very fast laterally and is good at confrontation and pressing. During his best performance, he averaged 2 steals per game." Van Styak looked at the data recorded in the notebook and said, "But because of this, the overly aggressive style of stealing the ball requires a stable center back partner!" "Vida is younger. Apart from his tough style, he has almost no other characteristics. His playing style is also quite standard. For others, he is a player without any characteristics, but for us, for Lovren, he is just right." "The right judgment of the landing point, the right defensive position, and the right choice of replacement position. He is a very suitable candidate to delay when partnering with an aggressive center back like Lovren. The disadvantage is that he lacks subjective awareness and is prone to confusion. He needs someone to constantly remind him, and Srna can do this!" Snap! Van Styak closed the notebook; "There is no need to say more about Joel Luka. In fact, I thought Joel Luka was more suitable for the left back position than Planic a long time ago." Besic nodded slightly to show that he understood. He knew what Van Styak meant.

Planic was a player in the same group as Suker, Srna, Modric, Vukojevic and others. They played together since Dinamo Zagreb and won many honors.

There was a special comradeship between them, which even Rakitic could not fit in.

Therefore, whether it is Van Stryak or the previous Bilic, they have to consider one thing when removing Planic.

That is whether it will offend these people.

What's more, Su Ke has a false record, so they don't dare to replace him easily.

This is the problem that exists when the head coach falls into a passive situation.

However, Besic is different!

These players were brought up by him.

He has blood pressure on the entire team.

Planich is his disciple!

Cioluca is also his disciple!

Even if they are replaced, Planic, Suker, Modric and others can't say anything else.

After all, there is no concept of kinship here.

Both of them are Besic's students, so Besic handles these things almost naturally.

This was also a key reason why Bilic recommended Besic as head coach.

The Croatian national team is a monster, even though Suker is the one who screams fiercely, the other guys are not easy to use.

Just like when you ignore him, it's called a clean and tidy thing!

After suffering such a frustrating loss, Bilic knew that except for Besic, no one else could suppress these guys.

Especially when entering the adjustment period, the head coach needs strong suppression.

"That's it for today's training. Let's have a competition tomorrow!"

Besic clapped his hands, signaling the end of the first day of training.

The players also began to enter the locker room in groups or chat on the field.

Suk's group always forms gangs and forms groups.

"Besic put Vidal and Lovren on the bench!"

Simunic said with some dissatisfaction.

Croatia's training camp is very special. For defenders, entering the substitute lineup is the main candidate.

The main defenders will need to experience the abuse and pressure of the main forwards in the early stage of training. After a few days, they will be adjusted to the main team again for further running-in.

For this reason, it is not difficult to see from Besic's actions that he intends to correct the central defender combination of Vida and Lovren.

Simunic knows that his condition has declined somewhat.

But after all, after playing so many games for Croatia, there is no credit but hard work.

What's more, he and Croatia won the 2008 European Cup, and he also deserves credit.

He was really not willing to be put on the bench like this.

The reason why he told Su Ke was to test the thoughts of Su Ke and others.

But neither Suk nor anyone else had any intention of continuing this topic.

Duimovich interrupted directly and started to change the topic and stopped talking about these things.

After dinner, Suker, Modric, Srna, Duimovic, Vukojevic and Mandzukic gathered in Suker's room.

This group of people, plus Planic, happened to be players in the first phase of Dinamo Zagreb.

This is the core player of the small group.

"Simunic seems very dissatisfied."

"After all, being substituted by someone from below will definitely be uncomfortable!"

"He still wants to test our ideas, what can we do?" Duimovic spread his hands: "It would be easier if it was Bilic, but Besic I really don't have the courage!"

Srna also nodded; "He should learn to accept that the decline in form is an indisputable fact. If he cannot continue to contribute to the team, at least he cannot cause trouble. If one day my form declines, I will quit the national team directly. I won’t cause any trouble to you either!”

"Suk, what do you think?" Modric asked.

Su Ke glanced at him and said, "You don't have any ideas? It's normal. We have climbed up to the main force in the club. Didn't we also go through various competitions and confrontations? How we climbed up in the first place, they will do the same!"

"What about Planic?"

Duimovich asked; "I'm really afraid that after this serious injury, his condition will plummet. The injury is really terrible!"

Now at their age, what they fear most is injuries!

Mandzukic; "You are so scared, even if I get injured you will be a substitute!"

"Can you fucking speak? I'll tear your mouth apart! If you go to Bayern and lose the championship, what are you going to do for food!"

"Is it my fault?"

"If you don't blame me, who do you blame? You didn't score, so you lost the championship!"

"I scored 20+ goals this season!"

"It's useless. Didn't you lose the championship?"

"Fuck you"

Everyone couldn't help but laugh. The two people started fighting each other as soon as they met. They were like a pair of happy enemies.

However, the more noisy their relationship is, the better.

It was originally a heavy topic, but with the gags, the atmosphere quickly melted away.

The next day, Croatia began further training in the match.

Vidal, Lovren and Joel Luka are the key and key targets for inspection.

They themselves are also very aware of the current situation, and they are doing everything they can to win the starting lineup and even the main force.

Opportunities don’t always come along, and once you don’t seize them, you don’t know when the next one will be.

Therefore, they must perform in the competition.

However, no matter how strong the fighting spirit is, facing Modric's scheduling. Faced with Suker's impact and Rakitic's dribbling, they defended in front of the goal again and again.

For 40 minutes, they were sweating profusely.

"I never succeeded in restraining Su Ke!"

Vader couldn't help but grit his teeth.

Lovren also nodded solemnly, and his heart was extremely urgent.

On the other hand, Cholluka's expression was relatively relaxed.

Regarding the so-called 'restriction of Su Ke' theory of these two guys, Cioluca couldn't help but roll his eyes.

I want to eat shit!

Looking at the whole of Europe, even the most awesome defenses can't stop Suker.

Is Barcelona strong enough?

In 40 games, he scored 100 goals but only conceded 15 goals.

But when facing Real Madrid and Suker, they still conceded eight goals in two games!

Therefore, the proposition of ‘limiting Suk’ does not exist at all.

Joel Luka believes that Besic's purpose is not to let them restrict Suker, but to do a good job in regional defense and let him see more defensive linkage.

"There is another competition in the afternoon, let's do it like this."

Vader and Lovren got together and discussed continuously.

The core of their discussion was 'how to restrict Su Ke'.

Seeing these two guys getting further and further off track, Giorluka reluctantly moved closer.

"Hey! Do a good job of defensive linkage, don't think about restricting Su Ke!" Joel Luca reminded him.

In fact, they are now grasshoppers in the same boat. Vader and Lovren are not stable enough, and his performance will be greatly reduced.

"How can we play well without restricting Suker?" Lovren said.

Cholluka grinned; "Restrict Suk? You really dare to think that with us now, if we succeed, how about we transfer to a wealthy club?"

"Mr. Besic asked us to play in the substitute team, relying more on the main striker to sharpen us and let us show defensive linkage, rather than trying every means to restrict Suker."

Hearing this, Lovren and Vader also looked at each other.

It seems to be the same thing!

Just because they have three melons and split dates, they cannot restrain Su Ke at all. This is a false proposition.

"So, what should we do? How to do a good job of defensive linkage?"

Lovren and Vader looked at Giorluka and felt that this guy was quite smart.

Cioluca shook his head; "I don't know!"

"I don't know?" Lovren said angrily; "I don't know, why are you pretending to know so much!"

"I don't know, but someone knows!" Cioluca said.

"who?"

They both asked questions at the same time.

During lunch, as soon as Srna sat down with his dinner plate, he saw that the opposite side of him and on both sides were occupied by Lovren, Vida, and Giorluka.

"team leader!"

Lovren grinned and looked at Srna with a silly smile.

Vader opposite had the same expression.

Sirna looked confused; "What's wrong?"

After lunch, while the team members were resting, Srna led the three guys to the training ground.

"Defensive linkage?" Srna's eyes lit up.

These guys were quite smart and immediately understood Besic's intentions.

"We need to be holistic. The false proposition of restricting Suker is not valid, but if we can do a good job of linkage, we should be able to add points." Cholluka said.

Sirna nodded; "Defensive linkage is indeed one of the goals of this assessment, but it is not the key. What sir wants to see is your possibility!"

"possibility?"

"Your strengths are Vader's stability, Lovren's decisiveness and your defensive talent!"

"But this is something we know, but your performance in the national team is still somewhat limited and you did not show your full performance. In fact, you do not need to be the same as the club, but at least you should show some characteristics."

Srna looked at Vidal; "You are very stable, stability is your characteristic, but on this basis, as a deep-lying central defender, you have a broader vision and can better observe the situation on the field, so You have to open your mouth and take the initiative to take command.”

"Captain, you are the commander!" Vader said.

Srna; "When I rush forward, if I don't retreat in time, who will direct me?"

Vader was stunned for a moment and touched his chin, looking thoughtful.

Srna looked at Lovren again: "You are very good at attacking and you are very fast, but if you can keep the positions of your teammates in mind and make timely replacements, this is not a characteristic. In particular, Joel Luca is very tall and his certain turns are slow. Once you encounter a speedy winger, you need to coordinate defense with Joel Luca and even help him suppress the winger immediately! "

"And all this requires you to have a precise sense of position, and even be able to keep the position of your teammates in your head."

Finally, Srna looked at Joel Luca.

"Croatia's defenders are different from Italy's, especially the full-backs, who are responsible for many offensive tasks, such as passing the ball, rushing forward, etc."

"Based on my relationship, you don't have many chances to break out of half-court, but shouldn't you practice long and short passes with your left foot?"

Srna smiled; "These are the possibilities and what Besic wants to see."

"It's not a single routine or an idea, but something that is real to you. The possibilities created by your collision and fusion require you to communicate well and then develop your own style. Of course, I also Will join in, after all, we are probably teammates in the defense!”

Srna encouraged; "Come on, I think you can do it!"

After Sirna's reminder, the three of them immediately understood what they should do.

At the same time, I also gained a deeper understanding of the current state of the Croatian national team.

Let them become independent from the midfield and frontcourt and become an iron-blooded defense line?

This is simply impossible!

They need to rely on the midfield and even the forwards.

Therefore, the current stage is the linkage between them, which is the first step.

Once they do this well, they will develop towards linkage in the midfield and backcourt, and even linkage across the entire court.

But before that, they must enrich their weapons.

The intensity in Croatia is too high and not too friendly for newcomers like them.

But they don't seek to be able to help these awesome guys immediately, but at least they can't hold them back, right?

Now that their ideas are clear, they know what to do next.